by Sherie Keys
“What happened? You look like you’re about to pass out, Mel.”
Caleb was concerned as soon as he saw my face and he stepped inside and scooped me up into his arms to cradle me against his chest. He walked me into my bedroom and laid me on the bed before tucking me in and turning on the TV for me.
“Do you have any soup here? Have you taken anything?” he asked and I shook my head.
“I’m sorry…I was going to call you to tell you that I got sick, but I fell asleep. I’ll have my brother bring me soup, don’t miss your sister’s birthday party,” I said and Caleb shook his head dismissively.
“No, I’m going to take care of you,” Caleb said resolutely and he took off his jacket and draped it along the back of my sofa chair that I had squeezed into the little reading nook by the window in my room.
“Caleb, stop, that’s crazy. She’s your sister,” I protested and he simply stepped out of my bedroom and I heard him walk into the bathroom.
“I’m going to go pick up some stuff for you. In the meantime stay in bed and rest,” Caleb said and he gave me a firm look that said he meant business. I couldn’t even say anything; he was just set on taking care of me.
“Okay,” I eventually said softly and he walked over to press a kiss to my forehead and then he grabbed his jacket and was out the door. Great…now Caleb was being a night in shining armor and taking care of me? I was completely screwed.
Chapter12
Caleb
I ran out to get Melanie some soup I knew she’d love and some flu medicine, like Tylenol and Nyquil. I shook my head to myself as I saw her opening the door all over again. She was wrapped up in a thick blanket, her eyes had dark circles around them and she had to use the door to hold herself up.
She could barely speak, everything was hardly above a whisper, and she was telling me to go to a party? Clary would understand, I’d take her out and make up for it, I wasn’t just going to leave Melanie like that in her apartment by herself.
By the time I got back to Melanie’s apartment, I found her shivering with cold sweats underneath a mountain of blankets on the bed.
“Shit, Mel, you don’t look good at all, I got some fever medicine, but you might need something stronger,” I said as I walked over to the bed and pulled back some of the blankets. I touched her clammy forehead and winced at how hot it was; she was even paler than when I left her.
“I t—t—think it’s th—the f—flu,” she stuttered through her shivering and I nodded.
“I think so too, try to take a couple of Tylenol. If the fever doesn’t go away then I think we need to go to urgent care or something to get you some meds,” I said and Melanie nodded slowly.
I helped her sit up and then got her a glass of water so she could take the medicine.
“Do you want to try to eat anything, or drink some soup?” I asked her and she shook her head. “You should try though, Mel, especially if you’re burning up with fever,” I said and she sighed.
“Okay,” she said and I smiled.
“You’re an easy patient,” I said and she looked up at me with a half-smile.
“Well, I’ve never had anyone other than my mom take care of me when I’m sick before…and you’re a lot nicer to look at than she is,” she said and I chuckled. I went to get her the soup and then made to feed it to her. “You are not trying to feed me right now are you?” Melanie asked and I looked at her in slight confusion.
“Can you even hold the spoon, Melanie?” I asked her and she took it from me and tried to scoop some of the soup out of the plastic container. Her hand shook so badly that it all just spilled back into the bowl. “And that’s why I’m feeding you,” I said and she looked at me with an almost pained expression.
“You’re killing me Caleb, you don’t have to do this…I can get you sick!” she said and I shook my head.
“I got the flu shot and already had a bit of the flu, I’m good,” I said and then I fed her a spoonful of broth.
Melanie ate about an eighth of the soup before she pushed it away.
“That’s as much as I can eat,” she said softly and I put the bowl down on her bedside table.
“How do you feel?” I asked and noticed that she had stopped shivering at least.
“A little better…I think the Tylenol is working,” she said and I nodded.
“You should drink some cold water to help with your temperature, too,” I said and she shook her head.
“My throat already feels so sensitive,” she said and I pursed my lips.
“Ice packs?” I said and she looked at me in bemusement. I chuckled and then explained, “To put on your chest or neck, to cool down your temperature,” I said and she shrugged.
“If you think that will work,” she said and then let me get some ice packs she already had in the freezer. I made sure to wrap them in a couple of clean hand towels I found in the linen closet and placed them on her chest and over her forehead.
“You’re magic, you know that?” Melanie said and I chuckled.
“Is that the fever talking?” I asked her and then gingerly reclined next to her on the bed and held her hand.
“No…already I feel better and it’s all because of you,” she said and I smiled at her.
“You’re so sweet and genuine and…I forgot and now…I don’t know,” she said and my eyebrows furrowed slightly. I thought maybe her fever was talking.
“Well, Melanie, I take care of the people close to me…I have feelings for you that I can’t dilute and I want you to be…mine,” I said and she looked up at me with wide eyes, she swallowed and then winced, she probably had a full on sore throat by then.
“Caleb…” Melanie said and then she looked down.
“You don’t have to say anything if you aren’t quite ready. How about I make you laugh instead? That’s as good a medicine as any,” I said and she looked back up at me with a small smile.
“Okay…” she said and I pursed my lips while I thought of a joke.
“So…the other day I figured out that it’s hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things…literally,” I said and Melanie laughed, a small bubble of a giggle escaped her lips and I grinned.
“That was so corny,” she said and laughed again, followed by a small cough.
“My co-worker had to take off early from work to go to a dentist appointment today at tooth-hurtie,” I said and Melanie cracked up at that one. “What’s brown and sticky?” I asked her and she sobered a little and then gave me an unsure smile.
“Poop?” she said and giggled, I shook my head and sighed.
“No potty mouth, a stick,” I said and Melanie cracked up again, then it was followed by a coughing fit. “Okay, no more jokes, I don’t want you to cough out your throat,” I said and handed Melanie her glass of water which she finished. “You should rest now,” I said and she nodded.
“Are you going to stay?” she asked quietly and I nodded.
“Of course, I wouldn’t think to leave.”
I kissed her cheek and then put my arms around her. I watched her for a while as she slept. When she started to cool off, I removed the ice packs and pulled a blanket up around her. I wondered what had gotten her sick so quickly? Maybe she had caught something over the weekend. I ended up dozing off next to her and then I was woken up abruptly by a persistent buzzing in my pocket. My sister was calling me.
“So is there a specific reason that you and Melanie missed my birthday dinner. My own brother missing his older sister’s birth celebration,” she said dramatically.
“Calm down, Clary, I’ll take you out on the weekend, Melanie came down with the flu and she couldn’t come. Then I wasn’t going to just leave her to fend for herself, she could barely move,” I explained in a whisper and I looked down at Melanie who was fast asleep.
“Oh, aww, well, tell her I said I hope she gets better soon. You’re such a nice guy, brother, taking care of your girl when she’s sick,” Clary teased.
“Yeah an
d I think things are finally going how I want them to with us. She asked me to stay over at her place and everything,” I said and then smiled to myself; even if she was sick, it was nice to hold her in her own bed.
“Well that’s good, I’ll let you go. I have to try and help Mom clean up, even though she won’t let me do anything,” Clary said.
“Good luck,” I said and then we ended the call.
It was about one in the morning when I checked the time before putting my phone back in my pocket. Melanie started to stir and then she woke up in a coughing fit.
“Hey, let me get you some Nyquil,” I said and she nodded feebly as the coughing started up again.
I got up and went to pour her some of the nasty green liquid. She chased it with some water and then I shrugged out of my jeans and jacket to get comfortable in bed with her.
“Are you sure you won’t get sick?” she asked and I nodded.
“Positive, don’t worry. Try and get back to sleep,” I told her and she settled against my chest, she still felt really warm, but at least it wasn’t as bad as before.
When I woke up in the morning, Melanie was still fast asleep. I really had to be in to work, but it was hard to leave her. I made sure I left instructions on the other pillow that told her to drink lots of fluids and rest. After that I quietly left her apartment and went home to change before heading to work. By the time I got into the office, Melanie called me on the phone.
“Hey, Mel, how are you feeling?” I asked her and she sighed lightly.
“Kind of worse, I need you to come nurse me back to health,” she said.
“I’ll be there tonight to bring you some more soup and tell you a few more bad jokes,” I said and she giggled, followed by a fit of coughing. “You need some cough medicine, Mel, I can have some brought to you,” I offered and she coughed again.
“No, no, it’s okay. My brother is actually bringing me some and he’s bringing soup, too,” she said with a soft sigh.
I was relieved she was being taken care of and relaxed in my desk chair.
“That’s good, I’ll still come by tonight though?” I said it as a question.
“Yes, of course, I need you,” she said and I laughed.
“I won’t let you down,” I promised and then I stayed on the line with her for a little bit before I actually had to get to work.
Come lunch time, Rob and I met up at the sandwich deli where I met up with Melanie after her party crash, and we got one of the few tables outside to eat.
“Bro, I feel like you’ve completely dropped off the map. Ever since you went on that date with Melanie, I haven’t heard from you,” Rob said.
“I know, I’m sorry, it’s kind of been a rollercoaster with her, but I think we’re on track now. She has the flu,” I said with a smile and Rob looked at me like I was crazy. I laughed at his expression and explained myself. “I went over to take care of her and things finally feel…I don’t know, mutual between us. Like I know she likes me just as much as I like her, finally,” I said and Rob nodded.
“I know what you mean, I finally managed to really connect with the girl I told you about, we had the ‘dating exclusively’ talk and all,” Rob said with a grin and I offered him my fist to bump. “I’d say things are lookin’ up for us, man, we should double date, my girl, she’s into that sort of thing. ‘I want to meet your friends; it’ll help me learn more about you.’” Rob imitated a female voice and I cracked up.
“I think I’ve met pretty much all of her girlfriends already in one form or another,” Rob said and I laughed again.
“That’s good, it means she really likes you,” I said and Rob nodded, his smile optimistic.
“What about you? Have you met any of Melanie’s friends or anything yet?” he asked and I nodded.
“I met her brother and best friend, who is incidentally dating my sister now,” I said and Rob’s eyes popped in shock.
“Clary is dating girls now?” he said in shock and I shook my head.
“No man, Mel’s best friend is a guy named Peter,” I said and Rob nodded slowly.
“Oh…well, that’s cool, you all are already interconnected,” Rob said and I nodded, he was right, Mel and I were already closely knit.
I checked my watch and stood up to head back to the office, I made plans with Rob to see him on the weekend for drinks and to catch the game. Thankfully, the rest of the day went by fast so I could get to Melanie quickly.
When I got to her apartment, her brother was still there sitting on the couch with her and it looked like they were drinking tea and just talking. Mel smiled at me as she stood holding the door open, like I was her favorite person in the world. She was in a new set of pajamas, a pair of white sweat pants and a light blue zip up jacket.
“Caleb!” she said and I hugged her tight as I stepped inside.
“Shift change, finally,” Joe said and I chuckled while Mel looked up at him and hit him in the stomach lightly.
“He’s a terrible nurse, he ate my soup and would hardly even make me some tea.” Melanie pouted at Joe and he looked at her as if he were shocked.
“Oh, don’t you go spouting lies, you took two bites of the soup and said you didn’t want it!” he said and Melanie laughed at him. Joe rolled his eyes good naturedly and then looked at me.
“Good luck, it seems like she might be getting better already,” Joe said. I smiled. Joe said his goodbyes and Mel locked up behind him.
“How was your day?” she asked me.
I shrugged. “It was okay, I was thinking about you all day though, how are you feeling?” I asked her.
She sounded like she had a clogged nose and I could see why she said that she felt worse than the night before.
“When I wasn’t blowing my nose or couching up a lung, I was thinking about you too,” she said.
“That’s what I like to hear,” I murmured as I pulled her close into another hug.
Afterwards, Melanie reached behind her to grab the take out bag of soup I picked up for her.
“You know, being on a liquid diet is actually doing wonders for these five pounds I always play tug of war with,” Melanie said and I snorted.
“Where are these five pounds?” I asked and then twirled her around.
Mel had a great body, she was just being a girl.
“In my feet actually,” she said and I cracked up, that I had never heard before.
“I think your brother is right, you seem to be getting back to your normal self,” I said and she giggled as she went to the kitchen to get a bowl and spoon.
Mel and I hung out all night like we did the day before and I slept over yet again. I couldn’t help but be really happy that Mel and I seemed to be finally on the same page.
Chapter13
Melanie
When I woke up to Caleb’s bright brown eyes smiling at me I couldn’t help but smile. He still had that weird effect on my chest, he always made me feel warm and happy. I always forgot that he had that strange effect on me. That coupled with his taking care of me as if I really meant something to him completely left me defenseless.
“Good morning,” he said and I snuggled closer to him and sighed happily.
“Good morning, please tell me you don’t have to go to work,” I said.
“I do actually.”
I stretched along the length of his body like a cat.
Caleb sighed and I felt his hands on my waist as he pushed me gently away from his hips. Caleb got up and I watched him get dressed as he had stripped down to his boxers to go to sleep.
“I want to take you with me, stop giving me those blue green doe eyes,” he said and I giggled.
My throat was feeling a little better, but I felt like my fever was coming back.
“Okay, okay, go make money,” I said
“I will, do you want me to come back later with soup?” Caleb asked me and I was about to nod, yes, when my phone went off.
I rolled over and checked it, then saw it was a text message from
Hunter, he wanted to come over.
“Um, I’ll let you know. You go and take a break from being my nurse.”
“Alright, I’m only a call or text message away, beautiful,” he said and then bent down to kiss my forehead.
I walked him out and then hurried to go get my phone to text Hunter back.
I couldn’t see him; my mixed emotions would probably make me sicker. I was already confused as it was, with how I felt for both Hunter and Caleb. I was pretty sure I was half in love with the both of them.