“You should go, Jonah,” I said, my voice breaking, as he held me tight, his arms strong and supportive.
His arms tightened around me in response, and my head fell on his shoulder, and the gates opened, letting loose a flood of tears.
42
JONAH
When I carried Lexi back up to her room and set her down, her face was flushed red, her mouth was half open, and she looked pale. She reached out to grip my hand, and I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand. In the yellow glow from her table lamp, her cheeks looked hot, and I could see a sheen to her forehead from all the strain she was putting herself through. God, I hated that for her.
I ran a shaky hand over my face. If I’d been a few hours late … if I hadn’t checked in with Rafael about Lexi’s absence … well, my stomach twisted at the thought of what could have happened to the two of them alone.
The way Evie ate and kept telling me how hungry she was made me worry. The two of them hadn’t had dinner last night and breakfast today. I wondered how much Lexi had been suffering since last night.
Lexi stared back at me weakly. “Jonah,” she muttered as I sat down next to her.
“I’m here, sweetheart,” I muttered.
She clung to me, her breath shaky, and I wrapped my arm around her waist and steadied her as I looked into her eyes. Lexi buried her face into my shoulder.
“When did this start?” I demanded, pulling her away to look her over.
She shook her head, but she felt like she was burning. I reached for the thermometer next to her and took her temperature. 104.5 degrees.
Fuck.
I ran to the bathroom, finding a towel. I ran it under the tap before wringing it out and wiping her face and arms as I tried to bring her temperature down.
Nothing about her was normal today.
Evie came in and watched as I asked Lexi, “Where are the medicines? Have you taken any?”
Lexi shook her head, but seemed too weak and delirious to reply.
“Mama keeps some medicines up in the bathroom cabinet that I can’t reach,” Evie said.
In a minute, I found Tylenol and coaxed Lexi to take some.
When I realized she didn’t have a primary care physician, I called up my medical concierge service, and they sent a doctor over to take a look at Lexi.
An hour later, the doctor walked in, and she did a nose swab, confirming that Lexi did indeed have the flu.
She left after telling me they’d have Tamiflu delivered to our door in an hour, and when they did, I gave Lexi her first dose, desperate to see her better, and followed it up with her second dose of Tylenol for the day.
Evie had had three complete meals in a span of six hours and was happy and active, though she would occasionally come in to check on her mom. I hadn’t felt like sending her to preschool that day, but I did call Sean to ask if he could give me a referencefor a nanny I could hire for a few days, and I sent him the address too, just in case.
An hour later, I heard a knock on the front door.
Evie had been glued to her TV so far while I monitored Lexi, and Lexi had just fallen asleep while Evie started to open the door.
I jumped out of bed and walked stiffly, wishing I could be faster than a four-year-old. Who was she even opening the door to?
When I reached the living room, I saw to my utter surprise, Chloe, Sean’s wife, at the door.
She was looking at Evie, and when I reached her, Chloe looked up.
“Permission to enter the chaos?” she asked with a grin as Sean loomed over her in the back.
I bit back a grin. I wasn’t feeling very cheery, but seeing them, surprising as it was, made me feel a little relieved.
