Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“If she makes me sick, I better be getting some of the homemade soup you promised her.”
“I have a feeling this thing is going to rip through all of us.”
“I don’t know how to play nursemaid,” I admitted. “And I can’t make soup. I mean, I can warm some up in the microwave. Or order it.”
“That would be more than I’ve ever gotten.”
“Don’t sound eager for it,” I said, shaking my head at him.
“It’s gotta be nice to be taken care of.”
“Well, I haven’t had someone take care of me when I’m sick, but I can speak from experience that it’s really nice to have someone care about you when you don’t feel your best.”
“What’s going on?” Liam’s voice called, making his uncle and me glance back at where he stood halfway between his bedroom to the bathroom.
“Char’s sick.”
“Again?” Liam asked, sighing. “Time to start guzzling orange juice.” Then, softer, “She okay?”
“Fever’s a little better. She’s probably going to feel like shit by morning, though.”
“Couch drops, ice pops, electrolytes…”
“What are you doing?”
“Making a mental list of everything she’s gonna need to keep her from complaining too much.”
“Oh, she’s still gonna complain.”
“You guys are being mean. Like you wouldn’t be moaning and complaining you’re half dead if you had the flu.”
“You’re not wrong. Liam was ten times worse than Char when he caught the flu from her last time. Why don’t you go to bed? I’m just gonna make sure she’s out before I move her.”
“You sure?”
“No sense in us both being sleepless. We can pull shifts.”
“Okay,” I agreed, carefully sliding off the couch.
“Alara?”
“Yeah?”
In answer, he reached for me as I passed behind him on the couch. He reached behind my neck, pulling me down for a quick upside-down kiss.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” I said, running my fingers over his hair before I walked away.
I couldn’t say how long I managed to sleep before the bedroom door flung open, making me yelp and whip around.
“Chris?” I asked, slow-blinking at him as he reached to flick the light on, making me wince. “Is everything okay?”
But my vision adjusted.
And I could see that he was very much not okay.
“Char’s fever is getting dangerously high,” he told me. “I think I need to get her to the hospital ASAP.”
“What? What time is it? Is she due for meds?”
“Not for another two hours. She can’t wait that long.”
I was off the bed in a second.
“I’ll keep an eye on her. Get dressed.” I waved to the closet as I pushed past him and rushed over to where Charlotte was sitting on the couch with her shoes already on. “Hey, kid, how are you—” I started, then trailed off as my hand met her scorching forehead. No longer clammy. Just way too hot.
She looked off, too. A little unfocused, her face too flushed.
“Oh, Char,” I said, running my hand over her hair.
“I don’t feel good.”
“I know you don’t,” I said, sitting down next to her.
“Can I have a hug?” she asked, sniffling, her eyes filling with tears.
“You don’t have to ask,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. “You’re going to be okay. Your uncle is going to get the doctors to fix you all up, okay?”
She sniffled and nodded.
“Probably not right away. But you’ll feel a little bit better once the doctors check you out. And then we’re going to spend a few days waiting on you hand and foot until you feel better.”
“You too?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’re not going back to your apartment?”
“No way. My girl needs me.”
Christopher moved in front of the couch, giving me a soft smile. “Ready, honey?” he asked.
Charlotte let out a whimper but got to her feet.
“Just a couple of hours and it will all be over,” I assured her. “And then we can eat ice pops and watch that show you were talking about earlier. Here,” I said, folding up Charlotte’s blanket and handing it to Christopher. “She’s always chilly.”
“Thank you.”
“Liam…”
“He’s got me.”
Christopher leaned forward, pressing his forehead to mine for a second. “I will text you when I know something.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you in a bit, okay, kiddo? What flavor ice pops should I order?”
“All of them,” Charlotte said, leaning into her uncle’s side.
He wrapped an arm around her, and the two of them made their way out of the apartment.
Alone, I was surprised by the way my stomach twisted and my heartbeat fluttered.
Worried.
I was worried about Charlotte.
Christopher and Liam told me that she spiked dangerously high fevers when she got sick, once so bad that when they walked into her room to check on her, she was hallucinating and didn’t even respond to them until they got her to urgent care and got her fever down with medication and fluids.
I grabbed my phone and camped out on the couch while adding ice pops, cough drops, medicine, electrolytes, orange juice, menthol rub, and a heating pad for her body pains. Plus some soup in case she was hungry before Christopher got a chance to make it from scratch.