Undeniable

Chapter 5

6:30am

Courtney's POV

My alarm clock went off. I tried to get out of bed but I felt dizzy and my feet weren't exactly helping me to balance myself so I just plopped back on my bed. I had a terrible headache and my throat felt very itchy. I opened the drawer of the bedside table and took out a box of cough drops I kept there and took one; and I decided to sleep a little more. I was exhausted and my body felt weak. I must have caught a cold because of last night. I could feel my nose itch too as I sneezed 3 times in a row and that wasn't good. I called my firm letting them know I had a meeting with a client and that I'd be late. That would give me time to get better until I could meet up with Duncan and then go back to work. My voice was raspy and I coughed when I talked.
I closed my heavy eyelids, as my body drifted back.

Duncan's POV

I got there at 11am. It looked like a nice cozy house. I still remember, back when we were dating how excited she'd be and how her eyes would light up when she'd start talking about the days she'd have her own house. Or when she would talk about our house. That was long gone now.
I knocked on the door 3 times but no one answered it. But I came prepared with enough material to pick that lock.
Yes I was a businessman, but I was still a delinquent in nature, that was just who I was.
I entered the house. It smelled like lavender and cookies. I called a few times but no one answered. Until, suddenly, I heard barking upstairs and even whimpering sounds of a dog.
Did she have a dog? But I didn't see a dog house in the garden.
I decided to follow the noise up the stairs.
I followed the sound into a bedroom. When I opened the door, I saw her sleeping into the white sheets of her bed, covered by a huge blanket. Her back was turned my way and I could see a little white dog, a puppy trying to wake her up.

"So even princesses oversleep am I right?"

No reaction.

She was a light sleeper so I expected her to throw a pillow and yell at me when she'd notice me in her bedroom.
I got worried and approached her gently. The dog didn't look too happy to see me as he started growling. I ignored him and flipped her gently to face me.

She had beads of sweat covering her forehead, her nose was red as a tomato, her lips were chapped and she had puffy eyes with dark circles underneath them.
She looked terribly sick.
I put my hand to her forehead. She was burning up.
Why didn't she take the day off?
I tried waking her up but she opened her heavy eyelids just for a moment, enough for me to give her a drug for her fever, she didn't even notice who I was as sleep consumed her again.

Courtney's POV

I woke up and glanced at the clock, it was 11:30. I went to my closet, fighting myself to stay upright and wore my clothes. I washed my face and brushed my teeth but I looked terrible. I called Cassandra to tell her to prepare paperwork for me as I was coming but she told me to rest and that this could be taken care of later, and that she notified the boss I was sick.
She hung up before I could ask how she heard of my sickness.
I should probably send Duncan a text, formally apologising for not coming to the meeting. I noticed he'd called several times.
Just as I was gonna type it down I heard some noise downstairs.
Was it the puppy? It must be, I should probably feed him.
I went down the stairs slowly and careful not to fall. When I got to the kitchen I saw the dog happily munching on his food. But what scared me the most was when I saw a figure by the stove. I squinted as the bright kitchen light blurred my vision so I couldn't see clearly. My poor eyes weren't adjusting easily.

"Who-who are you?" My voice came out raspy and weak. But I was in alert mode and grabbed the closest vase to me as a weapon. The one on display on a table right next to the kitchen door.
The person turned around to meet my gaze and all I saw was Duncan in my apron, the one with a little bunny on it.