Chapter 73: One Shots-1

Struggling to catch my breath, I ran from my classroom towards the nearest bathroom; luckily there were some on the same floor. Pushing past curious onlookers, I hastened to enter the tiled room and literally threw myself into one of the stalls just in time to be sick - again. It was getting frustrating, this constant feeling of nausea and the eventual throwing up. I sank to the floor near the toilet after I'd flushed the nasty contents down and thought about the reasons behind this stupid stomach bug. I hadn't really eaten anything that bad except for some leftover Thai last weekend but Zach had eaten it too and he seemed perfectly fine. Urgh. Zach! He had a meeting with some investors in London the next day and I knew how important it was for the company; if he realized that I wasn't feeling so good he would never leave. Ever since the sickness had started on Tuesday I'd carefully avoided him and made sure that he didn't know that I felt like crap. If I just made it through today... After splashing my face with cold water and rinsing my mouth with the mouthwash I thankfully carried in my purse, I decided that I couldn't attend the rest of my classes for the day. My professors liked me enough to understand that I wouldn't skip unless there was a genuine reason, plus I could always get the assignments from Carter. It was surprising that he'd decided to go to community college with me but he'd told me that his parents were going through a rough divorce and that he needed to be there for his younger siblings. "Danny? Hey can you pick me up in ten?" I texted my cousin who would just about be getting out of his last class for the day. "Sure :)" Single worded responses were so his thing. As I waited for him to come I realized that I needed to make a call which would be slightly trickier. Zach could always tell when I was lying but hopefully the fact that he couldn't see me would work out as an advantage. Hesitantly I pressed his speed dial number and he picked up on the first ring. "Shouldn't you be in class?" He sounded so worried that it was adorable. It was in these moments that I realized how lucky I was to be married to someone who loved me as much as Zach did. He was an absolutely incredible person and he'd grown to become not just my husband but also my best friend. I really didn't know if it was possible for me to love him more than I already did but with every little thing he did, I just fell more in love with him. "Mr. Morrison decided to let us off early." I bit my lip, thanking my lucky stars that he couldn't see me right now. "Well just wait on the steps, I'll send Bruce over for you. I'm stuck at work, if I see another damn spreadsheet..." He was cut off and I could hear someone calling his name in the background. He was busy, like he'd been the entire month but I didn't hold it against him. He'd shifted all the work and resources closer to my college and it'd been a hectic process. Zach and Liam had been working like crazy trying to set up the new work space and Mr. Price hadn't exactly been going easy on them. It was obvious that he didn't like me and thought that I was just distracting his son from what he ought to be doing but the man was going a bit too far. "I know I know, it's fine. I just called to tell you that I'm heading over to Aunt Ophelia's right now. Danny's coming to pick me up so I'm good." Things were quiet on the other end for a few seconds but I could hear the sound of his breathing. "Once this deal's over, we're going to go on a holiday, somewhere far away," he mused. "No more spreadsheets?" "No more spreadsheets." He chuckled and soon we hung up. Danny came by soon and took me back to his house. We hung around like old times and played video games. He told me about the girl he was seeing and how nervous he was about asking her to be his girlfriend. Any other day I would be all for playing Cupid but my stomach felt so queasy that I really couldn't keep track of half the things he was saying. "Ari are you even listening to me?" "Hmm..." I looked up from the controller in my hands and up at the television screen. I'd just managed to kill myself in the videogame which I didn't even remember playing. "Are you feeling okay? You've kinda been zoning out a lot today." A frown appeared on his face. I waved my hand casually. "I'm fine, just not feeling that great." "Anything serious? Do you want me to take you to the hospital or something?" I ruffled his hair and he fought away my hands; he hated it when I treated him like a kid but he was too sweet for his own good. "It's fine, when I need to drive down to the emergency room I'll call you." He grunted and turned his concentration back to the game, killing my character again in a matter of seconds. I'd avoided being sick up until the very moment that my aunt put a bowl of Mac and Cheese in front of me which just completely triggered a wave of nausea. As the smell wafted up my nose I found myself once again rushing to the bathroom and being sick. This time however, Aunt Ophelia pushed my hair behind me and rubbed my back soothingly as I threw up. When I was done she helped me clean up and then took me to her bedroom where she forced me to lie down. "I knew it! I knew you were sick. Why didn't you tell me? Have you been to a doctor?" she scolded, placing her hands on her hips. I simply groaned in response as my head pounded with pain and my stomach growled loudly. "I thought it was going to be a twenty-four-hour thing so I didn't really pay much attention." The weight on the bed shifted slightly as she sat down next to me on the bed and placed her hand on my forehead. "Well you don't feel warm. Since when's this been happening?" "This Tuesday I guess so it's been about four days now." "Did you eat something bad?" "I thought it was the leftover Thai food we had on Sunday but Zach ate that too and he's fine." I frowned, trying hard to think of what else it could have been. "Well if it's not the food..." Aunt Ophelia left off mid-sentence as she stared at me with wide eyes, her mouth hanging slightly open.