by Sandra Alex
I’m torn between racing home or using her spare washroom. Assuming she has one. “You have another bathroom?” I shout from the doorway.
“Baseme—“ she tries to say, and I hear it. The same thing I know I’m about to do. I run downstairs and just make it. Afterwards, as I rinse my mouth by bending under the faucet, I can hear her running the water as well.
Walking upstairs I see Kayla looks like I feel. “I heard you, did you hear me?” I ask her.
“Yeah, after I ralphed again.”
I sigh. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that we both got food poisoning.”
She lifts her hand. “Don’t even say it. I can’t even think about it.”
“I know.” I purse my lips together. Her face says, ‘please don’t leave’.
“How about we go lay on the couch?” I offer, knowing if she feels any bit as miserable as I do, all modesty is out the door.
“Too far.” She whines. “Bed.”
I’m not even thinking about the thing that you think I’m thinking about. “Okay.”
I follow her to her room and lay on the bed. Only about ten minutes goes by before she runs to the washroom again. I’m not far behind her. I run downstairs, once again, just making it. Grabbing the trash bin beside the toilet, I decide this is a much better option. I don’t want to make a mess at her place. Three hours later, me, Kayla, and the trash can, are laying on the bathroom floor.
“You’d tell me if I was going to die, right?” she pants, her voice is a mere whisper.
“It feels like it.” I say with a grunt, as I lift my head, eying the two bath towels hanging on the rack behind us. “Do you care about these towels? Can we use them for pillows?”
“Burn them for all I care right now.”
I hand her one, helping her prop her head on it. I lay next to her. Neither of us cares that our breath is atrocious. We’re breathing in each other’s faces practically. “We need to get water somehow.” I whisper. I’m so weak I can’t keep my eyes open.
“There’s the tap.” She says, eyes closed. “But I can’t get up to reach it.”
“I see a cup on the bathtub ledge.”
“Been around for years. I use it to clean the tub.”
It takes all my strength, but I manage to get up and walk to the kitchen. I find two cups and walk back to the bathroom, filling them both. “Drink slow. Like a couple of ounces every ten minutes. Any more than that and it’ll be immediately recycled.”
“Can’t we take Gravol or Immodium?”
“It’s best to let it go through the system. It’ll pass soon. It’s already slowing down.”
She sighs. “You suck.”
“You’re the one with the bright idea to eat from that hotdog vendor.” I manage a slight chuckle as I lay next to her, sliding a finger down her face.
“It could have happened anywhere.” She winces.
“You’re right. I’ve heard of friends going to fancy restaurants and getting sick.”
“There. See?”
We both drift off for a while. When I wake up, Kayla must sense that she’s on the floor, because she wakes up, too. “C’mon. We should get up off this floor. It can’t be good for us.” I say, lifting her head off the towel. “I think the worst part of it is over now.”
Her eyes are half closed, but she manages to move slowly with me. We make our way to her bed and flop on. When I open my eyes again, I look at her alarm clock, and it reads that it’s almost eight o’clock in the morning. Kayla is completely out of it next to me. “Shit. We’re both going to dehydrate.” I say, lifting slowly to go get our water from the bathroom. She doesn’t hear me, but when I return, I call her name.
“What time is it?” she asks.
“It’s eight. Here. Drink a little.” I hand her the glass and she takes a small sip.
“I feel like the dog’s breakfast.” She says after drinking.
“Same here.” I take a sip of my water and lay next to her again. “I haven’t ever had this experience with a girl before. Or anyone for that matter.”
“That makes two of us.” Her eyes close again but she whispers. “I never thought I’d ever sleep on the bathroom floor again.”
“Again?” I manage a snuffled laugh.
“I’ll give you one guess as to which other night I slept on the bathroom floor.”
“Wow, you must have been just wasted.”
“I’m a lightweight.” She shrugs, opening her eyes slightly.
“With hotdogs too, evidently.”
She groans. “God, don’t ever say that word again. I’m never eating one, or being near one, ever again.”
“Ditto.” I bury my face in the pillow and then come back up for air. “You got any chicken broth?”
Her face scrunches.
“For later. Not now.” I chuckle, patting her back.
“Yeah. I’ve got all the chosen hangover food. Courtesy of Heather.” She draws in a breath. “I need to get out of these clothes. I must have sweat a load with all the puking.”
“Go ahead. I won’t look.”
“You sure? You won’t feel uncomfortable if I put my pyjamas on?”
“Kayla, I’m a doctor in training. I’ve seen pretty much everything.” I swallow. “Besides, you could be the hottest woman on earth right now and I wouldn’t care. This pillow is much more enticing to me at the moment.”
I feel her slowly lift off the bed, groaning. Then shuffling. A minute later she’s back in bed and under the covers.
“If you’re more comfortable in your underwear under the covers, go ahead. You could be a Chippendale’s model and I won’t care. Like you said.” She closes her eyes and snuggles into the bed.
“I’m alright for now.” I pause. “So I’d have to leave my underwear on, huh.” I’m matter-of-fact as I tease.
“I’m not interested in anything to do with any kind of wiener right now.”
I chuckle. She laughs softly.
“No offence.”
“None taken.”
I’m still on top of the blankets, while she’s now under them. Even though I’m fully clothed, I’m freezing.
“You cool with me sliding under the blankets, or would you rather me get a blanket from the closet?”
“Whatever you like.” She says so softly I can barely hear her.
“Okay. I’m taking my pants off. They’re digging into my belly.”
She sighs. Her eyes haven’t opened. “You can strip naked, Daniel. I don’t care.” And guessing by her tone, she really doesn’t. I usually sleep in just underwear, but I’m freezing, so I leave my shirt on. As I remove my pants, I realize how weird it is hopping into bed with someone. It’s been a long time for me. But I’m feeling so rotten I doubt I can drive myself home yet. Kayla’s bed is so toasty warm with her in it that I fall asleep instantly.
What seems like hours later, I awake to her front door knocking. I’m facing Kayla. Her eyes open and she doesn’t look fazed as the lock turns. “Relax. It’s just my Gramma Mary.” Her voice is gravelly from sleep.
“Will she freak out because I’m here?” My voice is gravelly, too.
“No. I’ll explain.” She turns over when she hears her grandmother call her.
“I’m here, Nana.” She musters. It seems to take all the strength from her.
“Sorry, love. I was just dropping off the parcels I got for you.” I hear the voice coming closer and closer. This doesn’t sound like a Nana. My Nana’s voice trembles and is so weak you have to put your ear right up to her face to decipher what she’s trying to say.
When she’s at the door, she hesitates. “Kayla?”
I look up. This Nana Mary does not look like a Nana, either. She can’t be more than sixty. She’s got blondish white hair cut in a tasteful angle at her shoulders. Trim and fit, she’s wearing a pair of grey dress pants with sandals and a white blouse.
“I’m sick.” Kayla explains. She gestures with her head towards me. “We’re both sick. This is Daniel
. He’s in my class. We went for a movie and hotdogs after our project meeting yesterday, and we both got food poisoning.”
She tilts her head in compassion. “Oh, dear. Hi Daniel.”
“Hi.” I say, remembering that I’m in my underwear under here, vetoing the idea of getting up to give her a handshake. Kayla’s ‘we’re sick’ story might not fly if I’m found half naked, laying next to her granddaughter. “Sorry to meet under the circumstances.”
“That’s okay, dear.” She addresses Kayla. “Where did you eat that made you so sick?”
“Hotdog vendor outside the Cineplex.” Kayla groans.
Mary winces. “Oh…love.”
“I know.” Kayla lifts a hand.
“Do you need anything?” Mary asks.
“The will to live.” Kayla groans; her voice drips with sarcasm.
I snark out a little giggle.
“All because of a stupid bet.” She adds.
“What kind of bet?” Mary is intrigued.
“Never mind, Nana. I’m too tired to talk.”
“Alright. Really, dear, do you need anything? I’m home now.”
Kayla perks up a little. “Have you seen mom?”
“Yes, I just came from there. Your mother is doing well. She asked about you, and I told her I was coming straight here.”
“I should probably go see her later.”
“I’m going back to have dinner with her later, dear. If you’re still not well, I’ll pass the message along.”
“Okay. I’ll be in touch. I don’t need anything, either, but thanks.”
“Okay, love. I’ll let you two rest.” She winks at me and I feel my face heat. “It was nice to meet you, Daniel.”
“Likewise.” I raise my hand without lifting my head off the pillow. Thank God I had the sense to leave my shirt on. At least she can see that I’m not naked under here.
We hear Mary leave and Kayla turns over to face me again. “You handled that well.”
“What’s to handle? We both look like we’ve been reincarnated as dish rags.”
“Well…still. You could have been weird about it, but you weren’t.”
Kayla’s face is pale, but when she smiles at me, she gets some color in her cheeks.
I chuckle. “I wasn’t about to get up and introduce myself in my underwear, but aside from that, I handled it.”
“I would have paid to see that.” She giggles.
“Pony up the dough first and invite your Nana back.” I tease, motioning to her with my hand.
“Dream on.” She pushes my hand away and slides onto her back. “I need a shower. Do you want me to throw your clothes in the laundry?”
“You girls. Anything to get a guy naked.”
She gives me a playful shove. “Seriously.”
“Thanks, but I’ve always got at least a set of clean clothes in my car. Occupational thing. I’ll go get them when I can find the strength.”
“Wooss.”
“Never mind. I’ll pay to see you walk into the bathroom unassisted.” I’m matter-of-fact.
She looks at me and rolls her eyes indignantly. I brace myself to help her. As she slowly rises into a sitting position, she places her hand on her forehead. “Dizzy?” I ask.
“The room is spinning.”
“Dehydration will do that.”
“Puking for three hours straight will do that, too.”
“True.”
“You saw things come out of me that no man should.”
“Ditto.” I guffaw. “I’ll remember it always.” I snuffle a laugh.
“Nice bedside manner.” She snaps gently.
I slowly rise and walk over to her, ignoring my briefs. Surprisingly, I’m not dizzy. I stick my hand out. “C’mon, we’ll do this together.”
She takes my hand and slowly removes her butt from the bed. I cradle her hand in mine as we walk to the bathroom, step-by-step. “Almost there.” I say as we turn the corner. “I’d take a bath if I were you. You might fall in the shower.” I let her hand go as we reach the tub. “How about I bring you your water and you can sip that while you soak?”
“Sure. Thanks.” She breathes, leaning over to start the water.
“I’m going to go out to my car and grab my clothes, okay? Two minutes.”
She nods without looking my way.
An hour later, we’re both sitting on the couch, freshly cleaned, sipping chicken broth. “How do you feel?” I ask her.
“A million times better than twelve hours ago.”
“Same here.”
We’re watching television. A Purolator commercial comes on, and Kayla abruptly changes the channel. I look at her as she tosses the remote on the couch as if it’s covered in feces. “What’s up?” I ask.
“Nick works for them. Gives me the creeps every time I see this commercial.” She shudders.
She’s sitting on the opposite end of the couch from me, curled up with her knees tucked under her. My hand finds her knee and I give it a squeeze. “It’s still so fresh, isn’t it.” I state.
“Kind of.” She looks at me. “What did your ex do for a living?”
“Flight attendant…at first. That’s how we met when I was deployed.”
“So do you shudder every time you see a commercial for an airline?” she asks matter-of-factly, as though she expects my answer to be yes.
“No. Like I said before, I’m over her. I’m just not over what she did to me.”
“Same here. I just don’t like remembering. Seeing stuff that reminds me of him only reminds me of what he did to me. I have no yearning for him at all. Heather thinks I’m lying whenever I say that, but it’s the truth. He could have walked out five years ago, and I wouldn’t have stopped him. A woman knows when her husband is cheating on her. It’s a gut instinct.”
“Yeah, well, I obviously didn’t pay attention to the signs. She did it right under my nose and I was blind.”
“You weren’t blind, you were deployed.” Kayla points out. “Give yourself some credit.”
“Yeah. I know.” I look at her. “Thanks.”
She looks at me and grins warmly, inching her way towards me. Suddenly she’s at my side with this glow on her face. I lift my arm and place it over her shoulders, and she cuddles into me. “You know I’ve seen things come out of you that no man should.” I say, stroking her side.
“Yeah, well, you’ve seen everything. You’re a doctor.” She pats my belly. “And I’ve seen you in your underwear.”
“At least your grandmother didn’t.”
We both chuckle. “And I’m not a doctor yet.”
“Potato, potatoe.” She pats me again.
We lounge on the couch together for the rest of the afternoon. It was hard to say goodbye. Even sick, that’s the best time I’ve had in a long time.
Chapter 11
Kayla
When the alarm goes off Monday morning, I jump out of bed, feeling so excited about the day. Not so much the going to work part, but the going to school part. I’m loving being in school. So many positive things have already happened because of it. I’ve met some great people, including making a great friend: Daniel. Plus, I get to host these weekly project meetings. It feels great. I knew it would. Hard to believe that a week ago I was feeling so down. What a difference a week makes.
As I walk towards the classroom, I see Daniel standing outside. “Hey,” he says, giving me a warm smile. “How are you feeling?” he busses me on the cheek quickly and I reciprocate as he gives me a little hug.
“Better. You?”
“Good.” He looks at me and smiles. “I wanted to call you last night, but I figured you’d be sleeping. My brother had some friends over, and they were making a ton of noise. Hence the text. I hate texting, by the way. I was this close to taking a drive so I could give you a call.” He pinches his thumb and index fingers together when he says, ‘this close’.
“Ah, that’s okay. I went to bed early anyway.”
“Did you go see yo
ur mom?”
“No, Nana Mary was with her. I called her though. She told me to stay home and rest, so I did. I’ll go visit her tomorrow night.”
“Tell her I said hi.”
“If you’re not busy, you can come with me. I’m sure that’ll put a smile on her face.”
“I’d love to, but I have a shift at the hospital tomorrow night.”
“What time?”
“Five until…whenever.” He shrugs. “It’s usually at least until midnight. And I’m in school until four.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.” I purse my lips together into a smile.
“But I’m free Wednesday before school.”
“And you won’t be completely exhausted?”
He waves. “Na, I’m used to it.”
“Okay. We can go see her then.”
“Sounds good.” He leans in close and lowers his voice as other students walk past. “Hey, I’ll talk to Greg later about what Heather said.”
I nod. “Oh, okay. I think that’s a good idea.”
He tilts his head slightly. “Why the concern? I mean, you barely know the guy. Do you…maybe have a crush on him?” he frowns, his eyes are dancing with…what? Humor? Teasing? Either way, it’s very cute.
My face is blank. “No. Not at all. I just figured…why not help another human being, you know? Pay it forward. He’s got a kid, too, and that raises the stakes.”
“Can’t beat that maternal instinct.” He tilts his head again. “Fair enough. I’ll help another human being, too.”
I lean in and kiss his cheek. “You already have.” I pat his chest. “Come on. Let’s go find a seat before all the good ones are taken.”
As we find two vacant seats, Daniel sits behind me and taps me on the shoulder. “Have you got your little cut up numbers with you?”
I turn around to face him. “You keep asking me that and you’re going to be eating them for dinner tomorrow night.”
“Ouch.” He cuffs me on the shoulder as I turn away. Gladstone walks in just then. Daniel makes a sound like the intro to the Twilight Zone. I turn slightly so I can kick him from under the desk. “Behave.” He says, pulling a lock of my hair.
“You behave!” I hiss at him, smiling. He chuckles, rubbing my arm.
We’re asked to finish the assignment from last class, and Daniel does the talking for us. Most of the class ends up being theory and taking notes, and I hear Daniel yawning a couple of times while Gladstone blathers on. I kick him and he pulls my hair. This is just like Kindergarten, but funner. We do get a brief assignment to do in groups towards the end of class, and luckily, Daniel is paired with Greg. I want to be a fly on the wall, because I’m sure that Daniel will use the opportunity to ask Greg about the phone call Heather witnessed.
