BENNETT
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
J, I might need you to run to a pharmacy for me
JULIAN
At your service. I’m already in bed wearing my overnight collagen mask, so please know that it will be a sacrifice
BENNETT
noted
CHAPTER 14
Clover
“Open up,” Bennett says two minutes after he last took my temperature.
“You just did this.” My throat is sandpaper.
“Actually, it was forty-five minutes ago. I gave you an extra fifteen minutes.”
I open my mouth and hold the thermometer between my lips. “Do you want a prize for that?” My eyes are still closed and my words are a garbled mess.
“Still at a hundred and two and still a smart ass.”
He keeps talking about doctors and spending money however he pleases, but I’m drifting back to sleep and I think I use his sleeve to wipe a bit of sweat from my forehead. But that can’t be true. That would be mortifying and disgusting.
The next time I hear anything is Bennett on the phone with someone.
“I’m calling on behalf of my wife.” There’s a firm, nonnegotiable quality to his voice.
My wife.That sounds… nice. It’s nice to belong to someone.
“Still at a hundred and two,” he says. “No, no nausea currently. But she did say she hasn’t been able to keep food down.”
I shush him. I want it to be quiet again and I’m cold and my hands are grabbing for blankets they can’t find. Then I’m enveloped in warmth, and I huddle my head underneath so that his words become more muffled.
The last thing I hear him say is: “What should I do to break the fever if it goes up? And you’ll do a house call if that doesn’t work?”
That sounds expensive.
I reach for something warm and hug myself to it. Something cool presses to my forehead and even though I’m cold, my face feels warm.
Bennett’s voice wakes me again, though he’s trying to be quiet. “The prescription is under her name. Get some over-the-counter stuff too. I don’t know. Just ask the pharmacist. Literally buy everything he tells you to. She really doesn’t want to go—I know. She still feels warm.”
“I need tampons,” I croak and my voice is louder than I mean for it to be. It’s a sudden thought that I can’t stop myself from saying. I don’t need them now, but I will in a few days.
“Is there a certain kind, Clo?”
I picture the logo on the box in my head and that feels good enough.
Light washes over me as the door opens and closes. There are two voices and some bickering. I open my eyes and begin to sit up. “I’m thirsty.”
Bennett and Julian turn around and look surprised to see me alert.
I slump back against the pillows and accidentally hit my head on the wooden headboard. “Fuck,” I moan.
