Page 88 of Unraveled

“Hello,” her sleepy voice answered.

“Hey. You feeling okay?”

“Yes. Tired, but okay.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I hadn’t kissed her the last couple of nights. But we’d definitely done our share over the previous weekend, before her chemo when she’d been in her feel-good window. “I woke up with a sore throat. I wanted to confirm you didn’t have it.”

“Nope. I think we’re in the clear. You think you have strep?”

“I don’t know. Maybe just a cold.” Hopefully it would pass quickly. We’d gotten our flu shots weeks ago, so here was hoping they’d ward off anything more serious.

“I’m sorry you’re not feeling good.”

Leave it to Layla to think of me when she was feeling a hundred times worse. “Baby, I’ll be fine. But I’m worried about you. I couldn’t live with myself if I got you sick.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Feel better. I miss you already. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Three days later, I was still battling a doozy of a cold. But the worst part by far was that I had to keep my distance from Layla. I’d checked in with her, and thankfully, she’d assured me I hadn’t passed it on.

So much for convincing her to move in with me. Right now, I had to stay as far away from her as possible.

By the next weekend, my cold had made its way into my chest. I called her on Saturday morning after having slept in for the first time in years. I’d been exhausted. Continuing to work through my cold probably wasn’t doing me any favors for healing.

“Hello,” she answered, sounding as if she’d been sleeping.

“Hi, beautiful.” I started coughing the moment I said the words.

“You sound worse.”

“I feel worse.”

“I wish I could come over and take care of you the way you do for me.”

“That’s sweet, but the best thing you can do for me is to keep your distance. Which hurts me to say.”

“It hurts to hear, but I understand.” A sneeze came after her words.

“You’re not getting sick, are you?” Panic hit me over the little symptom.

“Just a sneeze. I’m probably allergic to you being away from me.”

That put a smile on my face. “Hopefully it won’t be long.”

“You’re not working this weekend, right?”

I had a few things I needed to do, but I was hoping I could rest, too. “Nah. I’ll get some sleep and hopefully feel better by Monday.”

“Good. I’m counting the days until I get to see you.”

“Me too, babe. Me too.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Layla

“It’s one hundred two, point six,” Patty read off the thermometer.