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Usually when I pulled in the driveway, Chance came out to greet me, but this time there was no sign of him. "I'm back," I called up the stairs. "Do you want to come eat while it's hot?"
There was no answer. I found him still sound asleep. I didn't know if I should wake him or let him sleep. If he was tired enough to fall asleep, I decided I shouldn't wake him. I had no way to know if he'd been asleep for five minutes or fell asleep five minutes after I left.
I went back to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of wine. I set the table and wondered whether I should put the food in the fridge or go ahead and eat mine. I couldn't decide so I sat down at the table and looked over my to-do list while I enjoyed my wine. It felt really good to finally be making some progress on things.
I finished my wine and was trying to decide what to do about the food, when Chance walked in and pulled me into a hug. After a passionate kiss, he stepped away. "Thanks for getting dinner."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm OK. Just a little tired."
I filled him in on my visits with Laurie and Rick while we ate.
After dinner, Chance was in his usual stance, leaning back against the counter with his feet crossed at the ankle as he waited for the coffee and tea. He kept running his hand across his chest.
"Is it bothering you?" I asked, nodding to his chest.
"It's fine. It just itches a little."
I walked over and ran my hands under the hem of his shirt. "You're hot," I said when I felt his skin beneath my hands.
"Glad you think so, Babe." He pulled up his shirt to expose his impressive chest. He knew it was one of my weaknesses. "If these leave a scar will that make me more or less irresistible?"
"Chance, something's wrong," I said, taking his hand and pulling him into the downstairs bathroom. "Take your shirt off."
He pulled the shirt over his head and stood in front of the mirror above the sink. The wounds looked like they were healing, but the skin around them was bright red and really hot to the touch.
"Did it look like this when you were checking me out earlier?"
"Definitely not. Let's go upstairs, I need to check your temperature." He followed me upstairs and sat down on the bed. His temperature was 103. "You've got a fever. Have you been using the salve Dr. Wainwright gave you?"
"Every day after my shower, just like he said."
"Where is it?"
He opened a drawer in the dresser and pulled out the tube. It was unlabeled. "Fudge." I was starting to get a bad feeling about this.
Chance laid down on the bed, and I put a cold pack wrapped in a towel on his forehead. I sat down on the bed beside him and pulled out my phone. I dialed Cassie's number, and it went straight to voice mail. "Cassie, it's Everly Mason. I hope Jared is doing OK, but Chance isn't. Call me when you get this message, and I'll explain."
I pulled up Dr. Wainwright's contact number and called him. Again, I got voice mail. "Dr. Wainwright, this is Everly Mason. Please call me immediately when you get this message."
"OK. I'll admit, I'm usually a fan of your overly macho, 'I can handle anything' approach, but right now I need you to be honest with me. How do you feel?"
"I feel OK. I'm a little tired, and I've got the start of a headache."
"Have you felt like this since the attack, or did it just start today?"
"Just today. I felt OK yesterday. Normal."
"I think it's an infection. It surprised me that Dr. Wainwright didn't want you to continue taking an antibiotic." I thought about taking Chance straight to the hospital, but I was afraid they might give him something that would interact with whatever Dr. Wainwright had given him. I decided I'd give Cassie and the doctor an hour to call me back.
I sat on the bed with my back against the headboard. "Tell me everything you remember about how Dr. Wainwright treated your wound at the lab." I don't know why I thought that would help, but at least it gave us something to focus on while we waited. I realized while I was lost in thought, Chance had stopped talking. I looked over, and he was sleeping.
I kept my phone with me and started throwing things in a bag in case we had to go to the lab or the hospital. I pulled out the salve and threw it in. It bothered me that there were no labels on it. None at all. I knew a lot of doctors got free samples of drugs from pharmaceutical companies, but those would be plastered with labels.
I was in the office grabbing my laptop when Chance called. "Em. Come here."
I ran back into the bedroom. "What's wrong?" I asked as I helped Chance get up.
"I feel really sick."
We made it about two steps from the bed before he collapsed. With my arm around his waist, I felt him go limp. I'm sure it wasn't pretty, but I managed to lower him to the floor without hitting too hard. He was unconscious, and I was scared out of my mind. I grabbed a pillow off the bed and scooted it under his head, then covered him with a blanket though sweat was pouring off him. I sat down beside him and held his hand, while I pulled out my phone and called Tom. He's Chance's best friend, a charter member of my guyumvirate, and the local fire chief.
"Tom, it's Everly. Chance just collapsed."
"At the A-frame?"
"Yeah."
"I'm on my way."