In the morning, Bardil is still in my bed. The pizza boxes are on the floor next to my bed, and he's holding me against his body while he breathes deeply, still dreaming.
I wiggle free so I can stretch my legs out. To my relief, they no longer ache, and my stomach doesn't feel unsettled at all.
I slip out of bed and stand, steady and strong.
"Thank goodness," I whisper, happy to be back to my normal self.
Bardil murmurs, and his eyes flicker open. "Good morning, beautiful. How are you feeling?" he asks immediately, sitting up to look at me.
"So much better," I smile.
"That's good. Do you want tea?" he asks, swinging his legs off the bed and leaning down to gather the pizza boxes.
"No, I think I should wait and make sure I'm ok first. Just in case."
"I've got to go out this morning. But I can cancel again if you'd rather I stay?"
"Again?" I ask, confused.
"Yes, I cancelled last night. I was supposed to meet with a client, but I didn't want to leave you," he explains.
"Oh," I stammer, realizing he set everything aside to help me, and also realizing that he didn't leave my side for more than a few minutes the entire time. He prioritized me over everything else.
What does that mean?
"You should go to your meeting. I'm really much better today," I smile. My heart pulls and pushes, and I fight against the feelings.
"You sure?" he asks, standing next to me and gently touching my forehead.
I nod. "I'm sure," I smile.
***
When Bardil is gone, I climb into the shower with my hair tied up and out of the way.
Afterward, while I'm getting dressed, a wave of nausea hits me, and I groan in horror and run to the toilet.
With my face over the bowl, my stomach heaving, I have a thought that terrifies me more than anything, ever.
These are the symptoms of pregnancy!
No. No, it can't be!
This is morning sickness.
Impossible. I was only with him once.
But the thought won't leave, and there is only one way to stop myself from obsessively worrying about this. I need to get a pregnancy test and prove that it's not that. It's just a virus.
Bardil is out for the day, but he left me with some money in case I needed something, like medicine. It's way too much money, but it's fine. It'll be a good cover for my story.
Dressed, I head downstairs to find one of the guards and ask him to take me to the mall. Bardil has already told them to take me wherever I need to go if I ask, so there is no problem.
At the mall, I go to the pharmacy, relieved when the guy waits outside, obviously assuming I'm getting something for the stomach flu they think I have.
Then, to cover my tracks, I also stop at the grocery store and get all the ingredients to make peppermint tarts as well as lasagna.
I've never made the tart before, but I really want to say thank you to Bardil for everything he did to help me last night.
