Page 20 of Let Me Hold You

In the middle of the night, Levi opened his eyes when he heard the toilet flushing. Above him, the ceiling lights were off, but distant hallway lights enabled him to somewhat see in the gray haze.

His brain felt mushy and his muscles were sore. The recliner wasn’t exactly his own bed, and he really needed eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

He felt something soft on his arms, and realized it felt something like a chenille throw. He didn’t remember falling asleep, nor did he remember covering himself up.

Pattering of house slippers made him turn toward the hallway. Maggie came out of the bathroom, clutching her stomach.

His leg muscles pushed down at the leg rest and he sprung out of the recliner. “You okay, Mags?”

She barely nodded. She was wearing an old tee shirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants. And she walked slowly. On the way to the living room, she flicked on the lights. “Why are you here?”

The fact that she wasn’t surprised that Levi had entered her house using her spare key made Levi guess that she had been the one who’d placed the chenille throw over him.

“You were a no-show at the singles dinner party. Do you know where your phone is?”

“I don’t know.”

Levi decided to find it later. “I was so worried when you didn’t answer my texts and phone calls.”

“Well, I ate something bad yesterday and I’ve been sick all day long. I was either in my bedroom or in the bathroom.”

“I bought you some Gatorade.” He knew that wasn’t enough. “Let’s go to urgent care.”

Maggie made her way to the couch and slowly sat down. She pointed to a box on the table. “Got some medicine.”

Levi checked. It was the same medicine he’d bought earlier this evening.

“Two tablets left.” He read the expiration date. Still a few weeks to go.

He took the medicine he’d bought out of the shopping bag and placed the unopened box on the coffee table near a plastic bottled water that was almost empty.

However, Maggie didn’t look well. He didn’t want her to just take over-the-counter medicine. What if her stomach ache was something else?

“You look terrible,” Levi said. “Get dressed. Let’s go.”

Maggie shook her head. She puffed up her bedroom pillow which she’d been using on the couch. She flipped it over and rested her head on it. “How’s dinner?”

Levi sat at her feet. Her socks were falling off her feet, so he adjusted them for her. “I left early.”

“You shouldn’t have. Alden said he made sure to seat Forsythia next to you. You missed the opportunity to get to know her.” Maggie reached for a blanket.

Forsythia? Levi didn’t want to talk about her.

Right now, Maggie was more important.

He caught himself thinking that. “Are you cold? Should I turn up the thermostat?”

“No need. I’m fine. Might be time for me to take more meds.” She stretched her hand out toward the box.

Levi saw the near-empty bottled water on the table. “Don’t you have filtered water? The plastic bottle might leach chemicals into the water.”

“I usually boil water but I don’t feel like it.”

Levi reached for a Gatorade bottle on the other side of the table. “Have you just been going to the bathroom or did you also throw up?”

“Both.”

That alarmed Levi. “I still think we need to take you to urgent care.”

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