Page 118 of Caution to the Wind

Without thinkin’, my hold on her wrist gentled and dropped, my knuckles skimmin’ over the tight skin of her cheek. “Gotta ice this.”

She swallowed thickly. “Yeah. But right now, I’m more concerned about the whiplash you’re giving me. Why are you being so nice?”

My heart was a heavy carcass in my chest. “You think I’m so different a man now, after prison and all the rest, that I can’t treat a woman who’s been assaulted with kindness?”

“I’m not just any woman,” she corrected with almost a wince.

“No,” I agreed, runnin’ my thumb down her square jawline so I could pinch her chin and force her to meet my eyes. “You’ve never been just any woman. We might not be…friends anymore, Mei, but once, you were family. Once, I went to prison happy to think I’d given you a chance at a beautiful life. One I believed to my bones you deserved. Don’t know why you stopped talkin’ to me, and honest to fuck, I don’t wanna know anymore. We don’t hafta open up those old wounds. Right now, this mornin’, you’re a woman I’ve cared about who needs carin’ for, and that’s all there is to it.”

“How can you forget even for a second?” she whispered thickly, her long, straight lashes casting shadows on her purpled cheeks.

The sight of her so hurt was like a knife thrust into my gut, the pain unrelentin’.

“At this moment, your pain is fresher than mine. I’m not sayin’ this changes things between us other than to say you’re stayin’ here for a while. ’Til you recover enough not to sway like this.” I steadied her with two hands on her shoulders, then decided, fuck it, and picked her up by the armpits to carefully place her down on the island again so she’d rest while I made her breakfast. “’Til you find a place that isn’t a shithole.”

“Purgatory Motel has its own charms,” she protested, but it was weak ’cause she was white with nausea.

Quickly, I grabbed a steel bowl from the dryin’ rack and moved between her thighs, grabbing most of her hair off her shoulders before she threw up into the bowl. When she was finished, I took the bowl to the sink, wet a cloth, and got a glass of water for Mei, then I took the bowl outside to rinse it at the side of the house.

When I got back, she was chuggin’ the water.

“Careful, or you’ll make yourself sick again,” I warned. “Just sit there and let me finish the congee. You’ll feel better with some food in your stomach.”

She made a noise of consent without liftin’ her gaze to mine, no doubt embarrassed about pukin’.

“I was a doctor, remember,” I reminded her as I went back to the stove. “Not my first time holdin’ a bowl.”

“No, but still…” She sucked in a deep breath. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I cracked open the window beside the sink after checkin’ on the pot and then poured us both a new cup of joe. When I handed it over, Mei shivered, freezin’ in just my oversized tee. Cursin’ under my breath, I went into the laundry room, exchanged my damp bathin’ suit and towel for a pair of clean grey sweatpants, and grabbed Mei a fresh zip-up hoodie that was part of the set.

When I returned with it, she blanched a little but didn’t protest when I forcibly put the hoodie on her.

“I’m concussed, not paralysed,” she said afterward as I handed her the coffee mug again.

“You were cold.”

“You’re barely wearing anything. You aren’t?”

I looked down at my bare chest, absently notin’ that the teeth marks Mei’d bitten into my chest were still pink. Cleo hadn’t seen me bare-chested this mornin’ ’cause Lin had taken her to therapy, but I made a note to put a shirt on before she got home and noticed.

“The cold doesn’t bother me, never has.”

“I forgot,” she said softly. “You used to wear just your Fallen cut when it was snowing out.”

I shrugged. “It’s the Vikin’ blood.”

“Where’s Cleo this morning?”

“At therapy, should be back soon. I’ll give you breakfast and get you back to bed then I gotta get to the shop. Sara, our receptionist, quit ’cause of the assault. Can’t blame her, obviously, but now we gotta get a temp and rearrange all of Jae Pil’s appointments ’cause of his broken hand. I’m just goin’ in for a couple of hours to get shit on track, but I’ll be back before dinner. Lin’s gonna do up a hot pot for everyone.”

“You mean…” She paused delicately. “I’m invited to stay for dinner?”

I resumed stirrin’ the thickenin’ congee. “That’s what I said.”

It was almost palpable, her struggle to digest that little bit of news. Sharin’ food was a big deal in any culture, but it was especially important to Lin and Mei. Bein’ included would mean a lot to her.