Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (15 page)

Rachel knocks on the door. “You ok in
there?”

“Yes, just getting out. Can you take Olivia
and get her dressed?”

Rachel pushes the door open an inch and
tries to peek in. “Are you decent?”

“Yes, I’m good.” Reaching down, he puts his
arms around Olivia and helps her to her feet. Wrapping a towel
around her, he lifts her out of the tub then steers her towards
Rachel who is waiting at the door and staring at Olivia’s discarded
bra on the floor. She crosses her arms and squints her eyes at him
in an icy glare. Ethan puts his hands up in the air in a convincing
confession. “I was a perfect gentleman. Honest.”

The cool air has made Olivia a little more
lucid as she walks to her room to get dressed. Ethan runs
downstairs, grabs his gym bag, and takes out his grey sweat pants.
There are no boxers in there so he’ll just go without. Nipping into
the main floor bathroom he closes the door, taking off his wet
boxers and toweling himself dry so he can dress quickly. He can
hear arguing upstairs and the sound of the hair dryer followed by
dresser drawers being slammed closed.

Heading upstairs commando style, he checks
on Rachel’s progress, or lack there of. Rachel has managed to dress
Olivia in pajama pants. The same pink pajama bottoms she was
wearing Friday night when she picked them up from the Headwaters
bar. Standing in the doorway, he smiles as he watches Rachel trying
to wrestle a t-shirt on over her head with no success. Olivia is
fighting her for some reason. “I want to go back downstairs.” She
yells as she slaps at Rachel’s hands.

Rachel throws her hands up in the air out of
frustration. “Fine! I give up.” She throws the t-shirt onto the bed
and turns to walk away. She glares at Ethan standing there
chuckling.

“She’s all yours!” She snarls as she pushes
past him into the hallway. He can’t hear everything that she’s
ranting about as she stomps down the stairs. Except the words
“stubborn” and “impossible”. Those words are crystal clear. He
looks over at Olivia, who is sitting quite placidly at the moment,
her face down, looking at the floor. Walking towards her, he squats
down in front of her, trying to ignore the fact that he is a short
distance from her bare breasts. He imagines just how delicious they
would taste and thinks about sucking one of those beautiful pink
nipples into his mouth. He has always been a breast man and hers
are the most beautiful he’s seen. Large, soft and curvy. There goes
his dick again. He growls in frustration.

“What’s the matter, Olivia?” He tries to
push his desires to the back of his mind.

“I don’t like this room. Bad things happened
and I don’t want to stay here.”

He wonders what has happened to her here. Is
that the reason she’s been so closed off to him? He’s intrigued.
“What happened to you here, princess?”

When she doesn’t answer he lets it go, not
wanting to take advantage of her condition, weakened from the
fever. John would agree that it would be wrong for him to get
information that way. She remains still as he brushes her hair out
of her eyes and frowns. Standing up, he picks up the shirt that
Rachel had abandoned on the side of the bed. “Put on your shirt and
I’ll take you downstairs.” She grabs it from him, finds the bottom
and pulls it over her head. “That’s a good girl.” He rubs his hand
along the side of her cheek. “Can you walk?”

“I don’t feel very good.” Putting her hands
over her face, she tries to hide the tears in her eyes. His heart
feels heavy and he wishes he could make her forget all about the
bad things that happened here. If she would give him a chance he
would do everything he could to heal her body, heart and soul. He’s
only known her a few days but she’s been in his dreams for as long
as he can remember and he just knows somehow, that he’s the man
that’s meant to take care of her. When she fails to get to her
feet, he leans over, picks her up and carries her back downstairs
to the couch.

Rachel is sitting, eating her dinner at the
table and Ethan smiles at her when she raises her eyebrows and
rolls her eyes at him. Reaching for the thermometer again he puts
it in Olivia’s ear. The beep comes quickly this time. “100. That’s
good news.”

Dumping one of each of the antibiotics into
his hand, he passes them to her. Sitting up, she puts them in her
mouth, and reaches for a glass of water on the table, swallowing
them both with one gulp, and then lies back down. Within seconds,
she’s on her feet and dashing for the washroom. Without even
thinking twice about it, Ethan is right behind her and follows her
in, holding her hair back out of her face. There is nothing in her
stomach except for the pills and the water but the retching seems
to go on forever.

In the other room, Rachel cringes at the
sound. When it finally stops, Ethan wipes the tears from Olivia’s
eyes. “That’s so disgusting.” She says, heading back to the couch
with a sour look on her face. Ethan looks over at Rachel who has
abandoned her dinner and is looking a little green herself. Sitting
on the stairs, she texts Scott.

“Rachel, why don’t you go home? I don’t have
any meetings tomorrow so I can stay with her.”

In the corner of the living room, there is a
small cabinet with a hutch that has obviously been meticulously
handcrafted a long time ago. It’s the kind of furniture that’s
passed down through generations and a place to keep safe the most
special treasures. He knows what he’s looking for and his Nana
always kept them in the middle drawer. He pulls it open and smiles
finding the left over candy canes from Christmas. Taking one out,
he breaks it into little pieces and sits beside Olivia holding it
at her lips. “Here, Olivia. This will help get that taste out of
your mouth.” Looking up at Rachel, he waits for an answer.

“Are you sure?” She’s feeling guilty for
even thinking about leaving.

Ethan gives her a serious look. “Rachel, I
raised three sisters. I know how to look after a sick girl.”

“Yeah, but this one is pretty fricken
stubborn.”

Olivia fights with the blanket that he has
tucked around her and he instinctively reaches down and frees her
feet. Her struggling stops and she wiggles her toes as she settles
back to sleep.

“I’m pretty sure I can handle her.” He
smiles as he watches her settle.

Rachel notices the look on Ethan’s face as
he stares at her best friend. The way he looks at her says it all,
nothing could tear him away. Feeling that she was denied the
caregiver gene she knows that Olivia will be in much better hands
with Ethan. He obviously knows what her needs are. Again, she
entertains the thought that HE just might be the answer to her
prayers.

A look of relief washes over her face.
“Thank you, Ethan.” She throws her arms around him in an
appreciative hug then wanders over to the couch and kisses Olivia
on the cheek.

Slowly, she opens her eyes. “Hi Rachel, I’m
sick.”

“Yes I know. Olivia, I’m leaving now.” She
ignores Olivia’s frown. “Ethan is going to stay with you, ok?”

She smiles, her voice very groggy. “My
prince, Ethan?”

Rachel looks over at Ethan who is sitting on
the stairs trying to hide his amusement. He shrugs his shoulders
and holds his hands out conceding defeat. “Guilty as charged.”

Rachel shakes her head. “I’m not even going
to go there.” She returns her attention to Olivia. “Olivia…I love
you… but you better do what Ethan tells you or I’ll kick your
ass.”

Ethan closes the door behind Rachel and
clears the two stairs back up to the living room in one jump.
Olivia is resting peacefully for the moment and he watches her from
a few feet away. Even as frail and ill as she is, he still thinks
she’s the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He hates to take
his eyes off her but he needs to get the meds into her as soon as
possible. Taking the bag of ice out of the freezer he dumps half of
it into another bag. Searching the drawers for something to crush
it into smaller pieces, he finds a small hammer and shakes his head
at how delicate it is for a tool. He grasps the pink handle and is
glad that there’s no one there to see him. It’s hard to look manly
smashing ice with a pink hammer but it gets the job done and he
dumps some into a bowl and puts the rest back in the freezer.

Taking the bowl with him, he stops at the
table and grabs the three bottles of medicine putting them in his
pocket. Walking over to the couch, he sits on the floor in front of
her. Grabbing the remote, he turns on the TV and searches the
sports channels until he finds something of interest and settles in
for a very long night. The pill bottles bulge in his pocket and
looks over at Olivia sleeping so peacefully. He feels horrible that
he has to wake her. “Olivia.” She opens her eyes when he nudges her
gently.

“You need to take your medicine.”

She shakes her head no and closes her eyes.
“I can’t. I’ll be sick.”

“Not this time, baby girl. I know a trick.
We need to keep your fever down.”

Ethan’s thoughts stray back to his childhood
in Ireland and a very sick sister. Kaylie was only a year and a
half old when she became so sick that she couldn’t even keep water
down. She became severely dehydrated, making the fever even more
dangerous. Ethan tried everything but ice chips were the only thing
that worked.

Olivia opens her eyes again and tries to
focus on him.

“Trust me.” He scoops up a small ice chip
and holds it at her mouth. She parts her lips and he gently pops it
into her mouth. She chews it and swallows and doesn’t protest when
he presents her with another one. Her eyes are tired and heavy and
she struggles to open them. Reaching into his pocket, he takes out
the pills and dumps two of the anti-nausea pills into his hand.
“Olivia, I’m going to put a few ice chips in your mouth and I want
you to chew them just a little… but don’t swallow. Ok? When you
have them chewed up, open your mouth and show me.” He waits for her
confirmation. “Do you understand? Chew but don’t swallow.”

She nods and opens her eyes slowly. “Or
Rachel will kick my ass.”

Ethan smiles at how completely adorable she
is, even when she’s this sick. “Here they come.” He pops a few ice
chunks into her mouth and she chews as instructed. She opens her
mouth to show him. “Good girl, I’m going to put the pills in your
mouth now and I want you to swallow them right away, ok? Don’t chew
them.” Quickly he pops the two anti-nausea pills onto the crushed
ice in her mouth. “Swallow.” He gently pushes on her chin with his
finger forcing her lips together.

She does as she’s told and they seem to go
down easy, letting Ethan relax a little. Until she speaks. “You’re
lucky, Ireland. I don’t usually swallow.”

Lord have mercy! Why does everything between
them, end up being sexual in nature? His stomach muscles tighten
and his dick starts to come to life. Smirking, he traces his
fingers over her lips. If that’s true, it’s something he intends to
change. “We’ll see about that, princess.”

There is nothing to do now but wait. He
distracts himself with the soccer game on TV for a while and then
growing bored he picks up the remote and starts channel surfing.
Forty-five minutes pass and Olivia hasn’t been sick. The
anti-nausea medication has had plenty of time to start working.
Ethan walks to the kitchen and dumps the bowl of melted ice into
the sink and refills it from the bag in the freezer. Returning, he
finds her sitting up on the couch. “Olivia?” Concern creases his
brow. “You ok?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to be sick?” He moves to sit
beside her.

“No.”

That’s a relief. “You need to take the rest
of your medicine.” He takes it out of his pocket and reads the
dosage instructions. Every four hours. He looks at the time on his
cell phone. It’s almost midnight, so he sets an alarm to go off in
four-hour intervals.

“Do you want to do it yourself?” She takes
the bowl from him and picks up a few chunks of ice. He holds out
his open hand with the two pills. “Take one at a time. Ok?”

Olivia throws the ice chips in her mouth,
crunches them a few times, and then grabs for one of the pills.
Swallowing it, she opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue
showing him that it’s gone. “Do I win immunity?”

Ethan can’t resist her sense of humor.
Playfully touching the end of her nose with his finger, he smiles.
“Not yet, princess. One more to go.”

Her hand heavily drops back into the bowl of
ice and she scoops up a few more pieces. Tossing them in her mouth
she quickly grabs the last pill and tosses it in her mouth... then
chews. “Olivia!” He’s unable to stop her and he cringes as she
finally swallows. Coughing, she desperately tries to get rid of the
bitter taste in her mouth. Tears form in her eyes. “It burns.”
Ethan grabs ice from the bowl and pushes it into her mouth. “Here,
keep chewing ice.”

He shoves a few pieces past her lips. “Not
one for following instructions, are you, Miss James?”

She sticks her tongue out at him and he
can’t hide his amusement. “Watch it, now.” He warns. “I might just
bite that.” He offers her one more piece of ice and she turns her
head rejecting it.

“No more. I’m ok.”

He drops it back in the bowl and takes it
out of her hands. “Lie down and rest.” He coaxes.

“I want to sit up for a little while. My
back hurts.” She frowns at him.

“Probably a muscle spasm from all that
throwing up.”

She holds the aching spot and winces.

“Lay down and I’ll rub it for you.” He grabs
one of the throw pillows from the back of the couch and puts it on
his lap. Without hesitation she lies down and rests her head on the
pillow. Her muscles tense and twist, as he applies expert hands and
almost immediately, she feels relief as he kneads the spasm into
submission. He feels her body relax and slows his movement to a
gentle caress. She reaches for the remote and switches to the
cartoon channel and the final few minutes of Scooby Doo. “And I
would have gotten away with it too… if it wasn’t for you meddling
kids.” She laughs.