Page 43 of The Curse of Redwood

“You don’t recall?”

Now, I was really worried. What the hell did I do?

“You crawled on top of me and pulled at my clothes like a sex crazed beast,” Z explained. Bits and pieces came back to me as he talked. “However, you weren’t yourself. I sensed something was off. I suspect the fever made you behave that way, because you collapsed soon after. Swear to me you’ll go to the physician.”

Suspecting it was a losing argument, I put my hands up in exasperation. “Fine. I’ll call my boss and tell her what’s going on, then I’ll go to the doctor. Happy?”

“Quite.” Z bent to kiss my temple. “As much as I want to hold you in my arms and make sure you’re well, I hear your stomach rumbling all the way from here. You should leave.”

Now that he mentioned it, I realized I was starving. Z walked with me to the back door before holding my face in his hands. No words were spoken as I looked up into his blue eyes, yet I felt so much that he wasn’t saying. That he had been worried about me, that he didn’t want me to go but knew I needed to.

He gave me a featherlight kiss and brushed his cold fingers through my hair.

And then he was gone.

I stared at the place he’d been, wondering if he was still there. Theo did that sometimes. He’d disappear but still be in the room. Maybe Z thought I wouldn’t leave unless he did first.

After one last look into the mansion, I left.

On my way to the doctor’s office, I bought a breakfast sandwich from McDonald’s and scarfed it down in four bites. Before going inside the clinic, I called my boss. I wasn’t leaving her much time to find someone to fill in for me at the store, but she seemed to understand. It was the first time in the three years I’d worked there that I had called in sick.

I didn’tfeelsick, but something weird had definitely happened yesterday. Best to be sure.

“Are you prone to migraines?” Dr. Wilson asked once I finally went back into a room almost two hours later.

“No. I’ve never had one.”

“Sounds to me like you had one yesterday,” he said. “Some migraines are more severe, but they can include nausea, blacking out, extreme head pain, and some people even temporarily lose their vision.”

“It felt like my head was going to explode.”

He nodded and wrote something on his pad. “I’m prescribing you 10mg Tramadol to help if you have another. If they become frequent, I can refer you to a neurologist.”

“Thanks.” I paid a ridiculous amount of money for the five minutes I actually spoke to the doctor, and then I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription once it was ready. I doubted I’d need the pain medicine, but it was good to have it just in case.

I called my boss back and told her I was done at the doctor and asked if she wanted me to come in, and she said for me to take the day off and rest.

Before driving home, I debated on going to Redwood.

Z would want to know my diagnosis. The dude probably thought I was dying. But just as I started to turn that way, my phone rang.

“Hey, Ben,” I answered, after seeing the name flash on my screen.

“You okay? I got your text about being at the doctor.”

I changed direction and drove toward Ellwood Street—toward home. “Yeah, I’m fine. Doc thinks it was a migraine. You get those, right?”

“Unfortunately,” he muttered. “They can be stress related. And you’ve been on edge for months over all of this Redwood business. You should take your own advice and take better care of yourself. Isn’t that what you told me when I passed out with one? Then, you and Theo got into a fight.”

“We didn’t fight,” I said, remembering that day so clearly. Theo had called me from Ben’s phone freaking out because Ben had collapsed downstairs. It was the first time I’d met Theo. Damn. How time flew by. That seemed like forever ago. “Ghost boy and I are friends now, though, so it all worked out.”

“Do you need me to bring you anything?”

“You’re not writing?” I turned down the street, the road eventually transitioning from pavement to dirt.

“Taking a break today,” he answered. “Theo’s orders.”

I chuckled. “That boy has you whipped, Ben. You can bring yourself over if you want. I’m just now getting home.”