“Who is this?” the man asks. “And why do you have my son’s phone?”
“I’m Addison, Lex’s friend from school. He, ah, he’s sick and I don’t know what to do. The nurses and some teachers have called a doctor but these people look about as useful as a chocolate teapot.”
The faculty members in question look at me with wide eyes. They shake their heads, and I turn my back to them.
“Addison?” Lex calls out, and I spin back around to find his eyes boring into me.
“Oh, thank god you woke up. What the hell, Lex? You passed out. You said you weren’t that sick!” I hiss at him.
“Addison, where are you?” The deep voice on the phone has me pulling the device away from my ear. I look at the screen and then place it back up against my ear. I forgot I called Lex’s dad.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you but your son can be a real idiot sometimes. We’re in the nurse’s office,” I explain.
“Give the phone to the school nurse, Addison,” Mr. Petrov says.
“Okay.” I hold the phone out to the school nurse. She looks at it as if it’s going to bite her hand off if she touches it. “His dad wants to talk to you.”
Lex groans. “You called my dad?”
“I had to do something. You passed out,” I tell him.
“Hello, Mr. Petrov.” The nurse steps aside with the phone pressed to her ear.
“I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me. I was worried.” I sigh, placing my hand on Lex’s forehead. “Holy shit, you’re hot.”
Lex smirks. “You think I’m hot, Addison?”
“Don’t be stupid. You know I do. How long have you been sick? You seemed fine yesterday.”
“Iwasfine yesterday,” he says.
When the nurse steps back over to us, she passes the phone to Lex. Her hands are shaky.
“Papa?” Lex says into the receiver, followed by, “Addison.” I can’t hear what his father is saying to him. “I’m fine.” Another pause. “Just the flu.” Another pause. “Today?” Lex looks directly at me when he says this. “Okay.” He’s quiet when he shoves the phone back into his pocket. “My father is sending a doctor.”
“I know,” the nurse replies. “What can I get you?”
“Nothing. I’ll be fine,” Lex tells her.
She places a cool towel over his forehead. “Keep this here. I’m getting you some Tylenol.”
As soon as the school nurse leaves the room, I sit on the edge of the bed. “On a scale of one to ten, how much did I fuck up by calling your dad?”
“You did what you thought was best, Addi. It’s fine,” Lex says. “But he is sending a jet for us today. He wants us home.”
“Oh, well, that’s probably good, right? You should be home while you’re getting better. I’ll obviously be bored out of my mind without you.”
“No, you didn’t hear me, Addi. He wantsbothof us to go home.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“As in, when I get on that jet, my father expects you to be on it too.”
“Why?”
Lex lifts one shoulder and then lets it drop again. “Why does the Pakhan do anything? Because he fucking can.”
“Oh god, am I going to be fed to the fishes?” I gasp.
