Page 70 of Love on Her Terms

“Are you a terrible patient?”

The legs of one of his chairs scooted across the linoleum floor. A mug clinked on the table. And then he could feel Mina and her magic next to him, the liveliness she carried around with her like most people carried their phones. “Yes,” he admitted.

“I’ll let you drink your coffee and put on real pants, if you want them, before we leave. It would have been far worse for both of us to be sick at once. And the antivirals really help.”

She was silent long enough that he looked up.

Her face faced him, but her eyes were off in the distance. When she shook her head, her hair bounced about her face, and she blinked a couple of times before focusing her gaze on him again. Then she shrugged, like whatever she wanted to say didn’t matter. Like it was easy and casual.

Like he would believe that. Especially after the shrug.

“Of course, I have to believe in antiviral medicine. They’re what’s keeping me on the poz side of the diagnosis instead of shifting over to AIDS.”

For all the pressure on his head, there should be a giant with a giant-sized vise squeezing his temples. Worse, the giant should be squeezing his brains out his nose. He hunched back over his mug, resigned. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am. Now, finish your coffee, and let’s get you to Urgent Care and on your way to recovery.”

Levi drank his coffee as quickly as his nose would allow. He couldn’t even be mad at her for being relentlessly chipper. She’d just come out of what he was about to get into.

* * *

ONCE MINA HAD gotten Levi back to his house and tucked into his bed with his own prescription for antivirals medicine and a thermos of hot tea by his side, she curled up on his couch with her tablet and emailed two students to reschedule the appointments she’d missed today. Then she followed the instructions from the department secretary to reschedule the classes she’d missed when she was sick.

All her immediate work concerns taken care of, she put her tablet aside and stared at her phone sitting on the coffee table and the task she’d been putting off for over a week. Her parents knew she’d had the flu, and they were worried, which was reason enough to avoid calling them. Her mother would continue to insist that Mina look for a job closer to home, like a tenure-track position in Russian literature was easy to find. They’d go back and forth, their argument following its predictable course, and then Mina would tell them that the reason she was home at this time of day to call them was that Levi also had the flu, and she was going to take care of him.

Ignoring her phone, she got up off the couch and went to the kitchen to make herself another pot of coffee. While that was brewing she dug around in Levi’s cabinets until she found what she was looking for. When the coffee was ready, she poured herself a ridiculously large mug and carried it and the chocolate chips back to the living room and the phone.

If she was going to have a predictable conversation with her mother, she might as well make a game of it.

“Mina,” her mom exclaimed into the phone. “What a surprise to hear from you. I’m glad we were home.”

Her parents each had cell phones, but her mom said those words every time Mina called them, and they were at home. Even though it wasn’t technically a score, Mina helped herself to a chocolate chip.

“Are you still home sick?” her mom asked, her worry almost strong enough to melt the chocolate on the table.

“No, Mom. I went back to work on Monday.” And, even better, had been back to drawing on Friday. Antivirals really were a magical thing.

“Good.” Her mom clucked. “Mina’s feeling much better,” she hollered back to her husband, not moving the phone away from her face. “No, she says she went back to work on Monday. No, I don’t know what she’s doing calling us now.”

Mina winced. “Mom, if you’re going to yell at Dad, could you at least move the phone away from your mouth?”

“Hmm? Oh, of course, honey.” There was a slight shuffle of noise and then more hollering. “I don’t know. I’ll ask her.”

Whatever her mom had done to the phone had helped. A little. Though it wouldn’t get Mina out of the next question. She helped herself to two chocolate chips as a precaution.

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