I admit it takes me a second to parse out what this means. And then I spring from her and get to my feet. I know without her having to say it. She would not want Harry, Mattie, or Emmett to walk in and see us kissing in her bed. For that matter, neither do I.
Down the hall, a door bangs open. Bare feet slap against wood. Another door in the hall. And then I hear the unmistakable knock of a toilet seat against a toilet lid.
Followed by the roar of retching.
“Oh fuck.” Millie pushes up to sitting, but I wave her off.
“I’ve got it.”
“But—”
I’m out the door before she can protest. Another retch emits from the bathroom, and I find Emmett hunched over the toilet bowl, white as paper.
“Hey,jefe,” I say, leaning against the door frame. Emmett looks up at me, watery-eyed and shivering. And embarrassed. Can’t have that. I nod at the toilet and the still clean floor. “Nice shot.”
He doesn’t say anything but coughs and spits into the bowl.
I reach for a clean washcloth on the shelf opposite the sink, wet it, and offer it to him. “Feeling any better?”
He nods, takes the cloth, and wipes his mouth. I don’t need to touch him to know he’s probably burning up just like Millie, but I put a hand to his forehead anyway.
“Caliente.”
He lifts his pale blue eyes to mine. “What’s that mean?” he croaks.
“Hot. We need to get you and your sister to the doctor’s.” I drop my hand and point to the sink. “But not with puke breath. Rinse and brush first.”
Emmett looks past me. “Did you throw up?”
I turn to find Millie behind me, holding her boots in one hand and looking the worse for wear from her trip down the hall.
“Not yet.”
“I don’t recommend it,” her little brother says, and Millie and I both grin.
Emmett goes to the sink to clean up.
“You want to get dressed or go to Minute Med in your pajamas?” Millie asks him.
He rinses and spits. “Get dressed. I’m not a baby.”
Millie’s eyes meet mine in the mirror. My face says,He told you.Hers says,Welcome to my life.
If only she’d actually say those words out loud. I’d take her up on it.
Chapter Twenty
MILLIE
The Minute Medis literally three blocks away. I tried to convince Luc we could manage without him, but he refused to let me drive even that distance.
I was too tired to argue, so here we are.
The receptionist gives me two clipboards of paperwork to fill out for both Emmett and me, and we grab a row of seats in the waiting room, which is mostly empty. Only a couple of people are ahead of us.
“Let me help with that,” Luc says, reaching past Emmett and grabbing one of the clipboards. “You fill in yours andjefeand I will do his.”
I hold onto it for a second but then let go. I’m too tired to argue about this too, but it’s more than that. It’s just so dang sweet of him, and I don’t know if I can handle it. The boundaries between us have seriously blurred since last night, and it’s messing with my head.
