Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.Slowly, I lowered onto the edge of the mattress, the bed dipping beneath my weight. Before I even had my back against the headboard, he was dragging himself into my lap, draping his upper body across my legs, and laying his cheek on my thigh.
A languid sigh, punctuated by a slight cough, brushed against my jeans.
Grimacing, I plucked the cold, damp rag from where it fell on the bed and tossed it into the bucket. “This better not be contagious.”
His arm draped over me, fingers wedging between my leg and the bed. I reminded myself he was suspicious and I didn’t trust him.
I was only doing this so I could get information. The sooner I did, the sooner I could send him on his way.
A few hours later, I startled awake in a completely dark room with a weight trapping me. Instantly, I went on defense, muscles tensing as I rolled, flipping the weight beneath me and pinning it down.
That’s when I heard the sound. Urgent, rhythmic clacking. My head snapped up to survey the room, searching the corners and everything in between. The body beneath me jerked, and I glanced down, realizing what was happening.
“Pip?” I asked, the past few hours rushing back to me.
Shit. I fell asleep. Geezuz, he could have pulled out a knife and stabbed me!
Not really. I had searched him just like the previous time. And just like before, all he had on him was a library card. Still, I knew better than to let my guard down.
“It’s c-c-c-cold,” he chattered through his teeth. His entire body trembled as he curled in on himself even as I pinned him to the mattress.
I could have hurt him.I pulled back immediately, but he made a sound of protest.
“N-n-n-n-ooo,” Pip whined, teeth still snapping.
Bolting out of bed, I went to grab the thermometer from the edge of the bathroom sink, and when I came back, the scene was a punch in the gut. How small he looked curled up in the center of the bed, arms wrapped around his knees as he shivered.
The thermometer beeped, and I dropped on one knee and pushed him onto his back. He released a pained whimper as he weakly attempted to roll back into himself.
“I’m taking your temperature,” I told him. “Open your mouth.”
But his teeth were chattering too much for him to hold it under his tongue.
Instead, I tugged the shirts off his body and rolled him onto his back.
“It’s cold,” he whined.
“I’m gonna get you a blanket,” I promised, sticking the end of the thermometer into his armpit. It was the best I could do at the moment.
He flinched away from it, but I caught his face, pushing it toward me, keeping my palm flat against his cheek. “Easy, baby. I’m almost done.”
He stopped fighting, relaxing into the mattress even as he trembled. Feeling his attention, I looked up from thethermometer and met a pair of gray eyes.
“Why are you always in the dark?” he murmured.
“It’s where I belong.”
Beeping filled the room, and I pulled back, glancing down at the lit screen. “Your fever broke,” I announced.
“I had a fever?” he asked, then, “Where am I?”
Before I could reply, he started trembling again, teeth rattling.
Tossing the thermometer, I grabbed the mug and held it out. “Drink some water.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Right now, Pip.”
