Page 32 of Anything for You (Veterans of Silver Ridge #7)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Dorian

I hadn’t seen Dove in two days.

I tried not to pout about it, but I definitely was. Mostly, it was her work schedule, although she’d come home earlier than usual last night but I’d been the one out late. I’d taken a low-key job for Saint—one I’d eyed on the schedule as something I could do without too much anxiety surrounding it.

Kenny, Luc, and Jude knew I was struggling with assignments still, but as far as I knew, everyone else thought I’d overcome all my issues and worked part-time because that was the way I wanted it. And in some ways, it was.

I didn’t want to be uninvolved. I didn’t want to lose my family at Saint. And there was a real fear that if I let this… itch to step back even further take over, I’d do just that.

A small voice suggested I interrogate that premise. At some point, I’d have to bring it up with Dr. Corrigan and we’d likely look at it from every angle. It’d be painful. It’d probably help.

But sometimes, therapy was like that—painful and helpful. And sometimes, knowing this made it hard to want to do, even knowing the helpful part would ultimately and possibly dramatically improve one’s life.

Was I in danger of focusing all my attention and energy on the farm and this new thing with Dove and ignoring those niggling little problems I should be addressing? Yes.

I didn’t want to think about that right now, though.

I wanted to think about how I hadn’t really texted Dove much.

I had her number, but we’d not breached the chatting wall, likely because when she was at work, she didn’t stay tuned into her phone, and if she wasn’t at work, usually she was here.

Otherwise, she visited her nan and saw her friends, and she’d mentioned she hated to be glued to her phone in those instances.

I appreciated this, so why would I contribute to the need to be tuned in by texting?

And yet… I wanted to see her. She worked so hard, and she’d been so worn out by Sunday’s events.

I’d left her dinner Monday night, but since I’d worked late yesterday, I hadn’t gotten to. So tonight, I’d track her down.

She rolled into her usual parking spot at nearly eight-thirty. I didn’t want to seem like a puppy waiting at the door for her, though it wouldn’t have been an inaccurate description, so I decided to take a lap around the kitchen and then exit the house.

By the time I did so, she was still sitting in the car.

Worry spiked, and I jogged over to her driver’s side door, sliding the pastry box onto the roof and yanking the door open.

“Dove, what?— ”

She looked nearly gray in the dim light, her color so off.

“I don’t feel good.”

“No, you mustn’t. Can I help you inside?”

She looked at her hands where they rested limply on her navy scrub-clad legs. “I was going to go inside. Get some fluids and take some meds. But I can’t seem to make me do it.”

There was something so adorably simple and innocent about that statement, so plain and sweet, and yet the charm it held soured when I acknowledged how unlike her it was.

She was quick to act and get things done.

She didn’t linger in her car, and she didn’t talk as though she had no control over her body.

“Can I help you inside, Dove?” I asked again, hoping she’d give her consent this time, but deciding that even if she didn’t, I’d try to coax her out of the car and see if I could get a handle on what was wrong.

“You? You can help me with anything you want. You can get it, Dorian.”

Her eyes widened and blinked so innocently, I almost wished it were brighter so I could enjoy the expression.

I coughed, trying not to laugh at a time like now. Good to know I can get it. She hadn’t hidden her attraction to me by any means, but for a heartbeat, I stayed immobilized by the delight before my logic broke through and restarted my movements.

“Alright. Let’s get you unbuckled, and I’ll help you in. We’ll figure this out.”

Her soft “’kay” came in a whisper, but she still didn’t move. So, I started narrating my movements.

“I’m unbuckling you now.” With a click, the belt released, and I guided it over her inert arm and past her face back to its resting, retracted position. “Now I’m going to take your arm and help you up, okay?”

She nodded, not resisting, but barely helping. With more effort than I’d expected, I maneuvered her out of the car, all while she periodically whispered her apologies.

As I guided her up the stairs holding most of her weight slumped against me with one hand around her back, I took her keys and unlocked her door. “No need to apologize, honey. You’re sick.”

Heat was absolutely radiating off her, and anywhere I touched was burning. She had to have a fever and based on the way she winced and her lethargy, she’d been feeling bad for a while.

After settling her on the couch, I knelt down so we were eye to eye and took one of her hands. “Dove, can you tell me where your medicine is? Do you have a thermometer?”

She blinked back at me like I’d posed a riddle. “I have a fever?”

“You do. I want to see how high it is, and I need to get you some medicine. You might need to go to the hospital.” I could get her to the Silverton ER in twenty minutes—maybe even fifteen since it was late enough there wouldn’t be traffic.

“I’m not going to the hospital. I work there. I literally work there, Dorian. Dorian.” She sighed and her head dropped back. “I like you so much and I hate that you’re seeing me like this.”

Her voice held tears, and I moved to sit by her, brushing the hair out of her face and cupping her hot-to-the-touch cheek with my palm. “I want to help you feel better. Can I do that for you? I can call one of your friends if you’d rather. ”

I had no doubt Elise or Jo or any of the women she was so close with would be here in a heartbeat if I asked them to.

Speaking of, I texted Doc. Dove might be a nurse, but she couldn’t assess herself. If she didn’t want to go to the hospital, I’d have to use what resources I had.

“No. You can do it.” Her blue eyes blinked open and took a moment before they focused in on me. “I trust you.”

A wild roar of triumph rose up inside me, but I quelled it in favor of stroking her cheek. “Thank you, honey. I’m going to get some supplies and I’ll be right back, okay?”

She mumbled her assent, and I moved. She’d mentioned medicine in the car, and if she was anything like Doc and other medical types I’d known over the years, she had a decent supply of over-the-counter options somewhere.

I found a tidy basket of brand-name and generic offerings in the linen closet and rifled through them to find a temporal thermometer and a few different options to address the fever. I’d need to figure out her other symptoms, too.

After a scan, the thermometer showed a solid fever of over a hundred and three.

“I’m going to take your sweatshirt off, okay? We need to let your body cool a bit. Can you tell me what else is wrong?” I asked, sliding her arms out and guiding her forward.

Her brow tented in the middle, and her lips were curved into a frown. “My whole everything hurts. Throat. Body aches. I had chills last night. Been feeling worn down since Sunday, but I thought it was all the stuff with Hawk and then work. Guess it was this plague.”

“What’s going around? Anything you’ve been seeing at the clinic?” Might give me a decent clue.

“Lots of seasonal allergies. Had a case of norovirus last week, a few strep throats and a flu B or two. Nothing major. This time of year doesn’t tend to be too awful. It’s probably allergies for me, too. I just need to sleep.”

She said all of this with her eyes closed, her mouth barely moving enough to form the words. Yeah. Definitely just allergies.

“When was the last time you ate?” She’d need food in her belly to at least address the fever. Couldn’t do much if it was flu. Maybe Doc could bring a strep test.

“I had the dinner you made me last night. It was so good. Didn’t have an appetite this morning… guess that should’ve tipped me off.” She sat up and pulled at her shirt, yanking the scrub top over her head and leaving her in only a thin white tank that hugged her glorious curves. “It’s hot.”

You’re telling me. Unhelpful thought, but there was no denying I found every single part of Dove attractive.

For now, I had a job to do. Get her meds, see what Doc could do, and hopefully avoid a middle of the night trip to the ER if things got worse.

She’d put her trust in me, and I wouldn’t fail her.