Marcello
Harper collapses onto the floor in front of me. I only just manage to grab her before she hits her head.
“Harper? What’s wrong?” I mutter, but she’s unresponsive, and her eyes have rolled into the back of her head.
I listen for a breath, which is there, but it’s faint.
I shake her a little. “Harper? Wake up.”
Did I fuck her so hard she fainted?
She groans, and my heart does a double jump. She blinks a couple of times, and her hand rises to swipe along her forehead. “What happened?”
“You fell suddenly,” I reply. “Looks like you fainted.”
“Oh … my head,” she groans, squinting.
“Are you feeling okay?” I ask, and I direct her to my chair. “Sit down.”
She’s breathing heavily, and I don’t trust this one bit. She hunches over and reaches between her legs. When her hand comes out, there’s blood.
My eyes widen. “I’m getting my doctor.”
But before I can even run to the door, she’s already fainted again at the sight of her own blood.
I grab her body and put her down on the floor, face left, so she won’t choke on anything. Then I zip back up as I hadn’t even had time for that before I rush to the door and throw it open, yelling, “Doctor! I need a doctor!”
My guards immediately yell at each other through the walkie-talkies until the doctor is alerted. I’ve been smart enough to keep one on hand in my ranks because we have enough gunfights to cause a whole bloodbath. One doctor might not be enough to take care of all the wounded after an ambush, but I can pray it will be enough for my Kitten.
“She’s in here,” I say when he’s finally come downstairs.
“What happened?” he asks as I walk him inside.
“She fainted, and there’s blood between her legs,” I reply.
He kneels beside her on the floor. She’s already groaning again, so I assume she’s come back from the dead. “Ugh …”
“Shh … don’t strain yourself,” the doctor says as he opens his briefcase and takes out a stethoscope, listening to her heart and lungs. “Let me check on you.”
“I was bleeding,” she mutters.
“Between her legs,” I add.
He checks her out and frowns, which concerns me a great deal.
“Do you know what’s wrong?” I ask.
“Without further investigation, no, but she seems fine. No abnormal pulse, lungs sound fine.” He turns his head to look at Harper. “What were you doing before you started bleeding?”
Her cheeks flush with heat as her lips part, but no sound comes out.
“Just some cuddling and kissing, nothing more,” I interject.
I don’t want her to feel embarrassed about something natural. Especially not when it comes to something I enjoy doing with her. Besides, no one has any business knowing what we do behind closed doors.
The doctor clears his throat. “Was there penetration involved?”
“Oh, no, no. None of that.” She giggles, still a little woozy from the spell.
“I think it’s best if you rest a little. I can do a thorough checkup while you’re in bed,” the doctor says, and he looks at me. “Help me out a little.”
I nod and approach Harper, grabbing her arm so I can lift her.
“I’m fine. I can walk,” she says.
But when she tries, she stumbles, and I’m right there to catch her before she falls again.
“Let me help you,” I say, shoving my shoulder under her arm for support.
“Let’s get her to a bed quickly,” the doctor says.
We go upstairs and into her bedroom, where she lies down on the bed, clutching her stomach.
“Does it hurt?” the doctor asks.
She nods, frowning and groaning heavily, and it hurts to see. I care too much about her to see her in this much pain. What is going on? Was it something I did?
The doctor turns to me. “Marcello, I think you should leave.”
My brows furrow, rage boiling to the surface. How dare he tell me to leave my Kitten?
But then I see the frantic look in her eyes like she’s afraid to roar out loud because of what it could do to me if I heard. And I realize that he isn’t just asking this to shoo me away but to give her time to heal.
I sigh and nod. “But if you need me, call, and I’ll be right there.”
She nods and lies back down on the bed, shivering and soaked through with sweat.
I don’t know what’s going on, but leaving may be the better option. That doctor is one of the best there is, and I trust him to cure her of whatever illness she has.
So I step out of the door and take a deep breath before I sit on a chair in the hallway, waiting patiently for the doctor to come out again. It takes a couple of minutes of staring at my own damn watch as time ticks away. But when he finally does come out, I immediately stand and say, “How is she?”