Curtis:
Is everything okay?
Yep. Just thought it would be good fun to randomly text them
Curtis sent a flipping-the-bird emoji. Country gave it a heart. He waited in the stall, staring at the screen. Women typically texted back quickly, didn't they? There were three of them, and they were all single. One of them had to be sitting alone in their apartment at seven thirty on a Saturday night in January.
He exhaled when the message from Curtis appeared.
Curtis:
The word is, she's on her death bed
Details please
Curtis:
They don't think it's cholera
That's a relief. I was going to offer my skills in bloodletting
André:
I'm already here. She says she doesn't know what she'd do without me
Ryan:
Anne said she had the stomach flu
Curtis:
And I quote "she's not puking anymore, but she's as weak as a baby squirrel"
Ryan:
Lol. That had to be Tina
Thanks. To everyone except André
He slipped his phone back in his pocket and blew out a breath. The door to the bathroom opened, and he waited through the progression of splashing on the urinal, water flowing from the tap, the hiss of the air dryer, and finally, the second squeak of the door. He exited the stall and washed his hands for good measure then walked back to the studio.
He gave Glen and Liam a bit of a break in the second segment between periods and painfully made his way through the rest of the first game, then plodded through the second. There were enough impressive and ludicrous highlights to keep him rolling without much effort, but by the time they finished after midnight, he felt like he'd been rolling in freshly cut hay.
Country grabbed his jacket and made his way to the studio door, not even pausing when Glen called out, "I think we nailed it!"
_____
Jenna rubbed her eyes as the sound of her phone buzzing on her nightstand pulled her from a fitful sleep. She'd slept for eight hours in the middle of the day, and though she could barely rally to walk to the bathroom and back, her body didn't seem to want to drop into full REM.
She picked up the phone and answered without looking at the Caller ID. "Hello?"
"Jenna."
Her mind snapped to attention. "Gentry?"
"Hey, I did the segment tonight and Kessler said you were sick."
She rolled over in bed and tried to focus enough to see her alarm clock. "What time is it?"
