Always (Bold As Love 4)

“How much longer?” Sweetness whispers.

The flight is roughly an hour and a half long. We've only been on the plane forty-five minutes. “About forty-five minutes.”

She closes her eyes and collapses in her seat. I'm still holding her hand, which is clammy. The flight attendant is making her way back up the aisle, and I have to let go. Her hand slinks into her lap, and she pushes into her seat, keeping her eyes closed. Carefully, I watch her for the rest of the flight. When we land and are able to get off the plane, I'm half expecting her to kneel and kiss the ground. She doesn't. Sweetness simply relaxes with a sigh as if that releases all of her tension.

After we grab our bags, we head outside to grab a taxi. Emily's in the middle as we sit in the back seat, and I tell the driver which hotel we are staying at.

“I need a nap,” Emily says, sneaking a peek at me.

“That sounds good. We can catch a nap and eat supper afterwards.”

That's just what we do too. We ate at some Italian restaurant down the road and then watched Cars 2 back at the hotel. Once the movie is over, I tell Drake that he needs to go ahead and shower. It's just me and Emily on the bed now and her head is resting on my chest.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“Yeah. I'm just not a fan of flying is all.”

“Still thinking about that?”

“Yep and about how we have to fly back home.” She shivers.

I chuckle and she looks up at me with

a glare. “You'll be fine.”

“Are you excited about tomorrow?”

“I feel like I'm dreaming. I don't think life could get any better right now.”

And it couldn't. Life is too sweet for it to be any better. I have everything I need. Emily and Drake. I guess I was right when I said that Dad wouldn't get any better. Being better for a while doesn't mean much when he so easily gives in when opportunity arises. He has Drake to think about and he doesn't want to try for his own sake, much less for Drake's. How could he do well all this time and then slip without a second glance?

“I'm going to change while he's in there,” Sweetness says, getting off the bed and going to her suitcase. I watch as she pulls out some blue shorts and a white t-shirt representing our school. She quickly changes as she hears the water shut off and climbs back into bed with me. Once Drake comes out, he says goodnight and gets into his bed. Emily and I head into the bathroom and get ready for bed ourselves. By the time we've brushed our teeth, I've changed, and we're all ready for bed, Drake is asleep.

While laying in bed, trying to sleep, my thoughts turn to tomorrow. It's going to be one of the biggest days of my life. After an hour, I turn off the TV to see if that will help. Emily's body seems too hot as she is covering over half my body. I touch her forehead with the back of my hand and she does feel a bit warm. With ease, I slip out of bed, change my clothes, and sneak out of the room. I can't have Sweetness waking up sick tomorrow. She would not be one happy camper. I would bet money that she'd be beyond pissed in fact.

When we went to the restaurant earlier, we passed a drug store. That's where I'm headed. It only takes twenty minutes for me to pick up a temperature reducer and get back to the hotel. Now, how can Emily scold me for being awake if I just did this for her? That's right. She can't. I slip the room key into the slot and the light gleams green, granting me access. I use my phone to light up the way between the beds and turn on the lamp. A chuckle rips through me at seeing Sweetness sprawled across the bed.

Gently, I shake her awake. She rolls towards me and blinks several times.

“Jake? What's wrong?”

“Sit up.” Once she has, Sweetness becomes more alert and tilts her head at me.

“Love, why are you dressed? What's wrong?”

I take a seat next to her. “Nothing's wrong. How do you feel?”

“Tired.”

“I couldn't sleep and you were clinging to me like a leech,” I start.

“A leech? Did you just call me a leech?”

“That's not the point. You felt like you had a fever, so I went to the drugstore down the road and bought you something. I figured you didn't want to wake up sick in the morning.” I tear open the box storing the medicine, and I'm thankful that it came with a little cup to measure the liquid. I pour the appropriate amount and hand it to her. She downs it quickly, and reaches over me to set it on the nightstand.

“Come to bed, love.”

“Yes, ma'am.”