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“Great. And who’s protecting him?” she replied, irritated.
“I doubt anyone has ever thought he needed it,” Max answered thoughtfully.
“He does, dammit. He doesn’t need to always be the protector,” she answered stubbornly, wishing someone had been there to protect him when he was younger. “Everyone needs support sometimes.”
Max walked her to her car before he answered in a low, emotional voice, “You know, I do believe you’re right. Take care of him, Maddie.”
Giving in to her compulsion to soothe Max, she hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her back, both of them staying in that position for a moment as some sort of mysterious connection was cemented between them.
“I’ll call you.” Max let go of her reluctantly and opened her car door.
“Talk to you soon,” she answered, her soul still slightly unsettled from the way she was drawn to Max’s suffering.
“Don’t let Sam boss you around,” Max said laughingly as Maddie settled herself in the car.
She chortled. “Not happening or I’ll find a reason he suddenly needs a shot in the ass,” she assured Max. Sam was going to listen to her and he was going to get well.
She heard Max’s delighted laugh as he closed her car door. She exited the parking lot and headed straight toward Sam’s house, trying not to notice his security trailing behind her.
Sam groaned as he rolled over in bed and pulled the pillow over his head, feeling so damn miserable that he wished he could just sleep until he felt recovered. Sweat rolled off his body in tiny ringlets that were slowly saturating his sheets, and he shivered from the damp linens beneath him.
“Fuck!” He muttered the curse, but not too loud. If he made any sudden movements, those little men in his head with the hammers would start banging away again.
There wasn’t a part of his body that didn’t ache and his ribs were screaming in protest from his nearly-constant cough.
He heard a ruckus coming from downstairs, but he ignored it. Whatever it was, his security would handle it. It was what he paid them to do. Right now, he just wanted to be alone in his misery.
“I don’t care if he isn’t seeing anyone. He’s seeing me. I’m his doctor.”
Maddie. Shit.
Sam struggled to sit up, but ended up flat on his back again as dizziness assaulted him, making the whole room spin.
I hate this shit. I’m so fucking weak.And if there was one thing Sam hated, it was feeling helpless.
His door burst open and he cracked one eye open to see the most beautiful sight in the world.
Maddie.
He scowled as he saw two security agents holding her by the arms on both sides. “Get your fucking hands off her. And don’t ever touch her again.” His voice was hoarse, but he got his point across.
The guards released her like she was a hot coal. “Sorry, Mr. Hudson. She broke away at the door and we couldn’t catch her. You said you weren’t to be disturbed.”
“She’s the exception. Always,” he grunted. “Now leave.”
The guards left, leaving Maddie standing by the door. She closed the door and came to the side of the bed, one hand on her hip. She placed a cool hand on his forehead gently, smoothing the damp hair from his face. “What in the hell are you doing to yourself? You’re burning up. Are you taking anything?”
“Don’t need pills. I’ll get over it,” he croaked, watching her in curious fascination.
She marched into the master bathroom, and Sam could hear her rifling through the cabinets. “What the hell! Don’t you have anything except condoms in here?”
Sam knew it was a rhetorical question, but as she came back out looking like a wild-eyed, furious goddess, he answered, “No. I don’t take pills. Never need them.”
She picked up his cell phone from the bedside table and started scanning his numbers, punching one with a vengeance. After she verified that she had Sam’s personal assistant on the line, she started rattling off orders like a drill sergeant. She hung up the phone with an angry punch to theoffbutton and called another number, a pharmacy from what he could gather by the conversation. She finished, slamming his smartphone back onto the bedside table with enough force to make him wince.
“You need clean sheets and fluids. Can you manage to get in the shower if I help you?” she asked, her voice demanding.
Like his tiny little woman was going to hold his weight? He smirked. “You know, this bossy doctor thing is pretty hot. Will you scrub my back?”