Page 16 of Sunday

He tugged on one of my curls, and I noticed his eyes dipped down to my lips. Instead of remarking on that, I answered his question.

“Considering the man of my dreams doesn’t want me, I think I’ll die an old maid,” I replied dramatically.

“Get outta here. Your future husband is out there waiting for you to date again,” he commented and chuckled.

“Nope. I think I’ll just sit on this couch and wait for my dream husband to get healed so he can be whole for me.”

I winked at him. Cedar smirked and then turned up the volume on the TV again.

Sunday & Cedar

Seven Weeks Later – Sunday

Ifelt like my insides were being snatched out. With the sniffles and lethargic feeling I had the last few weeks, I thought it was just a summer cold. But it had evolved into something else.

I couldn’t keep anything down, and I hadn’t been able to for the last couple of weeks. I lost weight, and my skin was dry and ashen. My supervisor, Heather Daly, insisted that I take a few days to recover.

Today, I felt no better than I had felt all week long. It didn’t seem that I was recovering, and as much as I didn’t want to, I knew that it was time to go to the doctor.

I pushed up into a seated position in bed and grabbed the glass of ginger ale on the nightstand. I took a couple of sips, and my stomach instantly heaved.

“God,” I groaned.

I threw my hands over my mouth, cutting off the prayer that I wanted to utter. I barely managed to throw the covers back, run to my bathroom, and grip the edges of the sink before the dry heaving started.

I looked up into the mirror when I finished, and I was devastated. Not only did I feel horrible, but I looked horrible.

“God, I look like crap,” I moaned and pulled my fingers through my cloud of hair. The natural color of my fire-red hair was actually sandy-brown, but I dyed it a year earlier. It was a blend between my mother’s blonde hair and my father’s dark brown hair before he lost his. I bunched my hair up in my fists. The natural curls were tangled and dull and even matted in some places from where I’d been lying in bed for too long.

I licked my lips and flinched at the burn.

“Something’s got to give, girl. You can’t keep going day in and out like this,” I mumbled.

A knock sounded at my door, and I groaned. Cedar knocked again, and I wanted him to go away. I hoped that if I ignored him, he would assume that I was asleep and leave me alone. I grabbed my toothbrush and the toothpaste. I squeezed some toothpaste on it and immediately turned the toothbrush on.

I was in the midst of brushing my teeth when my bedroom door jerked open, and Cedar made his way into my bedroom. I kicked the bathroom door closed, and he banged on it.

“Sunny, open the door.”

“Wait,” I muttered around the electric toothbrush.

“I did, and you didn’t respond.”

I finished brushing my teeth and used my mouthwash. Afterward, I grabbed the comb and tried to detangle my hair.

Cedar opened the door this time without knocking.

“Cedar, really?”

“You act like you can’t hear me. I was knocking at the door.”

“And I was using the bathroom.”

“You could’ve said that.”

“I was brushing my teeth, couldn’t say much.”

“Girl, give me that before you snatch yourself bald.”

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