Marking Time (24 page)

She began to cry.

“What’s wrong?” He put his arms around her so she could rest her head against his chest.

“I don’t want to be sick. I had big plans for when the girls left.”

“What kind of plans?”

“I was going to tell you I’m ready for that date you mentioned. If you still want to, that is,” she said, coughing.

Kissing her cheek, he hugged her tight against him. “You bet I do, so let’s get you better, okay?”

She nodded and reclined against the pillows to watch him pack a bag of clothes for her. Before he finished, she’d drifted back to sleep and didn’t stir even when he carried her outside to his truck.

When Clare woke up the next time, she saw stars. Literally. Looking up at a skylight, she had no idea where she was. Her head pounded, her throat was raw, her chest felt like an elephant was standing on it, and she was freezing. She groaned, and Aidan materialized from the darkness.

He ran a hand across her forehead and cheek. “How’re you feeling?”

“Awful. I can’t stop shivering.”

Moving around to the other side of the big bed, he got under the covers and put an arm around her to draw her back against him. “Is that better?”

“Uh-huh.” She could feel the warmth of him through her clothes. “Where are we?”

“My house. Remember I told you I was bringing you here?”

“Vaguely.” When another thought occurred to her, she tried to sit up. “What about the girls? They’ll be worried if they can’t reach me. They didn’t want to leave because I was sick.”

“I called Jill.” He eased her back down. “I found her number on your cell phone and let her know you’d be here for a few days. I gave her my number, and she promised to call Kate. So don’t worry about anything but getting better, okay?”

“Are they home?”

“Safe and sound.”

She relaxed against him. “Okay. Good. Thank you.”

“Are you hungry? I can heat up the soup I got you at McHugh’s earlier.”

“Maybe in a minute,” she said as her eyes closed again. “I don’t want you to go.”

He held her tight against him. “I’m not going anywhere. I had to get you sick to get you in bed with me. I want to enjoy it.”

She made a sound that might have been a laugh, but a cough choked her. “I’ll bet you’ve never had it so good in bed,” she said when she could speak again.

Rubbing his chin against her soft hair, he said, “Not in a long, long time.”

“Aidan?”

“What, honey?”

“Thanks for keeping me warm.”

“My pleasure.”

C
lare was worse in the morning. When Aidan woke up, he could hear her wheezing in her sleep. He took her temperature with an ear thermometer and was alarmed when it reached 104.5. “Shit!” He jumped off the bed to find the phone.

He dialed the number in Rhode Island that Jill had given him yesterday. Dr. Langston’s answering service took a message and promised he would return the call within an hour. When the phone rang twenty minutes later, Aidan pounced on it.

“This is Dr. Paul Langston. I got your message, Mr. O’Malley. You’re with Clare Harrington?”

Aidan appreciated the sense of urgency in the doctor’s voice. “Yes, I’m a friend of hers in Vermont. I think she has pneumonia.”

“What are her symptoms?”

Aidan rattled off the list and provided her latest temperature.

“Are you a doctor?”

Aidan took a deep breath. “I’m an MD.” He hadn’t said those words in ten years. “But I don’t practice. If you could call something in up here, I could administer it IM.”

“Give me the pharmacy number. I’ll call in a script for penicillin right now and order the syringes for you so we can get it into her faster.”

Swamped with relief, Aidan gave the doctor the pharmacy phone number. “Thank you.”

“Do you know her history?”

“Yes. She didn’t want to be in the hospital.”

“I want you to promise me you’ll get her admitted somewhere if she gets any worse.”

“I will.”

“She’s more than a patient to me. She’s a friend. Take good care of her.”

“She’s more than a friend to me. Don’t worry.” He hung up with the doctor and called Bea. She agreed to go to the pharmacy for him, so he wouldn’t have to leave Clare alone.

“Hurry, Bea.”

Clare was floating. The pounding in her head and the throbbing in her chest seemed far away. She dreamed Bea was there and Aidan was giving her a shot, but she couldn’t make herself wake up, even when she felt someone trying to get some water into her.

So hot! Have I ever been so hot?
She thrashed at the covers, trying to get out from underneath their heaviness. A nagging worry in the back of her mind kept her from falling back to sleep. What if she didn’t wake up? It had happened before. Could it happen again? Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she fought the blackness.

She must have dozed off. Where was Jack? Was that his voice she heard?

“Clare, honey, wake up.”

“Jack?” She opened her eyes. A light from across the room illuminated Aidan’s handsome features, and she winced at the brief flash of hurt that crossed his face. “I was dreaming. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Are you hungry?”

“Kind of.”

“Will you be okay for a minute while I go downstairs to get you something?”

She nodded weakly.

“What sounds good? Soup? Eggs? Toast? Whatever you want.”

“Toast, please.”

Aidan kissed her cheek. “Coming right up. Don’t run away.”

She groaned at the thought of running anywhere.

He had to wake her up again when he returned with the toast.

“What time is it?” she asked as she nibbled on a piece of cinnamon toast.

“About three in the morning.”

“Have you been up all night? I’m sorry.”

“I slept for a few hours. Don’t worry about me. By the way, Happy New Year.”

“I missed it?”

“Slept right through it.” He brushed back a lock of her hair and kissed her forehead. “Listen, um, I need to give you a shot.”

“So I didn’t dream that?”

“No.”

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

He nodded.

“How?”

“That’s a story for another day, when you’re better. For now, trust me?”

She wiggled a finger to bring him down closer to her so she could kiss his cheek. “I trust you.”

“Thank you,” he said and gave her the shot. “Now, I want you to drink all that water, you hear me? We can’t let you get dehydrated.”

“Yes, sir, but I need to pee.”

He carried her into the bathroom, which was a lot like hers at home in Rhode Island, except Aidan’s Jacuzzi had sliding glass doors that could be opened to the outdoors. Moonlight beamed in through skylights. “From what I’ve seen of it, this house is really something. Did you build it yourself?”

“Every nail. Do you think you can stand up?”

“Of course,” she said, but when he set her down, the earth moved. She reached out to grip the pedestal sink.

He held her up from behind. “Get your bearings,” he said. “Okay?”

“Yeah, but don’t go far.”

“I’ll be right outside the door.”

When she was done, she washed her hands and face and ran a hand through her hair. She was afraid to look in the mirror. A fierce coughing fit stole her last bit of energy.

When he heard her coughing, Aidan came in and put his arms around her.

“Can you grab my toothbrush for me?” she asked when the coughing had subsided.

“Sure. Hold on to something.”

He left her gripping the sink and returned a minute later with her toothbrush. Reaching into the medicine cabinet, he grabbed a tube of toothpaste and squeezed some onto her toothbrush.

“Some kind of service at this hospital.”

“We don’t mess around,” he said, holding her eyes for a moment longer than necessary.

Clare tore her gaze from his to focus on brushing her teeth. As she brushed, she thought that being with Aidan in his bathroom in the middle of the night seemed so natural. She’d have to ponder the meaning of that when she wasn’t battling a fever.

“Ready for a ride back to bed?”

She nodded, and when he carried her back to the bedroom she curled her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder as if it belonged there. He had changed at some point into an old Red Sox T-shirt and sweats.

He tucked her in under several blankets and got her to take two more Tylenols to stay on top of the fever. When he was satisfied she’d had enough to drink for a while, he got in bed with her. “Hot? Cold?”

“Just right for the moment, but can we pretend I’m cold so you’ll come over here with me?”

“We can do that,” he said, slipping an arm under her.

She turned toward him and used his chest as a pillow. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Taking care of me. I don’t know how a cold got so out of hand so fast.” She ran a hand over his chest and stomach, discovering he was all muscle.

“It’s probably pneumonia.” He captured her wandering hand in his and brought it to his lips. “You’d better cut that out, or I’ll be taking advantage of a sick person.”

She snorted with laughter. “Oh, God, you’ve got to be kidding. I’m a disaster area.”

He lifted her chin and kissed her lightly. “You’re sexy and beautiful, and I want you, sick or not. So behave.”

Her chest contracted, and not because of her illness. “Does this count as our first date?”

He laughed. “Go to sleep.”

She squeezed his hand, snuggled closer to him, and was asleep a minute later.

Clare slept through most of the next day. She awoke at one point to the thwack, thwack, thwack of an axe cutting wood and assumed Aidan was outside getting some work done. She couldn’t keep her eyes open long enough to check. When she woke up the next time, it was dark. Her head pounded for a moment when she pushed herself into a sitting position.

Across the room, Aidan looked up from the book he was reading. “Hey, sleeping beauty, you’re awake.”

She groaned. “I can’t believe I slept all day.”

He came over to sit on the edge of the bed. “You must be starving. I tried to wake you up to eat earlier, but you weren’t budging.”

“Sorry. I’m a little hungry but not starving.”

“I have an idea. Why don’t you take a bath in the Jacuzzi while I make us some dinner?”

“I’d love that. I feel so disgusting.”

Kissing her forehead, he said, “You’re very cute when you’re sick.”

“Jeez, O’Malley, you
are
hard up, aren’t you?”

He laughed. “Yep, she’s feeling better. Come on, let me give you a ride.” He slid his arms under her to carry her into the bathroom. After he turned the water on and got her a towel, he went back to the bedroom for her bag. “Do you need anything else?”

“I’ve got everything, thanks.”

“Be careful getting in and out. You’re still weak. Call me if you need me.”

“Thanks.”

He left her alone, and she slipped off the sweats and long-sleeved T-shirt she’d been in for what seemed like a week. She moved with caution to preserve her limited supply of energy. The pulsing water in the tub felt heavenly against her aching body, and she uttered a deep sigh of pleasure. Using a bottle of shampoo that sat on a corner of the tub, she washed her hair. After soaking for a few more minutes, she started to feel light-headed again, so she eased herself from the tub and grabbed the towel he had left for her. When the simple act of getting out of the tub left her feeling drained, she sat on the closed lid of the toilet for a few minutes.

“How you doing in there?” Aidan called from outside the door.

“Fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay, come downstairs when you’re ready.”

Clare found flannel pajamas in the bag and got dressed. She combed her hair and brushed her teeth. Before she could muster the energy to finish cleaning up the bathroom, she had to sit for another minute. She opened the door, and the smells wafting up the stairs made her mouth water. Suddenly, she was famished.

She put her bag in Aidan’s room and went looking for the stairs. The house, an A-frame with several levels and rooms tucked into odd corners, was a wonder. The stairs hooked and curved, landing in the middle of a big kitchen where Aidan stirred something on the stove. The kitchen flowed into an inviting living room with a baby grand piano as the focal point.

“This house is amazing!”

He turned from the stove. “I’m glad you like it. Do you feel better after your bath?”

“I’m a new woman.”

He held out a chair for her at the bar. “Something to drink?”

“Just some water, please.” She watched him move with ease around the kitchen, where terracotta tiles formed a decorative backsplash over a butcher-block countertop. Shining copper pots hung above the center island that housed the stove. “This is quite a kitchen.”

“I love to cook.”

“Again you surprise me, O’Malley.”

He smiled. “It’s become my goal in life to keep you off balance.” He brought two plates of steaming pasta to the bar, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, and sat next to her.

“This smells wonderful.”

“Chicken Alfredo, a specialty of the house.”

“It’s fabulous, and I’m impressed.” After she ate half of what he’d given her, she pushed her plate over to him and he finished it.

“You look better.”

“I have the energy of an infant, but otherwise I feel better.”

He carried the plates to the sink and loaded the dishwasher. When he came back, he handed her the phone. “Want to call the girls?”

She nodded, touched by his thoughtfulness. The girls were relieved to hear she was feeling better, and she promised to call them again in a day or two.

After she hung up with Kate, he led her into a room off the living room she hadn’t noticed before. She could tell right away that he spent most of his time here. There was a desk with a computer and piles of paper she assumed were part of his business. A woodstove occupied one corner of the room, and a flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall. Aidan settled her on the sofa and covered her with a blanket before he tossed another log on the fire.