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SADIE

I can’t believe I did it again.

Aubry was amazing. Without a word, he put his shirt on me, scooped me up, and drove me to the hospital. All the while, I sat in the front seat of his truck holding the next epipen if I crashed. He kept talking to me, trying to gauge if another reaction was going to hit.

Meanwhile, I kept pinching myself for being so stupid.

How did I miss it this time?

I swear I was good the whole week. Nothing new. I checked all the labels…

Unless that frozen stir-fry mix I got had eggplant added into it? No. I’m sure it doesn’t. It didn’t.

Fuck.

After Aubry carried me into the hospital, shouted that I was having an allergic reaction and needed help now. Holding me tight, he rushed for the room and sat me down where a nurse proceeded to poke me, stick an oxygen mask on, and wait.

And wait.

There’s always a lot of waiting.

Two hours on and he’s sitting in the chair, head resting on his fist looking about to fall asleep. I’ve been pumped with so much adrenaline I feel like I could run a marathon. Of course it might be a bit difficult with this IV in. Instead of getting up, I flip through the TV channels haphazardly.

The door opens. I don’t look over, but Aubry jerks awake then jumps to his feet.

“Miss Nair,” a random nurse who’s not mine says while flipping up a stack of papers.

“Hi.” I let the remote fall, my manic channel surfing landing on the Food Network. Great.

“Seems you had an allergic reaction.”

“Yes, I did.” I sigh, knowing this song and dance all too well.

He scrutinizes my file. “And you were just in here not even a month ago.”

“Yep.”

The nurse presses the clipboard to his hip and gives me the withering stare. “One too many exposures can make this a dangerous situation.”

“I know—”

He looks about to chastise me as if I can tell my immune system to stop freaking out over a vegetable. Then Aubry looms behind him, easily a good foot taller. “Is she in any danger?” he booms.

The nurse jumps and skitters farther from my bed.

He’s staring at the papers again, but the scolding tone shifts to one of respect.

“We managed to reduce the swelling and her airways appear to be seventy percent functional.” Then I get the finger wag.

“But you need to speak with our specialist to devise a plan in order to avoid your allergen.”

My plan is to never eat eggplant. It generally works, except when it doesn’t and I wind up in the hospital.

“What is your allergen?”

With an exhausted sigh, I tell him. “Eggplant.”

The nurse doesn’t react beyond a little snort, but Aubry jolts upright fast.

“Did you accidentally consume any eggplant?” the nurse asks.

“No,” I declare confidently.

He grits his teeth and goes down the checklist as Aubry starts to pace. With a hand clutching his hair, he hides his eyes.

“What were you doing before you suffered your attack?”

Oh, crap. I forgot about that question. Most of the time I answer eating. “Um…” I lick my lips, then wince at how sore they are. “Do you need to know that?”

“Yes.”

Guiltily, I stare up at the man I was doing. He’s drifted into the background but keeps staring over at me. “I was…ah… Will it go in my record? Like, whatever I say here, it’s confidential right. Because of the hippo?”

“HIPAA, and yes.” The nurse cranes his head back to glance at the giant man pacing behind him. “It will not be available to anyone but your doctor.”

Oh, great. So that means my family doctor, my Baba’s doctor, can hear about how I sucked a man’s cock and wound up in the ER. Great.

“We were…sleeping,” I mumble.

“You were what?”

“I said we were sleeping…” I fold my fingers together hoping he understands.

“I don’t know what you’re saying.”

With a loud boom, Aubry shouts, “We fucked.”

The nurse’s face turns three shades of red in a second. “Ah, right. Of course. Did you use condoms?”

“We do.” I race to assure him that I am a good little slut who prides herself on birth control.

“It could be a latex allergy. Latent, but one allergy can lead to another.” He jots something down looking like he wants to bolt. Probably before my giant boyfriend tries to defend my honor.

A latex allergy? Just what I fucking need. No, that would mean no fucking. Ever.

“Great,” I moan, falling back onto the pillows.

“Well…” The nurse backs up for the door. “The specialist will speak with you in the morning about a plan. I’ll just—”

Aubry catches his arm. “We didn’t use a condom.” He speaks to the nurse but stares at me the whole time. “Can an allergen be transferred in semen?”

Holy shit! He asks it so casually, but also with an edge. Like the answer is life or death.

“Possibly. There might be a few cases. I can look into that…” The nurse shrugs off Aubry and hurls open the door so fast, the drawn curtains smack against the glass. “Avoid any potential contact until we determine the source.”

With that, he flees.

I drop my hands to my lap and stare up at the TV. A grandmotherly British lady is peeling a zucchini while talking about her garden.

“You didn’t tell me—” Aubry begins.

I swing my gaze over to him feeling like a pin cushion that’s been sat on. Rather than ream me out too, he drops his head and tousles the back of his hair. “How are you doing?”

“Better.” I put on a weak smile and reach for him.

Did he hesitate?

No. He holds my hand and drags over one of the chairs to sit beside me.

I’m just beat from all of this.

Without the oxygen mask on, and the nurses gone, it hits me how badly I fucked up. “I’m sorry,” I moan.

“For what?”

“I ruined everything. The date. You…you were going to punish me—”

“Sadie.”

“You wanted to fuck me, and I wouldn’t let you because I had to prove that I could do it.

And instead, I wind up in the damn hospital.

The least sexy place imaginable unless your kink is bed pans and weird tape.

” The tears are nonstop. This isn’t my first time here, or my third.

I’ve been to the hospital eight times thanks to my allergy.

The first few were when we didn’t know what caused it.

One time I ate my brother’s lunch by mistake.

Then Derek…

I keep shaking my head, the tears falling harder. “I should have told you. I shouldn’t have been a coward. It’s all my fucking fault and—”

“Shh, shh…” Aubry reaches over to run his arm across my shoulders and rub them. “It’s not your fault.”

“My fucking immune system…”

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. “You can’t control it.”

Oh, god, I disappointed him. I never wanted to disappoint him. First, I turn down his offer to live with him, and now this…

But the way he didn’t just vanish when I had my attack gives me pause. He saved me. He ran in here, refused to take a no or wait in line. Rushed me to a room and saved me life.

Again.

Who wouldn’t want to live with that?

Safe, happy, fucked within an inch of your life every day?

“Thank you,” I whisper and lean closer.

He starts to pucker up for a kiss, and I do the same. But before he touches me, he pulls back. I stare at him in confusion and he pats his lips. “They look a little sore.” Aubry extends his pinkie. I touch mine, then wince.

“Yeah. I guess they are.” Unable to kiss him, I lean my head over to rest against his chest. His heart is pounding like he’s still terrified I’m in danger.

For a long time we sit like that watching the old lady chop through her whole garden to make lasagnas and relishes. I like him. A lot. Sometimes so much it hurts.

And I want to be with him.

So why not?

Why don’t I move in with Aubry Gene?

“Sadie?”

His voice is so soft I nearly miss my name. Feeling drowsy, I crane my neck up. He’s staring through the wall as he runs his hand up and down my arm.

“Are you really allergic to eggplant?”

“Yep. All kinds.” Oh. Oh, shit. Of course. It all makes sense now. “It’s not your fault. This isn’t your fault.”

He gives the least convincing, “Hmm?” in all of history.

I get it now. Why he freaked out when he heard it. “I don’t blame you for eating eggplant.” Even if he said he didn’t like it before. Tastes can change.

“Right.” Aubry gives a weak smile. “I ate it. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I throw my arms around him and snuggle against his chest. If I had the strength, I would pull him into my bed—hospital rules be damned. “I didn’t even know I could have a reaction that way. Learn something new every day.”

“Yes. Yes, you do.”

“So, I guess, all you have to do is tell me when you eat eggplant, and I won’t drink your cum like a veggie smoothie.” I try to go for a laugh, but I full on cringe once it leaves my mouth.

Aubry doesn’t wince. He’s still staring off into space while holding me. I place my palm to his bare chest and trace along the lines of the tattoo. The nurses had offered him a gown, but Aubry brushed it off. His only concern was me.

But he’s got to be cold in just his jeans.

It’s also three in the morning.

“You should head home,” I tell him.

“No. I won’t leave you.” He tightens his grip and swoops around me.

“It’s fine. They’re going to keep me under watch for six hours. Or probably twelve this time. Got to make sure the allergen’s out of my system and all.”

“Of course,” he mumbles.

“It’s really boring. And you’ll have to feed Astin.”

Aubry gives a little chuckle. “Very well.” He folds in around me, snuggling me to his body until I could pass out against his bare pecs. As he bends down to kiss the top of my head, he whispers, “But I’m staying until dawn.”

My fight is gone. I could insist that he head home now, get some sleep. But the truth is, I don’t want him to go.

And I want to be with him…for as long as I can.