Hadrian liked to believe he was invincible, and Delia was inclined to agree, considering all of the things they had gotten through up until this point. This time had been different. He'd been gone. She had somehow lost him and they had always been side-by-side before this. It had been the longest few days of her life.

"I know," she let her hand trail over his forehead and his cheek before reaching for the compress and cool water on the table beside their bed. After soaking the cloth in the water and ringing it out, she laid it gently across his forehead to help with the fever. Hopefully he would bounce back in his typical fashion. She hated seeing him like this. Hads was vibrant, full of life and ideas and unable to sit still. That would truly be the challenge here, getting him to get the appropriate rest and not try to hop back out into the fray too soon. "And I will never lose you again." He would never leave; she would never let go, that was it.

"Are you hungry at all?" He must have been famished after being out in the desert for so long. She still didn't know how he managed to survive with the minimal supplies that he'd retained.