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“What else is there to do? School is done. Basketball won’t start until the fall, along with school, so I’ve got a whole summer of lying around here, wishing I could go somewhere. Now that I’m going back to playing, though, I don’t want to risk anything.”
“You shouldn’t. I want you to be careful, Shay.”
“Hey, do you think you’ll be able to come to a game next year?”
“Probably a few, yeah.” Layne nodded. “I want to see you play again.”
“I wish you were going to be out there with me.”
“Me too,” Layne replied. “But–”
“No, I know. I get it.”
“I’ll call you later?”
Shay nodded and said, “Later.”
Layne reluctantly got out of bed to find something to cook her mother, which was her chief responsibility since her mom would just throw in a TV dinner if Layne didn’t try to at least make something better for her. She found some frozen chicken breasts that she could thaw and a can of corn that she put on the stove with some butter, salt, and pepper, and went about trying to make previously frozen chicken taste better. The door to the apartment opened just as Layne was plating her creation.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Honey, stay where you are.”
“What?” Layne looked around the wall between them.
“Stay over there.” Her mom pointed at her.
“Mom!”
“Layne, I’ve got it.”
“What?” She walked around the wall.
“I told you to stay there. I’ve got it. I don’t want you to get it.”
“How do you know?”
“I didn’t work late. I went to the clinic down the street and did one of those tests. I had a fever and felt like crap all day. When I started to cough, though, I knew I couldn’t put it off.”
“You’re…”
“I’ll be fine. I just need to get some rest.”
“They didn’t send you to a doctor or a hospital?”
“No, because I’m fine. I have it, but my fever isn’t bad, so they told me that I should go home and rest. I have to miss work until it’s gone, which isn’t good news, but I’ll be okay.” She coughed and quickly covered her mouth despite the fact that she was still wearing a mask.
“What do I do?”
“Nothing. You’ll stay away from me until I get rid of this thing. I’ll be in my room. You stay in yours. We only have one bathroom, but I’ll clean it when I’m done in there. I’ll probably need you to cook and drop food off for me by the door or something, just so I don’t give this to you.”
“Mom, I want to do more than just that. Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the doctor?”
“I don’t have a regular one, and everything is all booked up anyway. The hospitals are overflowing with people worse off than me, so I’ve got the meds they told me to take, and I’m going to get some rest.”
“I made dinner for you.”
“Good. Food will help. Now, can you go into your room and wait for me to close my door? Maybe wait a little longer before you come out and have your own dinner.”
