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“Thanks.” She covers her lips and continues around a mouthful, “You spoil me.”
“Have to keep you well fed.” I sit next to her and eat too.
Her blue eyes meet mine, and she tucks loose strands of hair behind her ear. “I promise I’ll repay you for taking care of me.”
I laugh and waggle my eyebrows. “I can think of a few ways.”
Cami snorts. “Men.”
“You know it, babe.”
Once we’re done, I rinse the plates and put them in the dishwasher.
“Oh, I thought we could watch a movie and relax for the rest of the day,” I suggest.
Cami grins with a nod, and we enter the living room where Chanel sleeps peacefully. She tries to hold her like a baby, but Chanel is dead set on wiggling free. Eventually, she succeeds and jumps down, prancing away as if Cami inconvenienced her.
“Wow, what a traitor. Chanel doesn’t see me for nearly two weeks and acts like she doesn’t even know me,” Cami says with a shrug just as Bruno runs toward her.
I yell his name and tell him to sit.
“You know it’s rude to get in people’s personal space. Stop,” Cami says as his little tail and butt wiggle. His tongue hangs sloppily out of the side of his mouth.
“This is why dogs are better,” I taunt. “When they see you, it’s like the very first time. Cats don’t give two shits about their humans.”
“She misses me in her own way,” Cami explains. “She’ll come to me when she’s ready.”
I nod. “Whatever you say.”
Cami coughs, then her face contorts.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, my chest and ribs are killing me. But I’m alive, thankfully.” She looks at me with sad eyes.
“Hopefully, you’ll be good as new soon.”
A smirk slides across her lips. “Can we build a fire?”
“By we, you mean me, right?” I tease, and she playfully rolls her eyes. “Sure.” I glance over at the neatly stacked wood by the fireplace and make a mental note that we’ll probably need more in a few weeks. Grabbing some, I place it inside with a quick start log and light it. Once it crackles and pops, and the flames lick upward, Cami smiles. I meet her on the couch where she’s already covered with a blanket.
I sit beside her and turn on the TV. Cami snuggles closer and rests her head on my shoulder. There’s nothing we could watch that would take my attention off her right now. I’ve been dreaming of moments like this for weeks.
Eventually, we lie on our sides, spooning as she watches a murder mystery movie. I’m so comfortable, but tired, and end up falling asleep with her wrapped in my arms.
Hours pass, and I’m being woken to Cami repositioning herself. When I sit up and put my feet on the floor, I close my eyes tightly because my head is pounding. I suck in a deep breath, and my chest burns. While I try not to freak out, Cami notices.
The concern in her voice is clear as she asks me if I’m okay.
“I don’t feel great,” I admit, not wanting to worry her, but not wanting to lie either. I don’t know if it’s my asthma and a migraine, or the onset of the virus. Immediately, Cami gets up and rushes upstairs, then returns with the thermometer.
“Let’s check if you’re running a fever,” she states, handing it to me. “I disinfected it, I promise,” she says as I turn it on and put it in my mouth.
Seconds later, it beeps. When I glance at the reading, Cami leans over to see it.
“Eli.” She gasps and shakes her head. “No. That’s high.”
I want to assure her everything will be okay, and that I’ll be fine, but we both know what this means. All I can do is take it one day at a time and fight like hell to live if I have it.
“Get plenty of rest, and drink tons of water,” she instructs, and I shoot her a look.
“I know, babe. I just took care of you, remember?”
“I’ll help you, Eli. Shit, you need Tylenol,” she says.
Cami gets up again and comes back with a glass of ice water and Tylenol. I swallow them down. “I kinda wanna go to bed.” A wave of exhaustion hits me, and I’m not sure how bad I’ll feel later, but so far, it’s mostly fatigue and chest tightness.
I glance out the large windows at the beautiful mountaintops and realize the sun hasn’t set yet. I’ve slept for a few hours, but it doesn’t seem like enough. I didn’t expect to wake up and be symptomatic. Every time Cami and I get some alone time, the universe claps back. But I’ll be damned if I’m giving up that easily. As if this year could get any worse, it proves that it can.
I stand and go to the stairs, and Cami follows like my shadow. I go to my room, and when I turn around and look at her, I notice she’s holding back tears that will fall any second.
