Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“I can handle things. Just tell me what instructions the doctor gave, and is there medicine I can get for you?”
Parker shook his head, his eyes still closed. “Nothing for me. It’ll all come back up. In a few hours, I can try a sip of water or Gatorade.” He then listed detailed instructions for Joy about fluids, medicine, and what to watch for if her condition worsened.
“Let me close my eyes for a minute. My whole body feels horrible. It’s like my stomach turned itself inside out.”
“What you need is rest,” I admonished. I lifted his bare feet and placed them on the bed so that he was lying on his side facing the bathroom in case he needed to run again. Once he was settled, I grabbed a spare blanket out of the hall closet, lightly draped it over him, and turned out the lights.
I stepped out into the hall and frowned. Joy was sick and Parker was sick. Both of them needed to stay in bed, receive medicine, and get as much rest as possible. Neither one of them was going to agree to such a thing. I was going to need help.
Briefly, I thought about seeing if I could hire a nurse to assist me, but I couldn’t imagine that Parker would want a total stranger seeing him like this, even if they were a health professional. He’d be anxious and on edge the entire time. He wouldn’t be able to heal if he wasn’t relaxed and comfortable. No, there was only one person I could think of whom I could call for advice.
I marched into Parker’s room and found his phone plugged in on the nightstand just as he said. Thankfully, he’d told me his password, allowing me access to it. After a second of scrolling, I located the person I was looking for and called the number.
“Hi, sweetheart! I was thinking of you and was going to call.” Lenore Cain’s voice rang through the line, bright and chipper.
“Hello, Mrs. Cain. My name is Declan Foster. I’m Parker’s boyfriend. I hoped you might help me with something.”
21
PARKER CAIN
A gentle hand touched my forehead, pushing my sweaty hair aside. The room was blissfully dark and cool, and I wanted to drift off to sleep again, but there was something hazy, a thought nagging my mind. I needed to get up, but I couldn’t remember why.
Joy!
“Shit!” I gasped, lurching upright fast enough to make my head spin. “Where’s Joy?”
“She’s fine. Everything is fine. Just lie down.”
The soothing voice was reassuring, but it was not the voice I’d expected to hear. It was my mother’s.
“Mom?” I gasped, only this time my voice cracked like I was going through puberty for a second time.
Unfortunately, now that my body was really awake, it decided that it had found some more fluids and food it wanted to expel at lightning speed. I cursed under my breath and threw off the covers. My mom jumped up from where she was sitting on the edge of the bed and shoved a small trash can into my hands as I bolted for the bathroom. Thank God, I was familiar enough with Declan’s room to maneuver it in the pitch black.
“Did you make it?” Mom called from the doorway, the slightest note of amusement lilting through his voice.
“Yeah,” I moaned. The addition of the trash can had been helpful since I’d had it coming from both ends.
This episode of Parker Loses His Guts was much shorter, and I could crawl into Declan’s bed a few minutes later. While I was in the bathroom, she’d flipped on a bedside lamp and straightened out the blankets. As I climbed into bed, she made sure the bathroom was tidy and placed a fresh bag in the bin before returning it to the side of the bed.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as she handed me a glass of water with a straw.
“Tiny sips. Tiny sips. Just enough to wet your mouth,” she admonished while helping to hold the glass steady. She took the water away all too soon, not letting me take enough to actually turn my stomach inside out. “What do you think I’m doing here? You and Joy have the plague and Declan needed our help.”
“Yeah, but how…Joy!”
I forgot again!
As I was lurching upright a second time, my mom pressed a hand to my shoulder and eased me to the mattress.
“Declan and your father are watching the baby while I check on you. She’s doing fine. Her fever has come down, and the poo is more solid, which is better than you right now.”
That was true.
“But Dad’s here, too? How?” Nothing was making sense. How could they be here? What day was it? The last thing I remembered was passing out on Declan’s bed, but I’d meant to close my eyes for only a minute.