Page 20 of Keeping His Brat

“A bath?” He was groggy and disoriented but a hot bath did sound good.

“Yes, the whole bed needs to be changed and I can’t do it with you in it. A hot bath might help clear up your sinuses too.”

He thought about it. Or tried to, his brain wasn’t working properly. The answer was slow, but he got there. “Yeah.” He heaved himself up to sit on the side of the bed, with her assisting.

“Let me help you,” she said, taking his arm like he was a feeble old man.

His pride protested it, even if he did ache like he was ninety. “I can manage.”

She gave him a look that said she wasn’t so sure but let go anyway. That didn’t keep her from hovering over him all the way the bathroom.

He was secretly glad for it because there were a couple of times when he wasn’t sure he’d make it after all. Sitting was necessary to undress. Trying to stand while he pulled the shirt over his head was a disaster waiting to happen. In the end he needed her help.

It took them so long that the tub was full and steaming before he was fully nude. But the water felt wonderful when he slid down into it. He only wished it was deep enough to submerge himself, but it did help with the aches.

“I’m going to close the curtain to keep the steam in. Please—” She paused and gave him a pleading look. “—don’t try to get up until I’m back? Please Daddy?”

He laughed at the intensity of her plea. “I’m not an invalid, Charlie.”

“Bathrooms are slippery and dangerous even when people are in perfect shape, and you are definitely not.” She sighed. “Just humor me, okay?”

“Alright, girly. I’m not going anywhere.” To prove the point, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

There was a brief pause, as if she were weighing his truthfulness and then he heard the curtain rattle closed. She shut the door on the way out too. He was grateful for that because it tended to get chilly with it open.

He could hear her rummaging around in the linen closet and then there was only silence. He let out a long low groan. The water felt good, but his head was still aching. The bath needed to be kept at a barely tolerable level of heat too, otherwise he started to shiver. Long before she returned, he’d let half of it out to add more hot water.

Sam repeated that process several times only instead of letting the near-scalding water come out of the spigot, he flipped the lever to the shower. That was much better at creating clouds of steam and finally he could feel the congestion in his head loosening. With it, the ache in his face slowly retreated and he could inhale through his nose.

But when he tried to take deep breaths through his mouth it set off the coughing again. He could feel a grumbling in his chest that was worrying. If the congestion settled in his lungs, he wasn’t looking at one or two days in bed. He was looking at a week, or maybe even more.

At least the steam was loosening it and bringing it up, so the cough was productive. He kept inhaling deep and forcing the coughing to break it up for as long as the hot water lasted. Which wasn’t that long. The old tank just didn’t hold enough, but Charlie bustled back in before he could even consider getting out.

“That cough sounds awful,” she said first thing, frowning down at him.

“You could hear me out there?”

She rolled her eyes. “Daddy, they could hear you in Mexico.”

“Smart ass. I was coughing on purpose to loosen the congestion. It’s fine, Charlie.” It was true enough and he didn’t want her worrying, but her expression said she wasn’t buying it.

As she helped him to stand up, she said, “If you’re not better tomorrow I’m going to call the doctor.”

“Is that a threat?” He was amused. Being sick seemed to have put her in a bossy mood that he wasn’t used to seeing from her.

“It’s a promise. I don’t want it getting serious.” There was a worried line crossing the center of her forehead and her mouth was turned down at the corners.

“Honey, doctors don’t make house calls anymore and I’m not sure I’m up to going into town just now.”

“Then I’ll call Dr. Stell. He makes house calls!”

He paused in the middle of toweling himself off to look at her like she’d gone out of her mind. “Charlie, Stell is a vet.”

“And you’re acting like a stubborn bull so I’m sure it will work out.”

He stared at her and then shook his head laughing. That seemed to relax her a little bit and her forehead evened out. At least until the laughing started him coughing again, then she was back to looking worried. He leaned over to spit a blob of something into the toilet and she wrinkled her nose.

“Gross. And that … that doesn’t look good at all.”

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