Chapter 38 A Salve For The Burn
~Felicity~
Seeing Macy with her dad, sporting that sunburn, brought about my tendency to nurture.
I held out my arm for her to walk into it, "Come on, love, let's go upstairs and I'll see what I can do.
You're going to have quite a lot of skin peeling soon enough.
Maybe we can save you from too bad of a peel, but I'm not really sure. "
Letting Macy go first, I fell into step behind her as we climbed the stairs.
"It doesn't hurt that much," she said, though I could see her wince slightly when the fabric of her shirt shifted against her sunburned skin.
"I know, but trust me—in a few hours when that heat really sets in, you'll be grateful we took care of it now." We approached my bathroom, where I kept my collection of homemade remedies. "Your dad thinks I'm crazy for making most of my own skincare stuff, but days like this prove it's worth it."
"What's in it?" Macy asked, settling on the edge of the bathtub while I gathered supplies from the linen closet.
"Hmmm. Well, the green stuff here is just plain organic aloe.
" I showed her the glass jar filled with the slightly green gel.
"I buy the leaves from this little market downtown and extract the gel myself.
Much better than the store-bought stuff that's loaded with all kinds of chemicals and unnecessary additives—many of them would just dry your skin out more. "
Then I handed her a separate glass jar that has a white whipped-cream texture body butter.
"This is my recent batch of body butter that I made for summer.
It has mango butter, coconut oil, some beeswax, sweet almond oil, a little shea, and a couple other secrets in it. It's like magic for sun damage."
"Will you show me how to make all this?"
"Sure! Started a few years ago when I got tired of spending ridiculous amounts of money on lotions that didn't work as well as what I could make in my kitchen." I sat down on the small bench across from where she sat on the bathtub edge. "Okay, let's see the damage."
Macy lifted her over shirt off—it was large and off a shoulder, but was still bulky enough that it was hard to tell how far the burn reached.
Sitting in her tank top, I could see the sunburn was worse than I'd initially thought—angry red patches mixed with areas that were even brighter.
Shit this was going to be really painful for her in the next couple days.
"Oh, honey," I murmured, gently touching an unburned spot on her shoulder blade. "This is definitely going to peel. But we can make sure it heals well."
"Will it scar?"
"No, no scarring. But you might have some interesting tan lines for a while, and you'll want to stick with cool showers." I opened the aloe gel and scooped some onto my fingers. "This might feel cold at first, but it'll help with the heat."
The moment the aloe touched her skin, Macy sighed with relief. "Oh wow, that feels amazing."
"Right? Nature's air conditioning." I worked the gel gently across her shoulders, careful not to press too hard on the more tender areas. "So, tell me about this weekend. Your grandma told us some of the highlights, but I want the good stuff. What was your favorite part?"
Macy's face lit up. "Probably the pottery place.
Aunt Gladys took us there the other day, and it was so cool—you get to pick out whatever you want to paint, and they have like a million different colors and brushes and stamps.
" She gestured excitedly with her hands, then winced as the movement pulled at her sunburn.
"I made you and dad something, then I did something little for my mom, but I also made this really cool bowl for my room.
It's purple and blue with these swirly patterns. "
My breath caught at the mention of her mom.
I wondered to myself how we were going to talk to her about all of this stuff.
I can't imagine she has any idea of the consequences that Jessica is going to have to face.
I don't even really understand what her home life was like—how long all the issues were going on and what it was like to live with Jessica.
So much that I'm sure her therapist will work through with her.
I filed my thoughts away to talk through with Caden and probably with Dr. Chen.
"That all sounds beautiful. I can't wait to see."
"Angie tried to paint this super detailed flower on her plate, but she kept messing up and getting frustrated.
Alex just painted his entire plate black and called it 'his expresionisticism.
'" Macy giggled. "I told him that wasn't a word, but he was so sure and the lady who worked there said 'art is in the eye of the beholder,' which I don't really get, but Alex nodded along like he did, so I guess it makes sense. "
I laughed, smoothing more aloe along her shoulder blades. "Alex has always marched to his own drummer. Remember at Christmas when he decided to wear that suit jacket with his pajama pants to dinner?"
"Oh yeah! His 'formal lounge-wear!'" Macy dissolved into giggles. "He's so weird, but like, in the best way."
"Exactly. Weird in the best way." I moved to her other shoulder, working the cooling gel into the heated skin. "What else did you do?"
"Yesterday we went hiking and then to the beach, and then to the park today—I think that's how I got this sunburn.
Aunt Gladys said the trail was mostly shaded, but there were these big open meadows where we stopped to eat lunch and look for wildflowers.
" Macy's voice took on the animated quality it always had when she was truly excited about something.
"We found this stream that had these tiny fish in it—like, seriously tiny, maybe an inch long—and we spent forever trying to catch them with our hands. "
"Did you succeed?"
"Definitely not me—since I have the cast on, I could only do one hand, but it was fun to try, and the fish felt all funny when they swam through my fingers.
" She was showing me how she tried to catch them—jutting her hand into the bathtub like there were fish in it.
"Oh! Angie almost caught one! But it was really hard, and it got away.
Alex claimed he caught three, but I think he was teasing because I never saw them.
" She shifted slightly so I could reach a spot near her shoulder blade.
"Oh, and Alex had a tick on him! That was scary. And gross!"
"Oh no! Did you check yourself?"
"Grandma did. She said I was good."
Ticks give me the heebie-jeebies. I needed to move on before I started unreasonably searching her bags, clothes, and hair—I completely understand it's not a thing, but there's just something about ticks that make me lose my damned mind and automatically begin to spiral.
Ticks, bed bugs, and lice—oh my God, I need a new topic to think about before I go insane.
Relief washed over me when I heard Macy continue, "then we went to the beach, obviously.
" She gestured to her sunburned state. "Grandma Sandy packed this huge picnic, and we built sandcastles and played with a frisbee.
Well, tried to play with it. Turns out none of us are very good at it.
Have you ever played with a frisbee? It was my first time, and you only need one hand, so I didn't have any issues throwing it.
It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of running since the wind kept sending it all over the place. "
"I have played frisbee. It's been quite a while though. I'm glad you had so much fun!"
I reached for the jar of body butter, warming some between my palms before applying it over the aloe. "This will help lock in the moisture and start the healing process."
"It smells really good. Like... sweet maybe?"
"That's probably the coconut oil." I worked the cream gently into her skin, watching the angry red fade slightly under the nourishing oils. "Did you miss being home at all?"
Macy was quiet for a moment, considering. "A little bit, I guess. But not in a sad way."
"Well, we definitely missed you too."
"Really?"
"Really. Everything was so quiet. And there was no one to help me make fun of your dad when he did something funny."
Macy smiled at that. "I'm glad I went, though.
It was fun to hang out with Angie and Alex, and I don't get to see them very often.
Plus, Aunt Gladys taught us this card game called Spit that's really fast and crazy.
We played it for like two hours yesterday morning.
It was a little hard to move really fast with the cast on, but I got the hang of it. "
"Oh man! Spit! I played that one when I was your age!"
"Really?! Do you think Dad knows how to play too? Will you guys take turns playing with me? It was so much fun!"
"I'm sure he does. Though we both may need lessons since I'm not too sure I remember the rules."
Macy looked back at me excitedly, "yeah! I can teach you! It's simple. We'll have so much fun!"
"Sounds like a plan. Maybe tonight, we can play before dinner."
"Yes!"
Silently, I finished up with her back, doing one last check to make sure I didn't miss any spots from her neck, even down her arms. The backs of her arms were almost lily white—like I said, she's going to have interesting tan lines.
"I'm really glad you're home." I capped the jar of body butter and sat back to admire my handiwork. "There. That should help a lot. You'll want to reapply the aloe a few times today, and definitely tonight before bed."
"Will you help me reapply?"
"Of course. We should probably do this again tomorrow morning too, before you go back to school. Just to make sure everything's healing well."
Macy nodded, then carefully pulled her shirt back on. "Felicity?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think people at school know what happened?" she asked quietly—nervously.
The question caught me off guard, and I could hear the vulnerability beneath it. I set the jar down in the linen closet and turned to give her my full attention.
"I don't know, honey. Maybe some people do, maybe they don't. Are you worried about it?"
She nodded, picking at the hem of her shirt. "What if they ask me questions? What if no one wants to talk to me anymore? I haven't talked to any of my friends from school in the last week. What if they think I'm weird or different now? "
"First of all, you're not weird or different.
You're the same amazing kid you were before any of this happened.
" I moved to sit beside her on the edge of the tub.
"But if people do ask questions, you don't have to tell them anything you don't want to.
You can try changing the subject, or you can tell them pieces of what happened if you want to—it's completely up to you. "
"What if I don't want to tell anyone but they keep asking?"
"Then you walk away if you want, you can find a teacher or go to the office. You can always call me or your dad. We'll come get you if you need us to."
Macy looked up at me with relief. "You'd really do that?"
"Without hesitation. Macy, you never have to handle difficult things alone, okay? You, your dad and me—we're a team."
She was quiet for a moment, processing. "I think... I think most kids probably don't know. It's not like it was on the news or anything, right?"
"I don't think so. And even if some people do know, that doesn't define you. You're still the same they knew before it all happened."
That earned me a small smile. "They'll probably ask me about my cast."
"You're probably right. You can just say you broke it when you fell. We bought all those markers too. So, everyone can sign it. So, maybe bring the markers and have them set out so people can pick whatever colors they want to use, right?
She stood up carefully, testing how the shirt felt against her treated skin. "This feels so much better. You really do have magic potions."
"Years of trial and error. And a few minor kitchen disasters while I was learning."
"Kitchen disasters?"
"Let's just say melted beeswax and stovetops don't always mix well. I may have accidentally created a waxy volcano once."
Macy burst into giggles. "Did Dad freak out?"
"He was surprisingly calm about me essentially waxing half the kitchen. Though he did suggest smaller batches after that."
"That's smart."
I nodded sagely, "He has his moments."
As I went to stand, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out, I read:
Caden: Sweetheart, Jessica has tried to call multiple times this morning. Comes from unknown number. I know you're still upstairs with Macy, but didn't want you blindsided. Maybe ignore her calls if she gets through to you, for now. Let's talk later when alone.
I felt my stomach start to churn. Closing my eyes, I got my expression under control and stood up. Turning toward Macy, I asked, "ready to go see how your dad and Grandma are doing?"
As we headed toward the stairs, I could hear Caden's voice from below, talking with his mom.
In the kitchen, Caden asked Macy, "better?"
"So much better. Felicity's magic cream works on everything," Macy said, settling at the kitchen table. "Can we have those egg sandwiches now? I'm starving."
"About that..." I looked over at Caden and definitely got a whiff of something burnt. He told us, "I may have had a small cooking incident while you were upstairs. How do you feel about cereal?"
"Dad!" Macy laughed. "Who burns egg sandwiches?"
"Apparently your dad!" I said—to her, and the room. So many things to worry about, egg sandwiches seemed like such a non-starter. "Good thing your grandma brought enough food to feed an army. How about some of whatever's in these containers?"
As we unpacked Sandy's containers—some fried chicken, pasta salad, and what appeared to be homemade brownies, I grabbed a brownie to start—secreting it away, don't want to be a bad influence, but a brownie and coffee felt like the right next step for me at the moment.
Caden's phone rang, and he looked at his phone, showing me it was someone from the office. He announced, "Work thing, give me two minutes." I nodded, and as I turned to go brew myself a cup of coffee, I heard Alexa announce:
"Someone is at the front door." I turned toward the screen to look at who it could be and was shocked.
Not caring who heard me in my shock, I said aloud, "No fucking way."