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I corrected her, “Maybe both. Make a note of what we need.”
Thirty-five minutes later to the minute, the two employees ran back in, loaded with several watermelons, cartons of coconut water, several pounds of organic apples, and a dozen lemons. Then the fellow went back out to get more electrolyte powders from the pharmacy.
By this time, Leighton’s older sister had come back from an outside meeting and was filled in. I hadn’t met her yet.
No time now. I just kept going with my plan, “Can we get him to his apartment upstairs? We’ll have to roll him in this chair. He can’t walk yet. And we can’t carry him.”
I let the sisters figure out the logistics of that while I put the straw to Leighton’s lips again and again.
I coaxed him, “Pretend you’re kissing me, baby. Kiss my lips some more, now. Suck down some of this water. That’s good.”
I did this every few seconds, alternating between the coconut water and the electrolyte water.
The sisters and I joined forces to get him upstairs, into his room, and propped up on the bed.
Then Big Sis asked, “What do I do with the fruit?”
I just said, “I don’t know his kitchen very well. We need to make watermelon juice. Just throw it in a blender for a slurry. Only the fruit and its juice. Nothing added. If he has a juicer for the apples and lemons, let me know.”
Hydration plus nutrition. God, I hope it worked.
Big Sis went off to make a watermelon slurry. She brought back a short glass of it.
Leighton was sipping more readily now. He liked the watermelon. He gave us a weak smile, but his eyes were closed.
Leighton
Iwas in a blurry cotton-gauze haze.
People fussing around me. I was dreaming about Samantha. That she was kissing me. That she was whispering to me.
My head was sort of vibrating. I couldn’t focus my eyes. So I just closed them.
Oh, no! I jumped. Was I going to miss my date with my darling? I can’t let her down. Being with her is where I belong.
I floated. Then something popped up again and scared me. I jumped. I floated, jumped, floated.
“Leighton William! You listen to me! Look at me, now!”
Mom?
“Here ya go, kiddo, you drink that up. All of it. There ya go, kiddo.”
Dad?
I floated.
“Here, baby, give me another kiss.”
Samantha?
She didn’t answer.
Then everything faded. I slept. Or maybe I was dead.
Samantha
I’d have to ask him later if he remembered any of this since I wasn’t sure he knew he was talking to me. I wasn’t sure if he heard me.
