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Chapter 31
February twenty-fourth, the day before the bar exam and Ava felt like she had been run over by a freight train. Her throat was throbbing, and her head was pounding. Xander walked into her bedroom after his shower and noticing she was awake went to kiss her cheek. He could feel the heat emanating off her even inches from her face. He touched her forehead, and she was burning up.
He went to the bathroom to retrieve the digital thermometer, and after some coaxing she let him insert it into her mouth. When it beeped, he checked the reading.
“Sweetheart, you have a fever. It’s one hundred one point eight.”
Ava bolted up in bed and took the thermometer from him. She felt miserable, but she didn’t believe her fever was that high. After a recheck, she got the same reading. She sank back into bed and put the covers over her. From under the covers, she moaned.
“Why is this happening now? I have to take my exam tomorrow and Wednesday. How can I feeling this way?”
“You’ll need to stay home today and sleep. Maybe you should go to the doctor? With a fever that high, you might have an infection. You have been burning the candle at both ends.”
They both had. Ever since Valentine’s Day they had sex several times a night sometimes into the wee hours of the morning. She was working full-time, studying every chance she got and under a tremendous amount of stress. It was only a matter of time before she got sick.
“I’m going to call the urgent care. Maybe we can get you in early. I can go in late.”
“You can’t do that! If I call in sick, and you go in late how is it going to look? They are going to put two and two together.”
“Calm down. I can just say I have an appointment.”
“I can go myself.”
He stared down at her.
“You can be so pig-headed. I’m taking you, and that is final. Right now I don’t care if they find out about us. You need to go to the doctor, and I’m going to take you. Now get up and get dressed.”
She reluctantly got out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweats and a sweater while he typed on his phone.
“Okay, you’re checked in for eight.”
An hour and a half later they were back at her apartment. He got her back in bed and went to pick up her prescription. She had a strep infection like she did he first went to California, and he hoped that he wouldn’t get sick, too. He watched as she took the first round of antibiotics then he tucked her in bed, kissed her forehead and left for work.
By the afternoon Ava felt well enough to venture out of bed. She looked at her flash cards but trying to focus made her nauseous. She checked her phone and had several texts from Xander. He was like a mother hen. Minutes later he called her, and she let it go to voicemail. She was in no mood to listen to him. She went back to bed, and an hour later she heard the door to her apartment open and close. Seriously, he came home?
She felt the bed dip and he pulled the covers down to stroke her face. She kept her eyes closed pretending to be asleep and felt an immediate pang of guilt. He was worried about her and wanted to take care of her. She had snapped at him several times in the past few weeks. Ever since he asked her to marry him, she had been on edge. She couldn’t put her finger on what was bothering her. Maybe her attitude would change once she finished with the exam.
Ava lay in bed until the light started to fade from the room. It was growing dark outside as the time neared early evening. She pushed the covers off her and got out of bed. Her head didn’t pound as much, and the fire in her throat had subsided a little. Xander was sleeping with his head back on the chaise. He was still dressed in his work clothes, and even his tie was intact.
She knew he must be exhausted. They had been keeping each other awake getting maybe four hours of sleep per night. It was like it was in the beginning. They wanted each other all the time to the point where they had sex in the research room bathroom. She would have preferred the couch or his desk in his office but Jacob was next door, and she was afraid he would hear. It was her idea, but he didn’t put up an argument. She told him he was insatiable, but he told her the same thing.
She ran her fingers through his sandy hair. The blonde had faded, and he kept it styled short now. His eyes fluttered, and he smiled up at her.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I was hit by a car. An improvement, though, since this morning it was a freight train.”
“Did you try to study today?”
“Xander, I just told you that I felt horrible. Why would I study?” There it was; the nastiness. She just couldn’t seem to stop herself. The worst part was the hurt look on Xander’s face. Why was she being so cruel to him?
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I just thought you would want a last minute review.”
Hold your tongue, hold your tongue, she chanted in her head before she said something for which she couldn’t apologize. She just shook her head.
“Ava, did I do something wrong? I feel like anything I say makes you upset and that upsets me.”
“Can we talk about this on the weekend? Just let me get through the next two days.”
