the cup from her and snapped on the cover they had left us. I kissed the back of her hand, but had to let it go as I stood up. “You rest for a few minutes and I’ll get this to the nurse.”
Wordlessly, she nodded and leaned back.
It took me a few minutes to track down the nurse and hand the cup to her. When I got back to the room and gently closed the door, Rose’s eyes opened. “Can we leave, Jack?”
“I think you should sit for a few more minutes. Here, take a few sips of this.” I handed her the water bottle I’d gotten for her.
She downed a third of the bottle. “What time is it?” she asked in a rough voice as she was tightening the top back on.
“It’s one PM.”
Before I could stop her, she was up on her feet, and almost just as quickly she swayed back and forth. “Whoa.”
“For fuck’s sake, sit down!” I grumbled as I caught her arms before she could fall. “You’ve been sitting with your head between your legs for longer than an hour. You’re not gonna get up and start running around.” I tried to soften my rebuke. “Take it easy for a second. For me at least.”
She just kept her grip on my forearms and, as always, ignored what I’d just said. We had reached for each other at the same time. “I need to get back. I don’t want to keep Owen longer than necessary.”
“I know, and you will, but right now you need to sit your ass down and get well before you attempt to work for the rest of the day.” As much as I admired how hard she’d worked to get that place up and running, this was not the time for her to run around and get herself even more sick.
She looked up at me and nodded. That usual light, spark—call it whatever you want—was gone from her eyes. She looked scared and tired, and that pissed me off even more.
I helped her sit down and lean back as I took my spot next to her and managed to pry the water bottle out of her hands.
“I was going to drink that.”
“You’ll have it after you’ve rested enough that you can stay up on your own two feet and hold a water bottle at the same time.”
That earned me a sideways glance that I ignored. I was hoping for her to snap back at me like she always did. That was why I always provoked her, because I loved seeing that heat in her eyes, but she didn’t respond, and for her, even that side eye had been pretty weak.
As she was resting with her eyes closed, I leaned back too, my shoulder brushing hers. I ran a hand up and down my face, my stubble pricking my hand, having grown longer than what I was used to. Now, we’d have to wait twenty-four hours. It didn’t sound like much, but I didn’t know how I was even going to make it through the day yet.
Rose leaned to her left and hesitantly rested her head somewhere between my shoulder and chest. My body froze for a quick heartbeat. When it looked like she was settled, I gently pulled my arm away so she could get more comfortable and rested it on the back of the couch.
“How do I look, Jack?” she asked.
I couldn’t see her or her eyes, so I kept my gaze straight ahead on the white wall with the red poster.
“Like death warmed over,” I said.
I could hear the smile in her voice when she responded a few seconds later. “I can always count on you for compliments, can’t I?”
“That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”
I wasn’t clear on how long we sat there like that, me breathing in her scent, but after a few minutes passed, my dick started stirring in my pants. It wasn’t the first time it had happened around her and I was sure it wouldn’t be the last either, but the timing was wrong, as it always was when it came to her. I didn’t know if her eyes were open or not, but to be safe, I rested my left arm across my lap in the hopes of hiding the rapidly growing hardness I knew was noticeable through my pants.
When her hand came on top of mine, adding more weight to what was already a painful situation for me, I groaned and closed my eyes.