“No,” she chuckled. “It’s not that.”
We had to stop a few times in order for me to introduce Hollie to some people, and when we finally got to the rental car I’d been driving, I could tell Hollie was about to pass out.
“Did you not sleep on the flight at all?”
“I slept some.”
Hollie walked to the wrong side of the car and laughed when she opened it. I held open her door. “Wait, where is your luggage?”
“It’s already at the flat. I stopped there first.”
“Perfect. I’ve got some stuff to make something to eat, or we could go out.”
“Let’s stay in,” she said.
“That sounds like a plan.”
As we drove down the winding road, I kept noticing Hollie put her hand up to her neck or her stomach. Shit, I really hoped she wasn’t coming down with something.
The moment I pulled into the driveway, she jumped out of the car and rushed to the front door. I had to jog to catch up to her. I unlocked the front door, and Hollie pushed past me and ran to the bathroom, and I followed.
“Hollie, are you okay…? Oh, gross!” I said as Hollie leaned over and puked. And puked. And puked some more.
Then she stood there, leaning over the toilet with dry heaves.
I had run and gotten a washcloth and handed it to her. She placed it over her entire face as I rubbed her back.
“Did you eat something bad on the plane, you think?”
Hollie slowly stood. She rinsed out her mouth, then took my hand as I led her straight to the bedroom, where she promptly crawled onto the bed.
“No, it’s not that.”
“The flu?”
She shook her head.
I felt her forehead; no fever.
“How long have you been sick?”
“Oh, awhile.”
“Have you gone to the doctor?”
With a nod, she said, “Yep.”
“What did they say?”
“Can you grab my purse? I dropped it on the way in.”
Kissing her on the forehead, I replied, “Of course. Let me go get it.”
I came back with her purse and set it next to her. She dug around and pulled out a little yellow envelope that had my name on it and handed it to me.
“What’s this?”
Sitting up, Hollie pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. The color slowly started to come to her beautiful face. She grinned and said, “Open it.”
