Page 35 of Wild For You
“Mm… Andrew?” she asked as she slowly pushed herself up to her elbows.
Unlike most nights I unwillingly shared a bed with a woman, Kelsey was fully dressed, so when the covers fell beneath her breasts, only her pajama top greeted me.
“Hey,” I said lightly as she blinked slowly, still half asleep.
She gazed at me innocently, then all at once, she seemed to realize where we were, and she jumped across the bed, covering herself with the sheet.
“Um… hi! Er… I’m…. Hell,” she said as she spun and threw her face-first down into the pillow.
Chuckling, I pushed at her shoulder to turn her around. “We just slept, Kelsey. Stop freaking out.”
“I’m not freaking out. I’m—”
She stopped abruptly, then jumped from the bed and dashed toward the bathroom.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize the sound of retching coming from the attached room. When the sound continued, I pushed myself up from the bed, and when the crutches wouldn’t cooperate, I chucked them aside and hobbled toward the bathroom, doing my best to keep from putting too much weight on my leg, since I removed my brace when I slept.
“Kelsey?” I knocked on the locked door. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. No.” The puking continued, and for the first time in my life, I felt helpless. I wasn’t unfamiliar with taking care of someone vomiting, having four little sisters, but it wasn’t my favorite thing to deal with. “Can I get you anything?”
“Death maybe?”
“Can’t do that, but maybe some water and toast?”
“Oh my gosh, don’t mention food,” she strained to say before the heaving started up again.
Grabbing my cell from the nightstand, I dialed the person I knew would have firsthand knowledge of how to deal with a stomach virus.
“Hey, Alex. It’s Andrew.”
“Yes. I recognized your number, brother. Even though you don’t call me nearly enough.”
“Sorry.” I flinched before continuing, “I think Kelsey may have caught a stomach bug or food poisoning. Any suggestions on what I can give her?”
Silence filled the line before I checked to see if she was still on the line. “Alex?”
“Sorry. Yes, I just went through this with the girls. A nasty virus is going around for sure. I’ll message you the list of things the doctor prescribed for them. Unfortunately, most of it revolves around waiting it out.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Give Kelsey our get-well-soon. I need to get the girls ready for dance class. Keep me up to date, okay?”
“Will do, Alex. I appreciate it.”
A message with a picture attached immediately popped up after the call ended. It was a list of foods that wouldn’t upset the stomach if someone was willing to eat. But in big, bold letters, the top of the paper said toREST.
And if I knew anything about Kelsey, it was that the girl hated to slow down.
I gathered up things we had in the house that were on the list and set them on the counter. Thankfully, we had a few of the selections, but I was definitely going to need to make a trip to the store later. Guess today was a good day to test driving with my injured leg.
Knocking on the bathroom door, I held a glass of water with the other. “Kelsey? Can I come in?”
Incoherent groans sounded on the other side, and I took my chances by opening the door. Kelsey was resting against the cool tile of the bathroom floor. At first glance, I noticed she hadn’t been able to fully make it to the toilet. Stains were splashed across the front of her shirt.
“Oh, baby,” I crooned as I sat down beside her, pushing the hair away from her face as I set the glass of water on the floor. As my hand skirted across her forehead, I didn’t detect a fever, which was good. “Are you okay?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No. I don’t want you to see me like this.” Her last words broke on a sob, and I felt my chest constrict. “I don’t want to get you sick.”
