7. Easton
SEVEN
Easton
“Well, let’s just get to bed early if you’re feeling sleepy, Jade.” I eye her, gesturing toward the stairs as she drags her feet. “There’s always tomorrow, kiddo. No need to push yourself.”
“Fine.” She grumbles her agreement.
Jade walks up the steps in front of me, and I follow along, letting her get changed into her pajamas as I stand outside the door.
She’ll come out to brush her teeth in a moment, and I have to admit that an early night would be fine with me, too. I’m feeling a tad rundown, and I know that sleep is the best medicine for that.
When Jade comes out, her cheeks are a bit red, and she seems even more lethargic than before.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she whines. “I’m just tired.”
“Okay, okay. I just—” But as I pull her under my arm for a quick hug, I notice just how hot she feels against my skin. “Jade, I think you have a fever.”
“Hmm?” She looks up at me, a flare of panic in her eyes. “Really?”
“Umm, hold on. Let’s go in the bathroom, and I’ll take your temperature.”
I walk her over, getting her to sit down on the toilet as I get the thermometer out of the medicine cabinet. Running the sensor up and down her forehead, I wait for a few seconds to be sure it gets a good reading.
When I check the screen, my worries are confirmed. 101.6. Shit.
“Well?” Jade asks, and I try to keep the wave of panic that hits me from my face.
“Umm, yeah. You have a fever. Do you, umm, did your mom give you like Tylenol when that happened?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “I’m ten.”
“Right.”
Worry creeps up higher and higher, and I realize that I don’t have anything in the house aside from ibuprofen pills.
Can she swallow those? How much do I even give her? Does it say on the bottle?
“Okay, just, umm, stay—stay right here and brush your teeth. I’m going to get you something for it.”
Jade offers me a concerned look, and I just smile back, trying to go for nonchalant and knowing that I’m failing.
“It’s fine, kiddo. I’ll just be one second. Please brush your teeth.”
The house is too big and too dark with the lights off like this, and I’m turning all of them on as I race down the stairs, fleeing the bathroom like there’s been an outbreak of the plague.
“Shit, shit, shit. What do I do?” The stairs groan as I rush down, grabbing the edge of the wall to swing myself around faster and toward my kitchen. “Jesus, what if she pukes? Oh god. Please don’t let her puke.”
My kitchen is always pretty empty, so when I rush to the fridge to see if I have juice or something for Jade to drink with the medicine, I find that it’s nearly empty.
Sure, she can use water, but dammit, if she’s nauseated, aren’t I supposed to give her like clear liquids or something? Or is that for something else?
Dammit, I’m so fucking bad at this.
I set the bottle of water on the counter regardless and then go to my cupboard, where I keep the pain relievers. Unsurprisingly, the ones I have currently stocked are Excedrin Migraine and the CBD-infused shit I use after a workout.
“Fuck!”
Slamming my hands down on the counter, my panic gets worse, nearly choking me now. I can’t give either of those to Jade, and I don’t know what I’d need to get.
Giving kids drugs is supposed to be this huge thing. She can’t even have cough medicine, if I remember correctly.
What do I do? What do I do?
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to swipe away the junk email notification.
“Wait. That’s it.”
Going to my recent calls, I swipe on the top one and wait as the phone rings. “Come on, come on.”
“Easton, what’s up?” Hazel sounds confused, but I can’t care right now; I’m too focused on Jade.
“Jade has a fever, and I don’t know what to do. Help.”
There’s a pause, and then I hear shuffling. “Oh, shit. Okay. It’s going to be fine. Do you have any children’s ibuprofen to give her?”
“What? No. I just have Excedrin. I know she can’t have that.”
I’m pacing now, walking the kitchen in circles as I drag a hand across the top of my island. The surface is cool, and it immediately reminds me of how hot Jade is.
“Okay, that’s alright. I’ll swing by the pharmacy and pick some up. You go stay with her. You can put a cold washcloth or ice pack on her head to help.”
Hazel sounds confident and relaxed as if this is a minor inconvenience but totally normal. I suppose it is, but dammit, I clearly wasn’t prepared for the eventuality of Jade getting sick.
Hearing Hazel’s plan does ease my stress, though. She’s got a solid, actionable plan. I can work with that.
“Okay. Okay. Do I need to do anything else?”
There’s the sound of keys jingling in the background, and I head to my freezer to pull out an ice pack and wrap it in a dish towel.
“Are there any other symptoms?”
“Umm.” I think back to today. It was just us, no Hazel. I had the day off, so I hung out with her. She was fine. I didn’t even notice until I hugged her. But Jade was acting more tired than usual. “I was putting her to bed early because she seemed really tired. She didn’t have much energy today.”
“Okay, it’s probably just a little bug. Kids get sick all the time, so don’t panic. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”
“Alright. Thank you. Really.”
My heart is still pounding, but this is good. We’re okay.
“Of course. Hang tight.”
I hang up, going straight back up to Jade. She’s not in the bathroom, but the sink is wet, as is her toothbrush.
“Jade?”
“I’m in my room! I feel gross!” she calls out, and I hurry over, noticing that she didn’t even turn the light on.
“I’m sorry, honey. Hazel is getting some medicine, but I have this ice pack for now. It’ll help.”
I hand it to her, and Jade puts it on her head, lying back down in her bed like she was before. She’s kicked off the blankets, too.
“Are you feeling anything else? Sick to your stomach?” Jade shakes her head, keeping her eyes closed. “Okay, that’s good. Do you want me to put the tablet music on?”
She nods, curling into herself.
“Alright.”
I get her room set up how we usually have it and stand at the door while I wait for Hazel to get here. Jade looks like she’s trying to sleep, but the fever is making her uncomfortable.
It’s not long before I hear the doorbell, and I perk up, walking over to Jade. “Hey, that’s Hazel. I’m going to go let her in. She’s got medicine, so I need you to sit up, okay?”
“Okay.”
Jade doesn’t even open her eyes to move, and I rush downstairs. When I reach the door, I fling it open, and Hazel is there with a smile and a bag from CVS.
“Here we go. Children’s ibuprofen. She’ll take some, and it’ll lower her fever. I also picked up some kids’ stomach medicine in case it gets funky.”
I take the bag, peering inside. “Thank you so much. Okay, umm…”
Hesitating a moment, I look at the instructions on the box of fever reducer, and suddenly, I don’t know how to read.
When I haven’t moved, Hazel steps up to me, putting her hand on my arm. “Would you like me to come in and help?”
Relief floods my nerves. “Oh, fuck yes. Please.”
She laughs, and then we get the medicine ready to take upstairs to Jade. Hazel follows me as I go into her room, knocking gently on the door that I left open.
Jade perks up, trying to look at us as we go in, but her eyes are drooping, and she doesn’t want to lift her head.
“Okay, sweetie. I need you to take this medicine. It’ll help your fever.”
Taking the little cup, which is lined with ounces and filled to the level for a six to ten-year-old, Jade drinks down the sweet-smelling whitish liquid and then gives me back the empty cup.
“Your tummy still doing okay, Jade?” Hazel asks, and Jade nods. “Good, good. Well, we have some extra medicine if it starts to feel off, okay?”
Jade just nods again.
I’m ready to stand at the side of Jade’s bed and just watch her sleep, but Hazel pulls on my arm and leads me out of the room.
“Get some rest, Jade. If you need anything, we’ll be downstairs. We’ll see how you’re feeling in the morning.”
Reluctantly, I follow Hazel down to the kitchen, and she walks over to my sink to rinse out the little cup that Jade used and wash her hands.
“You’ll probably want to, too. Kids are like little petri dishes.”
Unable to stop the laugh, I go up to the sink, washing my hands and smiling at Hazel.
“How do you know so much about what to do?”
Hazel offers me a little grin, drying her hands on a towel before leaving me to finish up while she reaches for something under my island.
“Jade’s not the first kid I’ve ever been around. I used to babysit in college occasionally. It’s why I felt comfortable at all offering to help you. The basics stick with you.”
“Well, I’m fucking grateful. I did not know what to do.” I look up at the ceiling, imagining where Jade is sleeping in her bed. “God, I hope she’ll be okay. That fever was so high. Touching her was like hugging a furnace.”
As I’m sitting down at the island, still so damn on edge, I notice that Hazel had grabbed one of the bottles of wine from the fridge I have installed where a cupboard was.
“She’s going to be fine, Easton. Kids get sick. It’s normal.”
Hazel goes to the cupboards by the sink and pulls down two wine glasses, coming back to the island and fishing around in the drawer for the corkscrew.
“The medicine works for about eight hours. So, check Jade’s temperature again around then or whenever she wakes up. She just needs to rest. The ice pack will help to comfort her, too. Keep an eye out for a temp that doesn’t go down or any change in symptoms, and you’re solid.”
I watch, a little in awe, as Hazel pours us two glasses of red and walks over to me, handing me the drink. I take it, sitting down at the island with her, and let out a massive sigh.
Taking a sip of the wine, I close my eyes, trying to breathe. “Thank you. Again.”
“Of course. You looked like you needed it.”
Hazel is still so relaxed, sipping her drink, and she gives me a smile, reaching across the cold marble that separates us and patting my hand.
My composure, shitty as it already was, completely cracks.