When the sun came up, Lilian managed to move herself to the living room couch to watch early morning television with an emergency vomit bowl sitting in her lap.An open bag of crackers and an empty bottle of Pedialyte were next to her.
At exactly seven a.m., her phone lit up with an incoming call.She glanced down and was only half surprised to see Hawk’s nickname.She really wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, but she blamed him for the current predicament, and a vindictive part of her wanted him to know what he had done.
“Hello?”she answered.
“What do you mean you won’t be at the faire today?”
“I told you.”
He snorted.“Come on, Lilian.If you’re sick, then say so.”
“All right,” she snapped, because she’d only gotten one hour of sleep.“I have food poisoning from the turkey leg you got us yesterday.”
A pause followed the accusation, and Lilian felt the delicious sting of justification, followed immediately by embarrassment that she was acting like a child.
“How do you know it was the turkey leg?”The tone was flat but, to his credit, not accusatory.
“Margo is sick, too.And I didn’t eat anything else yesterday.”
“Fuck.”The curse rang out sharp between them, followed by a softer, “Shit.I’m sorry.”
Lilian opened her mouth, ready to let her irritation spill out, but the apology caught her off guard.“Wha—really?”
“This is bad.We had cameras at the faire yesterday, people talking about our food, and now we might have a food poisoning issue on our hands.”
Ah.Of course that’s what he was concerned about.The optics.Hawk was a businessman first.That was why he was good at his job.He cared about the bottom line.She just cared that her stomach hurt.
“Sorry my food poisoning is such an inconvenience to you.”
“No.Shit.That’s not what I mean.”He took a deep breath, and she could easily picture him sitting at his home, coffee mug in hand, ready to handle any crisis that came his way.“Take a sick day.You and Margo.I’ll need to handle this.”
“Okay.”She curled deeper into the cushions of her couch.
He hung up without even a goodbye, but that didn’t surprise her.They weren’t friends.And it was clear she’d opened a can of worms that needed his attention.
She texted Margo to let her know they both had the day off, then she sent a quick message to her mom.
Sick today, don’t know if I’ll be over for Sunday dinner.
Mom
Oh no!What’s wrong, honey?Do you want Dad to come over and help?
The offer was touching.Even after all the treatments, her mom still had enough energy to worry about her.But Lilian couldn’t bring herself to accept it.Her mom needed someone to be with her at all times, even if she pretended that wasn’t the case.
If Lilian could take care of herself, it was one less thing for both her parents to worry about.
I’ll be fine, thanks.Just wanted to let you know.
Mom
And I’ll see if Dad can stop by to check on you.
Lilian flopped down against the plush pillows.A different kind of ache squeezed at her stomach, but it only lasted a second before the urge to vomit overrode it.
The day went by in a blur of sleeping, trying to eat, and lying in a heap on the couch, doing her best not to move.At one point, she switched from the television toThe Raven King.
She knew she needed to eat something, but her body had its own form of the French Revolution at the thought of getting up, cooking something, and then eating it.
