Underestimated Too(64)

‘Maybe I should go over there.’

‘No, you shouldn’t. She’s got Rebecca there. She’s taking good care of her.’

‘You call me if she gets any worse. You hear me?’

‘Yes, sir. I’ll give you a call after this meeting.’

I arrived home around four in the evening. Sprinting upstairs, taking two at a time. I saw Rebecca reading in a nearby chair while Morgan slept, and I nodded for her to leave. I sat on the edge of the bed and brushed Morgan’s hair from her face.

‘She’s burning up,’ I alleged, looking at Rebecca before she had a chance to get out of the room.

‘She’s not as hot as she was, and she hasn’t gotten sick at all today.’

I looked back to Morgan’s heated face. She never stirred. Normally when I came to her room, I instantly got the death glare, even if she was sound asleep.

‘You can go,’ I dictated.

‘I’ll bring you both some supper. Maybe you can get her to eat. I haven’t had any luck.’

I didn’t reply. Walking to the bathroom, I remembered my mother, placing a cold cloth over my forehead when I had run a fever as a boy.

Morgan jumped from the cold. For a split second I felt like the biggest ass on the face of the earth. She hid her face with her arm. Startled from her sleep, she thought I was going to strike her.”

I did do that. I remember.

“I said, ‘Lay down,’ trying to sound calm and soothing. I didn’t know how to be that way with Morgan. It wasn’t in my nature to be loving towards her. That is how I was feeling though. I wanted to be there and take care of her. I didn’t know how. She looked at me cautiously, not trusting me. Placing her head back to the pillow, I covered her head with the cloth.

‘Did your mother do this when you were sick?’ I asked.

‘No, not really, maybe. I don’t remember,’ she replied, still carrying the careful look.

She had every reason to be cautious. She knew me, knew I’d been gone for nine days and knew I’d need to be taken care of. She was right. After sitting up, eating a little and admitting that she did feel better, I fucked her. I didn’t make her do anything other than lay there for me, nonetheless, it was pretty heartless of me. I could feel the heat radiate from her skin as my hand held her hips. I hadn’t planned on doing that at all. I’d just had sex with Skyler, I didn’t really need the sex. It wasn’t the sex at all. I don’t know what it was, a way to keep my feelings and emotions intact? I’m not sure, but once I tenaciously used her for my pleasure, I left her.”

That part left me feeling a little sad. I was appalled that Drew hated me enough to make me do that being sick. I remember, repeating in my head over and over, don’t get sick, Morgan, don’t get sick.

“Watching her from my office, she did as she always did, walked to the bathroom to shower, trying to wash me away, I was sure. She didn’t feel better at all. She held her herself up, placing her hands in front of her on the shower walls. She didn’t even wash, just let the water run over her for a little bit, securing her stance with the shower tile. She dried herself, wrapped the towel around her midsection, and dragged her feet back to her bed. Dropping the towel to the floor she crawled back into bed, naked. She didn’t even have the energy to get dressed and I made her fuck me.”

Hmmm, he did feel bad about that.

“Dialing Rebecca, she spoke, ‘Can you bring me something for a headache?’ before dropping her head back to her pillow, still holding the phone, too weak to hang it up.

Morgan slept the entire night. She tried to wake up enough to drink the fluids that Rebecca was forcing down her, but refused to eat. She slept, and slept, and slept, until eleven the next day.

‘Drew, come on, dude. We’ve got to get this shit done,’ Derik whined, protesting my need to go to Morgan. She may need a doctor. She shouldn’t still be this sick. I couldn’t concentrate on the numbers from the last quarter. My eyes and attention kept going to my computer screen to my sleeping wife. Derik and the accountant were getting pissed, wanting to get through the complex figures.

‘You two keep at it. I’ll be right back,’ I said, leaving them alone. Derik knew what the hell was going on. He could handle it without me. Shaking my head, I realized that I was putting Morgan before my business. What the hell? I didn’t do that.”

Silent squeal.

“Sitting on the side of her bed, she opened her eyes, cautiously, shifting her eyes around the room and landing them on me with a smile. She actually smiled at me, well, maybe it wasn’t at me, but it felt like it for a brief moment.”