18
O lani was sweating bullets, and she’d felt queasy since she woke up that morning.
She’d brushed it off, thinking it would subside after a little while.
That hadn’t been the case, and now she was seated behind her desk at work, feeling like she’d come down with the flu.
She felt awful and still had several hours of work left, but she knew she should go home.
She was in the middle of setting her out-of-office message for the rest of the day when there was a knock on her door.
Elion stood there with a beautiful bouquet in an emerald-colored crystal vase.
They were supposed to go out the following evening, but with how she currently felt, she wasn’t sure they’d be doing so.
“Hey,” she greeted with a small smile. “What are you doing here?”
“I was in town and thought I’d stop by to see you.” He walked over to her desk and placed the bouquet on it.
“Thank you, baby. These are gorgeous.”
He studied her for a moment before walking around her desk. He turned her chair and placed his hands on the sides of her neck. Olani brought her hands up to his wrists.
“You’re burning up, Sweetheart.”
“Yeah, I’m not feeling well. I was getting ready to leave when you walked in.”
He removed his hands from her neck, and she let his wrists go. “Why don’t you finish packing up, and I’ll take you home. We’ll get some fluids and some soup into you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
Olani turned back toward her computer and finished her out-of-office message.
She grabbed her tablet and purse, only for him to take them from her.
He stepped aside and allowed her to lead the way out of her office.
She told her receptionist she was leaving for the day and would see them all on Monday.
Once outside, Elion led her to his car, telling her he would bring her back to get hers when she felt better, and she didn’t protest. She just wanted to get home and take a nap.
She gave him directions to her house, and when he pulled into her driveway, he opened the passenger side door and helped her out. She led the way to her front door, unlocking it and leading him inside.
“I would give you a tour, but all I want to do is lie down.”
“Don’t worry about it, baby. You lie down, and I’ll make some soup.”
She went down the hall into her bedroom, placing her purse and tablet on the dresser.
She sat on the bed, and Elion walked over, taking her shoes off and setting them aside.
He kissed her forehead before telling her he’d check on her soon.
She lay down, and it didn’t take her long to drift off to sleep.
O lani’s eyes slowly opened, and she looked at the clock sitting on her nightstand.
She’d been asleep for two hours and could honestly sleep some more, but her bladder demanded that she relieve it.
She sat up and stretched, feeling several of her bones pop before she stood and went into her en suite.
After emptying her bladder, she washed her hands before grabbing a face towel and washing her face.
She brushed her teeth and left the bathroom, turning the light off.
She walked down her hallway, and the delicious aroma of spices guided her toward her kitchen.
She found Elion standing at her stove, stirring what she assumed was soup.
He turned to look at her as she entered.
“Did your nap help any?”
“A little,” Olani responded.
“Well, I ran out and got you some medicine and orange juice. The soup is just about ready.”
“Thank you. Did you find everything you needed okay?”
Elion nodded. “I did. You sit down, and I’ll bring it to you in a few minutes.”
She didn’t have to be told twice as she walked into her living room and sat on the couch, pulling her feet up beside her and propping herself on one of the pillows.
She grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the television on.
There wasn’t anything in particular she wanted to watch, so she stopped on the first thing that caught her attention.
True to his word, he walked into the room a few minutes later carrying a tray that housed a bowl of soup, a glass of orange juice, some medicine, and napkins.
He sat it on the table in front of her, and Olani thanked him as he placed some napkins under the bowl and handed it to her.
Instructing her to eat and then take some medicine before heading back into the kitchen.
Grabbing the spoon, she stirred the soup, taking in the diced vegetables, small cubes of chicken, fusilli pasta, and the thickness of the broth.
He hadn’t gone to the store and bought her cans of soup.
He’d bought the ingredients to make it homemade, and the smile on her face couldn’t have been stopped if she tried.
That was sweet of him. He’d gone out of his way when he didn’t have to and could have bought the cans instead.
She blew over the top of her spoon, cooling it down before taking it into her mouth.
Her tastebuds were still intact as the soup’s deliciousness engulfed her mouth.
That was a good sign, and she was glad that what she had wasn’t something more severe than possibly a bug.
She’d had soup probably hundreds of times in her lifetime, but she didn’t recall any of them being that good.
If his soup was that good, she wondered if other things he made tasted that good. Maybe she needed to think about one of their dates being another cooking class, but this time, instead of dessert, they made a main course.
When Elion returned to the living room, it was with his own bowl of soup.
He didn’t have to eat it with her, but she assumed he did so she wouldn’t feel as if she was stuck eating soup while he indulged in something better.
With the way this soup tasted, he’d have to be eating the world’s most expensive steak made by Paetyn Silva himself for her to feel that way, but it was appreciated that he was being thoughtful.
Once she finished eating, Olani took two Tylenol: Cold and Flu pills. She went to stand, but Elion wrapped his hand gently around her wrist.
“I’ll get it. You relax. We want you to feel better, and exerting yourself when your body isn’t at its best will not help you do that.”
“You know, I took care of myself when I got sick before we started dating,” she teased him.
“You do what you have to when you’re single, but you aren’t now. So, sit your gorgeous ass on this couch, watch television, and allow yourself to heal.”
Olani nodded as he released her wrist. She watched him place their bowls on the tray, leaving her orange juice and taking it into the kitchen.
As she watched his retreating back, she wondered if she wasn’t sick, would her body have jumped him at the tone he’d given her, the way her brain was demanding her to?
E lion was stifling hot, and it pulled him from his sleep.
His eyes opened to stare into the darkness, but he didn’t need to see to know what the cause of the heat was.
Olani was lying on top of him. It seemed her fever had broken as she slept, and he felt like he was under a furnace.
The T-shirts they both wore to bed were soaked—the front and back of hers and the front of his.
The last thing he wanted to do was wake her, but he needed to get her out of the shirt.
He could roll them over and possibly remove the shirt without waking her, but that sounded creepy to him, and regardless of his intention, he didn’t want to undress her without her permission.
Her head was on his chest as she straddled him, and Elion tightened the arm he had wrapped around her as he slowly sat up.
Feeling around for the lamp on the nightstand, he turned it on.
“Sweetheart,” he called softly as he rubbed her back. She didn’t stir, and he pulled her away from his chest. “Olani, I need you to wake up for a moment.” This time, he shook her a little.
She groaned, her eyes slowly opening before she closed them again, turning her head away from the lamp and laying it back on his chest.
“I’m tired,” she mumbled.
“I know, baby, but you’ve sweat through your shirt. Can I take it off of you?” She nodded but didn’t move to sit up, and he refrained from chuckling.
He removed her from his chest again, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and pulled it up.
She lifted her arms from him to remove it, and he dropped it beside the bed.
Grabbing the back of his, he pulled it off, dropping it onto the floor with hers.
She retook her original position, and he situated them in bed again before turning the lamp off.
Her easy breathing was soon lulling him back to sleep.
T he next time Elion woke up, he was lying on his side, Olani’s back to his chest, with his arm draped over her waist. He didn’t remember how or when they ended up that way.
Slowly, he removed his arm from her waist so as not to wake her before he got out of bed.
He went into her bathroom, opened the toothbrush he’d picked up when he’d gone to the store to get ingredients for her soup yesterday, and brushed his teeth.
While he was out, he picked up a few other things, including the boxers he currently wore.
He washed his face and stopped to pick up one of her socks that hadn’t made it into her hamper when they’d showered last night.
When he stepped back into her bedroom, she was still sleeping soundly, and he grabbed the shirts he’d taken off of them last night.
He exited the bedroom, went to her laundry room, and moved his clothes from the washer to the dryer, starting it before placing the two shirts into the washer and leaving the lid open.
Elion went into the kitchen, remembering that he’d seen some oatmeal when he’d been looking for seasonings the day before. If, by chance, she still felt nauseous, it would help.
Once the oatmeal finished cooking, he added butter and brown sugar and made her a bowl.
He set it on the tray, allowing it to cool some as he placed two pieces of toast in the toaster and sliced a banana while he waited for it to pop up.
He buttered the toast, put it on a plate with the banana, and poured her some orange juice.
Tray in hand, he went into the bedroom, sitting it on the nightstand closest to her. Elion sat beside her and ran his thumb over her cheek. She didn’t feel as warm as she had the previous day, but he could tell she still had a mild fever.
It didn’t take long before her eyes fluttered open. She rolled onto her back, stretching as she yawned.
“Good morning,” she greeted.
“Good morning, Sweetheart. How’d you sleep?”
“Surprisingly well. What about you?”
“I had you on top of me for most of the night, so I can’t complain,” he responded with a smirk.
“I made breakfast. You’re still a little warm.
I’ll bring you some medicine after you eat.
You want me to get you a shirt?” He placed the tray on her lap when she shook her head and sat up against the headboard.
“First homemade soup, now you’re making breakfast. I might have to keep you, Mr. Henderson.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for, Ms. Morgan.” He kissed her forehead. “Eat. I’ll be back soon.”
He went back into the kitchen and made his own bowl of oatmeal. He rarely ate breakfast, his body usually not craving anything until almost lunchtime, but he’d made a little too much and didn’t want it to go to waste.
After eating his breakfast, he cleaned the kitchen and was finishing up when Olani walked in, now dressed in a T-shirt and lounge shorts, carrying the tray with her. Elion took it from her with a raised brow.
“What did I tell you yesterday?”
“It isn’t heavy, and I feel much better.” She took the glass off the tray and went to the fridge, pouring some more orange juice.
He removed the bowl and plate from the tray, wiping it down before putting it away. “I think you just wanted to be stubborn,” he told her, turning the water back on. “Take your medicine, and we’ll watch a movie together.”
“I wasn’t being stubborn, but okay.”
He watched her leave the kitchen before washing the few dishes and drying his hands off.
He turned the light out and went into the living room, sitting beside Olani on the couch.
She leaned into his side as she chose a horror movie on Hulu.
They were supposed to go out later that evening, but even if she felt better, he wouldn’t let them.
Elion didn’t mind staying there with her, spending the day watching movies and making sure she felt better. Oddly, he preferred it.