“I have no idea. The lady who called didn’t give details, and I forgot to ask because my mind was all caught up in figuring out whether I should miss class or call you. I’m assuming stomach virus includes throwing up, so better to be safe than sorry?”
“Ten-four good buddy. Do I need to swing by the pharmacy or anything?”What would I do without this woman?!Easy. I’d die.
“I’ll put in a drive-up order for Gatorade, soup, crackers, and Pepto. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”
“Cool beans. I’ll call you when I have her with an update.”
“You’re the best.” That’s an understatement.
“Truth.”
I laugh. She’s a mess. “Thank you!”
“Ciao, mama.”
Skye ends the call and I see that I have three minutes to get to class.Shit, I can’t be late again.
I sprint toward my classroom, thankful that I’ve now mastered the maze from the front door to the auditorium. I swear, whoever designed this building was an idiot. I pull open the door just as the clock strikes 8 a.m. and take my seat next to Brody.
I breeze through class and then teaching, thankful to then head home to check on Sunny. I’m halfway home when I remember my weekly meeting with Dexter is today.Dammit. I totally forgot.
Not one to text and drive, I wait until I hit a red light before scrolling through my contacts to find Deborah’s office number. I’dprefer not to call Dexter directly, especially since I don’t have his office number, just his mobile.At least he’s no longer listed as Sexy Dexy.
The phone starts to ring and my eyes are back on the road when the light turns green.
“Foreign Languages, this is Deborah.” I hear theclick click clickof her keyboard in the background.
“Hey, Deborah. It’s Alis. Something came up and I need to cancel my meeting with Dr. Belanger this week.”
“Everything okay?” she inquires.
“Just dealing with some sickness so I’m heading home. Can you let him know I can’t make it? He can email me whatever deadlines he wants to discuss.”
“Sure thing, dear. Get some rest and feel better. Goodbye.”
Deborah hangs up before I can say anything else, and I’m glad I didn’t have to provide more explanation. I don’t hide Sunny from anyone, but I prefer to keep the personal and professional separate when possible. Dr. Matthews knows about Sunny and I think I told her I’d bring her with me to campus one day, but considering I’m only on campus while Sunny is in school, that won’t happen any time soon.
As I walk through the front door to our apartment I’m greeted with the cringeworthy sound of my daughter vomiting her stomach contents into the toilet. I drop my bag on the entry table and walk to the washroom, kneeling next to Sunny and rubbing her back.
“I’m so sorry, Sunshine. I’m home now and I’ll stay with you.”
I see tears streaming down Sunny’s face as she coughs and spits to rid her mouth of lingering stomach acid. I hate seeing my sweet girl in this state. She becomes overly emotional when she isn’t feeling well, and it breaks my heart to see her so emotionally and physically distraught at the same time.
Sunny squeezes her eyes shut, still crying, and croaks, “My throat hurts.”
I start to push her hair back from her face and feel her scorching hot forehead in the process. “I know, baby. I’m so sorry. We’ll get you a popsicle after you rinse out your mouth, okay?”
Sunny nods and lets out a few sobs into the toilet. “It was so embarrassing. I threw up all over my lap in front of the entire class. Hailey and her friends made fun of me and the boys started laughing and making fake gagging noises.”
Kids are assholes, I swear. I resume rubbing her back, letting her have this moment to be upset. I know she doesn’t want me to say it’ll be okay or that I’m sorry. She’s a lot like me in that she wants to get all her frustration and feelings out, but she wants to sort through them herself. Still, I wish I could slap the snot out of those kids in her class. Any one of them could have found themselves in the same situation, and I’m positive they’d hate to be bullied right after getting sick in front of everyone.
“I’m going to grab a wet washcloth for your face, alright?” Sunny nods in affirmation and I stand to grab a washcloth out of the linen closet. I soak it in cool water before wringing out the excess and then hand it to Sunny, who is now sitting back on her heels, head out of the toilet bowl. She looks absolutely miserable.
“Do you want to take a shower or a bath?” I ask. “It might help you to feel a bit better. It’ll have to be lukewarm at best, though, because you’re burning up and we can’t risk your temperature getting any higher.”
Sunny shakes her head, wiping the last bit of tears, sweat, and sickness off her skin. “Not right now. Can I just go to bed?”
“Of course. Let’s get some medicine in you and then you can take a nap.”
