by Todd, E. L.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“It would explain why you aren’t eating and why you’re so tired all the time.”
“Coen, I’m—”
“Just take it.”
She controlled the angry words before they left her mouth. She grabbed the test and walked into the bathroom. After taking it, she confirmed what she already knew. She handed it to him when she walked out. “I’m not pregnant.”
He stared at it. “Then you’re just unhealthy.”
She ran her fingers through her hair. “Coen, I’m already stressed out as it is. All you’re doing is making it worse.”
He stared her down. “I care about you, baby. That’s all.”
“I know, but you’re crossing a line. Back off.”
Coen gripped the edge of the table before he walked to their bedroom. “I guess I’ll see you next week.” He slammed the door.
5
When Sydney woke up the next morning, her head was resting on the kitchen table. She must have fallen asleep last night after she finished her work, too tired to walk to the bedroom. Coen came inside and made himself a cup of coffee.
“You’re going to have a kink in your neck,” he said simply.
Sydney rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
He set his coffee down then started to rub her shoulders and neck.
Sydney felt the soreness of her muscles. She moaned as she felt him touch her.
Coen dropped his hands then grabbed his backpack. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
She sighed sadly, knowing Coen was still pissed at her. She got ready for the day then went to school. She had a quiz in her zoology class, which she felt confident about. When she went to her molecular biology class, she dreaded seeing her husband. They wouldn’t speak, but his anger would be palpable.
She walked inside then took her seat next to him, not looking at him.
He placed his hand on the back of her neck and rubbed it. “Does it still hurt?”
She was surprised by his gentleness. “It feels a little better.”
His hands rubbed her neck and shoulders, making her relax. “Did you finish all your work last night?”
“I think so.”
Coen dropped his hand then rested it in his lap.
Sydney didn’t know what to say. For the first time, she felt awkward around Coen. She hated fighting with him and just wanted to forget it. She knew he meant well, but that didn’t mean he didn’t piss her off. And she understood why Coen was angry with her. He had a valid reason.
The professor started lecturing, and Sydney forgot about Coen for a moment. She scribbled her notes and stared at the board. Coen made notes but his were much different than hers. He drew pictures more than words, and the notes he did take were short and to the point. Sydney wrote down everything the professor said. They had very different ways of thinking.
When class was over, they walked to lunch.
Coen placed his hand around her waist and held her close.
Feeling him touch her made the anger dissipate slightly. It was hard to stay upset when she loved him so much. They went into the cafeteria and sat down.
“What do you want for lunch?” he asked her.
“Just a salad.”
His eyes narrowed but he held his tongue. “I’ll be back.”
Her friends watched him leave.
“I can’t believe you actually tamed him,” Henry said.
“He’s still mad,” she said. “I didn’t get off work until really late and I forgot to tell him.”
“So the honeymoon phase is officially over?” Ren asked.
“We’re just arguing right now,” Sydney said. “He made me take a pregnancy test because I’m tired and have no appetite.”
“Are you pregnant?” Paola blurted.
“No,” Sydney said quickly. “Coen is just being annoying.” She covered her mouth and started coughing, feeling the sting in the back of her throat. She sniffed when her nose started to drip.
“Do you need some water?” Henry asked, handing her his bottle.
She coughed again. “No, thanks. I have my own.” She pulled out her water bottle and took a drink.” When she put it down, she started to cough again.
“You’re coming down with something,” Derek said.
“No, I’m not,” Sydney said quickly. “I never get sick.” She coughed again.
Henry grimaced. “No, you’re getting sick.”
“Don’t tell Coen,” she said as she cleared her throat.
“Why?” Derek asked. “Because you’ll have to admit he’s right?”
Sydney glared at him.
Coen returned to the table and placed the food in front of her. He brought a salad like she requested. He took a bite of his sandwich then leaned back in his chair.
Sydney felt the tingle in the back of her throat, the undeniable necessity to cough. She drank from her water and tried to ignore it. Unable to hold it back, it escaped from her lips. She covered her mouth then acted like nothing happened.
Coen eyed her but didn’t comment.
Her friends started talking, and Sydney ate her food quietly. The need returned and she coughed, covering her mouth. It was deep and guttural. She recovered quickly then ignored Coen. Her friends all looked at Coen, wondering what he would do.
Sydney caught again.
“Do you need more water?” Coen asked simply.
“No,” Sydney said. She waited for him to berate her but he never did. She was surprised by his silence.
After lunch, she went to her afternoon classes then to work at the aquarium. She kept coughing. It wouldn’t stop. She even bought cough drops but that didn’t seem to help. As much as she hated to admit, she knew she was sick.
“Hello, Dr. Goldstein,” she said when she walked in.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I thought you were sick.”
“I’m not,” she said quickly. Another cough attack happened and she covered her mouth.
Gilbert raised an eyebrow. “Your husband called me and said you were too unwell to work.”
She felt her anger rise. “He was mistaken.”
He eyed her. “But you are sick. You should get some rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sydney, please go home. I don’t want to get sick.”
She sighed.
“And you can have Wednesdays off from now on.”
“What? Why?” She knew Coen had something to do with this.
“Coen says you are working too hard. You’re suffering at home and you aren’t getting enough sleep. I said I can lose you one day a week. It’s not a big deal.”
“Don’t listen to him,” she snapped.
“Sydney, I know you are passionate about this and I admire your motivation, but you are still a student. I don’t want you to kill yourself over this. I don’t think less of you.”
“Please, just disregard what he said. I want to be here.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sydney. That’s my final decision. Now go home.”
She sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue. She grabbed her bag and stormed off, livid with Coen. He went behind her back and sabotaged her work. It was unacceptable.
When she came inside the house, Coen was sitting in the living room. By the resigned expression on his face, she knew he was expecting a fight.
“How could you?” she snapped. Her arms were shaking as she stared him down.
“I had to do what’s best for you.” He stood up and looked at her. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” she asked incredulously. “You of all people know how important this is to me.” She coughed loudly, covering her mouth.
He stared at her. “You are the strongest person I know, Sydney. But even the strongest people need to take a step back and admit when they are overwhelmed. You are drowning right now.”
“I’m fine!”
“Sydney, you aren’t okay. You haven’t been okay in weeks
. I did what’s best for you. You can hate me all you want, but I really don’t care.”
“You crossed a line, Coen. This research is important to me. Now he’ll just replace me with someone else.”
“No, he won’t,” Coen said. “I made sure of that. He agreed that you work too hard.”
“I’ve worked so hard on this and you’re just taking it away.”
He looked at her incredulously. “It’s one day a week,” he snapped. “Just one day! You’ll be fine.”
She gripped her hair. “I can’t talk to you.”
“You need to lie down,” he said. “And get some rest.”
“Fuck you, Coen.”
He glared at her. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“You betrayed my trust.”
“No, I didn’t. I had to intervene. You’re sicker than a dog. You don’t sleep and you don’t eat. For a genius, you don’t seem to understand the human body very well. Without food and rest, your body can’t create ATP to supply energy to the body. And without ATP, your immune system suffers.”
“I know basic biology,” she snapped.
“Then you know I’m right. You’re doing too much.”
“I can handle it.”
“Obviously not.”
“This conversation is over.” She marched to the kitchen table and pulled out her books and computer.
“You need to lay down,” Coen said.
“Coen, just go away. I’m so pissed at you right now.”
“I’m not too happy with you either,” he snapped.
She put her earplugs in and ignored him.
Coen went into the living room and started to watch TV.
When she went through her homework, she logged onto her Ecology course to see her most recent grade. When she saw that she was no longer enrolled in the course, she assumed it was a glitch. She logged on again but it did the same thing. Panicked, she emailed her instructor and asked what the problem was. When she read the response, Sydney almost fainted.
“YOU DROPPED ME FROM MY ECOLOGY COURSE!”
Coen turned off the TV. “I had to.”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!”
He stood up and stared her down. “You don’t need the ecology minor. You already have twenty units this semester. That’s almost twice the amount of a full load.”
She felt her arms shake. “That—was—I can’t believe you fucked me over like that.”
“I understand why you’re mad—”
“I’m leaving.” She grabbed her things. “I can’t even look at you right now.”
Coen grabbed her bags and threw them on the couch. “You aren’t leaving.”
“Get away from me!”
“I’ll go,” he said quickly. “Stay here.”
She glared at him. “Then get out already.”
Coen looked at her. “Baby, I hate this as much as you do. But I had to do the right thing.”
“This is completely unacceptable,” she said. “I might be able to understand the different work schedule—someday—but I’ll never forgive you for this. You betrayed my trust. That was just wrong. That’s the same thing as going into my bank account and stealing my money, thinking you have the right to take it.”
He shook his head. “Not the same thing at all.”
“Get out, Coen! I’m this close to slapping you.”
Coen stared at her for a moment. “I’m leaving.” He turned around and headed to the door.
“And don’t come home tonight!”
He slammed the door shut.
Sydney screamed and gripped her scalp. She was so pissed at him. After she calmed down, she contacted the school and reenrolled in the course. Lucky, she was able to fix it since it hadn’t been twenty four hours yet.
When she did her homework, she kept coughing and sneezing. Tissues were dispersed around the room. She started to get a headache but she ignored it. Every time she breathed, her chest hurt. She pushed on and studied her notes.
She put Coen out of her mind as much as possible. He kept creeping back against her wishes, along with the anger she felt. When it was late, she looked at the clock. It was almost midnight and he still wasn’t home. She expected him to return even though she told him not to. Even though she was angry, she hated it when he wasn’t in the house with her. She couldn’t sleep unless he was beside her. Sydney was totally dependent on him.
She picked up her phone and called him.
He answered but didn’t speak.
“Coen?”
“What?”
“Are you coming home?”
“I distinctly remember being told not to come back.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“For what, exactly?”
“For saying that.”
Coen was quiet.
“Please come home.”
“You want me there?”
“I can’t sleep without you,” she whispered.
“You slept fine last night,” he snapped.
“Just come home.”
“Are you still mad?”
“Mad is an understatement. Now get back here.”
“Fine.”
She heard him jiggle his keys then start the ignition. “Where are you?”
“The beach.”
“Were you sleeping in your truck?”
“Why do you care?”
She heard him drive. The faint sound of the radio was on in the background. She stayed on the phone with him while he drove. They fell silent.
When he killed the engine, Sydney walked to the door and opened it. He stayed on the phone until he reached her. Then he hung up.
She stared at him, not knowing what to say.
Coen didn’t touch her. He walked past her then headed to the bedroom.
Sydney turned off all the lights and locked the doors before she went to bed. She was still sniffing and coughing.
Coen lied in bed in his boxers and a t-shirt. He normally slept naked.
Sydney opened his drawer and grabbed one of his shirts, pulling it over her head. She lied beside him but didn’t touch him. She was livid with him, but she felt better knowing he was next to her. It didn’t feel right when he wasn’t there.
Sydney set her alarm.
“Are you going to school tomorrow?” Coen asked.
“Yes.”
He sighed.
“And I got back into my class,” she snapped.
He said nothing.
“Thankfully, I repaired the damage you caused.”
“I was just trying to help you.”
“Well, don’t. I was fine before you came along.”
Coen turned on his side, his back facing her.
Sydney coughed again then heaved. She took a deep breath then her chest hurt. She winced in pain.
Coen turned over and sat up, staring at her.
“Stop looking at me,” she whispered.
He placed his hand on her chest, feeling her breathe. “Take a deep breath.”
“No.”
“Sydney, stop being a brat.”
She did as he asked. She winced in pain when her lungs expanded.
“Shit.”
“What?”
“You have pneumonia.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you fucking do,” he said. “Get dressed.”
“Coen, I’m fine.”
“If I hear you say that one more time, I’m going to scream.”
She flinched at the venom in his voice.
“Now get dressed!”
She climbed out of bed and changed.
Coen drove her to the hospital. Neither one spoke on the drive. Sydney felt her chest hurt with every breath. She didn’t think Coen was right. And if he was right, then she would be in deeper shit.
When they came to the emergency room, Coen guided her to the chair then approached the front desk, taking care of all the paperwork and admission papers. When the nurse took them to the back, Coen kept his arm around he
r waist and held her tightly. Sydney felt tired and weak, like she couldn’t get enough air.
The nurse handed her a gown and told her to change.
Coen sat in the chair and watched her. When she lay in bed, he pulled the covers over her then held her hand, leaning over the bed. His fingers gripped hers tightly. He ran his fingers through her hair and watched over her, his eyes never leaving her face.
They took a few x-rays and blood samples. When the results had returned, the doctor came in.
“Mrs. Marshall?” he asked.
“That’s me,” she said before she coughed.
“According to tests, you have severe pneumonia, which needs to be treated immediately. The nurse will give you some antibiotics and we’ll be monitoring you for the rest of the evening. You came in just in time.”
Coen looked at him. “Will she be okay?”
“She’ll be fine,” he said with a smile.
Coen breathed a sigh of relief.
“We’ll release you in the morning.” He left the room and closed the door.
Sydney stared at the ceiling, feeling the tension increase. Now she knew she had been wrong. “Go ahead and say it.”
“Say what?”
“You were right,” she whispered.
“Sydney, I don’t give a shit about being right.”
She looked at him. “You don’t?”
He kissed her head. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Her eyes softened.
“But we need to have a serious talk about this.”
She sighed.
“You work way too much. You need to take a step back. I think you should still drop that Ecology course. It’s an extra lab you don’t need. And you aren’t working on Wednesdays. That’s final.”
“I didn’t realize it was so bad,” she said quietly.
“It’s okay,” he said as he squeezed her hand. “I know how stubborn you are. When you are motivated, you become blind to signs you don’t want to see. Which is why I’m here. I’m really sorry if I overstepped my boundaries. But I’ve always had your well-being at heart.”
“I know, Coen.”
“So, you’ll take it easy from now on?”
“I’ll be more conscious about it.”
“Thank you,” he said. “And we’re missing something.”
“What?”
“You owe me an apology.”
“I’m sorry for everything.”
“And don’t ever kick me out of the house again. By law, half of that house belongs to me.”