Chapter Sixteen

 

 

 

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

I’d been gone for more than a week when I unlocked the front door on Monday night. Well, Tuesday morning, I guess. I wasn’t even sure what time it was, but I knew it was late and I knew I was tired. The house was dark and quiet as I made my way down the stairs to the basement. I tossed my pack on the floor by the bed and immediately moved to the shower. I was disgusting and covered in sweat, ash, and soot from head to toe. The small camp showers they’d had for us were enough to get off surface dust but they did nothing for any sort of deeper cleaning.

I spent a lot of time under the warm spray. When I finally forced myself out, I knew I still smelled like smoke but hopefully only faintly. I pulled all of my clothes out of my bag and tossed them in the corner before grabbing my phone to plug it in. It had been dead for at least six days, but I hadn’t had any time to charge it after pulling long shifts. I laid in bed as I waited for it to power on and smiled when I saw I had a few text messages where Megan had said she was just checking on me. The thought that she even cared enough to do that made me smile and shortly after four in the morning, I fell asleep.

I was woken up by the shrill ringing of my phone and I wanted to kill someone. Rolling over, I saw it was Alex’s name and I answered it irritably.

“I just worked nine days straight, Al. This better be good.”

Alex sighed into the phone. “I’m sorry, but I need a favor.”

Sure, why not? He already had everything else, so why wouldn’t I want to do more for him?

“What?”

“I can’t leave work and the summer camp called. Kendra is running a fever and she needs to be picked up. Can you take her to the doctor? I already called and they can see her right away.” Alex sounded panicked and I immediately felt like a jerk.

“Of course, I’ll go right now.” I sat up and started pulling clothes on. Knowing my little niece was in pain made my chest hurt and I wanted to make it better. “They know I’m coming?”

“Yeah, thank you so much, Si. I’m going to text you the address to the doctor’s office.”

I acknowledged him and hung up before heading out to my truck. I was at the school where the kids went to camp within five minutes and five more after that I was carrying Kendra’s little form out of the building. She was burning up and the noises she made were pitiful. She cuddled close to my chest and whined.

“I wanna go home, Uncle Simon.”

“I know, pretty, but I’m going to take you to the doctor first.” I buckled her up in the backseat of the cab and took my seat in front of the steering wheel. I drove to the address Alex had given me and carried Kendra in as she sagged against my chest pathetically. After we checked in with the receptionist, I sat in a chair and waited, rubbing circles down Kendra’s back. Her whole body relaxed after a few minutes as she fell asleep against my chest. Her body was so warm that I felt sweat bead at my chest in the cool air conditioning.

A door opened about fifteen minutes later and Megan stepped out, searching the waiting room. I silently cursed my brother for not telling me he used the same doctor’s office Megan worked at. She was in a pair of scrubs that were bright pink and I felt like I was a thirsty man as I drank her in. A stethoscope hung around her neck and her eyebrows were furrowed. Her gaze collided with mine and surprise mingled with hurt flashed across her face for a second before she schooled her expression. She thought I was avoiding her.

“Hey,” she said as she walked over to where we were sitting. She reached a hand out to touch Kendra’s back and offered me a small smile. “Can you bring her back?”

I nodded and stood, adjusting Kendra before following Megan through the door.

“We’re going to have to wake her up eventually but come lay her on the bed and let’s see what I can do while she sleeps.” Megan led me into an examination room and gestured towards the bed in there. I laid Kendra down gently and she didn’t stir when my arms left her.

“She’s so hot,” I said as I stared worriedly at my niece.

Megan stepped forward and ran a thermometer across her forehead, frowning when she saw the reading. “One hundred and three. Poor kid.” She wrote the temperature down and looked up at me. “How did she seem last night?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only been home like six hours.” I replied quietly.

Megan nodded and I could see the relief on her face. “Oh. I was wondering when you’d be back from California.”

“How did you know I was gone?” I asked as she pulled some instruments out of the cupboard.

“Kendra told me last Wednesday when I ran into Clarissa and the kids at the grocery store.” Her voice was hard and I could tell she was irritated that she had to find out secondhand.

“I’m surprised Alex didn’t tell you.”

She shook her head and rummaged through the cupboard for something. “The last time I saw you is the last time I saw Alex. We’ve only talked a couple of times since.”

I let out a relieved breath I didn’t know I was holding. “I was going to tell you I was leaving but I didn’t want to bother you.”

Megan mumbled something that sounded like “You should have anyway” as she took Kendra’s blood pressure and did a few other things before nodding her head. “Okay. Dr. Michaels will be in soon.”

She didn’t make an attempt to leave, though, and I took a step toward her. She still didn’t move as I ran my fingertips down her face gently.

“Si,” she whispered as her eyes dropped to my lips.

I leaned in slowly, ready to kiss her, when Kendra let out a low moan behind us.

“Uncle Simon?”

I jumped back from Megan and she seemed to shake herself out of the fog as well, turning to offer a small smile to Kendra.

“Hey, princess. I’m going to go get the doctor, okay?”

Kendra nodded as she tried to sit up, and I pulled her into my arms before sitting back on the bed. We watched as Megan left the room, glancing over her shoulder at us once quickly before she shut the door. The doctor was in a few minutes later and I had to do a double take. He seemed younger than I was and like he belonged on a surfboard, not in a doctor’s office. Kendra appeared to like him, though, and he was very professional during the exam. When he looked in her mouth, he sighed.

“Her throat looks pretty terrible. I’m going to have Megan do a rapid test, but I’m pretty sure it’s strep throat. It’s going around like crazy right now. After we have a positive result, I’ll prescribe an antibiotic. Let’s give her some ibuprofen for the fever and pain and try to get her hydrated, okay?”

I nodded and cuddled my niece closer. “I’ll let her have my bed so she doesn’t give it to her brother.”

Dr. Michaels nodded as he stood. “Strep throat is highly contagious and so don’t be surprised if you end up with it, too. She’ll be clear to go back to camp Thursday after she’s been on the antibiotics for a full day.” He opened the door and said Megan’s name softly. She appeared a few seconds later and he whispered instructions to her as she nodded. He turned to look at us and reached out to shake my hand.

“Call my office if you have any issues or if your throat starts hurting.” He walked out the door and Megan came back in.

Megan coaxed Kendra into letting her swab her throat before giving her some grape-flavored fever reducer. We sat in awkward silence as we waited for the result of the test to appear. It was positive a moment later and Megan disappeared to tell the doctor. When she reappeared, she gave me a piece of paper that had the address to the pharmacy where the antibiotic had been sent.

Megan leaned down to kiss Kendra’s forehead softly, giving her a pitiful smile. “Uncle Simon’s going to give you some medicine and you’ll feel better soon, sweetheart.” She straightened herself up and looked at me. “You’re going to end up with strep throat.”

“I’ll be okay,” I replied before moving to my feet. I shifted Kendra to my other arm and Megan and I watched as she cuddled into my shoulder with her eyes closed. After a moment, I turned my gaze to Megan and let my eyes take in her beautiful face. I leaned forward to place a kiss on her cheek as she turned her face to say something and our lips met instead. She didn’t pull away, though, and we kissed softly for a moment.

A small sigh escaped her mouth when I pulled back. She slowly brushed her thumb over my bottom lip and I watched as her eyes filled with tears. Before I could ask her why she was crying, she took a step back.

“We can’t,” she whispered quietly, almost so quietly that I didn’t hear her. “Not while I’m with Alex.”

Her hushed words hit me straight in the chest, sending a wave of hurt through me. I swallowed back the snide remark that threatened to fall from my lips and nodded my head once.

“Yeah. Fine.”

“The pharmacy Dr. Michaels called it into has a drive-thru so you won’t have to take Kendra out of your truck.” She swiped at her face with her hands and forced her lips into a smile. “If I can do anything to help, just call me.”

I nodded and watched her walk through the open door, taking all of my hope with her.