Chapter 25: Twenty-Five

“I missed you, mommy!” she whined. “Are you going away?”

“No baby, mommy is not going away anytime soon.” Melina took her to the bathtub. Eve cried and complained about the water being cold, but it was the fever. The water was lukewarm, just perfect.

“Where’s daddy? I want to see him…”

“Daddy is back in his house. Let’s get better first, then we go over, okay? Did you buy the kitty stuff with him?” She knew she needed an easy subject to divert Eve’s attention from the bath.

“Yes, we did. And we had fun. Linus was there, and we played together. I like to play with him, but he was coughing too much.” Linus was the youngest son of the owner of the pet shop and the same age as Eve. She referred the place to Henry so Eve could meet her friend, but she didn’t count on this. Why would Mr. Collias bring a sick child to the store?

“Oh baby, maybe you got his cold, mommy will take good care of you!” She pulled Eve out of the water, wrapping her in a fluffy hooded towel with kitty cat ears, taking her to the bedroom. “I think Giagiá made you a porridge with a hint of honey. Smells delicious, don’t you think?”

“I’m not hungry… I don’t want to eat. I wanna see daddy, he’s sick, too.”

“You need to eat a little, Muffin. Just five spoonfuls. How are you going to take care of the kitten if you’re sick? I promise you I’ll check on daddy later. Now, help me count so I don’t forget, how about that?”

“Fine, mommy,” Eve agreed after some thinking.

By the time Melina finished giving her breakfast, she was feverish again and getting very sleepy. Melina gave her some medicine and put the little girl to bed, only leaving when she was sound asleep. Melina spent the entire day and night tending to a fussy, crying girl, but her mind was always wandering to Henry. Eve woke up slightly better the next morning, so she could have some time for herself, but that didn’t last long.

She didn’t take her mind off Henry. Concern beating at her. If what Eve said was through, he didn’t have business to attend. Why lie to her? How old was he? She didn’t want to go down that road. It meant to be a joke, but in truth, she didn’t have a clue. She guessed maybe late thirties or less. Worrying on her bottom lip, she didn’t waste more time and rushed to Henry’s house.

The entire place was quiet, and it seemed no one was at home. A thin shear of sweat coated her forehead when wild thoughts poured in her mind. Was he so sick in bed? As soon as she crossed the corridor, she heard a crashing glass and swearing, and opening the door to his room, she got her question answered. She dashed inside and turned the soft lamp by the bedside on and stared at him. He was a mess worse than Evangeline.

On the other side of the bed, there was broken glass, and water spilled on the floor. The way he was curled up under the covers, he also got a fever. She neared him, putting her hand on his forehead, making him flinch. He was burning up. It wasn’t a simple fever.

“Tom? Are you there? Don’t die on me, man!” He whined, holding my hand to him, staring at her, but not really seeing Melina. “Orange blossoms, I can’t get enough.” He was delirious and mumbling nonsense.

“Henry, calm down.” She brushed the hair out of his face. It was soaked in sweat. “I’m going home, but I’ll be back soon, ok.”

His head fell back on the pillow and Melina put one more blanket over him. She glanced at him and ran back home to check on Eve and turn on the baby monitor. With a thermometer and medicines in hand, she went to her grandma, who was busy with lunch.

“Giagiá, is it okay if you keep an eye on Eve for me for a while? Henry also got sick, just a notch worse than Eve.”

“He wasn’t himself yesterday. Go child, take care of him and don’t worry about me or Eve.”

“Thank you.” Melina kissed the old lady on the cheek and rushed out. She needed to put him into a soaking, and fast.

***

“Henry, wake up.” She ran her fingers through his hair. He was sweating profusely, despite shivering under the covers. “Henry, look at me. I’m going to take your temperature.” He nodded, and as soon as she put the thermometer in his mouth, the thing went off. That wasn’t a good sign.

The little display showed 105Fº. Woah! She couldn’t wait for the medicine to do its job. Melina left for the bathroom and thanked Lord he put a tub there in his renovations. She filled it with almost cold water; he would complain about it, but she needed to bring the fever down and maybe drive him to the emergency room.

“Henry, come. You need a bath, you’ve got a high fever.” Her answer was a loud grunt from him. She took the covers away to undress him. He was feeling so crappy he didn’t bother to change into his pajamas.

She unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them off by the hem of each leg. It wasn’t an easy feat since he was lying on his back on the bed. His underwear was half dragged with them. Melina thought of keeping that piece of clothes on him, but what for, it’d get soaked and in the end she’d have to change it, anyway. After lots of pulling and tugging, the jeans came off and two sets of well-shaped legs graced her eyes. She blushed.

“What are you doing?” he asked drowsily when she touched his waist to pull off his boxers, flushing from head to toe, and averting her gaze. “Your hands are freezing cold!” He stared at her, his eyes glassy with fever.

“No, it’s not. You’re too hot for your own good. Sit down, Henry.” She got him by the hands, helping him up. “Please, help me out here.” A few cussing got to her ears. The situation was serious, but she could help and smile. Once he sat straight, his t-shirt joined the rest of his clothes on the floor.

“Ok, you’ve got me naked. Now what you’re planning to do with me? I hope it is something naughty,” he blabbered with mischief.

“I’m gonna make you scream, love!” She whispered into his ear, teasing him. “Come.” She pulled him up with all the strength she could manage, steadying him and helping him to the bathroom. “Sit on the edge of the tub and get inside, Henry!”

“This shit is fucking cold!” he screamed at her. “No! I’m not getting in!” He tried to get out, but she was in a better position and forced him down.

“Stop being such a baby! Eve did better than you!” She chastised him.

“Did you put my daughter in this fucking cold water?” he yelped again in agony.

“Well, it wasn’t this cold. She got a fever, but not this high. I told you I was going to make you scream, didn’t I, babe?” She winked at him with a wicked smile dancing on her lips.

“You’re such an evil woman!”

Filling a plastic cup with tap water, she stuffed some medicine in his mouth and made him drink the cold liquid. Then he leaned back in the tub and closed his eyes. She used the same cup to pour water on his shoulders and chest, extracting another loud grunt from him.

“Shit, Melina!” She wiped his face with a cloth, then soaked with more water, leaving one on his forehead and another on the back of his neck.

She sat on the edge of the tub, staring at him with so much tenderness in those chocolaty eyes. Maybe he was dreaming, but his head wasn’t cooperating right now. He couldn’t make a coherent thought. Tears pricked in the back of his eyes when her palm cupped his cheek and her fingers caressed his face.

He opened his eyes, fixing those pools of honey on hers, but they were far away, lost somewhere. It was heart wrenching to see him so vulnerable, and not the monster she conjured up of him.

“I’m not a monster, Melina. I’d never hurt your parents… I’ve never hurt good people, you must believe me.”

He spoke out of the blue, as if reading my thoughts. Giagiá’s words came to her mind. He stared at her for a long time. He didn’t say a word, but his eyes talked volumes. His voice was full of emotion and she was aware he was delirious.

“Shh, sit back and let the water do its job.” Melina changed the cloth from his forehead and nape with more cold water.

“Claire died, then Tom died…” He trailed off and shut his eyes. There were tears in them.