All four of my guys turned towards me, giving me incredulous looks.
“I mean, for another like thirty minutes at least,” I added. I couldn’t have them taking me too seriously. Even now, I was hot with their undivided attention, and I wondered how many times I would come with all four of them.
“No more,” Liam said, sweeping me up in his arms. “We’re going to order takeout, watch a movie, and go to bed early.”
The reminder of why we needed to be up early in the morning made my chest tighten.
“Shh,” Liam said, holding me close as he sat down on the couch. “It’s going to be okay. Just let yourself enjoy this evening, sweetheart.”
“You made sure all of you can be with me during the infusion, right?” I asked.
Henry sat down beside us. “I called a few minutes ago to make sure it’s all set up. They’re giving us a corner room, so there will be plenty of space.”
Part of me was uncomfortable with the idea of special treatment, but I couldn’t find it within myself to care. I wouldn’t manage the day separated from any of my guys.
“What do we want for food?” Bear asked, a stack of takeout menus in his hand as he squeezed onto the couch beside me.
“Chinese?” I asked.
“Sounds great,” Bear said. “I’ll order a bit of everything.”
Gray leaned over the back of the couch and handed me a bottle of water. “You need to rehydrate, princess.”
“Thanks, daddy,” I said, taking the bottle.
His cheeks heated, and he cleared his throat before moving around the couch to sit in front of me. I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair, my anxiety melting away with all of my guys around me.
85
WESTIN
“Here are your pre-meds. This is to help prevent an infusion reaction. We’re also giving you IV steroids and a bag of fluids. Once you’ve gotten all of those, we will start your chemo infusion.”
My nurse for the day, Wendy, seemed nice, but all the medical personnel on this floor were acting so damncasual, as if today wasn’t fucking terrifying and life-changing.
“What’s an infusion reaction?” Henry asked.
“It’s sort of like an allergic reaction to the chemo. It can happen sometimes. If it does, it just means we have to infuse the chemo at a slower rate going forward,” Wendy said. She hooked the medications to the IV pole after I swallowed the pills and then left us alone.
The infusion room had a large window looking out on the street by the hospital. There were four chairs arranged for my guys, who were currently using none of them. They were crowded around my bed as if even a foot of space between us would be too much.
“How’re you—” Liam started.
“Please don’t ask how I’m feeling again,” I groaned. “It’s the same as five minutes ago.”
He huffed and ran his hand through his hair. I grabbed his other hand and squeezed it. “How areyoufeeling?”
“Me? Totally fine,” he responded.
“Really convincing,” Bear said, and I couldn’t stop my smile. Everyone was on edge. I hoped today would go well so we could be more relaxed going forward. The actual chemo infusion was only supposed to take ninety minutes.
Once the fluids were done, Wendy came in with the bag of chemo. It had large warning signs printed on it reading “caution” and “high alert.”
Very reassuring.
She hung it on my IV pole and my entire body clenched.
I didn’t want to do this.
