Never Say Die- Chapter 15

 

Chapter 15

 

 

            I spent the rest of the weekend riding on a cloud of euphoria, thoughts were running through my head like a tape on fast forward, I couldn't stop thinking about having a real life with him. The thought was occurring to me that maybe he could be ok with my secret, and then this dream could actually become a reality.

            Maybe we could get married, have kids- I stopped on that last thought, I was part human but I really didn't know if I could have kids with one, demons had...well, “babies” wasn't exactly the word I would use but they reproduced all the time so why couldn't I? Maybe that was an option that I'd explore somewhere down the road when I was more comfortable with the idea.

            For the most part I couldn't wipe the ecstatic grin off of my face the rest of the time we were there, I felt like I had new hope, a new meaning for existing and Rhys was it. We “celebrated” his promise in the same way we had before but it was different this time, more passionate and maybe even more loving if that was possible. It was like I could explode with the love I felt, I didn't want to take my eyes off of him for even a minute in case my euphoric dream would end if I did.

            All too soon we had blazed through lunch at the Indian village and were back on the plane heading home. I snoozed against his shoulder for more of the ride since we hadn't really slept much the night before, we'd been too busy....doing other things. My flowers were in my lap and his ring was on my hand, I was the happiest girl on that plane by a long mile.

            When we stumbled into the front door, Flan was waiting for us and she didn't look happy.

            “I can't believe the two of you would run off and do something like this without telling me.” She suddenly turned directly to me, “And you, I specifically asked you before you even left! We're supposed to be best friends Saydie!” I stood staring open-mouthed at her while she ranted on with no clue what she was talking about.

            Rhys managed to interject before I could, “Flan, what are you talking about? We're tired and I want to go to bed.” I couldn't help the smile that came to my face at his last words and one glance at him showed that we were on the same train of thought.

            “What am I talking about?” Flan sounded completely outraged, obviously she was completely convinced that we were lying about something. “I'll tell you what I'm talking about, the two of you running off to Seattle and getting marr-” she snatched my left hand into her own and held it up. “-ied…” she trailed off, looking at my hand and suddenly her anger made sense. I held up my right hand and wiggled my fingers at her, the band caught the light and it shined back at her.

            Her mouth fell open as she stared at me in confusion and suddenly I stared back at her in horror, realizing that we had no way to explain to Rhys how she even knew yet, if I'd actually had the ring on my left hand she could have just claimed that she'd seen the ring but now she'd put us both in a tight spot with very few ways out. I should have known you'd see the ring and over-react Flan. I thought at her, not angry but still frustrated. She still stared silently at me, not responding verbally or mentally.

            I turned to Rhys, “Why don't you go lay down and I'll be in there in a minute?” I suggested, he seemed relieved to leave the situation behind him as he hurried toward the stairs.

I held my breath until he was up the stairs and I heard my bedroom door close. Flan and I both let out our breath at exactly the same time.

            “Saydie I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking.” She said, having the good grace to look ashamed of herself.

            “You should be, you could have blown both of our secrets out of the water!” I whispered loudly with a hint of anger in my voice.

            Her eyes lit up then, “So you didn't get married?” She looked slightly over-enthusiastic for the news and I raised an eyebrow at her.

            “Come on Say, I saw him buy the ring and put it on your hand, my visions aren't perfect and guys usually give you diamonds not gold bands when they propose. I thought you were hiding something from me.” She looked at me sheepishly and I couldn't help grinning at her as she reached for my right hand to look closer at the ring.

            “It's just a promise ring, he asked me if I wanted to marry him sometime down the road and told me that he was going to make me the happiest woman who ever lived.”

            Flan managed to look impressed at my words while still scrutinizing the ring, “Well he certainly went all out on this ring, that's the fanciest promise ring I've ever seen. I guess we know what your answer was but how are you planning to pull this off?”

            I walked into the living room and sank onto the couch, “I have no idea, I couldn't even stop myself from saying yes, it was an automatic reaction. But for the first time in my life I actually want this, I want to marry him and have kids and watch them grow up...I just don't know how to actually make it happen.”

            “You can always just tell him.” she hinted but I shook my head.

            “I'm just not ready for that yet, but this does make me feel like things might be okay when I finally do tell him, I just have to find the right time.” I sighed and then tried to stifle a yawn.

            “I also saw you being auctioned off on a stage in a fundraiser, what was that about?” I looked at her confused for a moment and then laughed.

            “The football team is having a ball on Halloween to benefit foster kids and orphans, I figured it was a good cause. I can wear something sexy, turn up the Charisma and watch the dollars come in.”

            “And Rhys is alright with someone winning you, so to speak?”

            “No we'll rig it so that he's the highest bidder and i'll back the money if he can't afford it.”

She looked impressed, “Not like anyone is going to be able to beat you there. Way to get involved in human activities by the way. I guess this means we'd better go costume shopping, unless you plan to just go as your alter ego?” I smiled at how she referred to my demon side.

            “I suppose I could get some horns and a pitchfork, it would be sort of funny in a generic kind of way. If ever there was a holiday for it this would be it.”

            “I'm sure you could come up with some embellishments to make yourself stand out.”

            “Stand out? Have you seen me lately?” I asked, running my hand up and down the side of my body, gesturing for her to look me over.

            She laughed, “Of course I have, I mean that you can do something to make your costume not be so generic.”

            “Yeah right along with your witch costume.” I raised an eyebrow and looked at her pointedly, she held up her hand in a gesture that suggested that I should stop right there.

            “I never said I was even going, much less dressing up for it.”

            I stood up, “Oh you bet you are, if I'm going, you're going, if I have to I'll get Hadley up there on that stage and back up your bid too.” I threatened playfully, but she actually seemed to like that idea.

            “You get Hadley in on it and I'm totally there.” she answered as if she would have never thought twice about it.

            I made a mental note to tell Rhys about it before he talked to the committee, “Done, there's what? Two weeks left?” she nodded and I realized that the time Rhys and I had been together had gone by awfully fast. “I'll tell him first thing in the morning, maybe we can see if a few of Hadley's other friends want to get in on it.” This time I couldn't hide the yawn that escaped my lips.

            “I'm going to bed.” I said heading for the stairs.

            “Wait!” she hissed, “What are you going to tell him about what I said?” she asked suddenly looking very apprehensive. I'd almost forgotten about the incident already.

            “I don't know, I'm pretty sure I have until after school to figure something out. I'm too tired to worry about it now.” I said, waving as I went up the stairs. She still looked worried and as I reached my door I heard her sigh before heading up the stairs behind me.

 

            I'd been very wrong about having until after school to talk to Rhys about anything. When I woke up, Rhys was gone which I'd expected, but what I hadn't expected was the gagging noise that suddenly came from my bathroom. I jumped up out of bed and darted for the bathroom door, upon pushing it open I saw Rhys half lying on the floor, clutching the bowl as if his life depended on it.

            “Oh my god Rhys are you alright?” I asked stupidly, Of course he's not alright he's throwing up. I thought, angrily at myself.

            “I'm alright, I either ate something bad or caught a flu in Seattle.” he moaned before burying his head in the toilet and vomiting up bile. I generally had a stomach made of steel but even I couldn't avoid the gagging feeling in the back of my throat as I registered the scent of vomit hanging in the bathroom combined with actually watching him do it.

            “How long have you been in here?” I asked, worried now that he had nothing left in his stomach, while trying not to breathe.

            “What time is it?”

            I looked at my watch, “It's a little after nine.” I replied.

            “I got up at seven but I've been awake since about six fifteen.” I felt terrible now, he'd been laying on the cold bathroom floor for over two hours and had never even called for me. What bothered me even more was that I hadn't even heard him in here puking for all that time.

            I thought quickly, it might be better to just leave him where he was rather than moving him for now, I'd go see if I could find him some saltines and ginger ale and see if that helped. If I was lucky I'd catch Flan before she left for class, maybe she'd have something in her arsenal of herbs and potions to help him feel better.

            Not worrying about how fast I was moving, I rushed over to the closet to grab him a blanket and was back in half a second draping it over his back. I reached up over the sink and grabbed a paper cup from its holder and filled it with water, No point in giving him a full glass until we know he can keep it down.

            “I'm going to see if I can find anything to help you feel better baby I'll be right back.” he barely seemed to register that I'd spoken and I flew down the stairs to see if Flan was still home. Thankfully, she was still in her pajamas, waiting for the coffee pot to start brewing.

            I stared at her in surprise, “Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?” I asked, hardly daring to believe that she'd just ditch for no reason in my time of need.

            “It's Columbus Day, no school. I forgot.” she shrugged and then looked directly at me as if she had finally woken up.

            “What's wrong with you? You look all worried about something.” her words reminded me of why I'd come looking for her in the first place.

            “Well I guess it's a good thing that you didn't have school because Rhys is up in my bathroom puking his guts out.” I said, once again fighting the gagging in my throat as I hurried over to the cupboard, took out a glass and filled it with water from a pitcher in the fridge. The cool water soothed my gagging immediately and I was able to speak again.

            “I don't know a whole lot about how to care for a sick human, can you help me out here?”

She smiled widely, “Sometimes I forget that you're not used to being around humans so intimately.” Caring for the man I loved while he threw his guts up in my bathroom was about as intimate as it could get for me, I had to love him a whole lot to help him out with something so disgusting.

            “Do you have any cures or potions or something to at least stop the vomiting and maybe help him keep down some water or ginger ale?”

            She raised an eyebrow at me, “Well you seem to know the basics.” She said as she headed for the downstairs bathroom to pull a bottle of pink liquid out of the medicine cabinet.

            “This is Pepto Bismol it might help with the vomiting.” She said, handing it to me before walking back to the kitchen to pull a bottle of water out of the fridge. “Give him this too but wait about 20 minutes or so after he drinks the Pepto. I'll see if I can whip him up something to settle his stomach and get him back to normal.” She promised before I could even ask again. I was up the stairs in a flash with both bottles in my hands.

When I got back to my room the bathroom door was closed so I knocked.

            “Everything still alright in there?” I asked cautiously.

            “Please don't come in, I don't want you to see me like this!” he moaned, worrying me further.

            “Rhys what's wrong now? You can tell me.” I pleaded but still didn't open the door.

            “Crap coming out both ends...” he muttered quietly not realizing that I could still hear him, but I didn’t say anything.

            “I have a bottle of-” I looked at the label to remember the name, “Pepto Bismol here if you need it. I'll set it here outside the door with a bottle of water. I'm going to grab a cup of coffee but call me if you need anything before I get back okay?” I set the bottles down right against the door.

            “S**t!” I heard him exclaim, “Can you call Marlene and tell her I couldn't open?” he begged.

            “Of course, I'll do that right now.” I promised and pulled my phone out of my pocket to call the shop.

            Marlene answered on the first ring, “Marlene's how can I help you?”

            “Marlene this is Saydie Mason, I'm calling about Rhys.”

            “Oh Saydie thank goodness! He didn't come in this morning and isn't answering his phone, I was worried, is he alright?” she said sounding tremendously concerned.

            “His stomach isn’t agreeing with him and he's been throwing up for hours. He won't let me in the bathroom now, I think he's got diarrhea too.” I replied cringing as I shared the last bit of information.

            “Oh dear, well tell him not to worry about anything, he can take all the time he needs to feel better. Thank you so much for letting me know, would you be a dear and call his mother? She worries so much about him and now that I’m short handed I don't really have time to make the call myself.” As much as the idea frightened me I agreed and wrote down his mothers’ office number on my hand after grabbing a pen off of my night stand.

            When I hung up I went back over to the bathroom door, noticing that he'd snatched the bottle of Pepto and the water while I wasn't looking. “I called Marlene she says to take all the time you need to get better.” I decided not to tell him just yet that she'd asked me to call his mother.

            “Thank you baby, I love you.” his words were barely more than a whisper but they made me smile.

            “You're welcome, I'm glad I can do something to help. I'm going to go grab that coffee and I'll be right back.” He groaned in response, it sounded like he was throwing up again, and I hurried back downstairs, I was going to need Flan for what I had to do next.

            With her hand in mine I slowly dialed his mothers phone number, my heart felt like it was going to pound its way out of my chest as the line began to ring on the other end.

            The secretary answered, “Davis Architecture, how may I direct your call?” A nasal voice asked.

            “I'd like to speak to Mrs. Davis please.”

            “Mrs. Davis is unavailable at the moment, may I take a message?” Even through the phone I knew that she was lying.

            “My name is Saydie Mason, would you please tell her that I'm calling about her son Rhys, it's important.” I said firmly and without another word she put me on hold and the sounds of soft classical music came through the receiver. Less than 10 seconds later I heard a very pleasant but worried voice answer come on the line.

            “This is Sara Davis, you're calling about my son?” she asked quickly, sounding as if she'd dashed for the phone.

            “Yes Mrs. Davis, my name is Saydie Mason, I'm Rhys's girlfriend, I don't know if he's mentioned me to you...” I trailed off feeling kind of stupid now, not actually sure that he had in fact told his family about me.

            “Saydie! Of course he's mentioned you to us, I've never heard my son so happy to talk about anything in his life!” I blushed in response, thankful that she couldn't see me as Flan elbowed me in the ribs with a grin. “But what is this about the call being urgent, is he hurt?” she was starting to sound frantic again.

            “No he's not hurt, he's just sick, I think he has the flu or maybe ate something that didn't agree with him. You may know that we spent the weekend in Seattle, he ate a lot of seafood, and maybe that was it?” I suggested lamely before continuing, “Marlene asked me to call, she said you'd want to know. She would have called herself but with Rhys being sick she was short handed.” I finally stopped talking and waited for her response.

            “Well I appreciate you calling me Saydie, I am always glad to be informed when my sons’ health is in question. Have you given him anything for it?”

            “I gave him some Pepto Bismol and water so far, my roommate and I were discussing giving him some ginger ale and saltine crackers.” I replied, hoping that she might be able to confirm that I was doing something right.

            “If he has the flu the Pepto won't help for long, he'll have to wait the bug out. Make sure he has plenty of fluids and maybe even some Gatorade if he can keep it down, it will help replenish his electrolytes.” she said matter-of-factly and I looked at Flan with no idea what electrolytes were, she nodded at me and whispered, “I've got it covered.” I nodded back and turned my attention back to Rhys's mother.

            “Okay I’ll be sure to do that, is there anything else? Any special treatment that makes him feel better?” I asked thoughtfully, I might not have had a lot of experience with sick people but I knew that anyone could be a complete baby if they didn't feel well.

            “Well when he was little I'd put him in bed with his bear, blanket and a cup of chicken broth. He would lie in bed and watch cartoons. If he has a fever, be sure to give him some Tylenol.” I jotted these things down on a pad next to the house phone.

            “Okay, anything else?” I asked, suddenly wanting to hurry back to Rhys and help him feel better.

            “Just tell him that we love him and that I'll call him later to check on him.” she replied. I didn't answer right away, not sure if I actually wanted to tell him that I'd called his mother. “If it will make you feel better dear, I can call later and pretend to know nothing.”

            I felt relief wash over me at her words, “Thank you Mrs. Davis, you know how Rhys can be; I think he'd be embarrassed if I told him that I'd called his mother.” For the first time I heard her laugh on the other end, obviously comforted by the fact that her son wasn't severely ill.

            “I do know him well enough to be certain that you are right, I think all of my children would be mortified to have someone call their mother because they were sick.” I smiled into the phone against my will.

            “Okay well I'll get some broth for him and find some cartoons for when he finally comes out of the bathroom I joked lightly.

            “You're a very sweet girl Saydie, thank you so much for taking care of Rhys for me, he's my baby and I worry about him so much.” I felt the blush rise on my cheeks again.

            “You're welcome Mrs. Davis.” was all I could say.

            “Well I guess I'd better get back to work then, I’ll call him later dear. Thank you again for calling me, I truly appreciate it.” And then she was gone before I could even say goodbye to her.

            I jumped when Flan spoke, “I have a friend in the culinary program, she's says they're always cooking with chicken stock and broth, I’ll call and see if she can get her hands on any, it'll be fresh and organic, maybe that'll be better for him than something in a can.” she suggested and I nodded silently.

            “Do you think you could swing by the market and pick up another case of water and some ginger ale?” she nodded as I looked down at the list of things I'd written down, “Oh, do you have any Tylenol?” she thought for a moment.

            “I'm not sure but I’ll pick some up just to be on the safe side.” she assured me before hurrying upstairs to change.