SHIVER (6 page)

Raven glared at him and dismissed him just as quickly. “Fox, we weren’t sleeping together. I stayed here last night to make sure
he
was going to be all right.” She glanced back at Aidan as though laying blame for this situation. He was too stunned from learning that Fox was her son to help her out. Besides, she was cute when she bungled.

“But you were in the same bed.” Fox looked to Aidan and stared as though seeing something Aidan couldn’t.

“It was uncomfortable in the rocking chair, so I moved to the bed.” She shrugged and tried to laugh. “It was no big deal. Have you had breakfast?”

“Yep.”

“Are you ready for school?”

“Yep.”

Raven fidgeted as though thinking hard of some other reason Fox would need to leave. Aidan finally decided to take pity on her. Besides, he needed to use the bathroom. And some more pain pills wouldn’t be out of the question. His leg throbbed to the beat of his heart.

“Guys, I need to use the facilities, if you don’t mind.”

Fox and Raven looked at him and then began moving at once. Fox handed Aidan the crutches and Raven made sure nothing was in the pathway to the bathroom and that the door was fully open.

“Do you need any help?” Fox asked, looking him over and frowning.

Man, he really must look bad. “No, I got it. Thanks.” He swung his leg over the side and reached for the crutches. When he stood, the room tipped.

“Mom!” Fox hollered. She must have been watching because she was there to help catch him as he fell.

“Whoa,” he said. His head pounded and the room spun. How much had he drunk last night? This didn’t feel like a normal hangover. He’d only been drunk a few times, not counting last night.

“You’re burning up.” Raven gave him an accusing look. “Back on the bed.” She tried to push him, but with Fox on his other side, Aidan had his balance.

“Not before I go to the bathroom.”

“Why you stubborn son of a—” She stopped her tirade and glanced at Fox.

“Don’t worry, Fox. She’s called me worse.” He thought that was really funny and began to laugh, which made his head hurt worse.

“Let’s get you to the bathroom and then right back into bed,” Raven said.

“Said like that, how am I to resist?” he said suggestively.

Raven blushed and looked away. Hmm. What did that mean? Could she still feel something for him besides hate? They said there was a fine line between love and hate. But whoever had said that, probably didn’t hate the way Raven did.

They helped him to the bathroom. Raven stood there with him next to the toilet. He raised a brow at her. “I can’t pee with you watching.”

“I don’t want you falling to the floor.”

“Just think, if I do, I might hit my head hard enough that I’d no longer be your problem.”

She pursed her lips. “Fine. Come on, Fox. Let’s give him some privacy.”

Fox looked at Aidan and then his mother. “No.” He shook his head. “I’ll stay with him.”

“I can do this on my own.” In fact, he’d be doing it in his boxers if they didn’t get out of here.

“Your life is mine, remember?” Fox continued. “I saved you. I won’t let you die now over something stupid.”

How did you argue with a kid who spoke with such wisdom? “Fine.” He looked at Raven. Seriously, she needed to leave.

“All right,” she muttered and left the room, closing the door with a snap behind her.

Fox shrugged. “Women.”

Aidan cracked a laugh. “Yeah, women.”

He emptied his bladder, flushed, and then moved to the sink to wash up. He caught his reflection in the mirror. Wow, he
did
look bad. His skin was red and blotchy and had a yellowish cast. His eyes were sunken with dark bags under them.

“See, I told you, you looked bad,” Fox said. “We’d better get you back to bed, before you pass out.”

“Good idea. Let me brush my teeth first.”

“What’s taking you guys so long?” Raven’s muffled voice came through the door.

“Just a second, Mom.”

Aidan grabbed for the toothbrush he’d used last night. And the room swam. He made a reach for the vanity counter.

Fox was there at his elbow, holding him steady. “I think you’d better brush you teeth sitting down.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” What was wrong with him? He sat on the turned-down toilet seat, the crutches falling to the floor. His head became too heavy to hold, and he had to rest it in his hands. There was a buzzing in his ears.

Suddenly, Raven was there, peering into his eyes, feeling his forehead with her soothing cool hand, and cussing like a broke prospector. “Fox, go and get Eva. Hurry.”

Fox scurried from the room.

“Back to bed for you.” Raven helped him to his feet. “Lean on me.” She held him up and cursed again when he fell against her.

He yelped in pain as he came down on his leg. She took his weight and somehow had the crutches under his arms.

“I can’t do this without your help, Aidan. Come on, I’ll steady you, but you’re going to have to do most of the work.”

Some part of his brain heard the worry in her voice, another heard the anger. Once again he was making her life hard. She should leave him. “Get out,” he said. He was tired of her seeing the worst of him. Believing the worst of him.

“Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” She nudged him. “Move.”

She pushed and pulled and finally he was sinking back onto the bed. Bad breath didn’t seem as important right now as slipping back into nothingness.

Raven stood back, breathing hard. Holy shit, Eva was going to kill her. The heat coming off Aidan felt like a stoked wood stove. She grabbed the thermometer from the nightstand, shook it and placed it under his arm. He’d had a slight fever during the night, but that was to be expected after the trauma he’d been through. But this…this was more. This meant there was something really wrong. She glanced out the window. It was still dark…and still snowing. No heading into Fairbanks.

She should have watched him closer. Regardless of how she felt about him, she should have kept a better eye on him.

“What’s wrong?” Fiona asked rushing into the room. “Fox hollered something as he rushed out.”

“Aidan’s got a fever. He can’t even stay on his feet.” She shared a worried look with her mother.

Aidan’s head tossed back and forth on the pillow. “Fine,” he said, his voice weak. “I’ll be fine.”

“Right.” Raven wanted to smack him. “Why didn’t you say you weren’t feeling well?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he mumbled, his eyes closed. “Nothing matters anymore.”

“Oh, my.” Fiona reached down and placed her forearm on his forehead. “A hundred and three. We need to get him cooled down right away. I’ll get some ice.” She rushed out of the room.

A hundred and three? Come on. Raven grabbed the thermometer from under Aidan’s arm.
A hundred and three
. How did she
do
that?

“Tell me,” Eva demanded, blowing into the room, shedding her coat and hat, snowflakes falling to the floor in her wake.

Raven passed over the thermometer.

“Hmm,” Eva said as she read it. “Bummer.” She sighed. “I must have left something in there.”

Fox entered. “Is he going to be all right?”

Raven’s heart clenched. When she’d awoken and seen her son talking with his father it had thrown her. Why couldn’t life have turned out that way? Waking to see her men having a conversation. She buried the thought. It would do no good to wish for what might have been. She needed to deal with what was. And right now her son was worried that the man he’d saved from death was journeying toward it again.

“Do you think a patient of mine would dare not get better?” Eva asked. When Fox shook his head and released a breath, Eva smiled and mussed his hair. “Right. Now, I need you to go to school. No.” She shook her head when he went to interrupt. “The best thing you can do for me is to go to school. Aidan needs rest. He’ll be better when you get home. Okay?”

“Promise?” Fox asked, worrying his lower lip.

“I’ll do my best. No way will Aidan disappoint the both of us. Got it?”

Fox took a deep breath. “Okay.” He turned to Aidan who was out cold on the bed. He leaned over and whispered something in his ear that Raven couldn’t hear. Then her son turned and faced her, his young eyes serious. “Take care of him, Mom. He needs us.”

She felt like she’d just taken an arrow to the heart. When had her young boy become so wise? He’d always been smart, but there was a difference between smart and wise. She wrapped her arms around him, his head already even with hers. Another year and he’d be taller than her. He’d gotten those genes from his father. “I love you, Fox.” She kissed his cheek. “Now, don’t worry. Eva’s right. Aidan wouldn’t dare disobey her.”

Fox gave each woman a solemn look before leaving the room.

“He’s gotten attached to his stray,” Eva said.

Raven nodded. Fox was notorious for bringing home wounded animals.

“All right, Eva. What do we do?”

“What?” She raised a brow. “Volunteering?”

“No. Just…no.”

Eva laughed. “That was well said.”

“Listen. I just want him out of here. And that won’t happen if he’s not better. You know Mom, she’ll insist he stay.”

“Let me get this straight.” Eva opened her bag and took out supplies to change Aidan’s bandages. “You and Lynx hate him for his part in your dad’s death, but Fiona doesn’t?”

“She doesn’t have it in her to hate anyone.”

“She hated Earl Harte.”

Raven frowned. “Yeah, but…everyone hated Earl.”

“Fiona wouldn’t hate someone because everyone else did.” Eva soaked a gauze pad with alcohol and lowered Aidan’s boxer short past his hips. “What’s this? I don’t remember seeing it last night.”

“What’s wrong?”

“This tattoo. Look.” She pointed to the tattoo of a sun on Aidan’s hip.

Raven caught her breath. She had a corresponding tat in the same area. She and Aidan had gotten them together when they were young and stupid, twelve years ago. She took another arrow to the heart at seeing the sun on his hip.

“Pretty,” Eva said. “Not your usual sun. It has a Native Alaskan design. Interesting.” She tore a syringe from a plastic covering and injected the antibiotic into Aidan’s behind.

He tossed his head on the pillow and opened his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“You have a very high fever, idiot,” Raven said. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“You had your head buried under the covers. And you’d told me to shut up.” He closed his eyes again.

“You slept with him?” Eva asked.

Raven rolled her eyes. “I slept in the bed after getting cramped in the rocking chair.”

“Lynx told me you had been sweet on him. Sure there aren’t any unresolved feelings between you?”

“Let’s just concentrate on getting him better and getting him out of here.”

“Humph,” Eva said, turning to the work at hand. She arranged items on the bed and then barked at Raven to hand over whatever she needed as she once again flushed the angry wounds in Aidan’s leg. The sight of them made Raven’s stomach twist. She couldn’t imagine the pain the trap had caused him. She glanced at Aidan. He was out cold. Not seeming to care what Eva was doing to him. Raven knew from experience that Eva didn’t have the softest touch. Eva was more than qualified, but she was no Mother Teresa.

Aidan lay there. It was like he didn’t care if he lived or died. Lines etched his face, a face more ruggedly handsome after all these years. His soft brown eyes had been sad. Like his soul was dying. She shouldn’t care. He deserved whatever he got. Just like that bastard father of his.

“Ah-ha!” Eva suddenly exclaimed, raising her tweezers with a piece of rusted metal clamped in the tines. “How did I miss this? Still, he shouldn’t be having a fever that high from this yet. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Me?” Raven asked.

“No.” She pointed to Aidan. “Him. There has to be more going on for him to become sick so fast.” She looked down at the swollen, bruised, and battered leg. “I really don’t think it’s broken. But I’ve been known to be wrong.” She sat back and rubbed a hand over her stomach. “There’s nothing we can do about getting him to medical care with the storm outside. So let’s concentrate on what we can do. First, the fever has got to come down.” She looked to Raven. “I’m going to need your help.”