Weakly, he pushed into a sitting position, his pale skin practically a beacon in the dark. His arms were thin and unsteady, the water sloshing when he took the cup.
Grabbing the bottom, I held it still while he drank more than before but still not enough. His hand fell away from the ceramic, and I moved back.
“Where are you going?” The panic in his tone was a tight fist around my heart.
After checking the time, I went back into the bathroom, not even bothering to flick on a light. I knew my way around darkness better than most knew in daylight.
“Hero,” he called, the blankets on the bed rustling. “Wait.”
Forgetting what I was doing, I moved back to the doorway, nearly colliding with his shirtless frame.
He let out a gasp and stumbled back, falling onto his ass. Immediately, he groaned, which turned into a coughthat rattled my ears. I watched him hunch on the floor, face pressed into the crook of his elbow as his back spasmed with the hacking.
The urge to pick him up off the floor was so strong that my fingers flexed and my toes tried to push forward, but I forced myself to remain erect in the doorway.
“How do you know my name?” I asked, watching him writhe.
The arm in front of his mouth lowered. “W-what?”
“My name,” I snapped. “How do you know it?”
“I-I don’t,” he stammered, then coughed again.
This time, I did pull him off the floor, hand wrapped around his upper arm like a vise. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“Who sent you?”
The whites of his eyes were like headlamps in the night when he looked at me and shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He was shaking. Skin vibrating beneath my palm.
Automatically, I loosened my grip, and he started to slump toward the floor.
Cursing, I scooped him up in a bridal-style hold, ignoring how easy it was.
“It’s so cold,” he said quietly, curling into my body heat.
Turning, I went back into the bathroom, juggling his weight to grab the meds out of the plastic bag I’d tossed on the counter.
“Can I have my shirts back before you throw me out?”His voice was feeble, breath brushing across my chest.
“No.”
His body quivered, but he said nothing.
“Take this,” I said, gruff.
His head rolled against my arm as he squinted at the pills in my palm. “What is that?”
“Medicine to keep your fever down.”
I expected a protest. I did not expect him to part his lips and wait for me to feed him the pills. After a brief pause, I tossed them in his mouth and gave him more water out of the cup by the bed. I felt his eyes the entire time he swallowed, but I avoided looking at him while he drank from my hands.
When he was finished, he relaxed back into my arms. “Thank you,” he said before his teeth started snapping again.
“Stop that,” I demanded.
