Page 38 of Caleb's Salvation
I walked in the general direction. Until we were standing in front of a small selection of cereal. The kid pointed directly to the Cheerios and babbled.
“Okay, I got it.” I tossed the box in the basket and we continued that way down each of the short aisles.
Turned out the kid was a very picky eater.
* * *
Vivienne
I cracked open my eyes tentatively, waiting for whatever horror was going to descend on me next. Scorching heat, freezing cold. All over body aches, or nausea. This time all I really felt was weakness. Like my arms and legs were noodles rather than appendages.
I turned in the bed and winced at the smell of the sheets. Gross after the many times over the past few days when it felt like I’d been on fire, only for the fire to subside and leave me drenched in sweat.
Sniffing myself I wondered why I wasn’t more rank.
I turned toward the crib and saw Sam sleeping peacefully. Through the slats I could see his cheeks weren’t blotchy and red, but healthy and pink. He looked clean, the sheets on his bed washed.
I wanted to start crying again but felt so dried out I didn’t think I had the capacity to make tears.
“You’re up.”
I turned my head to see Caleb standing next to the bed. I had no words for the sense of gratitude I felt.
“Thank you,” I said sounding more like a frog than a human. “Sam.”
“Yep. Now let’s see about you.” With that he bent down and picked me up. I was about to explain to him I didn’t think my legs were steady enough for me to stand when he plunked me in the chair by the stove.
Then without saying anything I watched him strip the bed—sheets and blanket. He piled them in what I used as a laundry basket. Gert had a washing machine and dryer in the back of her store that she charged only a dollar a load to use.
In the first few weeks I was here I’d tried to rough it with a bucket and washboard, but my takeaway from that was folks in the 1800s were made of sterner stuff than I was.
He opened another set of sheets and started to make up the bed. I didn’t have a spare set so he must have brought a set from camp. Although thinking he’d managed a trip to camp was odd because I didn’t feel like there had ever been a time where he’d been gone for that long. Anytime I’d managed to wake up, he’d always been here.
When he was done, he came back and crouched in front of me.
“Need to get some food into you, Vivienne.”
Just the thought of food had my stomach revolting. I shook my head.
He laughed.
“What?”
“You look like your kid when you do that. Listen, I know you don’t have an appetite yet, but you haven’t eaten in days. We’ve got to build your strength up. It’s just soup. Yeah?”
He was right. I needed to get back on my feet to take care of Sammy. That wasn’t going happen until I started eating. I nodded.
“That’s my girl.”
He stood and got a bowl from the kitchen area. I saw the pot he had on top of the stove.
“Sam’s okay?” I croaked out.
“Better than you by a long shot.”
“Where did the stuff for the soup come from?”
“The kid and I went shopping.” Caleb returned with a bowl and spoon and sat on the edge of my seat. I was still processing him taking Sam outside on his own when the spoon moved toward my mouth.
