Chapter Eighteen

 

 

 

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

I was woken up by a little body curling up next to mine and I cracked open an eye to see Kendra staring at me.

“Good morning, pretty,” I mumbled and she smiled widely.

“Good morning, Uncle Simon. Daddy said we should come make sure you were still alive. He said I should come since I’m the one who gave you my germs.” Her smile fell as she gave me a worried look. “Are you alive?”

I swallowed and winced when it still hurt, although not nearly as bad as the day before.

“I’m alive, sweetcheeks. Are you ready for camp?”

Kendra nodded. “We are leaving in five minutes.”

It took me a minute since my body was still incredibly weak, but I stood up and squeezed Kendra’s hand. I pulled on a t-shirt and grabbed my cell phone before smiling at her. She took my hand again and walked up the stairs with me, matching my strides as I moved at the pace of a turtle. She grinned at Alex when we pushed open the door.

“Uncle Simon is alive, Daddy.”

Alex chuckled as he glanced at me. “You look like death, though.”

“I feel like death,” I replied as I collapsed at the kitchen table.

My brother grabbed his backpack and gave me a quick pat on the back. “I have to get to work and I have my summer class at noon, but just call me if I can help.” He gestured to the kids. “Let’s go, guys.”

I watched as they all filed out the door and I laid my head on the table for a few moments, the cool, smooth wood feeling good on my face. I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone and smiled when I had a text from Megan.

 

Megan:            Oatmeal or Banana for breakfast will help your throat, Tylenol or Ibuprofen if your fever hits again, and don’t forget your antibiotic. Call me if you need anything.

 

I read it several times and loved that she had been thinking about me so early in the morning. I stood from the table and grabbed both a banana and a Gatorade before heading back down to the basement. After eating the banana, I fell back to sleep and slept through the whole morning. When I woke back up, it was almost one and I felt quite a bit better. My throat still burned a bit, but I didn’t feel as rundown as I had. I used the thermometer that Megan had left and was happy to see it under one hundred degrees for the first time in twenty-four hours.

I had only been out of the shower for a couple of minutes and had just finished shaving my scruffy face when my phone rang. I was hoping to see Megan’s name but sighed when I saw it was my captain.

“Hey, Cap.”

“Owens. You going to be ready for your shift tomorrow?”

I rolled my eyes at my Captain’s lack of people skills and nodded. “Yeah. Doc says twenty-four hours on the antibiotic and I’m good to go.”

“Good. I just needed to know if I had to cover another one of your shifts or not.” The first shift I’d missed in two years and of course the Captain was irritated. I’d showed up for my shift at two on Wednesday afternoon but I’d barely made it into the garage before Captain Stevenson told me to turn my ass around and go home. I’d done just that and ended up passing out until Megan had called me around lunch time the next day.

“Nope, I’m still alive. I’ll be there tomorrow at 1400 hours.” My call waiting beeped and I glanced at the phone to see who it was. I felt like a stupid teenager when my heartbeat picked up at the sight of Megan’s name. “Cap, I have another call. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you, Owens.”

I pressed a button on the phone and brought it back to my ear. “Megs.”

“Hey.” Her soft voice assaulted me and I felt like all of the troubles I had were meaningless. “How are you feeling?”

“A lot better, actually. Must have been the banana.” I smiled when she laughed.

“Must have been. You sound better.”

I laid back on my bed and closed my eyes. “Are you still at work?”

“Just got off, actually. We close the office at noon on Fridays. I was just going to head home but I wanted to make sure you were okay before I did.”

“I’d be better if you were here with me,” I said quietly.

She sighed into the phone. “Probably not a good idea.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I start a twenty-four hour shift tomorrow, but I really want to see you before.”

“I want to see you, too. I’ll be home all day tomorrow if you want to come by. Or I can meet you somewhere if it’s too out of your way.”

I shook my head and sat up. “You are never too out of my way, sweetheart.”

She was quiet for a second and when she spoke again, I could tell she was smiling. “Thanks, Simon.”

I was irritated with Alex for making her feel like she was an inconvenience and I decided I was going to make it my mission to undo all of that.

We talked for a few more minutes before she reluctantly ended the conversation, promising she’d see me the next day. I sat in bed for a little while before making a snap decision. I pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, took some ibuprofen and my medicine, grabbed my keys, and headed out to my truck. The doctor said that I wasn’t contagious after a full day of antibiotics, and I’d be damned if I was going to wait to see her any longer than I had to.

I made the twenty minute drive in fifteen and soon I was pulling into her apartment complex. Unexpected butterflies made themselves known in my stomach when I caught sight of her car in the lot. I hopped out of my truck and went to the door I’d seen her disappear through when I dropped her off the first time. I inhaled a deep breath and knocked twice. A dog barked from inside and I heard someone shushing it.

The door swung open and Kelly blinked at me a few times before smiling. “Simon.”

“Hey, Kelly,” I said, running my hand through my hair. Kelly was dressed in a pair of gym shorts and a tank top, looking as beautiful as I remembered, but I only had eyes for her sister. An old Golden Retriever stuck his head out the door and sniffed me tentatively. “Is Megan home? She didn’t know I was coming, so if she’s busy…”

“Simon?” Megan’s voice cut me off and she appeared next to Kelly, a smile on her face. “What are you doing here? You should be resting.”

Kelly grinned again and disappeared as Megan stepped back to let me in. I walked into their neat apartment and gave her a sheepish smile.

“I just wanted to see you.” I looked her over and resisted the urge to pull her to me. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants, a white t-shirt that said ‘Born to Nurse’ on it, and her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. The best and most surprising part was the pair of black framed glasses on her face. They had a purple design down the side and made her look like a schoolboy’s fantasy.

“Aww,” Kelly said from the couch as she clapped her hands to call the dog, and Megan shot her a dirty look.

“Ignore her.” She gripped my hand and led me across the apartment, pausing to playfully flick her sister on the way. She steered me back to a large bedroom and shut the door behind us. Her room was very neat and tidy, exactly what I would expect of Megan. Her king sized bed was made, the top of her dresser held a few pictures and some make-up, and a desk in the corner was very organized. The only messy, disorganized part of her room was a spot on her dresser that was covered in jewelry. It was very un-Megan-like and made me smile.

She moved towards me with her hand raised and my body tensed in anticipation of her touch. When the back of her hand rested on my forehead, I rolled my eyes at her.

“Always on the job.”

Megan grinned and let her fingers sweep along my cheek as she dropped her arm. “It’s a curse. I just wanted to be sure.” Her grin transformed into a frown. “You really should still be resting, Simon. Especially since you have to work tomorrow.”

I let out a sigh and stared at her. “Does that mean you want me to go?”

She shook her head rapidly. “No, not at all.” She gestured to bed and began to pull back the blankets. “You can rest here.”

I smiled and sat on the edge of the bed, staring up at Megan. “Yeah?”

She nodded and brushed the hair off my forehead. “Let me grab you something to drink and a couple of movies, and then we can hide out here for a while.

“That sounds perfect.”

She disappeared through the door and I kicked my shoes off as I glanced around. The pictures on the dresser depicted a happy family- Megan, Kelly, and their parents. Kelly looked so much like their mother it was kind of eerie, but Megan favored their father. The smiles on all four of their faces was almost contagious, and I was happy to see that she had so much love in her life.

Megan walked back in, closing the door behind her before holding up several movies. “Pick one.”

I shrugged as I skimmed the titles. “No Pitch Perfect?”

“I lent it to my co-worker.” She gave me a pleased smile, probably surprised that I’d remembered that tidbit from a couple of weeks before.

“Then pick your second favorite. Something funny.”

She grinned and put in Bridesmaids after handing me a bottle of water. “Make yourself comfortable.”

I did as she said and leaned back on one of her pillows in the middle of the bed. Megan climbed in, too, and didn’t waste any time cuddling up against me. She rest her head on my shoulder and placed a hand on my chest. A feeling of elation shot through my body as I savored her against me. I kept my arm wrapped around her and we didn’t move for the first half of the movie.

She’d obviously seen it before, but her laughter was infectious at all of the funny parts. A knock sounded on the door about halfway through the movie and Megan called to the person to come in.

Kelly’s head poked into the bedroom and she smiled at us. “I got everything on the list from the grocery store.”

“Oh, good.” Megan nodded quickly. “Thanks, Kel. I’ll come out and start it in a second.”

“Sounds great,” Kelly replied and started to pull the door shut. Before she could get it closed all of the way, Simba pushed his way through and gave me a dirty look as he laid on the dog bed in the corner.

Megan looked up at me and smiled. “I’m going to make some chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight. I’m just going to run out and start it so it can simmer for a few hours, okay?”

“Are you making soup because I’m here?” I asked, holding her as close to me as possible.

She shrugged, the smile still on her face. “I needed to make dinner anyway.” She stretched her neck and placed a soft kiss on my mouth. “I’ll be back.”

She stood and immediately crouched down to pet the dog as she spoke to him in a low voice. I watched her walk out of the room with Simba at her heels. After she was gone, I paused the movie, not wanting to watch it without her. I gazed around the room for a few minutes and felt my eyes start to droop. I fought it, but eventually I fell asleep against a pillow that smelled like Megan.

When my eyes reopened, I was on my side with Megan’s back to my front and I had draped an arm around her waist. I didn’t dare breathe at first and instead just enjoyed how right it felt. When I did breathe, the smell of lavender that always surrounded Megan infiltrated my senses. I propped myself up on my elbow and saw she was asleep, too, her breathing even and her glasses on the pillow next to her. I couldn’t resist as I placed a soft kiss right below her ear and she squirmed under my lips before her eyes fluttered open.

Megan turned her head and looked up at me, a sleepy smile on her face. “Hey.”

“Hey, gorgeous,” I said, grazing the tip of her nose with my lips. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

“That’s okay,” she replied as she rolled to her back, grabbing her glasses and pushing them on her face in the process. “I wanted you to rest. Besides, a nap was nice.” She glanced at the clock, which read after six, and looked back at me. “Soup’s probably ready if you’re hungry.”

I hadn’t thought about my stomach but once she said it, I realized just how hungry I was. “I could definitely eat.”

She sat up and swung her legs over the bed before offering a hand to me. I took it, following her out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Kelly was nowhere to be seen but the kitchen smelled heavenly. Megan pulled a couple of bowls down and scooped some hot soup out of the crockpot before placing them both on the table. Crackers joined them, along with two glasses of water, and she gestured for me to sit.

I spooned a hot bite of the soup into my mouth and almost moaned in delight as it hit my taste buds. “This is fantastic.”

She smiled as she took her own spoonful. “It’s my mom’s recipe. She’s quite the chef.”

I ate two bowls while she told about some of her mother’s best dishes. Her eyes gleamed the entire time and I would have watched her talk all night.

She stared at me for a moment once our bowls were empty. “You’re going to stay the night, right?”

I had been hoping to but wasn’t sure how to ask so I nodded my head in answer. “I want to.”

“Good. I’m not ready for you to go home yet.”

“Yeah?” I stood up, grabbing both of our bowls and taking them to the sink to rinse them out. “I’m not ready to leave you yet.”

Once they were rinsed out, I walked back to where she was sitting and pulled her up by the hand. “I want to kiss you so bad, but I think we should wait a bit longer to make sure my germs are completely dead.”

“Probably.” Megan nodded as she brought her free hand to my forehead again. “I would settle for just being in your arms again.”

I crushed her to me and wrapped my arms around her back. “That sounds like an amazing idea.”

“I need to put the soup away and walk the dog. Then we can go to bed.” She squeezed my hand and I watched her as she spooned the soup in a container before putting it in the fridge.

She clipped a leash onto her dog’s collar and gestured to her bedroom. “Go lay back down.”

I really wanted to go with her but my aching body stopped me. While she was gone, I used her bathroom, stole some of her mouthwash, and then sat on the edge of her bed.

“Sorry,” she said as she walked into the room and closed the door after the dog was in, too. He immediately settled on the dog bed in the corner as she turned the TV back on and turned off the light.

“Do you need something to sleep in?”

I shook my head. “I can just sleep in my boxers.”

In the dim light of the TV, I could see her gaze drop to my waist, as if she was imagining me in only my boxers. That thought went straight to my groin and I had to remind myself that I was there to just hold her for the night.

“Okay,” she finally replied, nodding her head.

I pulled my shirt off before dropping my shorts to the floor and returning to the spot I’d been in previously. Megan pulled her hair out of the ponytail and placed her glasses on the nightstand. When she noticed me watching, she raised her eyebrows.

“What?”

“Can you see the TV without them?”

She let out a small laugh. “It’s a bit fuzzy, but I’ll be okay. I’ve seen it a million times and it will still be funny blurry.” She climbed in bed next to me and let her cheek rest on my bare chest. My skin felt like it sizzled from her touch and I wanted to sigh in satisfaction.

“Your glasses are fairly hot, Megs.” I kissed the top of her head. “I didn’t even know you wore them.”

“Contacts,” she murmured, her breath warm against my skin as she spoke. “Greatest invention ever. Not many people know about my lack of perfect vision.”

I let my fingers run through her hair as we watched the movie and whenever she would giggle at a part, her laughter would shake my whole body. I quickly decided that I’d rather lay in bed watching movies with her than do most anything else.

She switched it to a show on a local network after the movie was finished. Not more than ten minutes later, her breathing was coming out in short puffs as her chest moved up and down slowly. I examined her sleeping form and my chest tightened slightly with happiness. I’d dreamed about having Megan in my arms but the reality was much better. I examined every part of her face- from the spatter of freckles on her nose down to the crease from a dimple on her left cheek. Everything about Megan was beautiful.

I finally fell asleep over an hour later with my arms firmly cinched around her.