Page 101 of You Spin Me

A little concerned that she’s asking the question when I just gave her the answer, I give her a kiss on the forehead so I can sneak a check of her temperature. Her brow seems a bit clammy, but it’s not hot. “We can leave anytime you want to. Let me know, and we’ll go.”

“I will.”

“Alright,” I say as I open the door. “Brace yourself. My family’s kind of a zoo.”

JESS

The minute we step inside Cal’s family home, I know this was a mistake. Everything feels off. My skin feels tight and dry, the nausea is back, and in addition to a constant need to pee, a persistent pain prowls through my lower back and pelvis. Bella’s question from yesterday rears its ugly head again.

Meeting your just-told-you-he-loves-you boyfriend’s family while wondering if you’re pregnant? Not ideal.

There are so many of them. Brothers and at least one sister, nieces and nephews and maybe a cousin or two? A sea of faces and names I can’t quite hold onto.

Ialwaysremember names. But right now…

I’m onstage in a play that I forgot to learn lines for.

I’m not even sure what role I’m supposed to play.

My costume feels too hot and then too cold.

The audience won’t stop talking.

And I want this nightmare to be over.

CAL

When my mom finds me in the backyard throwing a ball with my nephew and Blondie, she pulls me aside to tell me that Jess doesn’t look well. Something tells me this isn’t good, so I ask my mom if she’ll keep Blondie another night and go looking for my girl. When I find her slumped against a bookshelf nodding listlessly at whatever my cousin who teaches high school English is talking about, I swoop in, scoop her up and bundle her back into the car. This time when I brush my lips over her brow, she’s burning up, so after I start the car and get the heat going, I run back into the house to get some Tylenol from my mom.

Jess takes it without a word and then falls asleep before I get to the Mass Pike. I decide to take her to my place so I can keep an eye on her. When I park the car, she doesn’t wake up. As I gather her into my arms, our foreheads touch. Hers is still too warm, despite taking the medicine. Hustling inside, I peel her coat off.

“I can do it,” she mutters, pushing me away and stripping right there in my living room till she’s in nothing but her underwear. Suddenly, shivers shake her body. “Cold.”

“Shit.” Picking her up again, I carry her to the bed.

“Tired.”

“I know, princess.” When I brush the hair off her face, her forehead’s clammy. “You’re sick.”

“I always get sick after a show,” she groans, turning on her side. “Burn candle at both ends… Sorry, didn’t mean to…”

She falls asleep mid-sentence.

After tucking her in, I give Cash some attention along with fresh water and food and then pace around the loft, not sure what to do. Hoping that Jess can fight off whatever she’s got with some rest, I settle in front of the TV to watch whatever football is on with the sound off. I doubt it’d wake her, but I want to make sure I can hear if she needs anything.

When I wake up, it takes me a few moments to figure out where I am. The apartment is dim, the TV’s on with no sound, and there’s a heavy weight on my chest. Then I hear the sound that must’ve woken me up. Someone’s throwing up. Cash yowls when I sit up and dump him off the couch, so it wasn’t him.

Coughing from the bathroom.

Jess.

I find her slumped on the ground, her head on the edge of the tub. “So hot.”

Touching the back of my hand to her forehead, I wince. “Oh my god, you’re burning up.”

She dives for the toilet and retches, but nothing comes out. When she turns to face me, she looks so small and pitiful. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I hope I don’t get you sick.”

Fever means infection. Infection can kill a burn victim, so I go into panic mode. Jess isn’t a burn victim, of course but it still freaks the shit out of me. “I’m worried about you, Jess.” It’s Sunday, so the only doctor I could take her to is the emergency room of the hospital. I haven’t been to a hospital in fifteen years. Even when my sister had the baby, even when my dad had hernia surgery. I couldn’t go.

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