"So can I."
She waited patiently for him to pull her hair back into a sloppy ponytail. Tendrils of damp hair clung to her neck where her skin felt flushed despite her paleness. She sank down onto the floor and leaned her back against the tub, letting out a heavy sigh.
Dampening a washcloth with cold water, he sat on the tub beside her and pressed the cloth to the side of her neck.
"That feels good." She took the cloth and alternately pressed it to the sides and back of her neck then to her forehead.
"Here let me cool it again." Rudy took the cloth and rinsed it out before returning to sit by her again. "Do you think it's food poisoning? The chicken kabobs perhaps?"
That was the only thing he could think of that she'd eaten that would make her this sick.
"Probably. Or maybe it's a combination of all the junk I ate."
"I ate all the same stuff and I feel fine. I only had a couple bites of the chicken though."
She gave a weak shrug and propped her elbows on her raised knees and dropped her head into her hands. Soft sniffles came from behind her hands.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He rubbed her shoulder.
"Nothing. I just get weepy when I'm sick."
She made no move to get up, so he stayed by her side with his hand on her shoulder, wishing he could take the pain and discomfort from her.
Finally, she lifted her head. "I should go back to bed."
Rudy sprang to his feet and helped her up. He watched as she washed her hands and rinsed her mouth. When she walked out of the bathroom without closing the door, he closed it part way, leaving only a crack. Then he turned off the lights over the vanity, and switched on the main light that was less bright.
Hopefully, now that her stomach was empty, she'd be able to sleep.
His hopes were in vain however, because thirty minutes later he woke up to the sound of her heaving again. He couldn't help himself; he rushed to her side. Only bile came up this time, but she dry-heaved long after anything ceased to come up.
An hour later, she did the same thing. Then again two more times during the early morning hours. And each time, he helped her back to bed, because she grew increasingly weaker.
Sometime around two in the morning, with tears in her eyes, she asked, "Do you think God is punishing me?"
Despite his own exhaustion, Rudy laughed. "Why would he punish you?"
"Because I fell in love with you." She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. "But maybe I don't belong here." The last of her words were barely a whisper as she drifted off to sleep again.
He was glad she didn't expect an answer because he wasn't sure he could have spoken around the sharp twisting pain in his chest. God wasn't punishing Eden. He was sure of it. But he hated the fact that she'd had to work so hard for acceptance for every choice she made in her life that she doubted even deity.
Is that why she hadn't found a full-time job yet? Because she doubted herself and her choices? Would her doubts make a relationship between them impossible?
Somewhere around four in the morning, before he finally settled into a deep sleep, he decided maybe he needed to be the one to sacrifice and change lanes.
CHAPTER20
"What do you mean you aren't going fishing?" Eden scowled at the phone on the bathroom counter while she braided her hair. "You're the one who convinced me to go and now you're bailing?"
Kennedy moaned. "I've thrown up three times since I got out of bed, and now all I want to do is sleep for the rest of the day."
"Oh no. Did you get what I had?" Eden had been certain she'd had food poisoning, especially when no one else got sick, but maybe it had been viral.
"Um... no, this hits every morning." Kennedy's voice was cautious.
Eden dropped her arms and stared at the phone. "Wait? Are you...pregnant?"
A lengthy silence filled the phone before Kennedy finally spoke. "Yes, but—"
