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“What’s wrong?” he demands, sounding gruff.
“I don’t know,” I reply. “I just don’t feel good.”
“Don’t feel good how?” His tone is sharp, but there’s a protective quality to it, like he wants to make sure I’m okay.
“My head hurts. And I just feel… bad.”
“You look bad,” he says.
“Wow, thanks.”
“You know what I mean. You look sick. You should take it easy today.”
I shake my head and immediately regret it when it just makes me feel dizzy. “No, I’m okay. I can work. I need to go to work.”
Dominic narrows his eyes. “You just said you feel bad, little bird.”
“I know, but?—”
“But nothing. You need to get some rest if you’re going to feel better.”
“There’s a lot that needs to get done, though,” I argue. “You have that meeting with the new client next week, and I’m still working on getting all the notes prepared. I don’t want to fall behind on that.”
“We managed before we hired you. We can handle it.”
I can feel myself start to pout at that, not liking the almost dismissive way he said it. Dominic picks up on it though, sighing and rubbing a hand through his hair.
“I didn’t mean it like that, don’t give me that face. We want you there, but we want you to be healthy more. Okay?”
“Okay,” I mumble sliding down more in the blankets so they cover me up to my nose.
“Good,” he says gruffly. “Now you stay here, and I’ll be right back.”
He marches out of the room with the same determined strides that he walked in with, and I watch him go. I doze off a bit, losing track of time while he’s gone. It must have been longerthan I thought because when he comes back, he has one of the reusable shopping bags in his hand, and it’s loaded up with stuff.
Before I can ask what it all is, he starts unloading things. Not one, but two thermoses come out and he settles them on my nightstand. “Tea,” he says, tapping the top of the first one. “And soup. It’s store bought, since there’s no time for homemade and I couldn’t make it even if there was, but it’ll be hot when you’re ready for it.”
All I can do is stare as he pulls out the book I tend to leave downstairs so I can read it on the couch, some painkillers and cold medicine, a box of tissues, and the blanket from the couch in the living room. He arranges everything so I can reach it all, and drapes the blanket over me, adding to the warmth.
Then he stands back, casting critical eyes over the set up like he’s trying to make sure he didn’t miss anything.
It’s brusque and matter of fact, but it’s Dominic’s way of showing he cares, and my cheeks warm with pleasure.
“What’s the hold up?” Xavier’s voice comes from the open door, and I peek around Dominic to see him standing there, dressed for work.
“Penelope is sick,” Dominic says.
“Oh, shit.” Xavier comes into the room and right over to the side of the bed. “Sick how?”
“My head hurts, and my stomach isn’t happy with me right now,” I tell him.
He nods. “Classic. Definitely take the day off then. I see Dr. Dominic already got you a bunch of stuff.”
“Watch it,” Dominic says, sounding unimpressed.
Movement draws my attention back to the doorway, and I see Tristan standing there, watching me. He keeps his distance, not coming fully into the room to join the other two, but there’s a tightening around his eyes that could be concern.
I give him what I hope is a convincing smile, but his expression doesn’t change.