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He snorted, laying back, eyes slamming shut from the pain rocketing through his body which had his hand on the medicine bottle, pulling at the plastic lid. After dropping two of the pills directly into his mouth, he refastened the top and tossed it beside him, lifting the bottle of water, downing half.
“Carter…”
“Yes. I have to go. I’mma be off the grid for a few days. I’ll get up with you when I can.”
“What do you mean off the grid?”
His head sank deeper into the pillow followed by his lids slowly lowering. “You want this handled or not? If you’ve changed your mind, you’ll have a wire transfer within the hour.”
“No, just get it done.”
He chuckled at the clipped tone but wasn’t in the mood to respond, especially once he felt his mind settling into a haze. Instead of fighting the fatigue that crept in, Carter gave in and drifted off to sleep, thinking he should have been more concerned with being in a foreign space unprotected but there was something about the comfort of the mattress that supported his body and the way McKenna put him at ease that allowed him to settle into a peaceful sleep.
Carter didn’t wake until hours later, feeling disoriented. It took some focus but he slowly shook the fog, sitting up, garnering a little more strength than he’d had before. However, his body was stiff from the lack of movement. That had him lifting from the bed slowly.
His first stop was the bathroom where he emptied his bladder before washing his hands and brushing his teeth for the second time that day. However this time, instead of landing back in bed, he struggled into a pair of shorts and left the room, needing to settle the hunger pangs he now felt. He also realized the soiled bandages on his shoulder needed to be removed and replaced.
Carter eventually made it to the living room, scaring McKenna half to death when his voice rumbled above her head seconds before he rounded the sofa, landing weightlessly next to her.
“Shit,” she panted with her hand gripping her t-shirt at her chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”
His brows furrowed, followed by a one-sided smile tilting his lips. “You forgot I was here?”
“Yes, no, kind of,” she rushed out, adjusting her spine and easing away from the dip in the sofa the weight of his body had created. “You’ve been asleep most of the day. I checked on you after I made lunch but I decided it was best to let you rest.”
“Best for you or me?”
“Both,” she snapped, standing but he caught her arm before she could get away like he’d done earlier in the bedroom. McKenna’s eyes quickly dropped to their connection before she lifted them to meet his. Only that didn’t last long because Carter eyed her body from head to toe before he spoke.
“I need you to change this for me.”
McKenna snatched free from his grasp and exited the area, moving away from Carter this time instead of crossing his path. He glanced at the blanket draped over the sofa, remembering that he’d ruined it the night before. It was old so he figured she wouldn’t mind replacing it with something a little more current.
When she returned her hands were full with supplies. “Where’d that come from?” He motioned to the things she dumped on the sofa next to him, ripping open a few packages in the process.
“I ordered them when I ordered groceries. You’ve already ruined my sofa. Didn’t want you bleeding out on my bed too.” She shot him a dirty look but Carter chose to remain quiet. Instead he watched her every move while she prepared the things she needed, requesting permission to breach his personal space once she had gloves on and was ready.
“May I?”
He nodded, holding his arm close to allow for better access. McKenna’s glove-covered hands carefully removed the soiled bandages, which she quickly deposited in the empty grocery bag while her face scrunched from the sight.
“You seriously this squeamish and you work at a hospital?”
“Are you seriously talking shit about the only person who’s here to help with this?” She didn’t bother looking up and instead remained busy, timidly tending to his wounds, cleaning the site with antibacterial wipes in such a delicate manner that Carter finally spoke up.
“I’m not gonna break.”
Her eyes shot up to his before they rolled and she continued what she was doing. Her methods remained the same regardless of the warning, which had a teasing smile tugging at Carter’s lips.
“It looks a little better, less swollen but the bruising is worse. Does it feel any better?”
“Shit, hard to say, pain is pain but I didn’t feel most of it because those damn pills you gave me knocked my ass out.” He chuckled, lowering his arm while she tidied up—stacking the unused supplies on the coffee table and carrying the soiled ones to the kitchen to discard in the trash.
After removing the gloves and washing her hands, she tossed a glance over her shoulder. “You missed lunch but I already made dinner.”
“Good, I’m hungry as shit,” Carter mumbled, removing his phone from the pocket of his shorts. “Ay, you got a charger I can use?” He held up the device and McKenna nodded, leaving the kitchen and reaching for the phone over the back of his shoulder. Carter let it go but watched as she rounded the sofa, removing hers and plugging his in.
When she left him again Carter checked out the place. Things were neat but like the room he’d been occupying everything seemed dated. Nice but all the furniture was old.
