One Wish

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Iwake during the middle of the night, a cold sweat causing my whole body to violently quiver. Aches wrack all my muscles, my mind screaming with the nightmares I’ve had to endure. Nightmares involving Eli divorcing me, him finding the love of his life and marrying her instead. Then I’m being chased. Chased by all the men I have slept with—well, at least the ones I know about. They’re taunting me, their faces completely blank at first, but then turning into the most gruesome, horrific monsters with sharp teeth and talons for fingers. Their evil laughter surrounds my head, making it thump to the point of me wanting to throw up.

Am I going to be sick?

My body answers that question by hauling itself off the bed and running as quickly as it can to the bathroom. I have just enough time to pull the toilet seat up before my stomach convulses and the contents of what I have eaten today pour down the toilet with a splash. I groan, thinking it’s over, but my stomach clenches again.

When is this going to stop?

I retch several more times, until my body gives up and I collapse into a heap on the floor. My nightie sticks to every part of my body, and being way too weak to pull myself up, I curl into a ball.

I’m so cold.

So, so cold.

I must have fallen asleep again at some point, because I wake to the sound of my name being called. My body doesn’t want to react to the noise. It just wants sleep.

Tired.

So tired.

“Kendra!” the voice calls again, this time with a lot more urgency. “Eleanor, call a doctor!”

I want to sleep, but something also wants me to wake up.

“Kendra, please wake up.”

It’s Eli! It’s Eli’s voice.

No matter how much I want to sleep, I will my eyes open. They hurt, but my determination wins through. At first everything is blurry, with only a figure hovering above me.

“Eli?” I ask, lifting my arm up to feel him—to assure myself that he’s really here.

“What happened?”

The concern in his voice makes me smile. He cares.

“I don’t know,” I answer on a groan, his figure finally coming into focus. “I woke up sweating during the night, and then I felt terribly sick. I threw up, but I don’t remember anything after that. I must have collapsed.”

He helps me up into a sitting position, my hair stuck to my face like glue. I wipe it away, trying my hardest to compose myself a little, but my whole body aches. I have never felt anything like this in my life.

“What did you take last night?”

“What?” I ask, having no clue what he’s talking about. It takes a moment for my brain to engage before I realize. He thinks I took drugs.

“Nothing, I took nothing.”

“Kendra…” His tone of voice is scorning. “You must have taken something to get like this.”

My eyes fill with wounded tears. He thinks I’m lying. That cuts more than the physical pain I’m in. My body still aches, my head hurts, and the muscles in my stomach feel like they’ve had the workout of the century.

“I swear to you, Eli. I never took a thing.”

His sigh is one of exasperation. He still doesn’t believe me. “Eleanor’s calling the doctor.”

I open my mouth to protest, but then I snap it shut again. Maybe I do need a doctor. Whatever this is might be some sort of virus. Besides, I haven’t felt well for a couple of days now. The slight nausea, the body aches. Probably stomach flu, but only a doctor would be able to determine that for sure.

“Okay, thank you,” I relent, trying to get up.