Nevermore

Chapter 6

The man was moaning again, and shifting restlessly on the bed. His skin was scorching to the touch, so Bilba grabbed a bowl from the kitchen and filled it with water and ice cubes.

As she started to carry it, and a handful of rags, back to the bedroom she was startled by the sound of a large thump. She hurried down the hall, only to stumble to a stop at the sight of the man on his knees next to the bed.

Bilba quickly set the bowl down on the dresser, and then hesitated. The man was swaying, a glazed look in his half-open eyes. They fixed sluggishly on her, and he frowned. "Who are you?"

His sway suddenly became more severe and, without thinking, Bilba darted forward and dropped to her knees in front of him. She planted her hands on his chest, trying to keep him up. It sort of felt like trying to stop a boulder rolling down a hill.

"You met me at the park," she got out as she struggled to keep him from falling, and taking her with him. If he landed on top of her there'd be no getting him off, and a very real risk of her being suffocated by his sheer weight on top of her. "Remember? I got lost? You helped me find my way out?"

He managed to straighten himself, taking the pressure off her, though she could still feel his weight shifting against her hands as she continued to try and keep him upright.

His eyes sharpened slightly. "Trap," he muttered, gaze roving around the room. "There was a trap."

"That's right." Bilba pushed on him, trying to encourage him to move back. "Come on. You shouldn't be out of bed."

"No, I --" he put his hands on her arms as if to move her out of the way but even in his fevered state his grip was gentle. "I need to go."

"Not yet." Bilba struggled to push him back, toward the bed. "You're sick. You need to lie down."

His eyes narrowed but, to her surprise, he obediently struggled shakily to his feet. He tried to put pressure on his injured foot, only to give a pained grunt and stagger off balance. Bilba jumped to her feet and threw her arms around his waist. The action managed to shift his balance of gravity just enough to send him falling back into a seated position on the edge of the bed.

"Hot," he grumbled. His fingers fumbled at the buttons on his shirt. "Why is it so hot?"

"Because you're sick," Bilba repeated patiently. She hesitated, and then lightly brushed his fingers aside to undo the buttons for him. She'd taken a first aid class once that had said the neck and under the arms were some of the best places to apply ice water to try and get someone's body temperature down. It'd be easier to reach both places if he had his shirt off.

And, if she were being honest, she could confess to the selfish desire to see if he had a soulmark anywhere on his chest or back.

She slid his shirt off his shoulders, and helped him pull it off his arms. He was extremely fit, to the point she wondered if the exercise he got as a wolf translated into his human form. She assumed it must to some extent, given how the injury he'd sustained as a wolf had carried over.

There were no marks on his arms, chest or back and she tried not to feel disappointed. It simply meant that either he didn't have a soulmark or...her eyes drifted toward his jeans, and then jerked away instantly, heat flooding her face. Nope, not going there.

She grabbed his legs and tried to lift them, hoping to encourage him to lie down. A brief look of amusement crossed his features, before he allowed her to help him turn and stretch back out on the bed.

Bilba retrieved the bowl and rags and soaked them in the ice water. "This is going to suck," she warned him, before she started laying out the rags on his neck, and chest. He let out a hiss of displeasure, but didn't resist as she swiped cold water under his arms and down along his face, cleaning off the sweat and grime that had built up on his skin.