“Did you order DoorDash?” Chase asked. Her tone was lighter, and Norah knew she was probably as relieved as Norah was that Stevens was on the mend, and that Norah herself seemed to be turning a corner that evening.
“Two shrimp po’boys and fries, a vanilla milkshake, and a probably expired flu test I found in my supplies. Just for kicks. I’m leaving it out here, so put down whatever you two areworking onand get it before the milkshake melts. This cost me thirty dollars of my own damn money.”
Chase smiled at Norah and walked to the door of the tent. “Thank you,” Chase shouted after the shadow of his retreating footsteps.
The milkshake was already fairly liquid from the hot summer night, and Chase handed it directly to Norah.
“Here. Think you can try some?”
“I think so.” Norah’s stomach still turned with hot acid, and waves of nausea periodically gripped her, but she knew the gesture would make Chase feel a lot better. Besides, it did seem like her fever was starting to break, and her breathing felt a little easier since the morning. She took a small sip, letting the sugarcoat the back of her throat, the cold soothing the burning in her chest.
“You look better,” Chase said hopefully.
“I think I am.”
“Remember when you were in the hospital with pneumonia?” Chase’s eyes grew dark and distant at the memory, and Norah could see just how scared she’d been.
“Kind of. It was a blurry few days.”
“I really thought I was going to lose you. I sat with you every minute of the day and night. I didn’t even like leaving you to go to the bathroom. Hell. I didn’t shower until they got you off the oxygen entirely. I’m glad you don’t remember because I must have smelled just awful.”
Norah chuckled, took another sip of the milkshake, and placed her hand on Chase’s knee. “I don’t remember much from it, but I do remember you. Even when I was asleep, or so sick I couldn’t open my eyes, I remember you there. You were my safe place, Chase. You always were.”
A flood of tears to her dry eyes took her by surprise, the stinging bringing her back to the present moment. She was there, and so was Chase. Their story might not have ended the way she’d hoped. They might not have ended up with the happily-ever-after Norah had dreamed of. But they were here. Together. And Chase was somehow still her safe place.
“I loved you so damn much. You know that?”
Norah turned away quickly, rubbing her eyes.
“I know.” She cleared her throat. “Hey. Want to try this? It would be wild if I just had the flu, wouldn’t it?”
It was more of a way to change the subject than out of actual interest in testing herself, but Norah thought it would distract Chase from reminiscing about their past anymore that night.
“Might as well.” Chase shrugged and opened the flu test. “Expired a month ago, but I’m sure it’s still fine. It’s not quite flu season yet, but who knows?”
She took the swab out of the package and twirled it in Norah’s nostril.
“Okay. You aren’t swabbing my brain here,” Norah said with a groan, her eyes watering all over again.
“Stop whining, will you?”
As they waited the required fifteen minutes for the test to run, Chase insisted on listening to Norah’s lungs again and retaking her temperature.
“Last dose of Tylenol was at two p.m. 99.6,” Chase said triumphantly. “Your fever’s gone. That’s a really good sign.” Norah was so charmed by Chase’s enthusiasm that she didn’t have the heart to remind her that she, too, had gone to medical school.
“I told you, I feel better.”
A timer on Chase’s phone interrupted her mid-bite of her sandwich. She rushed to the flu test that lay on the table, her mouth still full of food.
“You’re kidding me.” She held the test strip in her hand just staring at it, squinting in deep concentration, until she pushed it in Norah’s face, laughing. “Look! It’s positive! You have Flu B. Norah, it’s the goddamn flu.”
Chase’s laugh reverberated through the tent and seemingly out into the woods through the quiet night.
“No.” Norah began laughing along with her, not realizing how scared she’d really been until that very moment. “Who gets the flu in September? In the bayou? What kind of infectious-disease doctor am I?”
“I just…I’ve never been so relieved in my life,” Chase exclaimed.
“Will you swallow your food first before you spit it all over me?” Norah asked teasingly, enjoying the light that had returned to Chase’s beautiful green eyes she loved so much.
