Page 38 of Liberating Lily

“Thanks. Appreciate your help,” he told her.

“I’ll add it to the bill.” She gave him a serious look so he couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

It didn’t matter. He’d pay that happily.

After tucking her in, he sat next to her on the bed and smoothed the hair off her face. It needed to be washed and brushed, but he hadn’t wanted to keep her in the shower that long. And he’d probably have needed another pair of hands to hold her up.

“Is that the first time she’s vomited since I last saw her?” Michaela asked as she took her pulse.

“No. It’s not.”

“And this came on suddenly?”

“It seemed to. Do you think it’s the flu?” he asked as Lily mumbled incoherently.

“I don’t know. I’m going to set up an IV,” Michaela said as she took Lily’s temperature. “She needs fluids. I’ll also give her something for the fever.”

“No,” he said abruptly.

Michaela gave him a surprised look. “No? But she needs this.”

“Is she in danger if she doesn’t have the IV?”

Michaela grew silent. “Danger? Not at the moment. But she could become very ill without some fluids soon. And she will feel a lot better. Also, her test results came back earlier. They showed that she’s very low in a number of vitamins and iron. I would say that she hasn’t been eating properly or getting enough hydration for a while.”

Yeah, he knew that she hadn’t been. Because her witch of a mother seemed to be in control of everything Lily had eaten, and for some ridiculous reason, had wanted her to be underweight.

“She freaked out when she woke up earlier to find that we’d taken blood from her. I found her on the floor, shaking and upset. She won’t tell me much, but it seems like something that’s happened to her before.”

“Happened to her before? What do you mean?”

“Where she’s been unconscious and woken up to find that something has happened to her body without her permission.”

The thought of it sent a chill through him.

He knew that she wasn’t telling him everything, and honestly, he was really worried about what else she was keeping to herself.

Terrified that whatever it was, he wasn’t going to like it.

At all.

“Fuck,” Michaela muttered. “All right, we’ll wait until she’s awake and can consent. As long as that doesn’t take too long. We might have to prioritize her physical health over her mental health.”

He didn’t like the idea of that at all. And he knew he’d have to be the one to make that call. And he’d be the one she hated.

“We’ll keep a close eye on her,” he said.

Michaela sighed. “I don’t recommend it, but all right. If you can get some electrolyte drinks into her, it would help. I would love to give her an infusion with iron in it, too.”

“Did you get the results from testing those sedatives she’s been taking?”

“Not yet. Hopefully soon. Until then, we just have to wait.”

“No! Get away from me! Don’t touch me!” she screamed.

He jumped up from where he’d been napping on the chair.

Lily was thrashing around in the bed, looking agitated and upset.