For All whimpered in his arms and he looked down.
“Quite a conundrum of life, isn’t it, fella?” he said.
The little dog’s ears perked up and he titled his head to the side as if pondering what he said.
“I bet you are ready for a scoop of food,” Rafferty said. He put him down and went to get his bag of food from the refrigerator, opened it and gave out the portion into the bowl before returning the bag to the frig.
For All attacked the food with glee while Rafferty filled his water bowl. Then he turned to preparing his own breakfast recalling that Justus had agreed to possibly having dry toast.
She didn’t emerge from her room until almost noon and he’d just sent his report to Kenneally and Hank about the most recent events.
“You don’t look like you feel well,” he said, closing his laptop. He got up from the table and took his empty coffee mug back to the kitchen.
“I don’t feel well,” she said. “Thanks for pointing it out.”
“I didn’t mean any offense, just that it’s a drastic change from the way you looked yesterday. Hard not to notice,” he said, realizing the more he talked the deeper he was sticking his foot in his mouth.
“I get your point. If you must know, those doctors at the hospital lied about how removing the implant wouldn’t affect my hormones. It has. I’m in pain.”
He came back from the kitchen with his brow furrowed. “Do you need to go see the doctor?” he asked.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “I just need to use heat and rest. I’ve already taken Motrin.”
“Then you need to eat something,” he insisted. “You don’t want to upset your stomach more by taking pills on an empty stomach. I’ll fix you a sandwich. What kind would you like? Or maybe some soup?”
“Tomato?”
“I’ll see if I have a can.”
“Thanks.”
“In a mug so I can sip it if you do. With little oyster crackers.”
He snickered when she said that, opening up the cabinet and not seeing a can of soup. “I doubt I have those, but if you really want them, I’ll run down to that corner market and see if they have any while I pick up some other stuff for us. I won’t be gone long. Anything else you need? Ginger ale to help settle your tummy?”
She nodded. “That sounds good too. Thank you.”
“Okay. I’m locking the door behind me. Don’t let anyone in while I’m gone.”
“I won’t,” she promised, settling on the sofa and picking up For All when he came running over and jumped at her legs.
She scooted down on the sofa turning on her side, with him lying beside her and she pulled her legs up toward her chest.Tucking her bent arm under her head she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
That’s where Rafferty found her when he returned with a bag of groceries. He’d got a couple cans of soup, ginger ale, a loaf of bread, some cheese, those little crackers she wanted, and a couple chocolate bars with toffee and almond pieces in them. He wasn’t sure if she’d like them, but that sounded good to him. He put a can of soup on to simmer and the ginger ale in the refrigerator to chill. Then he found a light blanket and covered her with it. For All instantly hopped down from the sofa and barked his displeasure at being covered up.
“Sorry, fella, but Justus needed it,” he said. “Look what I got you.” He gave him a small chicken and bacon treat from the bag he’d picked up while out.
Then went back to the kitchen. He made two grilled cheese sandwiches while he waited for the soup to finish heating before he finally woke Justus up to eat.
She was quiet as she sipped her soup with the oyster crackers floating on top and nibbled on her sandwich.
“Do you think you need to call Liberty?” he asked.
“No. I’ll be fine. It’s just this is my first cycle since the implant was removed. It took time for my system to get back on track even though the hospital said it hadn’t been in long enough to mess with anything,” she explained.
“Maybe it hadn’t. Maybe it was that and the stress of the situation that prevented it from happening. In my military training we had to take a course that covered medical issues we might face in war zones. Stress is a common factor that can throw cycles.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know this is the worst one I’ve ever had and I never had issues from the time I started having them.”
