Page 47 of Deception and New Direction

How was she hearing my thoughts?

“Because you are saying them out loud,” she said continuing to speak at volumes that hurt my head.

She then placed her ice-cold hands on my forehead, which felt amazing.Isighed into her hand.

“Jack, you’re burning up.”

“No, your hands are just cold, but they feel amazing.Givethem back.”

“Do you have a thermometer?” she asked loudly.

“Yeah,Ithink there’s one in my first aid kit somewhere,”Ireplied.

Then everything was quiet.SinceIfelt like death warmed over,Iassumed that everything must get quiet before you pass on to the afterlife.Iaccepted my fate, thoughIwas slightly pissed becauseIhad finally gottenRuthieinto my bed, and nowIhad to lose her.Lifewasn’t fair.

“Open your mouth,Jack,”Ruthieagain yelled from a few inches from my face. “Let’scheck your temperature.”

She stuck the device in my mouth and waited until it beeped, and thenIhanded it back toRuthiewithout even checking it.

“Wow,” she exclaimed.

“Please talk quieter and stop yelling,”Ibegged her so she didn’t make my head hurt more.

Thankfully she changed to a softer, more manageable voice when she spoke again. “Youhave a fever of 100.8 degrees.Youare staying home today.I’llletArcherknow, andI’llhave anUbercome get me for work.”

“Don’t leave me,”Ibegged her. “Havesex with me one last time beforeIdie soIcan die a happy man.”

She laughed, and the sound was both lovely to hear and painful to my eardrums.

“Ruthie,”Igroaned rolling to a facedown position in bed. “I’mleaving everything to you andDashwhenIdie.”

She snorted next to me. “You’renot going to die.Youjust have the flu or something.”

She was wrong.Iwas definitely going to die.Ifelt terrible.

“It’s not the flu.It’sthe plague.Iknow it,”Imumbled to her, feeling my headache start to worsen.

She kissed the side of my forehead and it felt great, and then my world went black.Dyingfelt a lot like falling asleep—which was good.Ineeded sleep.

In a cruel twist of fate,Idid not sleep for long.Aloud banging noise was taking place somewhere in my vicinity.Iwasn’t sure if it was construction workers or someone trying to break into my house.Eitherway,Iwas in no shape to go investigate, so they were just going to get free rein of the house.

I did feel slightly better after my very brief nap.IfIhad to guessIwould say the nap was a little more than ten minutes, but it did help.

“Hey patient, how you feeling?”Elliesaid from the doorway.

“What are you doing here?”Iasked her.

“Ruthie called me—Ihad the day off—to come check on you,” she said, andIwas thankful she wasn’t shouting likeRuthiehad earlier.

“You got here quick, ‘causeIonly took a short nap afterRuthieleft me.”

Ellie laughed and walked closer to me. “You’vebeen napping for almost three hours by my calculation.Youwere napping whenIfirst got here, soIwent to the drugstore to get you some meds.Thenyou were napping whenIgot back, soIstarted to make you soup.”

Ahh, so that’s where those loud noises came from.

“I only woke you now because you need to get some food in you so you can take the medicine,” she added, andInoticed she had carried in a bowl of soup and set it on my nightstand. “Here, drink up.Ialso made you some tea.”

“You didn’t need to come over,”Itold her, though she made amazing soup, soIwas happy to have it.

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