Chapter 14
Amara
I stood outside Cash’s building, the rain pouring down on me mixing with my tears as I stared sightlessly at the street in front of me. I was freezing, my teeth chattering so hard my jaws ached, but the pain from the chill that was invading my body was nothing compared to what was engulfing me on the inside.
Someone bumped my shoulder hard in their rush to get out of the rain. I lost my balance and landed on the sidewalk. The guy kept going, not even bothering to toss out an apology. I pushed to my feet, knowing I needed to get home and dry or I was going to get sick. I took one step, and my ankle protested. Groaning, I limped forward and tried to hail a cab.
Several minutes passed before one pulled up in front of the apartments. Two people, laughing and holding hands, jumped out and ran for the front door, and I dropped into the back seat with my carry-on.
“Holy shit, lady.” The driver looked at me with concern on his shocked face. “You look like you nearly drowned.”
“Can you turn the heat on please?” I got out in a voice that was raw and painful. “I’m cold.”
“Sure thing.” He cranked the heat up in the back, and it blasted me straight in the face. “Where you going?”
“I don’t even know anymore,” I whispered.
“What was that?”
I sighed and gave him my address.
The apartment was silent when I limped inside, and I felt the emptiness all the way down to my toes. Wheeling my case into my room, I shut and locked the door and went straight for the shower. I was shivering so badly now that I couldn’t get a deep enough breath. Turning on the shower, I stripped and
climbed under the spray.
The heat hurt, but I clenched my jaw and let the warmth slowly invade my body. But no matter how hot the water got, it couldn’t touch the cold that had taken hold of my heart. As my shivering slowly began to ease, my ability to stand disappeared. Losing the battle to remain on my feet, I slid down the shower stall wall and pulled my knees to my chest.
Eventually, the water began to turn run cold, and I crawled forward to turn it off before getting weakly to my feet. Wrapping a towel around my hair and another around my body, I limped into my bedroom and propped my injured foot up on a stack of pillows. My ankle was swollen and a lovely shade of black and purple already, and it was starting to ache. I’d been so numb from the cold that I hadn’t realized just how painful it was.
Opening my nightstand drawer, I grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen and swallowed them dry. There was a throw that I’d tossed onto the bed the morning I met with Emmie, and I grabbed it, pulling it up to my shoulders as I closed my eyes and pleaded for sleep.
Tomorrow, I would deal with everything. But for now, I just wanted the world to disappear and leave me the fuck alone…
My rolling stomach woke me hours later. With a groan, I jumped out of bed, only to fall flat on my face when my throbbing ankle gave out under my full weight. With a sob, I crawled into the bathroom, for once thankful for my small bedroom. I held back the flood of vomit by sheer willpower until I reached the toilet.
My throat felt like it was on fire as gastric juices ruptured the blisters that had formed on the back of my throat while I slept. I was freezing and naked since I’d lost my towel on the quick crawl to the bathroom. I was shivering again, but sweat beaded on my forehead.
When my stomach stopped heaving, I had to blow my running nose so I could actually breathe again. I got to my feet slowly and hopped on one foot to the sink so I could wash my face and rinse out my mouth. As the water dropped off my chin and the tip of my nose, I looked at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were bright pink, my eyes glazed from my fever. Every ache seemed to blend together until my entire body was one huge throb.
Groaning, I grabbed my hand towel to dry my face then hopped back to bed. By the time I flopped ungracefully onto the edge of my mattress, I was out of breath and wheezing. A cough shook my shoulders, making me whimper in pain because I was pretty sure my lungs were coming loose from the force of it.
A sharp knock on my door came just as the cough eased, and I stiffened. If it was Lindsey, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. She had stayed when I left Cash’s apartment, and I didn’t even want to think about what might have happened after the door closed behind me.
“Mar?” Riley called. “Mar, is that you? Are you okay?” The doorknob twisted, but it was still locked. “Mar! Open the door.”
“Riles,” I moaned. “I can’t really move right now. What time is it?”
“It’s like eleven.”
I blinked, confusion wrinkling my brow. “At night?”
“No, in the morning. It’s Saturday. What’s going on? I didn’t even know you were home until I heard you coughing. Is there a dog in there attacking you? Because that sure as hell is what it sounds like.”
Shit, I’d slept through the night. It felt like I’d barely closed my eyes. I dropped back on the bed, wiping the back of my hand over my sweating brow and running nose. “I’m dying,” I groaned. “I think I have the flu. Just stay out there. It’s safer.”
“Is that why you’re home early?” my best friend asked sympathetically.
“Yeah, sure,” I told her, closing my eyes. “I was sick, so I came home.”