Millionaire Hero (Freeman Brothers 4)

13BrynNope. There was no getting used to it. No matter how many mornings I woke up feeling sick as a dog and wanted to do nothing but wallow in bed, it was still horrible. There was some r elief in that the worst of the sickness seemed to fade by the midmorning or afternoon and I was able to be functional again. That gave me enough time to eat something and shove some work into the few hours before the exhaustion struck.

Then I passed out, slept like a rock, and started it all over again the next day. All in all, it sucked. By the fourth morning straight of it happening without any relief, I knew I couldn’t just keep on going like this. Wishing it would go away and thinking I could drown it by guzzling as much water and tea as I could hold wasn’t working out for me. What also wasn’t working out was ramping up on my workload.

I had just enough energy and motivation every day to get the absolute minimum done. It was enough to keep my clients happy and the workflow going so I could maintain my usual income. But it wasn’t enough to increase at all. Now that I had the need to save up for my seed money in front of me, I had to get it together. That money wasn’t going to make itself, and I didn’t want to have to wait for months and months to have it.

The chance to make my money back was intriguing and obviously appealing. I didn’t even think about that possibility before Nick brought it up. It was a way for me to right the wrong in that I would have access to my nest egg again. I would no longer have a constant reminder of how much Justin screwed me over. But it wasn’t just wanting the money back in my account that was urging me to get my act together and increase my workload.

Part of me worried Nick wasn’t going to be this kind and generous too long into the future. He said there was no rush and we could get started whenever I was ready. But I wasn’t sure he actually meant that. If I took too long, he might have filled up his schedule and not be able to work with me anymore. Or he might not be willing to do it without commission anymore.

I needed to get in while the getting was good. Which meant I needed to get into the clinic.

Just the thought of it made me even more miserable than I already was. I hated going to the doctor. I had since I was a little girl. The whole thing creeped me out, and I dreaded every aspect of it. From walking into the waiting room full of sick people and gross, germy magazines, to weighing myself in front of people, of sitting there in that cold, stark examination room and explaining why I was there to every person who came in. It just wasn’t my scene.

But I couldn’t deal with feeling like this for much longer. I needed to get to the bottom of it and find out if there was anything I could do to hasten recovery along.

Fortunately, my doctor had an appointment early in the afternoon, and I snagged it. The time should be right during the fairly functional portion of my day.

I timed my arrival perfectly, so I barely had to wait for the nurse to call me back. She brought me over to the scale, and I noticed I had lost a few pounds.

“What brings you in today?” she asked when we got into the examination room.

“I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my stomach over the last week and a half or so. I feel really sick when I first get up in the morning and for a while after. Then things get better, but I’m completely exhausted. I’m pretty sure I either ate something bad or picked up a stomach bug somewhere along the lines. My appetite has been really off, too,” I said.

The nurse nodded and put a thermometer in my mouth. “That would explain the weight loss. And by the look of your skin, I would say you are pretty dehydrated.”

“You can tell something like that just by looking at my skin?” I asked.

She nodded. “Absolutely. Remember, your skin is the biggest organ in your body. It uses water just like all the other organs. But if you aren’t getting enough water, your body will draw it out of your skin to make sure the vital systems get to it first. Dehydration is common, but it gets worse when you’re dealing with a stomach illness. I’ll get the doctor. She’ll be right in.”

I didn’t have to wait long for the doctor to come in, but as soon as she did, had to go back through the explanation of how I was feeling all over again. She looked at my chart and nodded.