Page 11 of Saved By the CEO

“Is that—” My voice becomes a high-pitched squeak. “The sex virus?”

“It’s a reproductive homeo—” She stops herself. Sighs. “Yeah.”

I pass out again.

The doctor is still standing nextto me when I wake up.

“How long was I out?” I mumble.

“About a minute or so. Drink this.” She hands me a glass of water. “I understand this is a lot to take in. I’m here to answer any questions you might have—to the best of my ability. It’s still a new virus, and there’s much we don’t know.”

I take a sip of the cold water. It’s soothing. I hadn’t realized how dry my throat was until now.

“But before we go through the details, I was wondering if there’s anyone you’d like us to call? Maybe a family member?”

I shake my head. I’m not going to call my mother and tell her I have thesex virus.

She grabs a chair from the corner of the room and sits down beside the bed.

“So you have RHV,” she begins. “I’m assuming you’ve heard of this virus before?”

I nod.

“It’s a delicate situation, and I understand you might feel uncomfortable, or even scared, about what this means for you—” She leans forward, hands clasped between her knees. “—but I promise you we will do everything in our power to ensure that your treatment is safe, clinical, and respectful.”

“How?” I try my best to keep the venom out of my voice, but I don’t think I’m very successful. It’s misdirected, I know that. But I just can’t believe this is fucking happening.

The “treatment” is me having sex with someone, someone who could be a stranger, and she’s talking about it as if I’m going to get a dose of medication or something. I get what she’s trying to do, but I just—Fuck.

“You’re going to be treated here at the hospital. We have a room set up specifically for this. I have spoken with your partner?—”

“Who?” I demand. “Who’s my partner?”

She pauses, and I feel like puking. What if it’s Greasy Guy? Or that shit bag who catcalled me the other day? Or what if it’s someone I know, like Josh? It would be so weird to go to work every day and act normal around him after something like that. And his crush on me would make it so messy. I pray for a stranger. A clean, respectful stranger I never have to talk to outside of this.

“It’s Andrew Bennett, the man who came with you in the ambulance.”

Mr. Bennett came with me in the ambulance?

Wait.

Hold on.

Ice settles in my stomach.

No.

No. No. No.

Nonononononononononono.

I shake my head violently.

“Nope, no way. He’s my boss. Nope. Nope. Nope.” The doctor tries to put a hand on my shoulder. I shake it off. “This is not happening. This is notfuckinghappening.”

“I understand that this?—”

“No, you don’t get it,” I hiss. “He’s myboss.I can’t fuck my boss.”