I tossed the phone to the side as Jayce came into the living room with his book bag, setting it down on the couch beside me.
“I brought your homework,” he said, pulling a few of my textbooks from his book bag and placing them on the coffee table in front of me. Then he leaned over to rest his lips against my forehead for a moment before taking a seat on the couch next to me.
“Thank you,” I said, sidling up to him. “What did I do to deserve you?”
“You’re welcome,” he said with a small smile. “But if you get sicker because I enabled your crazy workaholism, I’m gonna be pissed.”
I laughed, which was hard to do when my throat felt like raw and bleeding sandpaper, but I shoved the pain away and focused on Jayce instead.
“You look tired,” I said softly, and he did. There were dark circles under his eyes that hadn’t been there before, and his shaggy brown hair was in need of a trim, but I didn’t mind it. I knew his coach would, though.
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you,” Jayce said with a weak smile. “We can’t both be tired, can we?”
“We can and we are.” I took the bottle of water Jayce handed me and took a sip, coughing. I was so thirsty, but the pain was almost too much to tolerate. Every time something hit my stomach, I felt the urge to vomit.
“Slow sips,” Jayce instructed, leaning in to rest one hand on my back. “You need to stay hydrated.”
“I’ve been drinking like a fish,” I joked, but Jayce didn’t laugh.
“I’m serious, Mace,” he said. “These small things are important.” His sad eyes stayed glued to my own, challenging me to retaliate, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have it in me.
“Have you gotten much sleep?” I asked, finally breaking his gaze.
“I’ve gotten enough,” he said, and I shook my head.
“There’s no way. Not with school and practice and being here, let alone coming to my chemo appointments with me.”
“I sleep when you sleep,” Jayce said with a faint smile.
“You can’t do that,” I told him. “It’s important that you stay healthy, Jayce, because who else is going to take care of me?” It was meant as a joke, but my words must have hit him hard because Jayce frowned, his expression falling into one that I couldn’t quite read.
“I will take care of you forever and always,” he said firmly. “Even if I never get another wink of sleep again.”
I reached out for him, taking his hand in mine, squeezing. “I know you will,” I whispered, my voice catching with emotion. “But let me take care of you, too.”
Chapter 43
