“We do,” he said. “Get some beers and talk about everything in a less formal setting.”
“Like the back of a dirty bar,” I said, laughing.
“Precisely,” he said, walking to the door. “Take care, and tell Reese I said ‘hi.’”
I nodded my head and watched him walk out the door, always enjoying when he stopped by to just talk. I missed being around him, having drinks with him, and shooting the shit. I intended on keeping my promise to get drinks with him soon. I looked down at my watch and realized it was after twelve. I grabbed my jacket and let my secretary know I was headed to lunch.
When I got out of the building, I walked down two blocks to this amazing little café and bought a quart of chicken noodle soup and some ginger ale and caught a cab, not wanting to waste time going back to the building for the car. I rode straight to Reese’s apartment, excited to see her, but feeling terrible I had nothing better to offer than soup and soda. I looked up at her apartment window before walking in the main door and climbing the stairs. Hopefully, I wasn’t going to wake her.
I stood at the door and knocked hard, listening as I heard her tiny footsteps shuffling across the wood floors. She opened the door and stood there staring at me, leaning her head to the side and sighing deeply. She looked terrible, her face the color of paper, her eyes bloodshot, and her hands were shaking. I gave her a sad look and leaned in, kissing her forehead. At least she didn’t seem to have a fever, though that was strange for as sick as she was.
“You know you shouldn’t be here,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to give you this viral plague. It’s absolutely terrible. You should quarantine me and probably my neighbors, too, because of ventilation.”
“Nonsense,” I said, walking past her into the apartment. “I brought you soup and some ginger ale.”
“As much as I appreciate that, I’m holding off on trying any more anything, except water,” she groaned. “I just want like an hour of not puking my guts out.”
“I’ll put it in the fridge, and you can eat it later,” I said, smiling and walking into the kitchen.
“Thank you for the thought,” she said, leaning against the doorframe.
“Come on,” I said, closing the fridge and taking her hands. “Let me tuck you into bed.”
I walked back to her bedroom and helped her climb into bed, setting her trashcan next to her and pulling the covers up to her chin. She forced a sweet smile as she leaned back into the pillow. I leaned over and kissed her forehead.
“You have sweet dreams, okay?” I whispered. “I’m going back to work, but if you need anything, just call or text. I will text you when the day is over.”
She nodded her head and smiled as I turned and walked down the hall and out the front door. I hated to leave her like that, but I really didn’t have a choice. I went back to work and tried to focus, knowing that I had this big project coming closer and closer. On th
e way home from work, I pulled out my cellphone and called Reese, hoping that she was feeling better.
“Hey,” she said sleepily.
“Hey there. How are you feeling?”
“Like hell,” she said. “But I have the Hulk here next to me, keeping me company. He looks pretty sick, too. His skin is green.”
“You still have your humor intact.” I laughed. “Half alive and you’re cracking jokes. I love it.”
“You know me.” She chuckled. “But I’m actually feeling tired, so I’m going to lay down and try to sleep.”
“All right, text me if you need me,” I said. “Miss your face.”
“Miss yours, too,” she said.
By the time I was off the phone, my car had arrived at my complex, and I went right up and fixed myself some leftovers from the take-out from the night before. I sat there alone at the table, and I realized just how quiet the apartment was without Reese in it. She really did light up everything she did and everywhere she went. I really missed having her there with me. I had gotten used to her presence and had forgotten what it was like to live by myself.
After dinner, feeling my body dragging from the amount of work I had done over the last couple of months, I climbed into bed and laid there staring at the ceiling. I could smell Reese’s shampoo on the pillow case, and I sighed, thinking about our future and how much I just wanted to get started on it. I wanted Reese to know how much I adored her and how much everything she did made a difference in my world. I couldn’t wait for her to one day wake up in the bed next to me and not have anywhere to go because she was already home.
Not now, but someday in the future, I definitely saw us building a family together, living in some big house outside of the city, and having little clones of us running around the house. The sound of our children’s laughter would complete everything, but first, she needed to know how I felt. We had so much time in front of us and so many things I wanted to do, and I couldn’t wait to start doing them with her by my side. Sometimes, I felt like we were frozen, but then I remembered where we were just two months before, and my heart would skip a beat.
Chapter 22
Reese
The cold porcelain of the toilet clung to the skin on my forehead as I rested my head just inches from the water. I reached up and grasped the bowl with my hands and pushed myself upright, flushing the toilet and then leaning back against the wall. I groaned and wiped my forehead on the back of my hand, realizing that through all of this, I still didn’t have a fever. This time was better, though. I managed to make it four hours and a cup of soup without puking, so hopefully some of it got into my system. If not, I was going to start looking like a starving child from a third world country.
I had been this sick, if not sicker, for three days now, and not once did my body show chills, fever, or any other sign of a virus. I had tried anti-nauseous pills, but I couldn’t get them to stay down long enough to do any good. I was absolutely miserable and had promised Blaine, and myself, that I would go to the doctor soon if this didn’t at least start to ease up some. I did find that the ginger ale that Blaine brought over usually stayed down, so I spent my time carefully sipping on that, wishing that sleep would find me sooner rather than later. I was exhausted, but between the puking and the headache from puking, I couldn’t seem to fall asleep.