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“I was in a rush this morning and grabbed the wrong granola bar,” I explained. “There’s only one brand that doesn’t have nuts in it and it looked a lot like the others.”

The doctor walked in before Hayden could respond, and he ran the usual tests to make sure my body was responding to the medication.

It always did, and in the monotony of his rehearsed warnings I found myself staring at Hayden. She listened to the doctor intently, her brows drawn down on concentration. She nodded almost imperceptibly here and there, and it was just…

Adorable.

Once he’d finally signed off on my chart and discharged me, Hayden waited for me to change.

“You good to go?” she asked when I reemerged from the bathroom.

I nodded, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “Uh, could you maybe drop me off at home first?” I asked, fidgeting with the hem of my t-shirt. “I wanna pick up some food before heading back to the store.”

“You’re not going back to the store,” Hayden said, shaking her head as she unlocked her car.

“Then where…?”

She jerked her chin at the passenger door. “Get in.”

Hayden spent the majority of the car ride on the phone with various assistants and partners, handing out orders. Exhaustion clung to my bones, and I slipped in and out of consciousness.

I must have fallen asleep because suddenly Hayden was at the passenger door, her hands gently undoing my seatbelt.

“Can you walk?” she asked, her hands braced on my forearms.

I nodded a little blearily and struggled to get out of the low car. “Why is your car trying to become one with the fucking road?” I grouched, huffing to my feet and trying my best not to eat dirt.

Hayden chuckled, her breath soft against the shell of my ear. “You can make jokes once you’ve slept and then eaten something bigger than a granola bar,” she countered, walking me up the few steps into her house.

“Fair point.”

She walked me inside, leading me directly to the living room. I took one look at the long sofa and my body could have collapsed in relief.

“Woah, Frankie, hey,” Hayden said, her arm tightening around my waist to keep me upright. “Don’t pass out on me again.”

A hint of panic tinged her words and I waved her off. “I’m just tired,” I murmured through a yawn. “Had a super late shift at June’s last night.”

“Yeah, and I bet you had a long shift the night before that as well.”

“Maybe,” I hedged, flopping down onto the sofa with a graceless groan.

“Careful,” Hayden scolded, her hands fluttering over me worriedly. “Hold on, okay? I’ll grab a pillow and a blanket.”

She hurried off and I mumbled something in reply. I sank into the softness of the sofa, feeling safe.

Hayden

I rushed back into the living room, arms laden with pillows and blankets in case the sofa was too uncomfortable.

“You still with me, Frankie?” I asked as I walked in. I scanned her still figure on the sofa and sighed. “Not anymore, I guess.”

As gently as I could, I lifted her head and put a pillow beneath her, but I could have dropped a nuclear warhead and she would have probably slept right through it.

I draped the blanket over her and she shifted slightly, making me freeze in case I woke her. But she only hummed and snuggled deeper into the blanket. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief and stepped back. There was no way around it now.

I sat on the sofa beside her sleeping form, listening to her deep, steady breaths, counting each one to keep myself from falling apart. Frankie mumbled in her sleep, one of her hands reaching out and fisting in the fabric of my shirt. I chuckled softly, running my fingers through the wild curls of her hair, losing myself to the silkiness and the quiet intimacy.

I pulled out my phone and answered a few texts while she slept soundly beside me, and ordered some food for her to eat the moment she woke up.