Chapter Seventeen

 

 

 

 

Megan

 

 

 

 

 

At two days of silence from Simon, I was ready to go crazy. I wasn’t sure what had happened in the doctor’s office but something I’d said had caused him to change. I hadn’t heard a peep from him since he’d left Tuesday and the few text messages I’d sent had been ignored. I had given him space but I was done waiting.

On my lunch break Thursday, I dialed Simon’s number. He finally answered on the fifth ring.

“Lo?” His voice sounded terrible and my heart clenched.

“You’re sick.” I said plainly, picking up my purse and keys. “Where is everyone?”

“Work, school, camp, not home,” he mumbled before letting out a low groan.

I walked out of the staff lounge with a sigh. “I’m on my way.”

“S’okay, I’m okay.”

“I’ll be right there, Simon.” I hung up the phone before knocking on Dr. Michael’s office door. Thirty minutes later, I was pulling up in front of Alex and Simon’s house and I let myself in the unlocked front door. I followed the stairs to the basement and found Simon. He was asleep on his bed with the blankets kicked off and in just a pair of sleep shorts. His body had a light sheen of sweat covering it, but his teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

I grabbed a washcloth from his bathroom and got it wet, bringing it back in the bedroom as I sat on the bed next to him. I ran the thermometer I’d bought at the pharmacy across his forehead and frowned when I saw it read one hundred and four point two. I put the cool washcloth against his forehead and brought a sheet up to cover him.

“Simon,” I whispered. “Simon, wake up.”

He stirred a little, forcing his eyes open enough that he could see me. “Megan.”

“Hi,” I said, my voice soft as I gave him a small smile. “Can you sit up a little, please? I need you to take some medicine so we can get your fever down.” I tucked another pillow under him so he was propped up slightly and I opened a bottle of Gatorade I’d brought. I held some tablets up to his mouth until he let me put them in and he accepted the sports drink easily. I did the same thing with the antibiotic Dr. Michaels’ had called in and let him lay back down. He immediately rolled to his side and cuddled with his pillow.

I wiped his face down with the washcloth the best I could before standing up from the bed.

“No, don’t go,” Simon mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow. “Please.” He reached a hand out and clasped my fingers tightly.

“I’m not, Si. I’m just going to wet this down again.”

He reluctantly let go of my fingers and gave me a small nod with his face still obstructed. “Okay, good. Don’t ever go.”

He continued to mumble things I couldn’t understand until he fell back to sleep. The fever induced delirium worried me and I really hoped the ibuprofen worked quickly.

After placing the cool washcloth on the side of his face, I sat propped up in bed next to him and read on my iPad while I waited for his fever to break. About ninety minutes had passed before he let out a low groan and rolled to his back with his eyes cracked open.

“I feel like shit.”

I set down my iPad and grabbed the thermometer to run it across his forehead again.

“One hundred point three. You still have a fever but the ibuprofen is working. Your temperature was pretty high when I got here. Want something to drink?”

He nodded as he tried to sit up, and I stuffed a pillow back under him again. “Please. My throat is either on fire or it’s full of a thousand little needles.”

I helped him drink some more Gatorade and he collapsed on his pillow with another groan.

“I brought you an antibiotic and already gave you your first dose.”

“Thanks, Megs. You’re going to get sick now.”

I shrugged uncaringly. “I’m around this all day. My immune system is pretty solid.” I let my fingers brush against his face and he sighed.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Nope.” I smiled, shaking my head. “I got someone to cover me for the rest of the afternoon. I wanted to be here.”

“Thanks for coming over,” he croaked as his eyes closed again. I continued to let my fingers fall across his face and took the opportunity to examine him. Even sick, Simon was stunning. He had a few days’ worth of stubble across his jaw and cheeks and, despite his pale state, I could tell he’d tanned a bit while in California. Digging into my purse, I pulled out some lip balm and ran it across his chapped lips before responding.

“Of course. You’d be there for me.”

He tried to nod. “In a heartbeat.” Simon’s eyes slowly opened and he stared at me for a moment. “You’re so beautiful.”

“You’re so delirious,” I replied with a small laugh.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes slightly. “You are. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I remember thinking that when I watched you on the side of the road that day.” He let his eyes close again and we sat in silence until I knew he was falling back asleep.

“Simon,” I whispered and his eyelids opened again. “I’m going to go, okay? Everyone’s going to be home soon.”

Sadness filled his eyes and he gave me a tiny nod. “Thanks for coming over.”

I leaned down to kiss his forehead, letting my lips meld with his clammy skin for several heartbeats before I pulled back. “Call me if you need anything, okay? I’m going to call and check on you, too. I’ll put the rest of the Gatorade I brought in the fridge. Take more ibuprofen at six and another antibiotic tomorrow around one.”

I didn’t know why, but tears formed in my eyes and I blinked rapidly to get rid of them. I didn’t want to leave him, but I knew Alex would be home soon and I didn’t want to be found in Simon’s room. That was a level of confrontation I really wanted to avoid.

His eyes stayed on me while I collected my purse and I offered him a small smile as I walked towards the stairs. I closed the front door behind me and was almost to my car when Alex’s Charger pulled into the driveway. He stepped out of it and grinned as he walked over to me.

“Hey, baby doll. I didn’t know you were coming over. It’s good to see you.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me into a kiss. I pulled back before he could deepen it and nodded with a small smile.

“Actually, I brought over an antibiotic for your brother. He caught Kendra’s strep throat and is fairly miserable.”

Alex frowned as he bobbed his head. “With the way she’s been cuddled up to him, I’m not really surprised. That was nice of you.” He leaned forward to kiss me again. “Come inside. The kids won’t be home for another hour and I’ve missed you like crazy.”

I shook my head and stepped back. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

Alex cocked his head slightly to the side and examined me in silence for a moment. “What’s going on? I can feel you pulling away. Even in your text messages you sound vague and distant.”

I took a deep breath and knew that was the perfect opening to the dreaded conversation. “God, I’m sorry, Alex. I honestly don’t feel that spark but I’ve been hoping it would develop. At this point, I don’t think we have real chemistry. I love being your friend but I don’t think we’re meant to be more than that.”

He narrowed his eyes in confusion and annoyance. “Whoa. What?” He stepped forward. “Are you fucking someone else?”

“No, of course not.” His anger surprised me and I shook my head quickly as I lied. The irritation that filled his features seemed so out of place. I had never seen him look so unlike himself in the months we’d been dating. Alex usually had a smile on his face and seeing the opposite was strange.

“I’ve been putting this off because I didn’t want to give up too easily and hurt you but it’s not working. We’re better at being friends.”

“Is this about my drinking? I told you, I’m cutting back.”

“It’s just an accumulation of things, Alex,” I replied quietly. “We just don’t fit.”

He scoffed and reached for my hand, holding it desperately in his. “Come on, Megan. We are good at everything together. I can’t imagine not having you in my life.” He stepped close to me and ran a finger down my face as he offered me a small smile. “We’re perfect together.”

I leaned in and kissed his cheek softly. “I really am sorry.” Tugging my hand out of his, I hurried to my car and got in. Alex stood in the middle of his front yard with a confused look on his face and he stared until I drove away.

Adrenaline ran through me as I got on the freeway and I didn’t realize how amped up I was until I moved to turn my blinker on and saw that my hand was shaking. I hated confrontation in any form but that had been torture.

Kelly’s car was in the parking lot when I got home and I searched her out as soon as I opened the front door. She was sitting on the couch with Simba’s head in her lap as she watched some talk show. Her eyes found me and she smiled.

“Hey, Gan. How was work?”

I ignored her question as I sat down on the other side of Simba. “I broke up with Alex.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Why?”

“Because I’m in love with Simon,” I said in a rush and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders to admit that out loud to someone. I was very in love with Simon and I was pretty sure I had been for a while.

Kelly didn’t look shocked at that declaration but instead nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m not surprised.”

I frowned at her. “Why didn’t you say something? Why did you ask me if he was single?”

“You never talked to me about it and I didn’t think I was supposed to know. I figured you would go after him if you wanted him. I tried to help that along by playing the jealousy card,” she replied with a shrug.

I ran my hands down my face and shook my head. “I’ve been a coward about it.” I filled her in on everything that had happened, including the sex in the fire station, and she was smiling by the time I was done.

“Be with Simon, sis. You two are good for each other. I’d, uh, just wait a little bit before shoving it down Alex’s throat.”

Kelly was right and I’d already thought about that. I couldn’t go public with Simon for a while, especially after how Alex had reacted to the break up. Simon had been playing runner up to Alex for so long, though, and I was afraid he wouldn’t be happy when I suggested keeping it quiet.

My sister grabbed my hand, giving it a tight, encouraging squeeze. “I hope Simon makes you as happy as you deserve.” She gently pushed Simba out of her lap and stood. “I don’t want to run out on you but I have to get to the gym. I’m teaching yoga tonight. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” I replied as I took the remote and changed the channel. I watched mindless TV for over an hour, not really paying attention to it as I replayed the day’s events in my head. I stood as my phone rang from inside my purse and when I pulled out, I saw Simon’s name flashing on the display. It’d been a couple of hours since I’d left the house and I wondered if Alex had told him. I quickly swiped it and held it to my ear.

“Simon?”

“Megs.” His voice sounded rough, but he also sounded more alert than when I’d left him earlier. “When happened with you and Alex?”

I sighed and sank back into the couch. “I didn’t leave soon enough. He was pulling in as I walked out and I just… I broke up with him in the front yard.”

“Oh, Megan.” Simon’s voice sounded relieved and a small smile hit my lips. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

“Alex took it hard. I didn’t tell him about us, but he immediately accused me of sleeping with someone else.” I chewed on my lip and Simon was silent for a minute.

“Yeah… He stomped down the stairs about fifteen minutes ago and seemed really pissed off. He told me he broke up with you.” He paused and hesitated for a second. “Because you’re cheating on him.”

“God.” I buried my face in the hand not holding the phone. “He’s right, too. How could I do that to him? He didn’t deserve it, no matter how I felt.”

“Stop it,” Simon said firmly, almost sounding like his usual self. “Stop. I’m not saying what we did was right, Megan, but damn it, you were mine from the moment I saw you on the side of the road.”

He was winded by the time he finished the sentence, but I was grinning so hard my cheeks hurt. I hadn’t missed my chance.

“And you were mine?” I asked softly.

“I was definitely yours.” I could tell he was smiling, too. He paused for a moment before speaking again. “What made you decide to break up with him suddenly?”

I frowned and dropped my head onto my pillow with the phone still to my ear. “It wasn’t sudden. I made the decision the end it the night you and I talked in the basement. He’s just been in Vegas and I wanted to do it in person. We’d made plans for Friday and I was going to do it then.”

“Oh,” he replied after a few seconds. “That’s what you meant at the doctor’s office the other day. I thought… Well, I thought you were planning on staying with him.”

“Even if I didn’t have feelings for you, our relationship wouldn’t have worked. It’s not for lack of trying, either. We just don’t fit.”

“Feelings for me,” he repeated, happiness tinging his tired voice. “I love hearing you admit that.”

We didn’t speak for a few minutes but let the quiet spread comfortably. It was a huge change from the hours we’d clocked in awkward silence over the past few months. Finally, I broke it.

“Did you take anymore ibuprofen?”

“Yeah,” he replied quietly. “Right before I called. Thank you again for coming over. Sexiest nurse ever.”

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. “How was California?”

“Hot. Exhausting. Wildfires suck but you can’t beat the pay.”

“I was worried about you,” I confessed as I scratched Simba’s ears. “I read so many news articles that I probably know more about the fire than you do.”

Simon laughed before letting out a long breath. “I should have told you I was leaving. I found out I was going the morning after you came by the station and I was still a little raw.”

“You had every right to be. I was such a coward. I’ve been a coward since that night I showed up at your place and saw you on the couch. I should have just broken up with Alex then but I made up all of these excuses and reasons why I shouldn’t.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Simon said simply. “If we want to assign blame, I could say it’s my fault. If I’d asked for your number that day, we would have been together before you’d ever dated Al and I fucked it up. So, who cares? We found each other eventually, right?”

After hearing that, I wanted to tell him that I loved him. True to myself, though, I chickened out. “Right.”

We talked for a bit more but when he started to doze off again, I insisted that we hang up and he sighed heavily.

“Call me tomorrow?”

I smiled at the wistful tone in his voice. “Yeah, when I get off work.”

“Okay. Sweet dreams, gorgeous.”

“Goodnight, Simon.”

I spent the rest of the evening smiling and I felt like my face was broken by the time Simba and I settled into bed.