Page 14 of Wreckage of Us
“Are you okay?” Jessica is now staring at me, unsure of how she should proceed. I bet this is not something she’d normally do either.
“Eh,” I move my hand side to side, “I’ve been better.”
“Are you pregnant?” I just stare at her. Is this public knowledge now? “I heard you and your rowdy biker friend fighting,” she shrugs like it’s no big deal. “And I threw up a lot in the first trimester of my pregnancy. I feel for you,” she points to the toilet, then stands up to put the lid down and flush.
“Thank you, Jess…ica.” God, why can’t I just say her whole name without sounding stupid?
“Here,” she grabs me by one arm and moves so that she can help me up. “We gotta clean you up, get that taste out of your mouth, okay?”
I nod in agreement, groaning when I am standing up. My head spins for a second, almost like I did it too fast.
“I need to go grab a glass from your kitchen,” Jessica eyes me with worry, like I’ll break if she walks away. “Will you be okay in here for a minute?”
“Yeah,” I nod, and she takes off with the little bag she’d brought with her.
She doesn’t give me a lot of time to wait because she’s back before I can get my bearings.
“Here,” she puts a glass with some sort of clear liquid in my hand. “Rinse your mouth with this.”
“What is it?” I eye it suspiciously, hoping that whatever it is, it won’t make me sick again.
“I mixed some baking soda in plain water. It’ll take the bad taste out of your mouth,” she explains. “If you brush your teeth too soon, it’ll strip the enamel off.”
I take the glass she’s forced into my hand, and just stare at her like she sprouted a second head.
“It’s safe, I promise,” she bobs her head up and down, eyes big in her face, perfect hair and makeup in place.
Since I don’t have very many options, I take a tentative sip from her drink to rinse off. It’s not enough to swoosh around, so I end up spitting it out, then taking a healthier sip.
“Rinse it around for a little longer,” Jessica instructs. She moves her hands around, like she’s unsure of what to do with them. She almost looks like she wants to pat me on the back at some point, but then changes her mind.
“Wow,” I tell her once I’m done, “thank you so much. It did help a lot.”
“If you have a Coke, it’ll rinse out the back of your throat, too,” she explains, a wealth of knowledge in my life all of a sudden.
“Oh, I don’t have any pop in the house. My brother has been on a health kick,” I explain. “Coke is not good for you…”
“Ha, I know all about that,” she chuckles. “If I want to continue making any money off posting videos of myself, sugar is completely off limits.”
Once I’m confident that I feel much better, we both walk out of the bathroom and toward my living room. I hear a little squeal from the floor. Baby Ryan is strapped in a bouncy chair of sorts, kicking his little feet up a storm and chewing on something like his life depends on it.
“Hey, he’s not crying,” I smile at him.
“God, I gave him some baby Tylenol like you suggested the other day.” The worry in Jessica’s voice is obvious. “I was so nervous about it. I kept on reading horrific stories about it online…”
“It’s not like you give him enough to overdose on it, Jess…ica.” Jesus, I need to drill her name into my head. “It’s just enough to give him a bit of a relief. Imagine the pressure in his head from all the crying.”
“You’re right,” she agrees as she lets out a huge breath of air. “And I got some chewing toys for him. That’s a frozen teething ring,” she points to Ryan who is looking the happiest I’ve seen him since I started talking to his mother.
We sit in silence, just watching the baby blowing bubbles as he massages his little gums with the cold toy in his hands.
“So,” Jessica finally says. “You and rowdy biker dude, huh?”
“What about it?” I chuckle nervously.
“I’m assuming he’s the baby daddy?” she lifts her eyebrows in question. “Or is it the well dressed guy?” She’s noticed Oliver.
“It’s not like that.” I sound very defensive even to my own ears.
