It was obvious from his glistening skin. She marched to the kitchen area in the open-plan space. Poured a glass of water. Wished she could snatch a moment to drink one herself, but she was too concerned about how feverish he looked.
‘I’m fine.’ He coughed, totally hacking up that lung.
‘Of course you are,’ Sophy said smartly. ‘That’s why you missed our meeting.’ She held out the glass to him. His hand shook as he reached for it. She took his fingers and wrapped them round the glass herself. Only when certain he had it did she let him go.
Their eyes met when she looked up from the glass. She saw the raw anger in his—impotent anger.
‘I’m fine,’ he repeated, grinding the words through his teeth.
Yeah, right. He was shivering. He ditched the water on the coffee table in front of the sofa after only the tiniest sip. His laptop was on the table too, the faintest hum coming from it. Did he really think he was capable of work?
‘When did you last eat?’ she asked, her practical nature asserting itself.
He winced.
‘I need to take your temperature.’
‘Rot.’
She gingerly placed her palm on his forehead. Snatched it away at the same time that he jerked back.
‘Quit it,’ he said hoarsely.
She curled her tingling fingers. ‘You’re burning up. You need to see a doctor.’
‘Rubbish.’
‘Not negotiable.’ Sophy pulled her mobile from her pocket and flipped it open. ‘I can get someone to come here.’
‘Don’t you dare.’ It would have sounded good if his voice hadn’t cracked in the middle. He tried to move, evidently thought better of it and just rasped bitterly, ‘Sophy, back off. I’m fine. I have work I need to get on with.’
She ignored him, spoke to the receptionist at the clinic she’d been to all her life. Two minutes later she hung up. ‘A locum will be here in ten.’
‘Too bad. I’m not seeing him. I have to do this—’
‘Your social networking will have to wait.’ Sophy closed the laptop. Picked it up and put it far, far away on the kitchen bench.
‘Bring that back here—I was working.’
She went close and looked down at him. ‘I really wish I had one of those old-fashioned mercury thermometers. I know where I’d stick it.’
‘Don’t.’ His hand shot out and gripped her wrist—hard. ‘You’re right. I’m not feeling well. And if you keep provoking me I’ll snap.’
Really? And do what?
She stared into dark eyes, saw the tiredness, the strain, the frustration—and even deeper she saw the unhappiness. At that she relented. ‘Okay. But you have to stop fighting me too. You’re sick, you need to see a doctor and you need taking care of.’
He shifted on the sofa.
‘Look, it’s happening whether you agree or not, Lorenzo. Why not make it that bit more pleasant?’
He breathed in—she could see the effort hurting him. He closed his eyes and she knew she’d won. ‘Okay, but you’ve done your thing. You can go now. Kat can send the doctor up.’ Another tremor shook him.
But she didn’t think she could go now. She couldn’t leave anyone alone in this state. And oddly enough she felt that even more strongly about him—he’d never admit it, but he was vulnerable. He was alone.
He shook his head slightly and looked cheesed again. ‘At least bring my laptop back.’
‘What’s the point, Lorenzo?’ she said quietly. ‘Staring at the screen isn’t going to get it done. You’re better off getting some sleep and getting well. Then you’ll do the work in a quarter of the time.’
His head fell back against the sofa cushions. Round two to her.
The doctor stayed only ten minutes. Sophy waited on the top of the stairs, put her phone in action some more. Then, after exchanging a few words with the doctor on her way out, she went back in to face the grumpy patient.
‘I’m getting you a rug,’ she said, heading towards the doors at the back of the room, refusing to be embarrassed about the idea of going into his bedroom.
‘There’s one on the end of the sofa.’
She stopped. So there was. She’d not noticed it. Hard to notice anything else in the room when he was mostly naked. ‘Well—’ she tried not to stare at him as she reached down and picked it up ‘—I think perhaps you’d better put it on. You don’t want to get a chill.’
He was well enough to send her an ironic glance. But he leaned back on the sofa and pulled the rug over his waist and down his legs. ‘Happy now, nursie?’
His chest was still bare, so, no, she wasn’t. But he was obviously feeling a touch better. The doctor said she’d given him some pain relief—must be fast acting stuff.
‘So it’s tonsillitis?’ Sophy asked carefully, not wanting to intrude too much, yet unable to stop.
‘Stupid, isn’t it?’ Lorenzo said.
No. Like anyone, Sophy knew how painful a sore throat could be. ‘Did you get it as a child?’
‘A bit.’ He nodded. ‘Haven’t had it in years, though.’
‘They didn’t take them out for you?’ While it might not be a regular practice any more, she knew that for the most recurrent cases they still did tonsillectomies.
He repositioned his head on the sofa cushions again. ‘I was on the waiting list for a while. But it never happened. When I got to boarding school the episodes seemed to stop.’
Sophy poured the electrolyte drink the doctor had given her into a glass. ‘It was a good school, wasn’t it?’
‘Better than all the others I went to.’
She knew he’d been at school with Alex Carlisle—his partner in setting up the Whistle Fund. It was the school her elder brother had gone to too—years before. Private, exclusive, incredibly academic and with superior sporting results as well. It was a tough place to shine—and she just knew Lorenzo had shone. Her sister had gone to the girls’ equivalent. But by the time Sophy had come along their parents were happy for her to just go to the local—they’d said they didn’t want to send her away to board. But Sophy knew it was because she hadn’t had the off-the-charts grades her siblings had had. It wasn’t that she was below average, she just wasn’t brilliant. ‘The antibiotics will have you better in no time. Then maybe you should have a holiday.’
His brows shot up.
‘Cara says you’ve been working too hard,’ Sophy said blandly, ignoring his mounting outrage. ‘Perhaps you’ve
