Jesus, why didn’t she call him?

He looked under the cabinet and pulled out all her cleaning supplies then got started. When he was done, the damn bathroom sparkled. His mother would be proud. Shea moved back into the bedroom before sitting on Elli’s bed, running his hand up her bare back. She had taken off her bra while he was cleaning the bathroom, he guessed. The good thing was that she wasn’t hot. Her skin felt warm, normal.

“Baby, how you feeling?”

“Crappy.”

“Okay, you wanna take a shower or a bath? Wash the sickness off, as my mom would say?”

“I can’t stand and sitting upwards hurts my stomach, so I’ll just lay here.”

He didn’t like the whole stomach thing, but then again she probably hadn’t eaten in a while. There was so much puke in that bathroom that he was surprised it came from her. She had to take a shower. She smelled, and he couldn’t let her stay like that. He got out of the bed gently, and headed into the bathroom, starting the shower, getting it just right before stripping off his clothes. When he went back into her bedroom, she was basically hanging off the bed. She must have tried to moved on her own.

He slowly removed her panties, and then slowly picked her up as she groaned. She let out a little whimper as he turned her, wrapping her body around his as he carried her into the bathroom. When he stepped into the shower, her grip on him became tighter as he fully immersed them into the shower.

“Can you put a little weight on your legs, baby?”

Elli unwrapped her legs, letting them fall to the shower floor, but still leaned heavily against him, which was fine. He just needed to grab the shampoo so he could wash her. As he washed her, she kept her eyes closed. She didn’t say anything. Even when he would say something, she would just nod or shake her head. He washed every part of her before shutting the water off and grabbing the towels he had set out for them. He dried her off before taking her into the bedroom, laying her on the bed. He took the shirt and panties he had laid out for her, and started getting her dressed. Shea then laid her down before getting the brush and throwing on some boxers. He leaned her against his body, brushing her hair slowly, making sure he didn’t hurt her. When he was done, he moved her to the couch that sat in the corner, so he could change her sheets.

Not surprisingly, the only color of sheets the girl owned was pink. So he grabbed what he swore were the exact same sheets and changed her bed. When he looked over at her, she was watching him, her green eyes as dull as her skin, something he never thought would happen. He went over to her, picking her up, bringing her to her bed.

“Do you feel better, baby?”

She nodded, but then a tear ran down over her nose, onto her top puffy lip.

“Then why are you crying?”

More tears began to fall before she opened her eyes, “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

“Oh, honey, don’t worry about that. You’re beautiful even when you’re sick. You’re always beautiful to me.”

“I’m disgusting,” she said as more tears fell from her eyes. He shook his head, moving his fingers to catch every tear.

“That is not the D word I was thinking,” he said with a grin.

Elli blinked before asking, “What?”

“I was thinking delicious, maybe delectable. In other words, Elli, I want to eat you up, always.”

“But I’m-”

“Perfect.”

“Shea, I’m far from it. You should leave while you have the chance, these kinds of things can happen. One minute I’m pissed as hell at you, the next I’m on the floor and can’t move. Get out while you can,” she pleaded as she looked up at him.

“While I can, huh? Who said I could?”

“You should.”

“I’m not going. Don’t you know that by now? Don’t you understand that I’m here, and there is no way I’m leaving? I love you, Elli. I don’t know how you were loved before, but I’m going to love you more than anybody ever will or ever has. I’m here for you because I love you, not your money. Not because your uncle owns the team, or because you have a successful business. That’s not what drew me to you, it was your eyes….and your ass.” When she smiled, his heart filled with all the love in the world, he loved making her smile.

“But mostly your eyes. I’m so sorry about what happened with those females in Florida.”

“I’m not mad, I just didn’t understand why you didn’t pull back.”

“She was sucking my face, Elli! I’m surprised I have lips still!”

She smiled again, moving deeper into the bed, closing her eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Elli. I promise.”

She opened her eyes again, looking deep into his before saying, “I believe you.”

When Elli woke up the next morning, she felt five times better, which was how it usually happened. The first day she would puke her brains out, the second she couldn’t move because the fever set in, and then the third she was finally able to move, but still needed to stay in bed. The next couple days she would be bedridden, but at least she would be able to use the bathroom and take a shower by herself.

She hated that Shea saw her like that, she hated that he had cleaned her house, her bathroom, and she hated that he had given her a bath. She would be forever embarrassed. He really was the most amazing man in the world and she couldn’t believe that only six months ago, he was sleeping with anything with legs, that his idea of having a good time was drinking and sleeping with a random female. But now, lying in bed feeding her soup was what he was doing and he seemed to enjoy it.