Heal Me

by Grady, D. R.

  “I’m certain that what little free time they have, they’re spending together,” Jenna remarked.

  “That’s the impression I got when I cornered her in the rest room the other day.” A smile creased McCully’s face.

  “They seem awfully happy.” A pang tilted her heart. But then she thought of her upcoming date and that made her quite a lot happier.

  “I think so.” McCully laughed. “I’ll just stay with you until the end of the weekend, anyway.”

  “We may know by then that you’re not in danger,” O’Maley commented from the driver’s seat of the car.

  “Let’s hope we get that settled soon.”

  “I don’t think it will take long,” O’Maley said quietly, his eyes meeting hers briefly in the rear view mirror. She was going on a date with a man who set her pulse thumping.

  She nodded before turning to look out the window. It was an attempt to sort out her thoughts that failed.

  When they arrived at her house, both cops did another run through, which Jenna thought was needless, but she didn’t argue. If it made them feel better, she’d allow the search. She had learned a few weeks back not to disrupt police business.

  With a suppressed sigh, she realized any time Detective O’Maley wanted to keep her safe, she would welcome him with open arms. Squelching her thoughts with difficulty, Jenna began to think about the evening. O’Maley had announced he was going to take the file Fred had supplied them and read through it before he went back to bed. Jenna wished he had suggested reading through that file while seated on her sofa.

  That night, after reading through Fred’s profile on their freak, Owen crossed his arms behind his head and relaxed into the comforting confines of his bed. Staring at the wall, he reflected on the fact there had been little new information in the file. Most of what he read they had already concluded. At least now they had material to back up their theories, but still had little to work with. The man was between twenty-five and forty-five, single, male, Caucasian, with a tendency to overreact. He was also fairly brilliant and had probably received decent grades in school.

  Owen watched the pattern the street lamp outside his bedroom window made on the ceiling and thought about Jenna. He felt better knowing McCully was with her tonight, and wished it was him instead. He doubted Jenna would have been comfortable with a male cop on the premises overnight. She seemed perfectly happy to accept a dinner date with him though.

  Remembering her easy acceptance of his invitation caused something to tighten in his gut, and anticipation coursed a path through former apathy. Now he had something worth looking forward too. He wondered if he’d gotten too caught up in his job lately. He certainly didn’t spend much time at home. Of course, neither did Jenna. She remained every bit as busy as him. Frowning, he hoped their hectic schedules wouldn’t pose a problem. He also hoped he remembered how to act on a date.

  They had agreed to dinner together on Tuesday evening. Owen sincerely hoped nothing would interfere with their date. He’d been anticipating this time with Jenna Fields for close to four years now, ever since she caught his eye in the emergency room while they were both on duty. She hadn’t noticed him, because she was too busy with the gunshot wounded patient he had accompanied. He doubted she even recalled the same evening, but all the breath had whooshed out of his lungs and he immediately gave up on his fascination with that supermodel Fred mentioned earlier.

  Now he had a living, breathing woman close to home to fantasize about, and unfortunately, she haunted him frequently. Finally, with McCully’s interference, he’d gotten the nerve and opportunity to ask her for a real date. He admitted to being quite heartened at how easily she said yes. If only the rest of his life fell into place so easily. He didn’t have parents. Fred and his mother were his only family. How did men and women interact? Should he flirt? How did one flirt? Should he be witty? He had no idea how to go about this dating business. But he did figure on one thing.

  He couldn’t fail.

  “What do you mean, I’m booked for this weekend?” he demanded from McCully early Monday morning.

  “You promised me you’d go to my folks annual family reunion, remember? Mom has been bugging me for ages to meet you.”

  “I know that, but why this weekend?”

  “Because it’s the family reunion and you need to get out of the house,” she broke off to look around the precinct. “Or out of the office, in this case. You spend way too much time here. At least by dragging you to the reunion, you can suffer with me.”

  “I’m not into suffering, remember?”

  “So? We can play football, and there’ll be plenty of food.”

  Despite himself, Owen perked up at the sound of the plenty of food. “Hamburgers? Chocolate cake, potato salad, baked beans?” he asked suspiciously.

  “All that and much, much more. This is one of the few times a year my folks come back to Pennsylvania, so you have to attend.”

  “I know I agreed to go,” he said reflectively. “You seduced me into this with the thought of all that food.”

  “Of course,” she answered in exasperation. “Don’t worry about missing out on time with Jenna. She’s got her own family function to attend on Saturday.”

  That caught his attention. “Oh?”

  “Yes. She, Emmy, and Annie are all slotted to go to some baby or bridal shower for a family member.”

  His thoughts centered on Jenna’s blue, blue eyes and her brilliant smile.

  “You might as well go with me, meet my mom, so she’ll stop bugging me, and help eat some of the food.”

  He made a snap decision. “I can do that.”

  “You’d better.”

  “I said I would, so lay off, or I’ll sic Fred on you.”

  McCully sent him a fulminating look before she stole his cupcakes and tore off down the hall. Owen shook his head and followed her after grabbing up his notebook. They had a meeting with their captain today, and if he hurried, he might be able to snag one of his cupcakes from the glutton.

  Footsteps echoed down the hall on Tuesday night as he dressed for his first date with Jenna. The person passed as he tugged on his shirt. When he bent to pick up his pants, he smacked his funnybone on the edge of his bed. Muttering, he rubbed the spot, wondering why any sane person would call that particular part of one’s anatomy funny. He’d never considered it amusing, especially after pain tore through his arm like this. Somehow he managed to finish dressing and snagged his keys on the way out the door.

  He left his apartment and drove the short distance to Jenna’s home, anticipation heightening the already heady excitement coursing through his veins. When he knocked, she called for him to enter. Scowling, Owen stepped through the door, intent on reprimanding her for leaving the door unlocked. A single woman couldn’t be too careful. Especially when there was a serial rapist on the loose and they hadn’t completely ruled out that she wasn’t in danger.

  As he entered the house, Jenna called for him. Something in her voice alarmed him. He quickly locked up and after staring at the alarm system, reset that too before he wound his way through the family room and up the stairs. Maybe she needed help zipping up her dress. More anticipation zinged through him as he stepped into the upstairs hall.

  He found her in what had to be her bedroom. McCully had always searched this floor, so it was unknown territory to him. Jenna lay in the bed, her flannel nightgown high necked and sweet. Much like the woman wearing the garment. He noticed her cheeks seemed a bit too red, her eyes glazed. Her entire body had shrunken in on itself and then she coughed. Deep, chest wracking spasms. He immediately figured she was sick. A belief she validated with her next statement.

  “I’m sick,” she said in a voice not her own.

  “Yes, it sounds that way,” he replied easily. He couldn’t be upset when she obviously didn’t feel well. Odd that her beauty wasn’t dimmed in any way by her illness.

  “I’ve been looking forward to this evening, and I kept thinking I’d feel be
tter so I didn’t call. But I really feel awful,” she whispered heart wrenchingly.

  After a quick assessment of the situation, he kicked off his shoes and removed his belt before climbing into the bed with her. He wasn’t about to give up on the evening either.

  “You know, I haven’t gotten enough sleep in a long time. I’m sure a good doctor would tell me to take it easy tonight,” he said with a small amount of mischief.

  She laughed, but the merriment ended on a wracking spasm of coughs. He tugged her close when she finished and felt her sigh of contentment. The small sound pierced his soul. He was glad for his prompt decision to join her. Like he’d have left after seeing her condition.

  In a moment of reflection, Owen pondered first dates. He had never suspected their first date would end with them in the bedroom. Therefore he certainly hadn’t expected their planned evening together would begin there. However, there was something to be said for holding a wonderful woman like this through the night. Especially one who seemed so weak and vulnerable. Maybe it wasn’t how he envisioned their date going, but he decided he wouldn’t change anything.

  Jenna rolled restlessly and came up against a warm, hard body. She recognized the scent of the body and with a sigh, curled up against the man who slept peacefully beside her. His arm extended and pulled her even closer as contentment pushed all of her other thoughts away.

  The next time she awoke, Jenna became aware that Mother Nature was feeling persistent. She moved away from the sleeping man she was plastered against, careful to be silent. Her movements were stealthy and slow. She didn’t want to awaken him. He slept so comfortably and looked so good in her bed, she just didn’t have the heart.

  She crept across the mattress, her body inching painstakingly across the never ending surface. Her hair fanned out behind her, and she somehow managed to catch the long strands under her several times. She eased a leg off the bed, victory beginning to peal in her head.

  Before she rolled out of the bed, the area where her companion lay sleeping erupted into chaotic motion. A kaleidoscope of images and colors hurtled past her until the world finally settled. She blinked bemusedly up into Owen’s masculine smirk.

  “Going somewhere?” he questioned from his superior position on top of her.

  “The bathroom?” she squeaked.

  “Ah,” he replied, and calmly removed his large frame from her. He helped her to her feet and she couldn’t help but drool over the broad expanse of naked male chest and arms. Sometime during the night, he must have removed his shirt, because she was definitely admiring hair roughened muscles not currently clothed.

  “Let me help,” he said, cupping her elbow as she reeled against him.

  “Thanks,” she said breathlessly, which set her off to coughing again. She ended up leaning against him for a moment to catch her breath. Her nose was too stuffy to allow her to fully appreciate his wonderful masculine scent, but the faint whiff she caught didn’t aid her efforts to regain her breath.

  “Ready?” he asked after she finally calmed down.

  She nodded, and pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

  He started to lead her there, and then seemed to have second thoughts. Her world again went dizzy as he scooped her high into his arms and carried her to the bathroom. Was there a more perfect man? A voice inside asked with a romantic sigh.

  “I didn’t realize doctors got sick,” he commented after she exited the room.

  “Me either,” she returned in a nasally, head cold voice.

  “I see,” he returned, looking her up and down. “You don’t look like you feel so well, still.”

  “I don’t,” she answered truthfully.

  He nodded. “Back to bed with you.” He picked her up again and carried her back to the bed.

  “You too,” she began to protest until he crawled back in beside her. She snuggled into him and felt rather than saw his smile.

  “I’d better sleep too, or I’m likely to get what you’ve got.”

  “True,” she answered before falling asleep again. But not before she felt him relax into sleep beside her.

  When they awoke again, Jenna found herself gazing into glazed green eyes. The color of his face nearly matched the color of his hair and she began to worry. Placing her wrist against his forehead, she confirmed her suspicions.

  “You’re sick, too,” she moaned, placing her lips in sympathy against his forehead and to recheck his temperature. The heat there further proved his feverish state.

  “Didn’t feel great yesterday, so won’t blame you,” he muttered thickly in a voice as nasally as hers.

  “Stay here, I’m going to get some tea and medicine for us. We need to stay in bed today,” she instructed.

  Owen groaned. “Got to go to work,” he muttered.

  “And make everyone else sick?” she returned with an uplifted brow.

  He blinked. “Everyone else?”

  “If you go to work, you’ll make everyone you come into contact with sick, because you have a fever. That’s what spread viruses.”

  “Oh,” Owen said and rolled his shoulders. He winced. Jenna nodded at his action.

  “The fever is why you’re feeling tired and achy. Stay here and I’ll go get something to ease that.”

  His eyelashes fluttered down and he didn’t comment. Jenna realized he had probably fallen back asleep.

  She crawled out of bed. Downstairs she put on the kettle and rummaged around in her bag for some tablets containing ingredients to aid their cough, fever, runny noses, and nasal congestion. She decided she’d better call McCully and tell her where her partner was.

  “What?” the woman demanded. Jenna belatedly remembered McCully’s sore disposition in the morning, but pressed on anyway.

  “McCully, this is Jenna Fields.”

  “Jenna, you sound awful,” she exclaimed and her voice switched from grumpy to concerned in the space of moments.

  “Yes, I know. Not only am I sick, but Owen woke up every bit as sick as I am this morning.”

  The phone remained silent for several long moments before McCully tentatively, but with a smile asked, “He stayed the night?”

  Jenna started to answer but a spate of coughing took over. “Yes,” she wheezed, “he found me in this condition when he arrived last night so all we did was sleep. We’re both feeling pretty awful.” She finished on a smothered hack.

  “Ah, but it’s still romantic. Even if he does sound as awful as you. I mean it’s your first date and you end up cuddling. I didn’t know the geek boy had it in him,” McCully ruminated, the glee still evident in her voice.

  “Right now, he’s got a nasty virus in him, so I’m not letting him come into work.”

  “You’re already acting like a possessive wife,” McCully chortled. “It must be love.”

  Jenna sighed, but she didn’t really mind. Owen O’Maley was a very special man and right now he was here in her house, in her bed, sick as a dog, her conscience reminded her.

  “I’m a trained doctor, and there’s no way he should be working today,” Jenna refuted, but in her heart, she liked the idea of being a wife. His wife. She’d probably be a possessive wife, too, seeing as to how wonderful Owen was. Surely other women had picked up on this fact.

  “Okay, Dr. Fields, I’ll leave my partner in your competent care. I’ll probably stop by later today to check on you,” McCully began mischievously, but ended seriously.

  “That’s fine, just be careful of our germs. I already gave this to him, I’d rather not share it with you too,” Jenna warned.

  “I doubt you gave it to him. He wasn’t acting right yesterday. I chalked it up to excitement at seeing you, but now that I think about it, he didn’t have his usual energy and he didn’t even fight me for the cupcakes I stole. He did the day before, but yesterday he didn’t even try.”

  “We may need to do something about your deplorable diet.”

  “You’ll have to get better first.”

  “Yes,” Jenna
said and they said goodbye and rang off.

  The kettle whistled and she prepared their tea. She added honey and lemon and took her bounty upstairs. Emmy had given her a bag of shortbread cookies when Jenna finally admitted to her on Monday that she had a date with the man. Now she was grateful. The cookies would go well with the tea.

  “Were you talking to someone?” Owen rasped when she entered the room.

  “McCully,” she answered, setting the tray down beside the bedside stand. “I told her you weren’t coming into work today.”

  “What about your work?” he asked, sitting up in the bed and eyeing the cookies with interest.

  “Oh,” Jenna started, “I forgot to call them.” She turned, dazed, and reached for the phone.

  By the time she hung up the phone, Owen was sipping the tea, making only a few faces that it wasn’t coffee, and had consumed a cookie. She handed him two of the tablets. He swallowed them without question and she took two, washing them down with the tea.

  “What are they?” he asked.

  “Cold pills. They should give us some relief.”

  O’Maley nodded and shoved the covers off him. He yawned and padded into her bathroom. As sick as he was, he didn’t reel or stagger as she had earlier this morning. Cops really were a tough breed she decided before snagging a couple of the cookies.

  He joined her soon enough, a couple of cookies in one large hand. After they finished their tea, which O’Maley only made a few more faces at, they both settled back down for some serious sleeping. Jenna, right before she drifted off, wondered if she’d be able to sleep in this bed again without him.

  McCully showed up to check on them in the late afternoon and Jenna took one look at her glazed eyes and feverish expression and hauled the woman through the door. She gave her a nightgown and tucked her into a cot she pulled from another room. McCully had brought some clothes for Owen, including a pair of pajamas he didn’t recognize.