The shifter sighed and plucked the water jug from me. “I’ll take care of it, Mrs. Wood. But you need to get back in bed, where you should be…not pacing around your room.”
My cheeks pinked.
Their hearing was annoying.
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” A doctor in blue scrubs pushed past me from behind, brushing by us, walking down the hallway and jostling my form so much I almost fell on my ass—and it wasn’t even a hard bump. I placed my free hand on the wall, glaring at the back of the doctor’s head as he moved down the hallway at a fast clip, not struggling to walk as I was. Perhaps everyone was right, and a little more rest was needed. To the shifter, I hissed, “Don’t tell Alaric I was up and about.”
I trudged back into my room and shut the door.
My ice and water arrived within two minutes.
I scrolled through books on my silver bracelet, waiting for my man to return with the gifted candy. He was taking a long damn time. I settled on a cozy mystery, sipped on water, and relaxed in bed.
My eyes shut as I yawned. So tired.
A little nap. Just a tiny one.
* * *
I opened my eyes to the rays of sunrise. I blinked up at the ceiling in confusion. There were balloons all over it, all in varying color, floating high above me, every square inch of the ceiling covered.
I lifted my head and peered around the room.
At the foot of my hospital bed were tiny red boxes all stacked up. They were in the shape of my new home, a miniature reconstruction of the mansion I was now living in. My jaw dropped as I stared at the beauty before me, the time it must have taken to construct it, the mansion almost touching the ceiling.
“Oh, my goodness,” I breathed, pressing my right hand over my heart. “That is beautiful.”
Alaric opened his eyes in the chair he was sitting in, pretending to be asleep. His lips quirked up at the edges, murmuring, “You said to be creative. It took me some time, and you were already asleep when I got back.”
Tears stung my eyes as I looked up at the balloons again. “It’s the sky, isn’t it?”
He nodded, his chest puffing with pride. “I wondered if you would be able to tell.” He pointed to the middle of the ceiling. “That’s the sun shining down on our home.”
I sniffled and wiped at my eyes. “I couldn’t go home…so you brought our home here.”
His eyes sparkled with mischief, even as he leaned over to hold my hand with a tender touch. “And each box is filled with a chocolate.”
My misty eyes widened comically on my face. “Are you serious?” I returned my attention toall those boxes. “I don’t deserve you. I can’t compete with this. Like, ever. I’m not this imaginative.”
He leaned over and pressed his lips to my hand he was holding, whispering against my flesh, “I have plenty of imagination for the two of us. You shouldn’t worry on that account.”
A blush stained my cheeks a pale pink, his meaning intimate and clear. “You are like a dream come true. I can’t wait to get home.”
He peeked up at me from under his lush lashes, kissing my hand softly again. And again. “Are you feeling better today?”
I stretched under the thin blanket, luxuriating in each of my muscles tightening and releasing. Clenching and uncoiling. “It feels like it.”
Alaric stood and bent over me, his rugged and sexy features hovering over my face, his shaggy brown hair dangling down around his face. “Then let’s get you where you belong. And this bed is not it.”
