“I think I’m sick,” I moaned through heaves.
I figured he would leave me alone after that, but almost instantly I felt his hands thread through myhair. Pulling the sweaty sticky strands off my face, he used a hair elastic to tie it all back at the nape of my neck. Softly kissing my shoulder as he finished, he sat down beside me and continued to rub my back through every heave and sob that attacked my body.
When it felt like all my insides were out of me, I finally sat down on the cool floor and leaned my back against the wall. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing when Calvin ran a cool cloth over my face. It felt like pure luxury.
“Thank you,” I breathed. I still felt weak but was starting to have my senses come back to me. Guilt being one of the first prominent feelings I could recognize once the haze of nausea had worn off. “I’m so sorry.”
I heard Calvin’s soft chuckle and felt his body shake beside me. “I think you’re the only person in the world who would apologize for being sick. That’s nothing to be sorry for, Stella.” He planted another kiss on the side of my forehead. “Do you want me to get you a glass of water?”
“Sure, I’ll just get myself cleaned up a bit. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
Calvin helped me stand before leaving the bathroom, but I was in that small window of time after throwing up where I felt like a million bucks and I wasn’t about to waste it as I started the shower and brushed my teeth.
“I’ll just go stay at a hotel for a few days. I don’t want you to get sick.” I also didn’t want to put Trixie at risk so there was no way I was going back to the bed and breakfast while I felt like this.
“Like hell you are.” Calvin stood in the kitchen with his arms crossed. “It’s Saturday. I’m not working. You’re staying here.”
“What if I get you sick and you can’t go to work next week, though?”
Calvin shrugged. “That’s what I pay my staff for.”
I sighed, but didn’t have the energy to argue with him anymore. His demeanour wasn’t budging at all, and as I eventually found myself snuggled up on his couch with one blanket wrapped around my shoulders and another across my body with aperfect little rumbling fluff ballon my chest, I wasn’t exactly mad I had lost this one.
“I think he might like you more than he likes me,” Calvin said while side-eyeing his cat.
“I think you’re just jealous.” I smirked at him as I gave Bernard a soft kiss and a nuzzle to his head.
“Oh, I am definitely that.” He smiled and kissed my head, then handed me a cup of ice water. “Here, have a drink.”
He made sure I was drinking fluids all morning, switching back and forth between Canada DryGinger Ale and a glass of ice water that he kept refreshing.
He asked me what my favourite movie was, and when I told him it wasThe Hobbit,he started the almost nine-hour long extended edition binge-watching session without even batting an eye. We were just getting to my favourite part with the riddles when there was a knock on his door.
“Who’s that?” I asked. I didn’t realize he was expecting anyone and wasn’t sure if I should make myself sparse.
“Just stay here, love,” he said as he kissed my cheek and got up off the couch.
I could hear slight murmurings from across the house, but my head was still spinning too much to get up and, well, I wasn’t missing this scene for anything.
Gollum had just fallen in defeat of the last riddle, unable to figure out what was in Bilbo’s pocket, when Calvin came back with a huge Tupperware container and a duffle bag.
“What’s that?” I asked, curiosity making me feel a bit better.
“I told Grandma Trixie you weren’t feeling well and would be staying here for the next night or two so she wouldn’t worry.”
“Thank you.” I appreciated that. Trixie had become such a big part of my day-to-day routine, I would miss her, too, if not for feeling so ill.
“She decided she needed to bring us some of her homemade soup. And she also packed a bag of some of your clothes and grabbed some stuff from your bathroom.”
I perked up. As much as I enjoyed wearing Calvin’s shirts that smelled like him—and definitely didn’t plan on changing out of them—I was looking forward to washing my face and brushing my hair.
I slowly sat up and made my way to the bathroom while Calvin followed close behind. My body still felt groggy and heavy, but no longer like I needed to disgorge my soul.
“I’ll dish us up some soup while you get freshened up. Just yell if you need anything, okay?”
My eyes met his in the mirror and I gave him a slight nod. “I will,” I promised him.
A freshly washed face felt so good, and I brushed my teeth again for good measure. When it came time to brush my hair, though, my arms felt like they weighed a million pounds. I could barely lift them to get to the top of my head and couldn’t reach to get the length I needed at the bottom. I needed to brush it, though. If I left it, the knots would just turn into matts and get so much worse.
