Page 34 of Caleb's Salvation
“Idiot,” I cursed under my breath. “Don’t worry about it, Ty. I got it.”
He left and I left right after him. My first stop was to the camp’s medical offices where I loaded up with everything I would need for both Vivienne and the baby. And if I made the call they were too sick, I would bring them to camp and decide if I needed to take them to Nome.
* * *
Cal
I got to Vivienne’s cabin and knocked hard. I tried the door but she’d had the good sense to keep it locked if she was inside, sick. Unable to defend herself. A roll of fear overtook me as I thought about the danger she was in. I wasn’t necessarily worried about the people of Hope’s Point, but if a bear came sniffing around and she couldn’t get to her gun…
“Vivienne!” I shouted and knocked again, harder. “Get your ass out of bed and open this door.”
I could hear the shuffling behind the door before it finally opened.
“You look like shit,” I told her. In fact, she looked like death warmed over. I didn’t stop to take a good look in her glassy eyes, which I knew meant she was spiking a fever.
I stepped around her and made my way to the crib.
“Don’t wake him,” she said hoarsely. “I just got him down.”
The cabin smelled like sick. And I could see she’d stripped the sheets off the crib but hadn’t replaced them. Too weak to take care of that basic task, no doubt.
“Sit,” I ordered when I saw her still standing by the door. She closed it and I watched her slowly make her way to the chair near the fire. She was shivering by the time she sat.
I cursed under my breath and bent over the crib. As gently as I could I placed the back of my hand against the baby’s forehead. His face was red, and I could see a crust of snot stuck to the bottom of his nose.
He was running hot. I didn’t need the thermometer to tell me he had a fever.
“I’ve got to get some aspirin in him,” I told her. I set the bag of stuff I’d brought from camp on her kitchen table. I found a bottle by the sink and filled it with some apple juice she had sitting out on the table. Dropped two low-dose aspirin in it, sealed the nipple top and shook it up. I waited until the aspirin dissolved enough then went back to the crib.
“No,” she said again. But her head was dropped against the chair and it didn’t matter if she thought to stop me or not, there was nothing she could do.
I lifted the baby out of the crib and settled him on my shoulder. I tipped the bottle into his mouth hoping that, as hot as he was, he’d also be thirsty. He didn’t even open his eyes. Just sucked on the aspirin-filled juice until it was gone.
I laid him out in the crib again, deciding he needed the rest more than he needed the sheets. I covered him with the blanket then went to see about his mother.
I took the thermometer and plopped it in her mouth. She didn’t appear to have any fight left in her because she accepted the electronic device without complaint. A few seconds later it beeped.
One hundred and one. High but not quite dangerous. I brought over the adult-dose aspirin with a cup of water for her to drink.
She accepted it with a nod and swallowed the pills.
“Couldn’t get to Gert’s,” she said, and it made me cringe to hear how her chest rattled.
Bending down, I picked her up then walked her over to the bed.
“No, I have to stay awake. In case Sammy needs me. Got sick.”
I laid her out on the bed and pulled the blankets over her. “I’ll watch him,” I told her. “You need to sleep, and I need to make sure that aspirin breaks your fever. Then we’ll talk about getting some liquid into you and more into the kid.”
“Need to do this…” she said, but her eyes were already fluttering closed.
By the time I finished tucking her in, she was asleep. The fire in the stove was dying. She probably didn’t have the stamina to go outside for more wood. So stupid to let herself get so weak.
And why the hell hadn’t Ty realized she needed help and at least made sure she had a ration of wood available?
Quietly cursing everyone under my breath, I set about putting everything in order. Wood was stacked inside within easy reach. I checked her cooler, which I knew she used as a refrigerator to keep the homemade baby food fresh. Everything was laid out with labels. Mashed sweet potatoes. Mashed carrots. Mashed peas. Applesauce.
Geez, give the kid a little something to chew on. Where were the… I looked around the cabinet and saw a pantry shelf of food on the wall. On top were the Cheerios. Because every kid needed Cheerios.
