“Stay back, fucker.” Shoving past him, I jogged to Brandt and Aspen. “I’ve got him,” I said.
The kid looked drained and limp. I sent him a sorry-I’m-only-doing-this-to-get-close-to-Caroline grimace and picked him up. He groaned once but wrapped an arm around my neck to steady himself. “Thanks,” he finally managed to rasp as he leaned heavily against me.
“No problem.” I grunted from the strain. He was probably heavier than Caroline, but I didn’t care. Doing this was going to get me close to her. When Gam backed out of the backseat of the car where he’d placed her, all my efforts became worth it.
Gamble blinked at me in surprise, but said, “Thanks for getting him,” as I helped Brandt into the backseat next to his sister. Once I had him settled, I leaned into him and then right past him, making him protest as I pressed against him maybe a bit too hard. “Hey!”
But I didn’t stop until I had my mouth on Caroline’s temple. “Get better,” I murmured, meeting her blurry-eyed gaze as I pulled away.
She sent me a weak smile, so I backed out of the car and straightened. Gam—who hadn’t seen a thing—patted me thankfully on the shoulder, and I waved him and his family off as they left for home.
The party was pretty much over at that point. I drove back to my apartment behind Zoey and Quinn, who also hadn’t eaten the shrimp. But I still couldn’t settle my nerves. Finally, I left and drove to the spot down the street from Gam’s house where I always picked up Caroline for our midnight rendezvous. I sat in my truck, watching his place until it started to get dark. And then I sat a while longer.
Was she still sick? Getting enough fluids? Resting? Damn it, I couldn’t take this shit. I needed to see her. It was late enough that some members of the house might be in bed, so I climbed out of my truck and moseyed my way to Gamble’s backyard. I paused in front of a window I was pretty sure was her room and began to tap on it. Just a light tap so as not to alert anyone else to my presence, but I didn’t let up until a blind lifted and a pale Caroline peered out.
Her eyes widened. I waved, sent her a sheepish grin, and jammed my hands into my pockets as I waited for her to unlock the window and slide it up.
“Oren! What the heck are you doing here?”
“I’m checking on you, what’s it look like?”