Chapter 7
Asher
“Fuck!” I cursed as I listened to Sierra’s phone message early the next morning.
I’d been in the shower when she’d called me.
Her message had been extremely short, but it had been the tone of her voice that really concerned me.
She had simply said she was sick and that she wouldn’t be making it to my place today.
For a brief moment, I wondered if she was avoiding me after that kiss by the river yesterday, but I discarded that idea because she sounded like she was really in pain.
Her voice had been dull and nothing like her usual upbeat tone.
Now what in the hell was I supposed to do?
She’s sick, Remington. She’ll get better and come back to work tomorrow or the next day.
There was probably no reason to be concerned, but I knew the pain in Sierra’s voice was going to eat at me until I could be certain that she was going to be okay.
Honestly, I regretted acting the way I had the day before.
I’d been so silent and defensive that Sierra had left like she was afraid to say a word to me before she departed.
It wasn’t her fault that she’d gotten a little carried away by the moment at the river and then regretted it once the kiss was over.
I shouldn’t have needed her to remind me exactly what our relationship was, and she’d made it clear that she didn’t want to step out of those boundaries again.
Hell, I’d gotten caught up in the moment, too. It had been so damn long since I’d touched a woman, and I’d never wanted to kiss a woman as badly as I’d wanted to kiss Sierra.
It probably shouldn’t have happened, and Sierra’s reaction had put me on the defensive.
It was stupid, and I wished that I’d talked to her about it instead of retreating into a place of safety.
I’d spent way too much time trying to keep myself safe and isolated.
I listened to her message again, frowning as I noticed that her voice was a little slurred and that she sounded like she was having a hard time speaking.
Why in hell hadn’t she just told me exactly what was happening?
I called her back, but my call went to her voicemail.
And that really concerned me.
Sierra didn’t seem like the type to avoid phone calls unless she wasn’t able to get to her phone for some reason.
Was she too sick to answer?
“Christ!” I cursed as I searched the kitchen for her address in Billings.
I didn’t have much info on Sierra, but I had gotten her basic info for payment and I’d put her number in my phone after she’d starting working for me.
We needed to text or talk sometimes when she was running errands for me.
I found the paper with her information exactly where I’d put it months ago.
I stared at her address, wondering if I really needed to drive to Billings to make sure that she was okay.
She probably wouldn’t want me around if she was sick, but I didn’t let that deter me.
Not really.
She probably had no one to check on her in Billings.
No one to get her what she needed if she was sick.
She’d mentioned that she’d only moved to Billings a short time before she’d started working for me.
“Fuck it!” I grumbled as I grabbed the keys to my SUV and stormed out the door.
I made it to Billings in record time and followed the GPS to get to her place.
I wasn’t happy when I realized that she lived in a run-down part of town with old homes and apartments that had seen better days.
As a whole, Billings was a safe city. But like any small city, it had places that probably weren’t the best areas to live.
I spotted her older vehicle and parked next to it.
I wasn’t going to have a hard time finding her apartment number.
The complex was small, with just a few apartments, and I could see her place from my vehicle.
I sprinted up the rickety steps, noting with disgust that some of the stairs were rotting.
What in the hell was she doing living in a dump like this?
The rents in Billings were reasonable compared to other cities, and I paid her enough to afford a nicer place.
I didn’t see a doorbell, so I knocked impatiently when I got to her door.
No doubt she could hear me if she was in the apartment.
No answer.
I knocked again, slamming my fist against the wood this time.
No damn answer.
Frustrated, I tried the door, surprised when I was able to push it open without a problem.
The damn lock was broken, and anyone could have entered Sierra’s home without even trying.
Thoroughly pissed off now, I entered the apartment, intent on giving Sierra a lecture about having a broken lock on her door.
My intentions evaporated as soon as I noticed that there was almost no furniture in the tiny apartment.
There was no TV.
No sofa.
No pictures on the wall.
There was a card table set up in the middle of the small living room with a folding chair, and a small animal bed sitting in the corner.
That was it.
There was nothing else.
One look at the kitchen and I immediately realized that she had no appliances except for a fridge that looked so old that it shouldn’t be working.
“Sierra!” I bellowed, the sound almost echoing in the nearly empty apartment.
There was no real hallway. I could simply duck my head into a small bedroom that was empty except for an air mattress on the floor. The tiny, attached bathroom had a leaky faucet that had left a permanent brown stain inside the sink.
The place was a shithole, but my biggest concern at the moment was the fact that Sierra wasn’t here.
Her vehicle was here, but the place was empty.
Meow. Meow. Meow.
Okay, maybe the shithole wasn’t completely empty.
I looked down at the black cat on the floor at my feet.
I’d never realized that cats could sound distressed, but this one was definitely feeling off.
Her cries kept coming, and I felt like she was trying to tell me something.
I reached down to reassure the animal, freezing as I heard a muffled sound coming from what looked like a tiny closet.
I rose and opened the door.
There, at the bottom of the closet, was Sierra, curled into a ball, her head covered with her arms.
“Sierra!” I said urgently as I knelt down beside her. “What in the fuck happened to you?”
She shook her head and whimpered. “The light hurts,” she groaned weakly. “Migraine. I can’t handle the light and the noise. I need to be somewhere quiet and dark.”
She’d answered me, but I could tell that she wasn’t entirely coherent.
Looking around, it made sense that she’d sought out the closet. Most of the blinds were broken and the light was heavily streaming into the bedroom.
I closed the closet door, but I didn’t plan on leaving her in there.
We were getting the hell out of here, and if I got my way, she was never coming back.
Meow. Meow. Meow.
I made short work of gathering up cat supplies and the cat. I put the animal in my SUV, along with the few clothes and personal items that I found for Sierra.
I didn’t open every cupboard in the kitchen, but there was almost no food in the ones I did look in, and next to nothing in her fridge.
The conditions she’d been living in made me fucking furious.
Why in the hell had I never known that Sierra was struggling this damn hard?
I should have known.
I should have done everything I could to help her.
She’d held my ass together during Cole’s wedding.
Sierra had been there when I’d needed her, and I repaid her by not giving a shit about her needs.
That ended right fucking now.
Whether she wanted it or not, she was getting my help.
Fuck knew that nobody else was taking care of this woman, and I planned on being the guy who did.
I grabbed the only blanket in the place from the air mattress and carefully opened the door of the closet.
“No,” she whimpered, and the sound of her distress ate my guts out.
I put the blanket over her head and lifted her into my arms.
The ride back to my place might be uncomfortable, but it was better than her spending a day or more suffering in this damn apartment.
I knew very little about migraines, but I knew they could last more than a few hours.
She stirred and let out another sound of distress, but I wasn’t turning back now.
I was going to give her a lot better care than she was getting at the moment.
I strode out of the apartment, taking the stairs as quickly as possible without jostling Sierra too much.
“Sierra?” I said in what I hoped was a low voice that wouldn’t cause her more pain. “Did you take anything?”
“Didn’t have any meds,” she answered weakly, her voice muffled because she was covered by the blanket.
Fuck! I knew I didn’t have anything at my place, and I was going to have to find a way to get her some meds.
I settled her into the passenger seat, reclining it as far as possible so she could stretch out.
As soon as I slid into the driver’s seat, I looked up the number for Reese Remington, my cousin Devon’s wife. It was a weekday, and she was probably in her office in Billings. We’d never really spoken much, but she was a nurse practitioner, and I needed all of the help I could get right now.
I started driving toward home as I dialed her office.
After I explained who I was and that I needed Reese’s help, her receptionist put me on hold, but Reese picked up the call within moments.
“Asher? Is everything okay?” she asked without making polite conversation first.
“No,” I grumbled as I glanced at the woman covered in a blanket beside me. “I need…your help.”
Christ! Why had it been so hard to spit those words out?
Probably because it was the first time I’d asked my family for help of any kind.
I was an antisocial prick, and I didn’t trust anyone except my brother, so I’d learned to depend on no one but myself.
“Of course,” she said. “Anything. You’re family.”
If I wasn’t so damn worried about Sierra, I’d probably be a little humbled by Reese’s response. However, my concern for Sierra made me push every other thought aside.
I quickly explained my situation.
“Take her home,” Reese instructed. “I’ll get some meds delivered to you shortly after you get to your ranch.
It would have been more ideal if she’d taken something as soon as the migraine was starting, but I can send something that will still give her some relief and some supporting meds for nausea and some of the uncomfortable symptoms.”
“How long will this migraine last?” I asked as I turned onto the freeway.
“I don’t know any of her history,” Reese explained. “It could be a day. It could be three days. It’s hard to predict. All you can do is support her and put her in the quietest, darkest room in your house. Let me get those meds moving. If you don’t mind, I’ll stop over after work to check on her.”
I hated company, but I wanted someone medical to see Sierra more than I wanted my solitude.
“I’d appreciate it,” I answered in a graveled voice.
“You sound really worried,” Reese said sympathetically. “She’ll be okay, Asher. Migraines are extremely uncomfortable, but they aren’t fatal. She’ll be wiped out once it’s over, but she should be back to herself again in a few days.”
We ended the call so Reese could find someone to deliver the meds.
I looked at the passenger seat for what felt like the thousandth time, noting that the blanket moved occasionally, but Sierra hadn’t made a sound.
I exited the freeway when I got closer to Crystal Fork and started toward my ranch, trying to plan exactly what I needed to do when I got home.
Putting her somewhere quiet and dark wasn’t a problem. I had blackout shades in my bedroom. On the nights when I had really bad insomnia, I wanted to get some sleep without the early morning sun in my face.
Meow. Meow. Meow.
The cat was making her feelings known, but for some reason she didn’t jump on Sierra.
It was like the feline had been through this before with her human.
Instead, she cautiously stepped onto my leg and slowly curled up in my lap.
I reached down to pet her as I pulled into my driveway.
I’d never had a cat but I generally liked animals and they usually seemed to like me.
The cat and I had some form of comradery right now because we apparently wanted the same thing.
We both needed to see Sierra healthy and out of pain as quickly as possible.