She was shocked to learn she hadn’t had a fever when she was admitted. The rippling flames in her back made it feel like she’d been thrown into a bonfire. Thankfully, that had calmed down as much as her heart.

He poured her a cup of water. “You want a drink?”

She looked at one of the IV bags. “I’m so full of fluids, I have to pee every fifteen minutes.”

“What did the doctor say?”

Dr. Pranjeep had taken care of her in the ER, stopping in at six in the morning to check in on her before he headed out for the day. He’d been extremely kind and thorough. He’d never met someone with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome before, like most doctors, and had a lot of questions once they realized she was not having a heart attack. To his credit, he didn’t try to move and dislocate her joints. Kate couldn’t count the number of curious doctors who’d sent her into spasms of agony just to satisfy their inquisitiveness. It was one of a host of reasons she didn’t care much for the profession, despite needing them to keep her alive.

Being sick was one thing. Being sick and a guinea pig was another, and she was done being a guinea pig and a curiosity.

“He’s pretty sure they’ll release me early this afternoon. I didn’t have a heart attack.”

Andrew paled. “Wait. They thought you had a heart attack?”

She patted her pillow so he could lie next to her. They faced one another, noses touching. “When people come in with massive chest pains, yes, that’s what they assume. They didn’t know me from Eve. Turned out to be exactly what I knew it to be, my good friend lupus. My numbers are really high, and we both know what that does to me.”

He kissed the top of her nose. “If you want to know the truth, I thought you were having a heart attack too.”

Smiling, she said, “I assumed from the way you drove. Thank God there weren’t any cops around.”

“They would have had to follow me here.”

“Well, the good news is I’m fine. Or my version of fine. They gave me some stuff to calm the swelling, and I have no idea what the nurse slipped me before, but I’m beat.”

Andrew ran his fingers through her hair, giving her goose bumps, especially when he grazed the back of her ear. “It has nothing to do with the meds.” He gestured to the window. “The sun is out, so all good vampires need to sleep.”

“Ha-ha.”