She nodded, white-faced.
“Okay.” He gently slid her out of her clothes, leaving her in just her bra and her thong, murmuring soothing words as he did. “The IV medication they gave you will last another six hours. Then we’ll start you on the oral doses of antibiotic and pain meds the surgeon prescribed.” As he spoke, he eased her beneath the covers and grabbed a second blanket, which he laid over the first to help stop the shaking.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
Swallowing hard, Hutch sat gingerly at the edge of the bed beside her.
“Prescriptions at…pharmacy,” Casey managed.
“I know,” Hutch reassured her. “They’re being delivered. I’m also hiring a full-time nurse. I want a professional with you at all times to make sure you follow your surgeon’s instructions.” Hutch heard his own voice quaver. “I also don’t want you left alone at any time.”
For once, she didn’t argue.
Just seeing her so depleted brought back memories Hutch tried daily to forget. They forced out his next outburst, even though he’d promised himself he’d stay calm.
“Goddammit, Casey. Do I have to tie you to the bed and burn all your devices?”
Casey gave him the barest hint of a smile. “That’s…extreme.”
“Is it? Do I need to remind you how close you came to dying? How close I came to losing you?” His voice cracked a little at the end, and he reached out, running his fingers through her hair and then cupping her face. “I was never so frightened in my life. Do you know how much I love you? I don’t think so. Because if you did, you wouldn’t break me this way.”
Tears filled Casey’s eyes, and she visibly struggled for coherency. “I’m…sorry. I love you. It’s so hard. Giving in.” She waved her hand. “To weakness… Physical… Emotional.”
“You’re not weak. You’re the strongest person I know. But you’re human. And right now you need to get well. For me.”
“I will.”
Hutch kissed her, then rose. “Once I’ve hired the nurse, I’ll call your team—not in any professional capacity. As your husband. You’re going to sleep the rest of the night, and hopefully, half of tomorrow. After that, you’ll stay in bed doing nothing but resting. When you’re feeling stronger—and by that, I mean not for a few days—you can set up a Zoom meeting with your team, since they’re idle anyway. Right?” He wasn’t waiting for a response. His words were pointed and his gaze challenged her. “And Case, I’m not asking you. I’m telling you.”
Feeling weak as a kitten, Casey nodded. Her eyelids were already drooping from the narcotics. “Ev’n though you’re a hard-ass, you make it hard t’stay mad at you,” she murmured.
An instant later, she was asleep.
Offices of the Zermatt Group
West Seventy-Fifth Street, Seventh Floor
Manhattan, New York
Sunday, March 19, 10:25 a.m.
Marc strode out of the elevator and down the hall to Aidan’s apartment. The cloned laptop was in a computer bag slung over his shoulder.
Aidan was waiting for him in the open doorway.
Wordlessly, he let Marc in and shut the door behind them, tipping his head toward the fortress in the rear of the apartment after double-locking his front door.
Marc glanced around the silent apartment as he walked. “Abby?” he asked.
“Out with Joyce, meeting up with friends at her favorite playground,” Aidan responded. “They’ll be gone for a good portion of the day. Obviously, I didn’t tell her that her uncle Marc was coming over. She’d never have left your side and we wouldn’t get a thing done. You can play with our little princess next time.”
“I can’t wait,” Marc said with a hint of a smile. It was no secret that he adored Abby and that the feeling was mutual.
Aidan punched in the key code, and he and Marc stepped inside the Cage. Marc had never been in this room, and he looked around, visibly fascinated.
“Wow,” he said. “Pretty impressive.”
“We like to think so,” Aidan said, his lips quirking in a grin.
