The bathroom was tiny, barely big enough for the toilet, sink, and narrow shower stall. Steam filled the space, making everything soft and hazy. And there, standing in the shower with water streaming down her body, was Mattie.
She squeaked, high-pitched and startled, and instead of closing the shower curtain, her hands flew up to cover herself. One arm crossed over her chest, the other hand pressing between her thighs, and her face turned crimson.
"I'm so sorry," Dimitri said, but he couldn't look away. He just couldn't. She was beautiful—pale skin flushed pink from the hot water, blond hair darkened and plastered to her shoulders, blue eyes wide with surprise. The scars on her legs, the ones she'd shown him that night in the staff kitchen, stood out against her skin, but they didn't diminish her beauty. Nothing could.
Then his brain caught up with his eyes, and he turned his head sharply to the side, staring at the wall.
"You're incredibly beautiful," he said. "Thank you for the peek. But I really, really need to use the toilet. Is that okay? I promise I won't look."
For a moment, silence. Then Mattie laughed, a nervous, breathless sound that echoed off the tile walls.
"Go ahead," she said. "Just don't look."
"I won't."
He heard the shower curtain pull closed.
He kept his eyes fixed firmly on the wall as he crossed to the toilet. The relief when he finally emptied his bladder was almost overwhelming. He must have been holding it in for hours, and the pressure had built to the point of no return.
"How do you feel?" Mattie asked after he flushed the toilet.
"Good as new," he said, and was surprised to find it was mostly true. The fever was gone, the weakness in his limbs had faded, and he felt almost normal. Strangely, his sense of smell had gotten sharper for some reason, and he assumed it was a side effect of whatever had gotten him sick. "Whatever Petrov gave me worked."
"He was amazing. He brought the pills and food, and he also went to the bar to tell Anil that I couldn't come in today."
Dimitri was surprised at his boss's initiative. "I owe him a drink, but since we don't pay for our drinks at the bar, perhaps I should reward him in some other way."
There was a full-length mirror on the bathroom door, and as he wiped the condensation from the glass with his hand, he was startled by his own reflection. He looked terrible despite feeling just fine. His face was pale, hollow-eyed, with a day's worth of stubble darkening his jaw, and his hair was sticking up in every direction. The bandage on his neck was stained, but he wasn't sure if it was dried blood or sweat. He could only imagine how bad he smelled after hours of sweating beneath two blankets.
He moved to the sink, becoming acutely aware of Mattie showering mere centimeters away.
"Can I brush my teeth?" he asked. "I promise I still won't peek."
There was a pause.
"I don't mind if you peek," Mattie said.
Dimitri's hand froze on the toothbrush. "What?"
"I said you can peek." The shower curtain rustled. "You can also get in here with me. You're covered in sweat and I can help you wash it off. You're probably unsteady on your feet."
Talk about shock. His brain short circuited.
Shy Mattie, the girl who blushed when he complimented her, who ducked her head when their eyes met, who had been so hesitant to show him her scars, was inviting him to shower with her?
This had to be a dream. He was still in bed, still burning up with fever, and his delirious mind was conjuring fantasies. Wonderful fantasies, but he needed to know whether he was dreaming or awake.
Dimitri reached down and pinched the inside of his forearm. Hard.
"Ouch!"
"What happened?" Mattie yanked the shower curtain aside and poked her head through the gap she'd made.
"I pinched myself."
"Why? What made you do that?"
"I thought I was dreaming." He stared at the red mark already forming on his skin, then lifted his head to look at Mattie's beautiful face. "I'm not dreaming, am I?"
