Chapter 14 – Dakota #2
He was staring into my eyes, desperately pleading with me, and I felt so torn between doing what he wanted and doing what he probably needed.
I glanced down at his legs again, and then he raised his trembling hand until it was covering my eyes.
“No,” he choked out. “Please don’t—don’t look, don’t look, don’t look.
” The absolute devastation in his voice was gut-wrenching, and he was too weak to stop me from moving his hand away from my eyes.
I placed a kiss in the center of his palm and looked into his eyes. “You need help,” I said softly. He was panting, completely out of breath, and beads of sweat were dripping down his face. His eyes rolled back, tears poured from the corners, and then they closed.
Fuck.
“Reese, wake up.” I patted his cheek and tried to get him to open his eyes again, but he didn’t.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Val.
“Hey—”
“Can you call Dr. Burns and get him over here right now? And get some cold and flu medicine?”
“Whoa, why? Are you sick?”
“No, Reese is sick. Or I’m pretty sure he’s sick, but I need Dr. Burns since he doesn’t want to go to a hospital.”
There was a pause, and then he said, “Oh. Okay. Yeah, I can go grab some stuff from the store. Does he have a fever?”
“Yeah, I think he does, he’s burning up. Just get everything. Right now.”
Val laughed. “Jeez, okay. I’m going now and calling Dr. Burns. See you soon.”
I said goodbye and shoved the phone back into my pocket, then tried one last time to get Reese to wake up and stay conscious. “Hey. I’m gonna take you to the bed, okay?”
He didn’t respond.
I brushed the damp strands of hair away from his forehead. He was really hot.
I slid one arm under his knees and the other behind his shoulders, then hauled him up against my chest as I stood. Reese groaned but didn’t move. “Alright, it’s okay. We’re gonna get you feeling better really soon, I promise.”
I brought him to his bed, gently laid him down, and pulled his blanket over him. He shivered and hunched into himself.
I stared at him for a long moment, then dashed to the bathroom, wet a washcloth, and set it on his forehead. He definitely had a fever, and if it was too high, I was taking him to the hospital whether he wanted me to or not. We could fight about it later. Right now, he needed help.
Just as I sat down on the edge of my bed, there was a knock at the door. I jumped up and yanked it open, letting Val in.
He set two bags on my bed and started digging through one. “Okay, I got tons of stuff and Dr. Burns is on his way.” He glanced over at Reese, then me. “You okay?”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I just…”
Was terrified. Still in shock from thinking Reese was lying dead in that tub. The intensity of all these chaotic emotions was too much to handle right now. I had to ignore them. Shove them aside, bury them, whatever.
But fuck if they weren’t fighting me tooth and nail for dominance.
Val was still staring at me, so I said, “I just…I thought he was dead.”
Voicing the fear suddenly made it so real that it was crushing, and I sat down on my bed when the world started to tilt.
Val squeezed my shoulder and kissed my head. “It’s okay. He’ll be alright.”
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, couldn’t swallow past the lump in my throat. I nodded and watched Val take things out of the bag and place them neatly on my desk.
We only waited about ten more minutes before Dr. Burns showed up. He was slightly out of breath from taking the stairs—there weren’t elevators in this building—but he still smiled at us.
“Boys, good to see you. Glad you’re healthy, Valentine.” He bustled into the room and set his bag on my bed, then rummaged through it. “So we think he’s sick? Let’s take a look.”
He turned toward Reese with several pieces of equipment, the first being a thermometer.
He sat down on the edge of Reese’s bed, moved the washcloth aside, and took his temperature. “One-oh-one. Not too bad for a fever.”
He listened to his heart and lungs with a stethoscope, then did a nasal swab, saying it was probably the flu or a bad cold.
While we waited for the results, I sat by Reese and held his hand, bouncing my knee to try and rid myself of the lingering panic.
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Burns, who’d been sitting at my desk doing something on his phone, interrupted the silence. “Yep. Flu. Nothing to worry about, he just needs some rest and TLC.” He stood up and put his things back in his bag.
“Are you sure?” I asked, glancing back at Reese.
“Positive. Strain A positive.”
He laughed at his horrible joke while Val covered his face with his hands and muttered, “Oh my god.”
Dr. Burns left with a chuckle, and I sagged on the bed.
“Well that’s good, right?” Val smiled at me, then grabbed a few things off the desk and brought them over to us. He had an assortment of cold and flu medicines, told me which ones he was giving him now and which ones to give him later.
“Do you want me to stay?”
I looked at Val, whose deep brown eyes were soft with concern.
“No, it’s okay. You’ve already done more than enough.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded, then hugged me. “Call me if you need anything.”
I kissed his head. “I will.”
Val pulled away and gave me a sad smile before leaving, and I almost called him back. I was terrified that something would go wrong and there would be nothing I could do.
Reese coughed and my heart exploded.
I ran to his side, ready to grab him up and take him to the hospital, but he didn’t cough again. His lips moved like he was trying to say something.
I sat near his hip and brushed his damp hair away from his forehead.
“Dakota?” He cracked his eyes open.
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Water,” he whispered.
Water. Water.
Where was the water?
I glanced around, frantically searching for the bottle I always had with me. I stood up, about to run out of this room and bang on every door for some water when I spotted it on my desk.
I snatched it up and was back at Reese’s side in half a second. I twisted the top off, tilted it toward his lips, and slid a hand under his shoulders to help prop him up.
He drank a few sips then sagged back against the pillows with a groan, turning his head to the side. A shiver racked his body, so I grabbed my blanket and draped it over him.
Taking care of someone who was sick was second nature; Val fell ill so often that caring for him and helping him during those times were embedded in my core.
Watching over him, tending to his every need, making sure he was still breathing—I was the only one in the family who ever cared enough to do that for him.
Evelyn and Albert would just pawn him off on Dr. Burns and visit once a day to make sure their son hadn’t died, that the doctor was fulfilling his purpose. That their money wasn’t going to waste.
I dragged my desk chair over to his bed, sat back and crossed my arms, and watched him.
He was sleeping. His cheeks were still flushed, but he didn’t look as sweaty as he had before.
I hoped he was resting peacefully, but I’d be right by his side if anything happened.
I knew he was alive, that he would be fine, he just had the flu, but that one moment—that single second I’d thought he was dead—was etched in my mind, had lodged there like a splinter, digging deeper and deeper the harder I tried to pluck it out.
Was it really just a crush if you thought the person you liked was dying and felt like you’d been cleaved in two?