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“You need anything else, my love? Are you hungry? Need some of the water she brought in?”
“No. I’m afraid whatever I eat will just come right back up. The popsicles make me feel a bit better. I hope I haven’t eaten them all up.”
“We have what we need to make more. Aussie and I will have more in the freezer before she gets in bed tonight.”
“That means you’re stealing her away from me before our time is up.”
“If you want more popsicles by morning, then I have no other choice, baby.”
“Okay.”
I was beginning to miss her already and she hadn’t left for the night. Her little head popped up on side of the bed just as I closed my eyes and released a heap of air.
“Here!”
“Thank you, Aussie. You’re such a good helper. I can’t wait until I’m better, Mommy is going to take you shopping for some new clothes and some new dolls.”
“Can Daddy come?”
“No. It’ll be a girls’s day. But, Daddy can pay.”
“Of course.” Malachi chuckled. “Just taxing Daddy’s pockets without even offering him a lunch date, dinner, nothing.”
“We’ll come home early enough to cook you dinner. Then, immediately after, we can show you everything we’ve purchased.”
“I’ve purchased.”
“Same thing, baby.”
“Not even close, but that sounds like a plan. We just need you to get better so it can happen.”
“Yes. Feel better, Mommy.”
“I’m trying, Aussie. I’m really trying.”
In thirty years of life, I’d never felt sickness at this capacity. Because I was in a coma for two years, I felt nothing. This, however, was depleting me of energy and creeping in to steal all the joy I’d spent time and effort producing in my world.
“Alright, little lady, you have until you finish your popsicle in here and then you have to come make more in the kitchen with me. After that, it’s bath and bedtime, okay?”
“Okay.”
Malachi left us alone with our fruit bars. They were delicious. I could hardly believe they’d come from our freezer. I’d only ever had store-bought popsicles, but this wasn’t to be compared to any of those. It was in a league of its own.
* * *
“No. No. Please. Please.”
“Baby!”
The light flipped on, freeing me from another nightmare. A hand on my shoulder catapulted me into oblivion.
“Ahh!”
“Baby! It’s me. It’s me. Aeir, it’s me.”
“Malachi?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
