“I don’t know if I can eat that,” she confessed.
“Will you try? You’ve got to get some nutrition in you.”
“I know. But the doctor said it was okay right now. That it was more important for me to stay hydrated than to worry about my food intake.”
“What about some protein shakes? Do you think you could drink one of those?”
Her forehead wrinkled while she thought it over. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Stay right here. I’ll be back in just a few minutes,” I said and darted out the back door.
I hauled ass to the gym and ran inside to grab a few different flavors of the premade shakes we had in stock. I waved to the guy at the desk—Adam, I think—and ran back out to my bike.
When I walked back into Avery’s house, she was sitting exactly where I left her. “Here you go. Which one would you like to try?”
“Where did you get these?” she asked.
“I work at a gym. We have tons of these in stock.”
“Can I try the vanilla one?”
“You can try them all. Whichever ones you can keep down, I’ll bring a case over for you,” I offered.
“Cross your fingers,” she said and brought the bottle to her lips. She took her time, taking small sips, but she managed to drink the entire bottle.
“I don’t want to jinx it, so I’m not going to ask.”
She laughed lightly. “That’s probably a good idea.”
“Well,” I said and clapped my hands together. “I should probably get going.”
“Thank you.”
“You can call me, you know? If you need anything,” I trailed off. “Or if you just want to.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” I said and kissed the top of her head before I left.
17
Avery
Iwiped my mouth and flushed the toilet before I carefully stood up. I’d been getting dizzy when I changed positions too quickly and was making an effort to take things slower. Surprisingly, I had gotten used to the nausea to some extent, but I felt awful all the time. It was all I could do to get my kids ready for school in the morning. Thank goodness my mom was able to take them to school for me because there was no way I could have driven them.
“Honey,” my mom said and cupped my cheeks. “I think you need to call the doctor. You can’t keep going on like this. There has to be something they can do for you.”
I sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll give them a call this morning.”
“Good. Let me know if they want to see you. I have a few appointments this morning, but your dad can take you,” she said and turned to the stairs. “Grandbabies! If we leave now, we can stop for donuts on the way to school!”
“But don’t run down the stairs!” I shouted; at least, I tried to.
“Go sit down, sweetie. I’ll bring you a protein shake and a Coke before we leave.”
I collapsed onto the couch and pulled the blanket over me. “Bye, Mommy,” Riley said quietly. “I hope you feel better soon. You’ve been sick for a long time.”
I pulled her in for a hug. “I feel better already, baby girl. I’ll be fine. You have a good day at school, okay?”
