When he reached for the panties, she made a small sound that was almost a giggle.
He looked at her face.
Her eyes were closed, but the corner of her mouth had turned up.
"Did you laugh?"
"Mm."
"Are you laughing at me?"
"You are so serious."
He was so relieved to hear her voice that he felt dizzy for a moment.
"This is a serious job. I don't want to hurt you or ruin your clothes."
"You're doing great. I love you."
Her voice was barely a thread. Her eyes did not open. But the small smile stayed at the corner of her mouth, and her hand twitched, perhaps trying to find his or just moving randomly, but he laced his fingers with hers anyway and held her hand for a moment.
Even her fingers felt hot to the touch.
Then he took a deep breath and continued to slide the panties up over her hips. He got the pants on and pulled them up to her waist. The whole operation took no more than five minutes, but it had felt like hours because it had been so stressful.
He drew the duvet back up over her and tucked it around her, then sat on the edge to look at his beautiful wife.
The doorbell rang.
He started and stood up too fast.
"The doctor is here, sweetheart." He leaned to kiss Arezoo's forehead. "I'm going to let him in."
"Mm."
He walked down the hallway and opened the front door.
Julian was standing on the porch with an old-fashioned leather doctor's bag in his hand that Ruvon hadn't seen in years. Behind him, a golf cart was parked on the path.
"Morning," Julian said.
"Thank you so much for coming. I didn't know that you made house calls."
"Neither did I." Julian smiled. "How is she? Any change?"
Ruvon shook his head. "I put some clothes on her, and she was responsive but barely." He opened the door wider and motioned for the doctor to come in.
Julian nodded. "Sounds like the transition to me. The fever onset, the lethargy, the slurred coherence. Three days after the bite. The timing is right. I called Hildegard to prepare the clinic to receive Arezoo in case we need to bring her in."
"Thank you."
Did the entire village know that he and Arezoo had waited for their wedding night to become intimate?
Otherwise, Julian wouldn't have done the math from their wedding night.
The village was such a hive. Everyone was in everyone else's business.
"Through here." Ruvon stepped aside to let Julian in.
