He nodded. Turning, I pulled him against my side then wrapped my arm around his waist before tugging his other arm over my shoulders. It took twice as long as it should have, but eventually, I got him to the bathroom. He grunted as I eased him down onto the toilet seat, and he swayed backward until he rested against the back, his head drooping toward his chest
“Don’t move,” I ordered.
He snorted but didn’t lift his head. “The fuck am I going to go, Kreed?”
I ignored his smartass remark and headed for the patio. After grabbing one of the plastic chairs, I jogged back to his bathroom. He watched through slitted eyes as I set the chair in the shower then turned the water onto the hottest setting. Wordlessly, I turned to him and gripped the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head. I was methodical as I undressed him, leaving him in his briefs because no matter what decision I’d made after my phone call with Bonnie, I wasn’t ready to see all of him yet.
“Don’t want to take these off, too?” he asked, thumb hooking in the band of his briefs and weakly tugging them from his body until they snapped back into place.
“Just get in the shower, boy,” I muttered, helping him over the lip of the tub and onto the chair. Once he was settled, I shut the shower curtain, then dropped onto the toilet seat he’d vacated. “I’ll be right here in case you need me. Take your time. Don’t rush. Last thing I need is you falling over and hitting your head.”
“So thoughtful,” he grumbled.
I sighed and tilted my head back, closing my eyes. “Even sick, you’re a smartass.”
He grunted.
“One of a fucking kind,” he muttered, almost quiet enough I couldn’t hear him. I let his comment slide. Arguing with Hudson was never a good idea. He loved having the last word. And arguing with him while he was sick would just exacerbate his symptoms.
He was already going to be difficult to deal with once we got to the hospital. I just needed to save my energy until then. Because I would need every bit of it.
Chapter Nine
Hudson
* * *
I felt like puking—and it wasn’t because I was sick. The scent of disinfectant, the white walls, the nurses and doctors running all around—they were the ones making me nauseous. They were the reason I was sick to my stomach and felt like spewing my broth everywhere. There was no denying I needed some kind of medical attention, but I hated that I had to be here.
Didn’t matter that it wasn’t the same hospital where I’d been sexually assaulted. Fucking raped. Didn’t matter that he no longer fucking worked here and couldn’t touch me. And it didn’t matter that I was now an adult capable of taking care of myself.
Those kinds of scars never faded over time. Sometimes, they randomly reopened and bled. Like now. All I wanted to do was get up from this hard, uncomfortable chair and leave. Just sprint out those emergency room doors and never stop running until I reached the safety of home—the one place I’d never been abused because Kreed had never allowed it.
“Knight?” the triage nurse called, using my last name as soon as she opened her door. Her hair was blonde and held back by a clip. She looked pleasant enough, but I knew looks could be deceiving.
“Come on,” Kreed murmured, standing and turning to face me.
I shook my head. I didn’t want to go back there.
Kreed, the understanding fucking bastard that he was, crouched in front of me, his eyes soft and understanding. He rested his hands on my knees and stroked his thumbs over my thighs through my cotton pajama pants. “I’m by your side the entire time, remember? No one will touch you, Hudson.”
“This is stupid,” I rasped then coughed.
Kreed shook his head. “Your fear of hospitals and their staff is not stupid, Hudson. You haven’t had time to heal from it because you’ve shoved it down and kept it hidden.” He straightened to his full height then gripped me beneath my arms, hauling me up. I lost my balance, falling against him, and his arms came around me immediately. And fuck, the way I sank into him…
Kreed was home. He was safety. How could I not sink into him and seek a moment of comfort?
“Easy now,” Kreed murmured. He eased me back then grabbed my hand. I didn’t let a single thing show on my face, but my heart skipped a beat when he slipped his fingers between mine and gently squeezed. I had no idea what the fuck was happening, but I sure as hell wouldn’t say a word. If I got what I wanted without having to put in the work, who the fuck was I to complain? I’d worked for everything in my life. Maybe—just maybe—I could get what I wanted without a fight for once.
The nurse smiled warmly at us as we drew closer.
“Hudson Knight?” she asked. When I nodded, she looked at Kreed. “If you’ll just wait in the waiting room, I can come get you once his triage is finished?—”
I was going to puke.
My hand tightened around Kreed’s, sweaty and shaking. My heart was beating too fast, and I was sure my knees would give out beneath me.
He couldn’t leave me. He promised.
