Colters' Promise (Colters' Legacy, #4)(9)

He leaned forward, holding her tightly so she didn’t slide from his lap, and retrieved the glass of water sitting on the coffee table.

She drank greedily, trying not to flinch at the discomfort it caused her throat. Her fever had broken and she was damp with sweat. Where before she’d been freezing and sure she’d never get warm again, now she was hot, aching, and twitchy all over.

When she was done drinking, she lay limply on Max’s chest, her eyes closed in exhaustion. It was ridiculous really. There was no reason for her to feel so weak, but she couldn’t do battle with a kitten at the moment.

The doorbell rang and she groaned, but Max simply lifted her to the side and settled her among the pillows. As if he was expecting someone. She glanced up, her suspicions confirmed when Max opened the door and Dr. Burton came in, shaking snow from his hat before Max took it and his coat from him.

She huffed in exasperation as Max and the doctor returned to the couch. “Max, really. This was so unnecessary. I can’t believe you made Dr. Burton come all this way. What about his patients?”

“You are my patient, missy,” Dr. Burton said in reprimand. “You should have come to see me first thing this morning instead of crawling home to suffer alone.”

Callie allowed him to poke and prod at her. He looked at her throat, made several noncommittal noises, and then took out his cell phone.

“Looks like strep to me. Of course, I can’t do a test here, but that throat looks bad and, regardless, you need an antibiotic, so we’re going on the assumption you have strep. Start the antibiotics immediately and by tomorrow afternoon you should start feeling better.”

While Dr. Burton phoned in the prescriptions, Max left the room for a moment. Callie snuggled back into the pillows, already feeling the chill returning. A few minutes later, Max came back and spoke to Dr. Burton briefly before showing the other man out.

The next thing Callie knew, Max was back, holding more ibuprofen in his hand.

“Take these, dolcezza. Your fever is returning.”

She swallowed them down and then sighed in contentment when he sat beside her and pulled her back into his arms.

Then she frowned. “How am I supposed to get the antibiotics?” Obviously Max would have to go into town to get the prescription filled, but the selfish part of her whined at the idea of him leaving.

“I called your mother. Well, actually I called your dads first and they said your mom was in town with Lily, so I then called your mom and asked her to pick up your medicine on her way back. She’ll be by in a little while to see you.”

“Mom’s awesome,” Callie croaked out.

Max smiled tenderly down at her. “Moms are the very best when you’re sick.”

She wasn’t so absorbed in her own misery that she’d forgotten Lauren. She’d thought of her all afternoon. Lauren was sweet and shy, so different from Max’s dominating personality. It sickened Callie that Lauren had been abused by some * she’d trusted.

“Max?”

He swept his hand over her hair, smoothing it from her forehead so he could see her eyes.

“I know you wanted to give Lauren time, but I really think we should go get her.”

“You’re sick, Callie. I don’t think you should be going anywhere.”

“You heard the doctor. If I start on antibiotics today, by tomorrow afternoon I’ll be feeling better. We could leave for Denver in the morning, take an afternoon flight, and be in New York by tomorrow night. We could be back home with Lauren by the day after tomorrow, and you and I would both feel better.”

Max sighed and she knew he was close to caving. His thoughts had been consumed with his sister. Callie knew it, and that he was deeply worried. He was torn between the thought that Callie needed him here and that his sister was wounded, frightened, and alone.

Callie sat up and touched Max’s cheek. “I’ll be fine, Max. Lauren is more important than some stupid bug I’ve caught. I know I won’t feel better until she’s here with us where we both know she’s safe, and if I’m that adamant, I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling. I know you wanted to be gentle and considerate with her, but now isn’t the time for that. I vote we go in and don’t come back without her.”

Max smiled then and pressed his lips to her forehead. “That’s what I love most about you, dolcezza. You’re frighteningly fierce when you set your mind to something. You’d make most men tremble in their boots.”

“So we’ll do it?”

“Yes. Provided you start your antibiotics immediately and you don’t worsen overnight. I’ll arrange for my jet to arrive in Denver in the morning, refuel, and be on standby when we get to the airport in the afternoon.”

“You’re doing the right thing, Max. She needs to be surrounded by people who love her right now even if she thinks she wants to be alone.”

He stroked his hand through her hair, idly fingering the strands. “I just want my sister back. The woman I saw a few days ago isn’t the sister I remember. She’s changed so much just since I saw her last.”

His fingers tightened in her hair and his expression grew darker. “I hate that bastard for what he did. Not just for the physical damage he did, but because he crushed her spirit. She’s a shadow of her former self, and I guess my fear is that she won’t get that spirit back.”