“You have to let me go out there.”
“I let you go out there and Issy will have my head.” Last thing he needed was to return to work with a black eye. That would be an interesting conversation starter to have with his patients.
“But he’s hurt.”
“Caley, love, he’s not hurt. I promise you. He’ll be back any second.”
“I have to help. I have to help. I can’t lose him again. I can’t.”
Again? Did this have something to do with her Dom’s death?
He didn’t know and now wasn’t the time for questions. He got the feeling she wouldn’t come down until she saw Isaac herself.
“Baby, hush, you’ll make yourself ill. Where’s your stuffy?” Maybe that would help. The lights flickered on. Thank God, Isaac must have gotten the generator on. He saw her bumblebee lying on the ground. He reached for it, making the mistake of loosening his hold on her. She pushed off his lap and raced for the door. Right as it opened, and Isaac stepped in.
She flung herself at him with a cry.
Doc stared down at the woman shaking and crying in his arms with shock.
“Caley, damn it, I’m all wet.”
He glanced up to find his brother watching her worriedly, her bumblebee held in his hand.
“Caley, calm down, baby. What is it?”
“She’s been like this since you left,” Archer explained coming towards him. “She kept saying that you were going to get hurt. But she seemed to confuse you with her husband.”
He frowned. What was going on? “Caley, I need to get my jacket off. I’m dripping water everywhere.” Not to mention getting her all wet as well.
“Caley, here, wrap up before you get a chill.” Archer wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, and she stepped back, looking up at his brother in confusion.
“Archer?”
“Yeah, love, come with me back in front of the fire. You’re going to get a chill. Come on, now. That’s a good girl.” His brother spoke in a low, cajoling voice. One he’d never heard him use before. Doc shrugged off his jacket and boots. Then pulled down his saturated jeans.
“I’m going to find a change of pants. Does she need new clothes?”
“Think I spied some pajamas in her bedroom under the pillow,” Archer told him. He already had her sitting on the sofa with her sippy cup of hot chocolate in her hands.
Doc moved quickly. He pulled on some sweatpants and grabbed her pajamas from her room. He winced at the mess inside. He’d deal with that later.
When he returned, Archer was talking softly to Caley, who appeared to be in some sort of daze. His brother reached out and brushed some hair out of her face.
“Jesus, man, what happened to your arm?” Isaac asked as he grew closer. There were red scratches down both of his forearms.
“Nothing,” Archer said quickly, shooting him a warning look.
What the fuck? Then he looked down into Caley’s pale, shocked face.
“I did that?” she whispered. “Oh Archer, I’m so sorry.”
His brother’s quick reflexes saved the hot chocolate from tipping out of her hand. He set it on the coffee table.
“What’s wrong with me? Why did I do that?”
She pressed her hands against her face. He was alarmed by the way she shook. These trembles were far more violent than the other ones.
“Caley, Caley, it’s okay,” Archer told her, gently pulling her hands from her face. “It’s obvious that storms frighten you. You weren’t yourself when you did this. You were desperate to get to Isaac.”