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Ace’s voice was far away and she realized that the phone had slipped from her hand. She kept her eyes open long enough to pick it up, but then she closed them again. “What?”
“Do you have a key that is hidden outside?” His deep voice rumbled.
A key? Outside?
No. Yes, wait she did. “Umm, there’s one in the blue flower pot. It’s for Simone. She loses things.”
She felt the phone slipping from her fingers again. Her fingers tightened around it, but she still lost it. She opened her eyes expecting to find her phone on the bed beside her, instead she found Ace hovering above her.
“Hey,” he said as he brushed the hair that had fallen in her face off her forehead.
His touch felt so good. She wanted to tell him to go, to insist that he would get sick, but when she opened her mouth she just said, “Hey.”
“I’m going to get you a cool cloth and something to drink. I’ll be right back.”
“K.” She watched him walk out of her room and tried to stay awake so she could tell him thank you. Her lids were heavy and she decided to close them just for a minute until he got back.
***
Ace returned from the kitchen to find Stephanie sound asleep, curled up on the edge of her bed. She looked so small, so vulnerable. As much as he hated seeing her sick, he was so happy that he was there. That she wasn’t alone like she had been all her life.
When he’d shown up for their second dinner date in as many days and she hadn’t answered the door or her phone, his first thought had been that she must’ve been called into work, or maybe she had to go see Scott. But when he checked the drive and saw her car, he’d started to panic. What if she’d fallen and hit her head, or worse? What if Mason had shown up and she was in trouble?
He’d stood outside her door knocking, texting and calling her for a good five minutes. Ace had always prided himself on being even keeled and rational but if she hadn’t called him he couldn’t promise that he wouldn’t have kicked the door in. When it came to Stephanie all bets were off.
As he set the cool cloth and glass of water on her nightstand he noticed that she was shivering. He pulled her blanket over her, tucking her in. In the kitchen he’d found some medication for flu symptoms, which he hoped would help her feel better. She’d mentioned to him when he was staying here recovering that she’d decided to stock up because of the virus that was going around. She’d knocked on the wood of her dresser and said that she hadn’t gotten it yet, that so far she’d been lucky.
It looked like her luck had run out.
He debated whether or not he should let her rest or wake her up to take the medication. When he’d brushed her hair off her face earlier her skin had been hot to the touch. Knowing he needed to cool down her body temperature he decided that if she slept through that, fine, if not he’d have her take her medication.
A drip of water fell down his hand as he lifted the terrycloth hand towel that he’d run under cold water. When he laid it on her forehead her eyes remained closed. He left it there for a few minutes before removing and refolding it so that the cool side was facing out. As gently as he could he lifted her head a fraction of an inch, just enough so that he could slip the cloth between the pillow and the back of her neck.
Her eyes opened before he had it in place. Her voice was strained as she whispered, “Thank you.”
“Can you sit up?” he asked. “I have some medicine for you to take.”
She nodded and he helped lift her to a sitting position. After taking the pills that he’d found in her cabinet, she slid back down so that she was lying flat again. He tucked her back in and replaced the cloth at the back of her neck.
For the next few hours he sat beside her and watched as she tossed and turned. Every twenty minutes or so he would refresh the cloth to keep her body temperature down. When she’d open her eyes, he’d have her drink some water so she wouldn’t get dehydrated.
The entire time he watched and cared for her, he just kept wondering how many times she’d done this for someone else. Not at her job. Obviously, as a nurse she did this all the time.
He wondered about how many times she cared for the twins by herself. Last night, he’d watched as she’d calmed her brother down and helped him with his breathing treatment. How old had she been the first time she was home alone and he’d had an episode where he needed medical care? He thought about how scared she must’ve been.
Even now, as a grown man with medic training, he was worried. Seeing someone you love suffering did that to you. Even if all she had was a bug that was going around. Scott had respiratory issues on top of his developmental disorders. He didn’t know another person that would’ve been able to do what she had, much less done it as well as she had.
Her arm flailed as she turned to her side and reached out over the empty space next to her. As he’d been observing her tonight he’d noticed she had a habit of kicking or pushing her body pillow over the edge of the bed and then a few minutes later she’d blindly search for it. He’d also noted that she couldn’t sleep soundly unless she had it. Leaning down he picked the pillow up off the floor and settled it beside her. She mumbled under her breath as she cradled it and a peace fell over her face.
Never in his life would he have thought he’d be jealous of an inanimate object, but as he looked at the body pillow he realized that he was. He was finding out, when it came to Stephanie he could never say never. She broke the mold and because of that she broke his mold as well. He wanted to be that pillow. Not literally. Although he wouldn’t mind being nuzzled between Stephanie’s legs and held closely to her breasts, but that’s not what he was envious of.
He wanted to be her security. He wanted her to reach for him at night. He wanted to be her serenity.
