She might have laughed had it taken no energy. She felt no better now than when she’d fallen asleep. There was a familiar screeching of her water pipes and a quiet overtook the air as she tried to breathe. Was it foggy in her bedroom? Was that her shower running? Did she sleepwalk and turn it on to take one herself?
“Did you holler at me? I’ll be out in a couple minutes.”
“Holy shit,” she whispered softly. Was Seth using her bathroom? He’d taken tons of showers in her apartment before but always in the guest bath.
“Oh, for heaven sake Jenna, who cares? He’s your best friend,” she said to herself. Exhausted from thinking too hard, she let her body fall back into the pillows and drift off again.
***
Seth took his time climbing from the shower and wrapping his wet body in a towel. Jenna always told him to dry off in the shower before he stepped out onto the bath mat because it got all wet but wasn’t that was it was for?
He could have sworn he heard her voice and if Jennawasawake, his ass was grass. She’d never let him do anything in her bathroom before, ever. He could only pray she was enough out of it that she wouldn’t notice. Not that it would matter now, he was already done so it was too late. What could she really do to him?
When he first went in there, he’d left the door propped half open when he turned the shower on to see if she would stir but nothing, so he’d gone for broke. She was out cold and with the door ajar, he could safely peek around the door without moving it since everything in her apartment creaked. Yep, still asleep. He relaxed a bit and went through the storage bins in her bathroom in search of a brush to tame what little hair he had.
Ten minutes later Seth emerged dressed and ready to do battle. Wouldn’t be much of a battle though, Jenna was really a pussy cat behind her tiger facade. Today he’d noticed a little fire in her attitude but she was sick so that might explain her hostility. He felt bad for her. He’d never seen her in that bad a shape before but he was determined to take care of her. Didn’t look like there was much he was gonna be able to do tonight. It was late and she was sound asleep again. He thought for sure he’d heard her talk while he was in the bathroom but maybe she was feverish and hallucinating?
If she did wake up again, he would give her a dose of the nighttime cold and flu liquid he picked up at the store. He’d also had a few words with the pharmacist who recommended a steam vaporizer for her bedroom to help control her cough and congestion. It was designed to loosen the congestion that’s built up in the lungs so one can better cough it up as well as sooth the throat if it’s dry. On the plug-in machine he purchased, after filling it with water, it had a little slot to fill with a menthol liquid that will be filtered into the air and help open the sinuses to breathe better.
He’d learned a lot on his outing and if Jenna had been awake, she would have teased him for making a big deal out of it.
I’m fine, quit fussing, she would have said to him. What she didn’t know though is that she’d helped him through more than a few rough patches in his life over the last few years by just being there and it was time he returned the favor. Besides, a daywithout Jenna in his life…well it made him miss her. He didn’t like the feeling in his chest when she didn’t light up her world with sarcasm and smiles. So, he would do for her, everything she couldn’t do for herself right now. Then she could ride his ass about it later and he’d take the ribbing in stride because she meant well.
The thing about Jenna was, she was really a pussy cat and he secretly loved it. Sometimes he would make her mad on purpose, just so she would scold him. She was playful when she wasn’t trying to be. He especially loved how her jaw twitched when she was grinding her teeth while she was angry, even though her anger was never really that bad. She talked with her hands too which was funny but he tried hard not to laugh.
After loading the washing machine with all the dirty clothes he found scattered around her apartment, he checked on her again but she was still sawing logs. He found some chemicals under the sink and cleaned the entire bathroom before he moved to the kitchen. He didn’t even do any of that in his own place but then, it was a bachelor pad and she never came there so he didn’t need to clean. He really didn’t like to clean either but it was okay because it was for her. Admittedly though, the toilet in her place was way cleaner than the one at his place. Just looking at it from a distance when he’d climb from his shower was enough to make him sick to his stomach. Eventually he would need to hire someone to come into his place before things started to grow life.
It was getting late but he didn’t want to leave her alone and helpless. Maybe he could sleep on the couch and be there when she needed him. It was the weekend so he didn’t have to worry about work and no way was she going anywhere in her current state. Then if she woke up, he would give her the meds he bought. When morning hit, he would make her scrambled eggs. His mom had always made them for him when he was littlebecause they were mild she’d said. He hated it then because his favorite was dippy eggs but as an adult he understood.
He left the bottle of nighttime liquid on the coffee table with a bottle of water for her and went in search of a clean blanket from the linen closet to cover up with.
Chapter Two
Jenna hadn’t been able to smell anything in days but something horrible and in close proximity was burning her nose hairs and she couldn’t place what it was. Her head was too fuzzy. Was this another side effect of her illness?
“I could be dying but I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
“You’re not dying love, I promise.”
She turned quickly toward her bedroom door, the sudden movement making her dizzy.
“Seth.”What is he doing here?
He approached her bed holding a little cup filled with green liquid.
“What is that?”
She hated taking medicine but she knew full well that’s what he had. Jenna vaguely remembered letting Seth into her apartment at some point but was currently rethinking her decision. He wanted to nurse her back to health but she didn’t even know which end was up. She had no clue what time it was or what day. She could only tell it was dark. She didn’t mean to be mean because she loved Seth but she just wanted to die in peace, which apparently, he wasn’t going to let her do.
As she begrudgingly took hold of the liquid he offered, her eyes panned up his body toward his sleepy eyes as she drank, stopping at his bare chest. Had she ever noticed before how well defined he was, and why didn’t he have a shirt on? It shouldn’t bother her because she’d seen him that way hundreds of times but for some reason, it made her uncomfortable, just not a stalkerish kind of way. She’d been off and on warm and cold for the past few days but the warmth she felt was inside her chest and it wasn’t the nasty medicine she’d just taken. She made a horrid face as she coughed.
“Sorry, I know it was probably horrible. It looked bad when I poured it out.”
“Yeah but I guess it’ll help me get better. I could use a drink of water though if you don’t mind.”
“I would let you but the pharmacist said you should let the medicine do its thing for at least five minutes before you take a drink so it doesn’t wash it away before it does any good.”
“You talked to the pharmacist?”
