Page 29 of Serial Burn

“You’re not?”

“No, because I’m not going tobea patient. I’ve got a to-do list a mile long and—”

“So, you’re going to go spread your germs to everyone in your path?”

She stopped. And groaned. Whirled back to her bed and dropped onto it. And coughed. “No.”

“I’ll call Lainie and she’ll bring you whatever you need to get you feeling better ASAP.”

“Fine. Thank you. Then you’d better stay away. This is probably the last thing you need.”

“Call whoever you need to call and let them know you’re down for the count for the next few days. At least until that fever breaks.”

“Right.”

“Okay then. I’m going to find you some Motrin.”

“I have some in my bathroom. I’ll get it.”

“Then I’ll go fix you some soup or something.”

“You’ll have to have it delivered. I have nothing in the fridge.” Her face was red, no doubt. Hopefully he’d chalk it up to the fever, not her mortification that he’d taken it upon himself to take care of her and nothing she could say was going to sway his decision.

A pause and then he cleared his throat. “I’ll take care of it.”

He slipped out of her room, and she shut her eyes, doing her best to ignore the fact that she felt like death. At least her stomach wasn’t upset. It was probably just a cold, but then again, the fever indicated infection somewhere. She sniffed. Sinuses.

“God, this was not on my list for today,” she muttered. She forced herself to get the Motrin, then crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over her head.

She must have dozed because when she woke, Lainie was there holding a syringe and a bag from the local pharmacy. She set both on the end table, then settled on the bed next to Jesslyn.

“I don’t wanna be sick. I don’t have time to be sick. Why is this happening to me? Haven’t I been through enough? Now we have to throw feeling awful into the mix? It’s not fair.” Jesslyn couldn’t help the whine in her words.

Lainie smiled, her gaze sympathetic. “I know, but it is what it is. Let’s get some meds in you.” She pulled her stethoscope to her ears and proceeded to give Jesslyn a full examination. Finally, she sat back. “Well, you’re definitely sick.”

“And people actually pay for that kind of genius diagnosis? I’m in the wrong business.”

Lainie laughed. “I know. I’m sorry. Your lungs sound a little tight. Let’s do a steroid shot and an antibiotic, some cough medicine, and all the fluids you can stand. I brought you an inhaler to use as well. You’ll be good to go in a few days.”

“I don’t have time for this, Lainie.”

“So you said. But the good thing is you can work from here. I’m sure you have paperwork to catch up on.”

“Well, yes. That’s true.”

Lainie patted her shoulder. “You might want to find some nose spray too.”

“I have some in the bathroom.”

Lainie administered the meds, gave her a tight hug, then swept out of the room.

Jesslyn coughed, blew her nose, then fell into a restless sleep.

And dreamed of him. The man in her room.“I’ll be watching you, Jesslyn,”he whispered.

Jesslyn yanked herself out of the dream and sat up panting, sweating, and shaking. She hurtled out of the bed and into the bathroom where she lost what little she had in her stomach. From the dream or the virus? She didn’t know, but it was the first time she’d ever dreamed the man spoke to her.

She slid to the floor and lay on the cool tile while she processed everything. Had he spoken those words? That he would be watching her?

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