Page 7 of Tempting Fire

He came to the last door, it was ajar and he pushed it open. At first, he didn’t think that there was anything in the bed, it was messed up and he didn’t notice her slight form amongst the covers. Then he saw stands of her chocolate brown hair peeking above the white sheet and resting on one of the pillows, but still no face.

He rushed into the room and stood over the bed. She was literally under the covers. Was she hiding?

“Chloe?” He kept his voice to a medium roar, his level of worry wouldn’t let him be softer.

The bedclothes jerked.

But then nothing.

Still it was something, and the fear that had been clawing at him calmed a little, and he was finally able to take in a full breath. He yanked the covers back from her head. Owlish brown eyes blinked up at him, there was no focus, no response.

“Chloe?”

Her eyes shifted and he could tell she was looking at him. A frown formed between her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it.

“Say something,” he demanded.

“Am I dreaming?” Her voice was hoarse with disuse.

“No dream.” He studied her face. She looked like she’d been sick for a long time. She was pale and gaunt. Her lips were chapped and her hair was a tangled mess.

“Zarek? It’s really you?” She tried to push her hand out from underneath the covers. He helped her get free. When she did, she reached up to touch his face. He cupped her palm to his cheek.

“It’s me Cupcake. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

Her eyes looked away from his. She stared at the ceiling and asked, “how’d you get in?”

“I broke in.”

“You did what?”

That got her attention, he thought with satisfaction. She pushed at the sheet and blanket, struggling to sit up. Zarek immediately bent down and put his arm around her, helping her into a sitting position. He picked up the two pillows on the floor and put them behind her back.

“There, is that better?” he asked.

She nodded her head.

“Did Trenda and Zoe help you break in?”

“Zoe’s outside. I told her to wait. This is between the two of us.”

Her eyes searched his. “What do you mean by that? You’re just here because my sisters called you and they’re being them.”

Anger roared up and out.

“That’s bullshit! As soon as I found out what was going on, I dropped everything and broke land speed records to get here. What the fuck Chloe? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for over six weeks. We always talk. We’ve been talking for years. I thought we were friends. Good friends. When you stopped taking my calls, it hurt, so I called Zoe. She told me what was going on, but you should have been the one who told me.”

She winced, her brown eyes growing darker, and looking even more wounded, but he couldn’t let that bother him. She needed to get it through her thick head that he cared, and what she’d done had scared him. She needed to understand that he was pissed and more than a little hurt.

“Zarek, you’re making a big deal out of nothing.” He could tell she was trying to sound like her old self, but even that one sentence left her breathless. She was a wreck. There was still the bloody footprints to contend with, he yanked off the thick blanket that was covering her. What was up with that? It was the middle of summer and the AC wasn’t running. What was she doing under thick blankets?

“What are you doing?” She tried to take back the covers from him, but it was no use.

His eyes zeroed in on her blood caked foot. “What have you done to yourself? What happened to the mirror in the guest bathroom, Chloe?” he asked as he gently lifted her leg up so he could inspect her foot.

“Let go of me.”

“Not going to happen.” He wanted to howl as he saw that dirt and carpet threads were mixed in with the blood.