Page 36 of The Last Time

When she opens her eyes, it seems to take her a second to orient herself as to where she is and why I’m there.

“I brought you some medicine,” I tell her as I reach for the bottle on the nightstand. “I talked to the pharmacist. She said you should start with this and continue taking an anti-inflammatory for the fever.”

“You talked to the pharmacist?” she asks softly.

“I didn’t know exactly what to give you, and I wanted to make sure I gave you the best chance at getting some relief.”

I realize how insane I sound. We don’t know each other that well, and here I am, talking to a pharmacist for her and acting like a concerned partner.

I pour the medicine into the cap and hand it to her. She sits up onto her elbow and grabs the cap from me to take down the liquid, which, based on her reaction, must taste repulsive.

“Before you lie back down, take these two pills for the fever.” I grab the medicine and open the bottle of water next to her.

She grabs them and takes a couple of swigs of the water.

“I’ll keep the water and medicine right here for you. There’s soup in the fridge that you can heat up at any time. I’m gonna go back outside to finish the deck. I’ll check on you before I leave.”

“Thank you, Asher. I don’t know how I’m going to repay you for all of this.”

“Just focus on getting better. No need to repay me.”

I head back downstairs and get to work on the deck floors. I should be able to finish in an hour. It’s a simple brush that looks like a mop and can coat it quickly.

I race through it as quickly as I can, then text my mom to let her know I’ll be there to pick up Brie soon. When I go upstairs to say goodbye to Charlotte, I decide against waking her up this time.

She needs her rest. I’ll just text her later to see how she is feeling. This time, I resist the urge to kiss her on the forehead.

“Is there a reason why you are hogging your own daughter from me?” Eric asks while our dinner is cooking in the oven.

I kiss the top of Brie’s head while she scribbles her purple crayon all over her paper. She’s making a castle, apparently. I’ve learned to just go with whatever she says she’s coloring. One time, I looked too long, too hard to try and see it and she ended up in tears. It broke my heart. Now, everything is instantly beautiful.

“I haven’t seen her much this weekend. I miss her, and she’s mine, so I call dibs.”

“What were you doing all weekend?” he asks.

“Oh,” Layla raises her hand, “I know.”

“Is there a reason you’re raising your hand like the nerd in school who’s excited to answer?” Liam asks Layla.

“Because Iamexcited. Asher here spent the entire weekend with my friend Charlotte.”

I try to ignore her while I watch Brie switch to a pink crayon and continue her scribbles. I know Layla, and she’s going to say something intrusive.

“You spent the entire weekend with a woman?” Eric asks curiously. “Just like… helping her?”

This time, I can’t help but stare Layla down, but she smiles at me like she’s proud of herself.

“I helped her sand and stain her deck. Layla is definitely acting like a child right now.”

“Sure, you helped her with her deck. But you were also out with us at the bar last night, and the two of you couldn’t stop touching each other.”

“Damn. Asher getting back out there. Who would’ve thought we’d see the day? She must be special to get you to finally loosen up,” Liam jokes.

“He’s gonna have to go for it before someone else does, like Paul. I heard him saying he wanted to ask her out,” Layla says.

I shudder inwardly at the thought. I try to suppress my anger in the guise of indifference, but it’s too strong. I don’t like the idea of anyone else with Charlotte, especially him.

I kiss Brie’s head, lift her up, and place her down on the seat, then walk over to the oven. After I pull out the lasagna, I slam the door shut.

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