“Oh God, if they found out I was throwing up, they would spin it into some wild story about how I am pregnant or drunk or something. And I’m covered in my own puke! Do you think someone has an extra shirt I could wear? I will be even more mortified if I have to walk in front of the press covered in this.” I waved my hand in front of my shirt.
“Exactly,” Oliver said.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Knox looked at Oliver and then me, his eyebrows knitting together.
“Everyone is almost done cleaning up, and then they’re going to the Godric State Room on the other side of the palace. Give me a few minutes to get everyone over there, then I’ll textyou and you can exit through the kitchen so no one spots you. Once you’re out, I’ll call the doctor to come check on her just to make sure she’s in the clear.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” Knox nodded.
Oliver clapped Knox on the shoulder. “Thanks for taking care of her.”
“No problem.”
Knox shut the door and then turned around and kneeled in front of me. “You had me scared there for a minute.”
“What? Knox Henderson doesn’t get scared,” I replied, only having the strength for a half smile.
“Lift your hands. Let’s get that shirt off you.”
“I can’t walk out of here topless, that would be worse than walking out of here wearing a vomit shirt.”
“As much as I wouldn’t object to you being topless, I’m going to give you my flannel to wear.”
I didn’t even have the strength to dissect him saying he wanted me topless. I just lifted my arms as Knox rolled the hem of the shirt over the saturated part so it wouldn't get in my hair or on my face. After he pulled it over my head, he tossed it in the trash; I was sure that Bronson wouldn’t miss it.
Knox wrapped the warm flannel around my back and I slid my arms into the sleeves. The shirt hung off me three sizes too big, but I didn’t care. It smelled like Knox: pine and mint. The flannel was so soft and warm from being worn by him. He knelt in front of me to button up the shirt.
“It looks like your hives have stopped spreading.” He ran his cool fingers along my collarbone and neck and my body shook from his touch.
“Good,” I whispered.
The drowsiness took over my body and my eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. I probably looked like a milk-drunk baby trying to fightsleep.
“You look like you’re about to fall over.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to get super sleepy. Hopefully they get out of the kitchen soon, I’m ready to pass out.” I laughed softly. “Figuratively, not literally.”
“Come here.”
Knox put his hands under my knees and along my back and lifted me off the floor.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Just close your eyes. I’ve got you.”
As much as I didn’t want to be treated like a baby or be pitied, the pressure of his arms around me calmed me almost as much as the medicine had. My eyes grew heavier and heavier, and I couldn’t fight the urge to close them anymore.
“Knox?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“Anything for you, sweetheart.”
I dozed off in his arms to the sound of his heart beating. I woke to the feeling of being laid down onto something extremely soft and then being wrapped up in something warm. I felt pressure on my back and warm air on my neck—something, no, someone—laying against me.
The last thing I heard was Knox saying, “Keep her safe tonight, boy,” as a door closed.
