Page 54 of Mountain Man’s Mystic Touch

He looks up immediately.

The intensity of his attention moves over my face and body, assessing whether I can stand, whether my color has returned, whether I am about to collapse again.

“You should have called me.”

“I walked approximately twelve feet.”

“You were unconscious when I put you in there.”

“I was asleep.”

His mouth lifts at one corner, but the concern in his eyes remains. “How do you feel?”

“Depleted.”

He closes the laptop. “Dizzy?”

“A little when I first sat up. It passed.”

“I can call the medic.”

“I don’t need the medic.”

“She said to contact her if the dizziness returned.”

“She said to seek follow-up care if it returned or if new symptoms developed. I sat up too quickly after sleeping. That is not a medical crisis.”

Rocco watches me for another second. I wait for him to decide what should happen next. His gaze flicks toward the bedroom, then returns to me.

“What do you need?”

The question loosens something in my chest.

“Time alone.”

He becomes very still.

“It isn’t because I don’t want you here,” I add.

“This is my cabin.”

“That complicates the request.”

“How much time?”

“Thirty minutes. Maybe forty-five.”

His attention moves toward the locked door. “I can work outside.”

“You don’t have to leave entirely. I could go back into the bedroom.”

“Would that feel like being alone?”

Not completely. He knows it before I answer.

“No.”

Rocco rises and begins collecting the radios and papers from the table. “I’ll be at the command cabin downhill.”