As he held her, she could hear the faintness of his heartbeat and the way he was breathing so nervously.
"I'm sorry I frightened you." She said quietly, trying to calm him. "I was just so worried about you. I know it's silly, but I wanted to make sure that you were all right. I-."
He drew back and stared at her in disbelief. "You were worried about me?"
She smiled, blinking back tears. "Yes. You had quite a fall in your brother's kitchen earlier and-." Her hand trembled as she reached out and touched his hair as gently as possible. But when he flinched at the contact, tears spilled down her cheeks. "You're not all right. I knew it!"
"Daphne, I'm fine."
She tried again, running her fingers through his hair, even more gently than before. "I'm so sorry… Are you sure you're going to be all right?"
He swallowed hard. "Well, I…"
"Of course you're not. What am I saying?"
He opened his mouth to speak but she smiled and took his hand. "May I come in?"
"What? Oh Heavens, of course you may. What's wrong with me?"
"You're hurting, that's what's wrong! But don't worry about anything because I'm going to take care of you, which is more than I can say for your brother! Now go and sit on the sofa and I'll get something for your head."
But instead of doing as she asked, he stood perfectly still, staring at her with a frozen expression of disbelief.
"Well, go on!" She snapped, gently ushering him into his apartment. "And sit down on the sofa!"
Finally he did as she asked, but he did so without ever taking his eyes off of her, as she crossed the room and walked into the kitchen. It was there in the privacy of his gourmet cooking space that even more tears fell and she grabbed a dishtowel to blot her eyes. She couldn't let him see her crying like this. He was bound to feel guilty and it certainly wasn't his fault that he'd fallen and hit his head. He was bound to have a concussion. Oh, why hadn't she insisted that he go to the hospital? Concussions could be serious and his brother should have known that! He was a doctor for God's sake! But there was still time…
"Daphne?"
At the sound of his voice she stilled and the dishtowel fell from her hand. The door swung open and she turned away, embarrassed by the tears in her eyes. But his reaction was one of concern as he moved toward her, noticing the way she'd been crying. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
She sniffled and turned toward the freezer, barely able to open the door. "Um… Do you have an ice pack?"
"No, I…"
"Well, that's all right. Let me get a towel."
"Daphne, you don't have to go to so much trouble."
But she refused to listen and instead hurried about the kitchen opening drawers until she found a plastic bag. She could feel him watching her as she crossed to the freezer, and somehow managed to fill the bag with ice, which she wrapped in a towel. And then she went to him, and took his hand in hers, taking note of the way he shivered. Of course he was shivering. Her hand was cold from the ice. What was she thinking? She should have run it under warm water. But thankfully he didn't seem to mind.
"I'm sorry me hand is so cold, but yours will warm it soon enough." she said, relishing the feel of his soft skin against hers. "Just come with me and everything will be all right."