Free Hidden Fire, Kobo by Terry Odell

toward the
kitchen.
    He stopped dead. "God, I didn't even
ask where you were or what you were doing when I called. Did I pull you away
from your dinner?" He spun her around.
    "Not exactly. I was at the shop,
working on tomorrow's opening. Hugh Garrigue's pottery exclusive. I told you
about it, remember?"
    "Yes, I do." He kissed the top
of her head. "Which makes me feel all the more like a jerk for asking you
to drop everything and come running because I was in an exhaustion-induced
funk."
    "Well, I'm here, so, what'll it be?
Food or sleep?"
    "Two of the top three survival
needs." He pressed his belly and grimaced. "I don't think I could eat
anything right now."
    "Then bed it is." She fumbled
her hand along the wall, searching for the hall light switch.
    "Leave it. I know the way," he
said, holding her close and walking down the narrow hallway.
    Relieved to hear his lightened tone,
Sarah snaked her arm around his waist. In his bedroom, she turned on the light,
getting her first clear look at him. She sucked in a gasp.
    "That bad?" he said. He put his
fingers over her lips. "Don't answer. I have a mirror. I thought the red
eyes with the purple bags under them made a statement."
    "They did. And it was, ' Get into
bed. Now '."
    He sank to the edge of the mattress,
elbows on knees, head in his hands. He wore cotton drawstring pants and a
t-shirt, the closest he came to pajamas. Sarah stroked his hair. He didn't move.
God, he was sound asleep sitting up.
    "Poor thing," she whispered.
    She smoothed the bottom sheet of the
unmade bed. When she pressed against his shoulders, he jerked. "Mmph. I'm
up."
    "No, you're not. Lie down." His
eyes opened, but she doubted he was seeing anything. She pressed against his
torso and when he collapsed, she bent down and tried to lift his legs onto the
bed. "Work with me here, Randy. Another minute and you can sleep."
    There was a momentary flash of
comprehension in his eyes. He shifted and settled himself against his pillow.
She pulled the covers over him and kissed his closed eyelids. His breathing
steadied and she turned off the light.
    He might not be able to eat, but she was
starving. She left for the kitchen as Starsky and Hutch entered the bedroom. "Take
care of him, okay?"
    She heated a can of chicken noodle soup
and found some not-too-stale rolls. Sitting at the table, she dunked the rolls
into the hot broth and filled the empty places in her stomach. If only the ones
in her heart were as easy to plug.
    Starsky and Hutch bounded into the
kitchen, mewing. Hutch leaped onto the table, something Sarah knew was
forbidden.
    "Are you two doing the Lassie bit?
Did Randy fall down the well?" She scratched Hutch under his chin and
headed for Randy's bedroom.
    She halted in the open doorway. His
ragged breathing, his tossing and turning, interspersed with his muffled groans
spoke volumes. She'd had those nightmares. How many times had he held her when
she'd flashed back to Chris?
    Stepping out of her clothes as she
crossed the room, she swallowed against the thickening in her throat. She
shivered as the cool night air brushed against her bare skin, puckering her
nipples. With the hall light giving her the illumination she needed, she found
a t-shirt in Randy's dresser and slipped it on.
    She closed the door, then crossed to the
far side of the bed and wormed in beside him. Randy's body was a furnace beside
her. His legs thrashed. "Shh," she said, reaching across his chest.
She stroked the coarse hair that covered his torso. "Go back to sleep."
    He inhaled one long breath, then exhaled.
"Sarah?"
    "I'm here now. Sleep."
    He turned on his side and curled her into
him. She shifted, fitting into the curve of his body as if she sat on his lap.
His arm reached over her and she took his hand to her shoulder. His elbow
rested against her hip, his forearm between her breasts, snuggling her as if
she were a favorite teddy bear. Her hand slid down to his arm and she clutched it
tight against her, the way she had