“Yes.”
“You would have been exposed on the boat—close quarters, plus additionally through direct contact.”
“We shared a slice of cake last night,” Hannah said.
The doctor nodded. “We’ll check you out just in case.”
For the next hour, they were all tested and told to wait in a different waiting room, away from the rest of the people.
He was updated on Elle’s condition while they waited. They were giving her a round of steroid treatments, plus antibiotics to prevent secondary infections.
She was awake but groggy and was asking for him. Once his reports came back clean, he was shown to her room with the rest of them. So far, no one else had been exposed. They had lucked out again.
“Hey,” he said, rushing to her side and taking her free hand in his. She had tubes running in her other hand.
No matter how upset he’d been at her for not telling him everything, it wasn’t as important as seeing her alive and healthy. After all, she’d been right: his father was an adult and could take care of himself. Elle was fragile now as she lay on the big bed, looking pale and scared. She needed him, and somehow, he needed her just as badly.
“Hey.” She smiled weakly at him. “I’m sorry . . .”
He leaned in and kissed her. “You scared me . . . us,” he corrected when Zoey cleared her throat.
Zoey was standing on Elle’s other side as the Wildflowers gathered around the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Embarrassed.”
“Alive,” Hannah added.
Elle’s eyes opened and searched his. She must have seen something in them because she asked, “What’s happened?”
“Carl’s sick,” he added, feeling her hand jerk in his.
“Is he?” she asked, concern flooding her eyes.
“On the mend, like you, but a little slower. It took them a while to get back to the States. Most of the crew were sick. Carl’s immune system has always been bad because of his . . . because of his phobias. The man spent an entire year locked in his own apartment because he was afraid of germs.” He shook his head. “Candace will keep us posted.”
“How is everyone else?” she asked.
“Rest. Don’t worry about that now.” He brushed a hand down her hair, which had been braided to the side.
“I am tired.” She sighed.
“We will go.” Zoey leaned down and kissed her. “Get some rest.”
He sat back as the others said their goodbyes and left.
“You’re feeling okay, though, right?” Elle asked when they were alone. He shook his head slowly. “You’re sick?” She started to sit up.
“No, I’m physically all right.” He closed his eyes and lifted her hand to his lips. “My god, I’ve never been more scared in my life.”
Her hand escaped his, and she ran it through his hair, then nudged his chin up until he looked into her eyes. Slowly, she wiped away a tear that had escaped.
“I’m sorry.” She rested her head back again, and he could see that she had used up all her energy.
“Sleep!” He leaned in and kissed her again. “I’ll be right here.”
“Thank you for the soup and tea.”
He chuckled softly and watched as she drifted off. The sound of the monitors beeping kept him company for the next hour as she rested.
As the day shifted into evening, he sat and watched Elle. Nurses came and went, medicine in her drip was filled and replaced, and her vitals were checked every hour.
She sipped a cup of broth but pushed it away and soon grew tired of sitting up. Hannah and Scar delivered dinner to him.
“Do you need anything else?” they asked before leaving for the night.
“Tell Dylan he can bring me a change of clothes tomorrow morning. I plan on sitting right here until she can go home.”
“Liam, you should go home, get some rest,” Elle broke in.
He smiled over at her. “I’m not leaving your side.”
She yawned. “Why am I still so tired?”
“Duh!” Scar said from the end of the bed. “You have meningitis.”
“Thanks, doc.” Elle rolled her eyes.
“We did sneak you something else. Isaac sent his best.” She handed over a small bag. “To both of you.” Scar winked.
“Please, oh, please, let it be chocolate,” Elle said.
“Cookies.” Liam smiled. “Double chocolate by the looks.”
“There is a god.” Elle fell fast asleep in front of them.
“It’s the drugs they have her on,” he explained to the room. “She’s in and out a lot.”
“Her body is fighting it.” Hannah touched his shoulder. “She has a chance, thanks to you.”
Scar jumped in. “If you need anything, you have our numbers.”
“Thanks, for all this.” He motioned to the food. “And the cookies. I’ll make sure she gets one.”
“Two,” Scar warned. “At least.”
He nodded. “She can have them all, if it will make her feel better.” He turned back to Elle. “And get her out of here faster.”
After they left, he sat in the room and ate dinner while watching the news on mute.
He hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep in the chair until a nurse came in to take Elle’s vitals.
“Sorry, sweetie,” the older black woman said. “I tried not to wake you.”
“It’s okay.” He wiped his hands over his face. “I must have dozed off.”
“You’ve been sitting here all evening. If you want to go and get some fresh air . . .”
“No, thanks.” He shifted. “How’s she doing?”
“Her vitals are returning to normal, and the fever is almost gone.” She patted his arm. “She must be something really special to you.”
“She is.” He took Elle’s hand and could feel that most of her fever was gone.
“She’s one lucky lady,” the nurse said before leaving the room.
“Yes, I am,” Elle murmured.
“You’re awake.” He smiled down at her.
“Did Scar and Hannah leave?” she asked, looking around.
“Yeah.” He glanced at the clock. “A few hours ago.”
“Ugh, I must have fallen asleep.” She rolled her shoulders.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Like I could use a shower.” She touched her braid. “I must look a mess.”
“You’re beautiful. Always.” She gave him a look, making him chuckle. “Trust me, you are.”
“You didn’t eat all those cookies, did you?” She glanced around.
“Nope, I was saving them.” He took the bag and handed it to her. “They’re all yours, if you want them.”
“I think there might be one or two in here for you.” She shifted as she opened the bag. “There’s a note in here.” She pulled it out and read it out loud.
“‘Elle, from everyone in the kitchen, get better soon.’ I never thought . . .” she started but stopped.
“What?” he asked when she didn’t continue.
“I never thought that I would have such a wonderful extended family,” she said, handing him two cookies.
“You’re not only a great boss but a good friend to most everyone who works under you. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re going to beat whatever Ryan throws in your direction.”
“I hope so, because this lawsuit is just her next move, and we have to be ready for whatever else she conjures up.” She bit into a cookie. “God, but as long as we have Isaac, I think we’ll survive the storm.”
He chuckled, then bit into his own cookie and agreed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“I can walk up the stairs myself.”
But still, Elle wrapped her arms around Liam’s shoulders as he lifted her into his arms.
Even though she felt weak, she was pretty sure she could have made it up to the third-floor apartment by herself.
> “With me here, you don’t have to. Besides, this is a lot more fun.” He shifted her in his arms and brought her in for a kiss. “And, I get perks.”
She smiled and relaxed as he carried her up the rest of the way.
When they walked into the apartment, her friends were there, gathered in the living room, waiting for them.
“What’s all this?” she asked, seeing that the sofa had been made up with extra blankets.
“Your quarters for the next few days. You’ll be under our watchful eye. One of us will be with you at all times,” Zoey said, glancing around the room.
“I’ve got first shift,” Hannah said as Liam set Elle down gently on the sofa.
“I have a thing . . .” He frowned down at her. “I would . . .”
“Go.” She smiled up at him, then pulled the pillow out from behind her back and adjusted it. “I’m quite comfortable here, being pampered.” She glanced over at Hannah. “As long as there’s wine.”
“No wine,” Hannah said. “Doctor’s orders. At least until these are all gone.” She wiggled Elle’s pill bottle.
“Fine.” Elle groaned and asked, “Chocolate?”
“That I can do,” Hannah agreed and disappeared into the kitchen.
“Go.” She waved everyone else away. “Let me get my rest.” She knew everyone had places to be and things to do. “Go run our business without me.”
“I’ll be back with lunch,” Liam said before leaning in and kissing her. “Don’t go anywhere.”
She smiled. “I’m staying put. Unlike everyone else, I love getting pampered when I’m sick.”
“I’ll remember that.” He kissed her again and then left with the others.
“Here we are,” Hannah said, walking back into the room with a plate of brownies and a huge glass of milk on a tray.
“My hero.” She smiled and leaned back, feeling tired from just the short trip from the car to the base of the stairs.
“You’re tired already,” Hannah said, sitting down next to her.
She lay back and took several deep breaths, feeling too tired to even eat a brownie. Then she glanced over at Hannah. “Have you heard from Owen?”
“No.” Hannah frowned. “Why would I?”
“I just thought . . . we all did, that . . .” Elle sighed. “You know.”
“Just because you and Zoey have found happiness with a Costa man doesn’t mean I would. Besides, Owen and I are too different. It wouldn’t have worked out.”
“If you say so.” Elle took a brownie, deciding to at least try to eat something. “If I keep eating like this, Liam won’t be able to carry me up the stairs soon.” She wiggled the brownie.
“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” Hannah took a brownie for herself. “I can only dream of a man carrying me up a set of stairs, Rhett Butler–style.”
“It was pretty romantic.” She sighed and then sipped her milk. “God, he’s so . . . perfect.” She set the glass down. Even with their disagreement about his father’s whereabouts, he’d never been anything but kind and patient with her. It must have been extremely frustrating to him that she’d known something that could have eased his concerns but hadn’t told him. “I mean, he didn’t leave my bedside once. Who does that?”
“Someone who’s in love,” Hannah answered.
“Love?” Elle frowned down at her hands. “I . . . are you sure?”
Hannah chuckled. “I myself may have never experienced the emotion before, other than with you guys, but yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s in love. By the look in your eyes, so are you.”
“I can’t be.” She shook her head, knowing that she wasn’t worthy of his love. Not when she was still hiding something so major from him. Something that could very well help get his father out of danger, or deeper into it. She should tell him everything. Damn the consequences.
Maybe he could help his father discover who had it out for them. Who was setting him up and stealing from them. But she didn’t want Liam to be in any danger, and Leo had made it very clear that if they knew . . . they would be. “I . . .” She turned her thoughts to her history with Jeff and all the mistakes she’d made because she’d believed he’d been the one. “No, I’m not ready again.”
“Yes.” Hannah rested her hand on her leg. “You are. And, more importantly, he’s the one for you. It’s obvious, and if you weren’t fighting off a major illness, you’d see it too.”
“I can’t . . .” She closed her eyes.
“Rest.” Hannah took her feet and pulled them up onto the sofa, then covered her with a blanket. “Everything will get easier tomorrow.”
“You should call him,” she said before closing her eyes.
When she woke, Liam was there, waiting for her to open them again.
“Feel better?” he asked with a smile.
“Some.” She stretched. “I could probably go for some food.”
“I can arrange that.” He picked up his cell phone. “Burger?” he asked, glancing up at her.
“Sounds perfect.” She rested back on the pillow.
When he set his phone down, he moved the chair closer to her. “The food should be here shortly.”
She wanted to ask him who was bringing it but decided it didn’t matter.
“How are things at the camp?”
She’d been curious about how things were running. To be honest, if she’d felt a little stronger, she might have tried to take a short walk downstairs to check up on the place herself.
“Your friends and your staff have got everything handled.” He handed her a drink of water. “Trust them.”
“I do.” She sipped from the cup. For the first time in two days, she felt hungry—really hungry—and she wondered how long it would take the burgers to get there.
He reached over and took her hand in his. “I’m so sorry about leaving you the other night. I should have . . . returned to you. I would have seen that you were sick and done something about it sooner.”
“You were upset,” she said. “You had every right to be. I’m keeping something from you. Something about your family that I shouldn’t have the right to . . . but I made a promise and . . . it’s important. I can’t tell you why, but you need to trust your father on this.”
He shook his head. “That’s just the thing. I can’t. I mean, Dad has done some pretty crazy stuff in the past few years. If I could trust him”—his eyes locked with hers—“I would.”
“Then trust me,” she said and tugged his hand closer until he was leaning over her. She needed to protect him, even if his father wasn’t around to do it himself. Again, she figured she could be truthful about some things. “I don’t understand everything that’s going on, or where your father is right now, but I do know enough to realize that it’s very important I keep what I do know to myself.”
He rested his forehead on hers. “I do trust you.” He sighed.
They sat holding hands in silence. In a few minutes, Zoey and Scar walked in with a bag of burgers and fries. Just as she’d been thinking she couldn’t wait any longer for food.
“How’s it going?” she asked Zoey, hoping for more detail. After a quick update from both, she felt more relaxed than before and dug into her burger.
“We should all be so lucky as to get a week off from work,” Scar joked.
“I’m not taking a full week,” she said, trying to make her voice sound strong, but she ended up sounding more like she was whining.
“You are; the doctor . . .” Liam started, but she narrowed her eyes at him, causing him to chuckle. “We’ll see how you feel.”
“I think if I get a little more rest today, I can be up tomorrow. Maybe not full force, but at least well enough to deal with some paperwork. Have we heard from the lawyers again?”
“No, but they did say it would take them about a week to go over everything,” Zoey said. “Let’s allow them to do their job and not stress about anything just yet.”
“Everyone thinks it’s total BS what Ryan is doing,
” Scar said. “More stories of how she acted are surfacing.”
“Like what?” she asked, leaning forward.
“Here’s my clue to cut out.” Liam leaned in and kissed her. “There’s a band playing tonight, and Britt needs help at the bar.”
“Thanks for lunch,” she said.
“Aubrey’s bringing up dinner for you later.” He kissed her again, then whispered, “See you after. Get some rest.”
“I will. How’s Carl? Have you heard anything else today?”
“Candace called me earlier. He’s out of the woods,” he said with a smile. “He’ll be stuck in the hospital for a few more days, but they think he’s past the roughest part.” Then he disappeared out the door.
“That’s good news,” she said to Zoey.
“Yes, it was a shame about the man who died.”
“What?” Elle sat up. “Who died?”
Zoey frowned at her. “I thought Liam told you . . . the employee on the boat. The one who infected you. He didn’t make it.”
Her heart sank, and she fell back against the sofa.
“I thought . . . Liam was probably trying to protect you from the bad news.”
“I’m not upset at him,” she said and rubbed her forehead. “I’m just tired.”
“Get some rest, then.” Zoey stood up. “I’m on watch until dinner.”
“Thanks.” She pulled her legs up and tucked the blanket around her again as Zoey cleared the mess from the coffee table.
She hadn’t realized how close to death she’d been. Sure, she’d felt like crap, but she’d had the flu plenty of times. Even though she knew meningitis wasn’t something to joke about, the worst she’d felt was just after she’d arrived at the hospital, when the doctors and nurses were poking her with needles.
“Zoey?” She glanced over at Zoey, who was sitting across from her, reading a book. “How bad was it?”
“What?”
“I remember passing out when Liam came up with the soup, but that’s it . . .”
“Sweetie.” Zoey set her book down. “You had four full-blown seizures. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head, and they thought at one point that your heart had stopped.”
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