Page 95 of Bellini Bound

Bianca whined but complied. Just as I suspected, her tonsils were inflamed, and there were red spots on the roof of her mouth.

“Okay.” I poured the appropriate dosage of medicine into the little cup that came with the bottle and brought it to her lips. “I need you to drink this.”

Her nose wrinkled when she took the first sip, and she shoved my hand away. “I don’t like it. It’s yucky.” She stuck her tongue out and gagged.

“Just a little more,” I coaxed, bringing the cup to her mouth once more. “It’s going to make you feel better, I promise.”

Bianca sputtered, choking down the thick liquid.

“All done.” Running my hands down her hair, I praised, “You did so good.”

The second those words left my mouth, she heaved, spewing purple-tinged vomit all over herself, her sheets, and me, before promptly bursting into tears.

“I’m s-s-sorry,” she wailed.

Completely immune to being covered in bodily fluids, I didn’t bat an eyelash as I scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom she shared with her sister. Starting the water and stripping her down, I reassured the little girl, “It’s okay, honey. We’ll get you all cleaned up.”

Big fat tears rolled down her pinkened cheeks. “I th-threw up on y-you.”

I lifted her into the tub. “Clothes can be washed. No biggie, I promise.”

“What’s going on in here?” Enzo’s voice near the door drew my attention.

“Just a little incident involving some regurgitated medicine.” When I gestured to the mess coating my shirt, he took an involuntary step backward.

Bianca sniffled. “I threw up.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” He cringed before schooling his face into a more sympathetic expression.

“I’ve got her handled, if you wanna give that doctor a call. He can confirm when he gets here, but I’m pretty sure she has strep throat. So, if he wouldn’t mind bringing a course of liquid amoxicillin with him, we can get her on the mend faster.”

Enzo hiked Serafina higher on his hip and tilted his head toward the toddler. “This one was hospitalized with RSV last winter.”Nowit made sense why he was freaking out over Bianca being sick. “Could that happen again if she catches this?”

I shook my head. “Not likely. They’re caused by different pathogens. One is a virus; the other is a bacterial infection. But do you happen to know if she’s prone to febrile seizures?”

“I don’t even know what that is.”

“It’s a seizure brought on by a fever in otherwise typically healthy young children.”

My husband’s eyes widened in alarm. “Uh. I don’t think so?”

“Either way, it’s best if we keep them separated. Since you haven’t had any contact with Bianca, it’s probably best if you take Serafina until her sister’s fever breaks.”

“How long will that take?” I could tell he was anxious as hell from the way he was shifting on his feet.

“No longer than a day once she starts antibiotics.”

“Right. I’ll make that call.” With a knock on the doorframe, he disappeared.

Bianca was floating on her back in the shallow bathwater, her eyelids drooping, so it took some effort to rouse her enough to get clean. Toweling her off, I deposited her on the princess reading chair in her room while I changed her bedding and stepped out to swap out my dirty clothes for clean ones before getting her situated back in bed.

She’d just fallen asleep when the doctor arrived. I relayed her symptoms and my own observations, and he agreed with my initial assessment, electing not to wake the sleeping mafia princess and providing the antibiotics I’d requested. He left instructions to call if her condition worsened and to take her directly to the ER if her fever reached the danger zone—over one hundred and five degrees.

I thanked him for coming, and once he was gone, I set up camp, ready to be at Bianca’s beck and call until she was back on her feet.

Standing on the open threshold to Bianca’s room, watching her sleep, arms curled around my waist from behind.

It had been a whole day since I’d been wrapped in Enzo’s familiar scent, and I melted into his embrace with a contented sigh.