Chapter 10
Harvey had just finished cleaning up the bowl she’d puked in when he got an alert that someone was at the gate.
He checked his phone, spotting Michaela on the camera. Thank fuck. Lily wasn’t in a good way. She’d gone from running a temperature and trembling to vomiting.
Now she seemed almost delusional or hallucinating.
Harvey opened the front door before she had even gotten to it. “What took you so long?”
Michaela gave him a stern look. “I got here as quickly as I could.”
Well, it wasn’t quick enough for his liking.
“How is she?” the other woman asked.
“Not well,” he said. “She’s been vomiting. She’s running a temperature, and now she seems kind of out of it. She doesn’t even seem to know that I’m there.”
“Might be the flu or something. Let me examine her.”
As soon as they walked into the room, the smell of vomit hit him. Lily was sitting up, covered in it, and she was sobbing.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t make it to the bathroom. It just came. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Oh, his poor girl.
His heart broke for her. Rushing toward her, he grabbed a clean cloth off the bedside table that he’d been using to try and cool her down. He wiped her hands and face first. Then he lifted her gently out from under the covers.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
She just kept repeating the same words.
“It’s all right, baby. Shh, you’re fine. It was an accident. We can clean everything up.”
“Why don’t I strip the bed while you help her shower?” Michaela suggested.
He nodded gratefully and picked Lily up, carrying her into the bathroom. He took off her clothes, leaving her in her underwear.
He stepped into the shower with her in his arms and tried his best to clean her under the shower without staring at her. Damn, it was difficult, though.
He had to keep reminding himself that she was ill.
However, she was so fucking beautiful.
Harvey kept his clothes on. He didn’t care about his own comfort. That meant nothing to him.
Finally, she was clean and slumped against him, half asleep. It was hard to dry her off when she was so sleepy, but he managed. After wrapping another towel around her, he carried her into the bedroom.
Michaela had found some clean sheets and changed the bed. He laid Lily down on top of the bed cover. Moving to the wardrobe, he’d intended to grab some of the lingerie he’d bought for her to sleep in.
Instead, he pulled out one of his T-shirts. He wanted her to wear something that belonged to him. It might be primal or caveman or whatever.
But he didn’t really care.
Moving back into the bedroom, he stripped off her underwear while keeping the towel around her. Then he drew a clean pair of panties up her legs.
Fuck.
It was hard not to get turned on and it made him feel a bit like a dick, he wouldn’t lie. Here she was, ill and out of it, and he was getting turned on from putting panties on her.
Finally, he got them on and drew the T-shirt over the towel before removing it.
Fuck, it was hard work dressing a woman. This was a first for him.
“I’ve put the sheets and cover in the laundry for you,” Michaela said as she walked into the bedroom.
“Thanks. Appreciate your help,” he told her.
“I’ll add it to the bill.” She gave him a serious look so he couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.
It didn’t matter. He’d pay that happily.
After tucking her in, he sat next to her on the bed and smoothed the hair off her face. It needed to be washed and brushed, but he hadn’t wanted to keep her in the shower that long. And he’d probably have needed another pair of hands to hold her up.
“Is that the first time she’s vomited since I last saw her?” Michaela asked as she took her pulse.
“No. It’s not.”
“And this came on suddenly?”
“It seemed to. Do you think it’s the flu?” he asked as Lily mumbled incoherently.
“I don’t know. I’m going to set up an IV,” Michaela said as she took Lily’s temperature. “She needs fluids. I’ll also give her something for the fever.”
“No,” he said abruptly.
Michaela gave him a surprised look. “No? But she needs this.”
“Is she in danger if she doesn’t have the IV?”
Michaela grew silent. “Danger? Not at the moment. But she could become very ill without some fluids soon. And she will feel a lot better. Also, her test results came back earlier. They showed that she’s very low in a number of vitamins and iron.
I would say that she hasn’t been eating properly or getting enough hydration for a while. ”
Yeah, he knew that she hadn’t been. Because her witch of a mother seemed to be in control of everything Lily had eaten, and for some ridiculous reason, had wanted her to be underweight.
“She freaked out when she woke up earlier to find that we’d taken blood from her. I found her on the floor, shaking and upset. She won’t tell me much, but it seems like something that’s happened to her before.”
“Happened to her before? What do you mean?”
“Where she’s been unconscious and woken up to find that something has happened to her body without her permission.”
The thought of it sent a chill through him.
He knew that she wasn’t telling him everything, and honestly, he was really worried about what else she was keeping to herself.
Terrified that whatever it was, he wasn’t going to like it.
At all.
“Fuck,” Michaela muttered. “All right, we’ll wait until she’s awake and can consent. As long as that doesn’t take too long. We might have to prioritize her physical health over her mental health.”
He didn’t like the idea of that at all. And he knew he’d have to be the one to make that call. And he’d be the one she hated.
“We’ll keep a close eye on her,” he said.
Michaela sighed. “I don’t recommend it, but all right. If you can get some electrolyte drinks into her, it would help. I would love to give her an infusion with iron in it, too.”
“Did you get the results from testing those sedatives she’s been taking?”
“Not yet. Hopefully soon. Until then, we just have to wait.”
“No! Get away from me! Don’t touch me!” she screamed.
He jumped up from where he’d been napping on the chair.
Lily was thrashing around in the bed, looking agitated and upset.
“Lily! Lily, it’s a bad dream! Wake up, baby.” He brushed her hair off her face. At least she no longer had a fever. He’d been close to letting Michaela put the IV in when her fever had broken.
He’d also managed to get some electrolytes into her, which she’d kept down during one of her more lucid moments.
But they didn’t know what was wrong with her. It didn’t seem that it was influenza. It could be some sort of virus. Michaela wanted to take more blood, but he wouldn’t let her.
However, he couldn’t hold off much longer.
“No! Get them off! Get them off!” She scratched at her arms and legs. “Off! Off!”
“Baby, stop! Lily, stop! There’s nothing on you! You’re going to hurt yourself.” He attempted to pin her down only for her to let out an ear-piercing scream that shook him to the core.
What had happened to her?
Michaela ran into the room. “I need to give her something to calm her down.”
“No!” he snapped. “I won’t break her trust.”
“She’s going to hurt herself.”
“I won’t let that happen. We just need to find out what’s wrong with her.” This was the second night of this. He’d barely slept or eaten. All he could do was try his best to help her.
“This isn’t a virus,” Michaela said as Lily started to calm. “It seems more like she’s detoxing to me.”
“Detoxing?” he said as Lily fell asleep with a frown on her face. “From what?”
“Exactly,” she said. “From what?”
“You think the pills she was taking could have been something else,” he said.
Michaela gave him a worried look. He was grateful she’d stayed. There had been a number of times when he’d been out of his mind with worry over the last thirty hours and she’d kept him calm.
“I don’t know. I’ll put some more pressure on my friend.”
“Tell him I’ll pay him a healthy bonus if he gets that information to us in the next eight hours.” It was currently four in the morning so surely that wouldn’t be too hard for him to do.
Michaela left and he settled back in to watch over Lily.
She woke up with a dry mouth and a pounding headache. She was exhausted yet felt agitated.
“Hey there, how are you feeling?” Harvey asked as he appeared in front of her.
“Horrible. I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all.” A whimper escaped her.
That was embarrassing.
Sympathy filled his face. “I know. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Michaela wants to give you an IV to help. Is that okay?”
“Michaela? The Doctor?”
“Yeah, she’s been here, monitoring you. Is it all right if she comes in to check on you?”
She nodded, then winced. “My head hurts.”
“Probably because you’re so dehydrated. I’ll get her in here, okay? And she can check you over. She might want to take a blood sample as well.”
She bit her lip. Shit. “You’ll stay with me?” She didn’t know why he made her feel safe. He shouldn’t.
“Of course.”
“Okay. Do you have any idea what’s wrong with me?”
“Not at the moment, baby. Hopefully, we’ll get some answers soon.”
He disappeared out the door, and immediately, she started to feel upset. It was ridiculous. She shouldn’t be so worried about him leaving her, or was it because she was on her own?
Maybe it was a bit of both, if she was really honest.
God, she felt so awful, as though she just wanted to itch her way out of her own skin.
When Harvey returned, an older woman was with him. She had dark brown hair threaded with gray pulled back into a bun. She was dressed in dark clothing and looked like she meant business. But as she came over to take Lily’s vitals, her hands were warm and soft.
“How are you feeling?” Michaela asked her.
“Okay,” she replied. She didn’t want to make a fuss.
Both Michaela and Harvey gave her incredulous looks, as though they couldn’t believe she just said that.
“That isn’t what you told me,” Harvey said. “Tell Michaela the truth or she can’t help you.”