She dropped the burger onto the paper wrapping. She felt a little sick. The constant moving around had really worn thin. She ran the back of her hand over her brow, wiping the sweat off. With every passing second, a wave of sickness kept on washing over her. Looking around the food court wasn’t helping either.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Reaper arrived.
“Your food is cold,” she said.
He sat down beside her, taking a huge bite out of his burger.
The world had started to spin. Shaking the fog from her thoughts, she looked toward Reaper, but with him eating, it wasn’t helping the sickness twisting inside her gut.
“What did you do?” she asked.
“I went to get you a present.”
“A present?”
“It’s not my birthday.”
“I can only get you a gift for your birthday? I can’t treat you any other time of the year?”
“Why would you get me any other present?” The conversation made no sense.
She leaned forward, rubbing at her temples. She was going to be sick.
“You okay?”
She got to her feet. “I don’t feel so good.”
The world was spinning, and before she knew what was happening, the world had gone black.
****
Reaper didn’t wait for one of his men to catch her.
He was on his feet, sweeping her up in his arms, and he felt how hot she was. “She’s burning up. We’ve got to go. Pay the bill. Meet me outside.” He picked Robin’s dead weight up in his arms, carrying her out of the shopping mall. That very morning, she’d looked awful, but he’d put it down to her not sleeping well.
One of his men had run on ahead to get the truck. He’d ridden his bike here, but one of the guys would bring it back with them. For now, he had to get Robin back to the hotel.
Climbing into the back of the truck, he signaled for them to get him to the hotel. She was still out cold as he held her. He put his hand to her head, and it felt like it was getting hotter.
“What do you think’s going on?” Pete, one of his closest men asked.
“She’s sick. I don’t know when she could have picked anything up.”
“You don’t need to be near people to pick shit up,” Pete said. “This could draw attention to us.”
“It’s not going to do anything. Just make sure the bikes are all back in the lot by the end of the day.”
They arrived back at the hotel and he’d paid a great deal of money for the reception guy to turn the other way. He knew a lot about lying low, and there was no chance of Preacher ever fucking finding him, not unless Reaper wanted to be found.
After carrying her up to their hotel room, he kicked the door open, and Pete followed him inside.
Robin came to, mumbling about being too hot.
He had to cool her down. After carrying her through to the en-suite bathroom, he climbed into the shower. Then he turned the spray to cold, holding her close as he got into the shower with her.
“What are you doing?” Pete asked.
“I need you to go and get me a doctor. Call Trick, ask him if he knows a guy. I need someone who’ll keep their mouth shut. One that isn’t associated with the Twisted Monsters.”
Robin couldn’t keep herself upright. They both collapsed into the bath and he didn’t care about the cold. He held on to her as he felt her head. In one moment, she went from boiling hot to cold.
“Fuck! Shit!” He got out of the bath and removed her clothes before carrying her through to the bedroom, trying to warm her up.
She was shivering.
Climbing into bed with her, he removed his clothes, dried his body, and tried to warm her up, but she was shaking too much.
Pete came in. “Trick is on his way with a guy he knows. Someone he says we can trust.”
“Good. Get the fuck out until he arrives. Find some way to get some fucking soup up here.”
“Soup?”
“Yeah, soup is supposed to be good for illness, right?”
“How the fuck should I know?”
“Just fucking do it. Don’t make me shoot you,” he said. Reaper didn’t know what the fuck to do and he was panicking. He’d never been sick, at least not like this.
What was he supposed to do to keep Robin warm? What was this illness? Why the fuck did he really care?
If she died, it wouldn’t matter.
Would it?
She wasn’t that important to him. This meant nothing.
Pete left and Reaper held a shivering Robin. She came around. “So cold.”
“I’ve got you.”
“I’m going to die.”
“You’re not going to die. I’ve got you.” He wasn’t ever going to let her go. She would be fine so long as he held her through the pain. The doctor, whoever he was, had better be a fucking good one. Reaper didn’t know if he could handle bullshit right now.