You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 867

“Here, drink some water.”

Oliver sat on the edge of the bed, steadying Patricia’s shoulder as he offered her a glass.

Patricia couldn’t stop coughing. She didn’t even want water.

After a few seconds, her cough finally eased up, and she took the glass from him. She managed a few sips, then slid down, trying to get comfortable again.

Oliver adjusted her pillow, lifting her a bit higher.

“Is your cough getting worse?”

“Mom made some pear water. Want me to have someone bring it up?”

Patricia nodded, too tired to say much. She turned away from Oliver, her back toward him. The blanket was wrapped around her, but you could still see the gentle curve of her belly.

She was still so thin. The cold had killed her appetite, so she’d lost even more weight these past few days. The thinner she got, the more obvious her baby bump became.

Patricia kept shifting, restless and uncomfortable. The more she moved, the more the little one in her belly started moving too.

She finally sat up, frowning, looking irritated and worn out.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is it really uncomfortable?”

Oliver’s heart twisted for her. He pulled her in close, holding her against his chest.

Patricia let out a long sigh. “The baby’s moving.”

He pressed his palm gently to her stomach. Sure enough, he could feel the tiny kicks.

“It’s bothering you?”

“Yeah, a little.”

She sounded exhausted.

Katie came upstairs with the pear water and saw them there, huddled together. It didn’t look like a sweet moment, more like they both had something weighing on them.

“What’s going on?”

Oliver tugged at his pants and sat down next to her. Patricia scooted away a bit, but he just wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap, leaning in for a kiss.

Patricia turned her head away. “Don’t. I have a cold. I’ll just get you sick.”

He grinned. “If catching your cold would make you feel better, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Patricia laughed and pushed at his shoulder. “But what if you catch it and I’m still sick? Who’s going to take care of me then?”

“Oh, so you’re just worried about having no one to spoil you.”

“I thought you actually cared about me,” Patricia shot back, but she couldn’t help smiling as his lips chased after hers.

The truth was, he did care. He would trade places with her if he could, take on all her discomfort and sickness himself.

Pregnant women couldn’t take medicine, couldn’t get shots. She just had to tough it out. And when she felt awful, the baby did too.

He’d rather suffer alone than see both of them hurting. He never used to understand what it meant to want to shoulder someone else’s pain, but after getting married, he finally got it. The deepest kind of love is wanting to protect someone from hurt, even if it means you get hurt instead.

He was happy about the baby, of course, but mostly, he just worried about her. He hated seeing her go through morning sickness, hated how small and tired she looked with her belly growing every day.