Chapter 45 (Robbie)

Following her instructions, I sat on the marble countertop that lined the faculty bathroom and closed my eyes. My brows knitted together as I tried to bear through the discomfort I was suddenly feeling.

"Are you okay?" Lia asked concerned

"Hmm. Yeah. The room just spun for a second."

She clicked her tongue disapprovingly as she unbuttoned and rolled up my sleeve.

I tried not to look because the sight of blood had a tendency to make me queasy, and I was already feeling off-balance. Still, I must be a masochist because I looked down at my arm. The cut was red and inflamed. There was a red streak going up my arm. It had lost two stitches and had thick dark blood using through.

"Uhh," I said and leaned my head on her shoulder, "are you going to put alcohol on it again?"

"Robbie, this looks really bad," she whispered. She grabbed napkins from the dispenser and wet them. Cleaning up the trail of blood that ran down my arm.

"Hmm, it's fine. Just opened up a bit. Probably from when we were wrestling."

"Here, hold this," she said, ignoring my joke and handing me a clean napkin, "try to put some pressure on it so that you don't bleed out more. I'm going to go to the nurse's office to see if there's anything there. I don't know about closing it up again. I really think you need to see a doctor," she said. Her thoughts scrambled as she quickly left the bathroom.

I did as she told me to do and rested my head against the mirrored wall behind me.

I believe I dozed off at one point because the door opening caused me to jump up.

Lia came back holding some gauze, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and a box of adhesive stitches.

I gave her a smile as she walked up to me; she had her 'get down to business' look that I always found adorable. My smile quickly fell as I noticed Ryans coming up behind her. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed and looking like he sucked on a lemon.

Lia undid the bottle of peroxide and washed out my arm, then started placing two adhesive stitches to close it up. I looked up at her and noticed the was some blood on her cheek from when she rubbed her face at one point. I tried to rub it off but she told me to sit still.

When she added the last stitch, the pain shot up my arm again. I leaned my head back on her shoulder and grabbed her waist, bunching up the silk of her dress in my fist.

"It hurts that much?" She asked, concerned, "Robbie, maybe we should go to the hospital."

"No. I'm fine," I said through gritted teeth. That is the last place I wanted to go, "Hey," I said into her ear as she finished up, "remember the last time you did this? I wanted to kiss you so badly."

She bit back a smile, "I probably would have smacked you if you tried," she whispered, "I'm done," she said.

I pressed my forehead to her cheek, I felt dizzy again.

She leaned her head back and gave me a suspicious look, then pressed the back of her hand to my forehead.

"Robbie, you have a fever," she said.

"I'm fine."

"Uh-uh, no. Noah, help me with him." 

"I don't want to go to the hospital."

"You have to at least lie down," she said, upset. "Noah, come on, we're taking him to his sister's," she added, "you have her key, right?" She asked, patting down the pockets of my dress pants, too impatient to wait for an answer.

Noah shot me a look that pretty much told me he rather stab himself in the eye with a rusty nail than do what she was asking him to do.

Or maybe he rather stab me with a rusty nail.

"He's not going to stab you with a rusty nail," Lia muttered. Tugging at the front of my shirt to pull me off the counter.

I didn't realize I had said that out loud, or maybe Lia's ability to know how I felt suddenly turned into full-blown telepathy.

"Where are you guys going? Is he okay?" I heard Viviana ask; I involuntarily winced; I had forgotten about her.

"He's fine. We're going to his sisters," Lia said, her tone suddenly sounding clipped.

"Oh, I can go?" Viviana asked. Her accent was thicker than normal for whatever reason.

"Her apartment is very small. I think three people is already too much," Lia said, wrapping her arm around my waist to hold me up.

"I can stand," I mumbled, yet I felt myself slouching into her as I said it.

"Well, why does he get to go?" Viviana asked, looking at Noah.

"Yeah, why do I have to go?" Noah asked, annoyed.

"You don't. I'm fine," I said.

Lia ignored me again, "I can't pull him. He weighs almost twice what I do. If he gets light-headed, I won't be able to hold him up; he could get hurt."

"Yes. That would be tragic," Noah said deadpanned.

Lia looked up at me and pressed her hand against my cheek. Her eyes looked worried. I wanted to smooth out the little crease between her eyebrows.

"You're burning up," Lia murmured and sighed. She shook her head in defeat, "Fine, everyone, let's go," she ordered. 

We piled into the car or a taxi, I can't really recall. As soon as we were inside, I bent over and placed my head on Lia's lap.

"Maybe you should sit up," she said softly.

I buried my face in her dress, hiding from the light the street lamps leaked through the window. Every time we drove under one, it caused a sharp pain behind my eyes.

The ride was short and bumpy, and I felt as if I was going to throw up. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on Lias's hand on my shoulder. The way she smelled.

Noah almost pushed me into the elevator; if I wasn't feeling so bad and my body didn't feel so heavy, I would have decked him right then and there.

"Fuck Noah, gentle, he has stitches; watch his arm," Lia said, admonishing him as if he were a little kid handling a pet.

"Sorry, I slipped," Noah said, shrugging. I leaned back against the elevator wall, and I shoved my hands in my pocket, "it's okay. He just can't reach any higher," it was a stupid insult, and I blamed my brain fog for not allowing me to be clever, but it worked its intended purpose of making Noah turn a shade of red that would have made his Irish lineage proud.

Inside Maria's place, Lia went ahead to run me a bath. Noah stayed in the kitchen acting petulant, and Viviana was almost unbearable touching my forehead and doting over me.

"Do you want water?" she asked me for a second time.

"No."

I almost wanted to tell her to hit pause on the ruse, but Noah, for whatever reason, would not leave.

"Bring him to the bathroom Noah," Lia called out from my sister's bedroom.

Noah rolled his eyes and pushed off the wall. I stood up, "I'm fine, whatever I had passed," I said, holding my hand up. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to lean against the wall.

"Does your cousin need help?" Viviana asked.

"No."

"Cousin? This is the east coast...." Noah said, confused.

His comment flew right over her head, and I shot him a glare, warning him to shut up.

As I left the living room, I heard her say, "his cousin is very nice,"

"Yeah," Noah answered, "They take care of each other, in every way possible," he said sarcastically, "it's very biblical."

In the bathroom, Lia was on the phone, with one hand she drummed her fingers on the counter top, with the other she bit into her thumb nail.

"Who?" I mouthed, and she mouthed back, "my dad."

I could hear him through her receiver. She unbuttoned my shirt as she listened intently.

"Cecilia, if what you are describing is what I am imagining, he needs to come to the hospital right away. It's very serious. Call an ambulance if he tries to be difficult."

"I'm not difficult," I said insulted, "I'm just seriously fine," I said, and Lia covered my mouth with her hand to shut me up.

"He's going to need to stay overnight and be on an antibiotic drip, best case scenario."

"Okay," she said.

"The sooner, the better," I heard him say.

"Okay, yeah," she said and then hung up, "you heard him," she said, looking at me pointedly.

"I'm not going to be difficult, but that's really unnecessary. It's just a cut. You closed it up. I'll call Ana tonight, and she'll look at it."

"You have a fever. It's infected," she said, touching my forehead again. I grabbed her hands and laid them on my chest.

"It'll pass."

"Robbie, please," she said, her eyes looked worried and glassy. I suddenly felt guilty.

When she looked at me like that she could pretty much get me to do anything. 

"Okay, fine. Let me wash up," I sighed.

"Thank you, I'm going to call Maria to pack a bag for you when she gets back, she said, leaving the room.

—-

Apparently, her dad was a shitty father but a good doctor; he was right on the money. He told me I had a blood infection after taking one look at my arm, and the tests he sent for me shortly confirmed his diagnosis.

I just wanted to go into a hospital room and go to sleep. I had only ever spoken to him twice before. When I took him and Lia out for dinner, the last time was when I picked her up one day for a date. She had a bruise on her chin. I waited until she went to the bathroom and explained that if she had ever had another mark on her, I would make sure whatever I gave him was worse.

Needless to say, seeing him again was awkward. Being in a hospital gown didn't help. Neither did the fact Lia had no idea about the latter encounter, I could see her visibly confused with our behavior.

They knocked me out for what I later found out was the better portion of the night, and when I woke up, Lia was curled up on a chair next to my bed. I noticed it was dawn outside and that my duffle bag was hanging from a hook on the wall. Maria must have passed by.

"How bad is it?" I asked Lia.

"You're lucky you came when you did," said a nurse I hadn't noticed standing next to me while she changed my drip.

"Hmm, she forced me to come," I said, grabbing onto Lia's hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles.

"Well, you know a lot of studies show married men live longer," the nurse said.

"Well, if it's been studied, it must be true," I said, closing my eyes. I felt Lia's hand on my forehead, smoothing out my hair. It felt nice.

"So apparently, your sister pulled some strings so you could stay at her apartment and finish getting better there," she said, running her fingers through my hair, "that does not mean you can start working again for your grandfather," she said her tone getting sharper.

"Hmm, will you punish me if I break the rule?" I teased and looked up at her.

She turned beet red, "Robbie, Viviana could come in at any minute," she whispered.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you running your fingers through my hair will be more suspicious," I said and then quickly regretted it as she took her hand away.

"Aww, come on, I'm kidding," I chuckled.

"You still have a fever," she said, her hand on my forehead; she still looked worried.

"Hey, come on now, it's fine."

"I love you," she said tiredly, squeezing my hand.

"I love you too. Why don't you get some rest? If I'm going to Maria's, you'll be able to visit, right? It's a long weekend."

"Yeah, I'll be there. But I can stay. I don't think I could fall asleep anyway. I have so much homework, I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it all this weekend."

"So ask for an extension," Maria said, coming in and taking a seat on the chairs to the left of the room. She crossed her legs, "I've asked for them before; you have straight A's Im sure most teachers will give you one. I didn't, and they complied."

"You had a parent pass away. That's an actual excuse," Lia said.

"Trust me, they'll give you one. Tell coach that Abigail is draining you with dance she'll write you a pass that you had something with track, and they have to let you make it up. I'm sure Abigail will back you up, aren't you both friends?"

"I'll see," Lia said but relented and kissed me goodbye.

I fell asleep soon after and had the strangest dreams. When I woke up, they were setting me up to go to my sisters.

"How did you manage this?" I asked her as she walked beside me, my duffle bag slung across her shoulder.

"It was luck. I heard Lia's dad talking about a massive accident they had the night before. Multiple cars and a bus. These suites are usually reserved for select people, but I offered ours in exchange for you coming home with nursing visits. I think he pulled some strings after that. I figure the sooner you're out of here, the better; I really don't want grandmother getting wind of this; she could get Ana in big trouble."

"There's room for me at your place?" I asked.

"You'll take my bed; I'm fine on the couch," Maria explained.

"No, Mar, you have school; you'll be tired."

"Nah, it's fine. I fall asleep on it all the time watching T.V., plus that way Lia can stay with you. I know she's worried. Just don't have sex on my bed, please. That's super gross."

"Okay, I won't anymore."

Maria's jaw dropped, and she smacked my shoulder, "Robbie, how could you?! I sleep there!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I swear. You know Lia would never. It was a stupid thing for you to say."

"You guys are like bunnies sometimes; I know we lived together."

"I mean, my range of movement isn't exactly the best right now," I said, motioning to the hospital equipment they had strapped on me.

"I swear you're somehow more annoying when you're sick," she muttered, and I let out a laugh.

"Shut up," she said, annoyed as they helped into the car.

When we got to Maria's house, they set me up in her room. I complained to her again about how she should have gotten the penthouse because the elevator would have been bigger, and she said I sounded like my grandmother, which shut me up immediately.

I was annoyed they were making such a huge fuss. I felt better. My fever would come back every few hours but go away pretty quickly with medication.

Lia's dad said my blood cells were still in rough shape, and I needed to be watched closely and administered antibiotics accordingly.

I wanted to complain more, but, honestly, this illness gave me an excuse to see Lia this weekend.

"I sent a cab for her," Maria said after breakfast.

"Hey, bickering aside, thank you Mar."

She sighed, frustrated, "that cut had to be bothering you for a while now."

"I thought it was nothing. I took the antibiotics Ana gave me."

"It was probably that dirt from the coffee fields. You know you don't have to actually be out there," she said.

"Well, hindsight is 20/20."

"I'm supposed to go first, you know that, right? You can't leave me."

"You're a year older than me. Women statistically live six years more than men; chances are that's exactly what's going to happen."

"No. Me first. Go to sleep," she ordered.

Lia got there around noon and did her homework while I slept in bed. It was nice waking up every so often and seeing her next to me.

One time I woke up, she was looking at me, concerned.

"What?"

"Were you having a bad dream?" She asked.

"Hmmm, a strange dream," I mumbled sleepily.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, just bizarre. Aliens and shit."

She laughed, "those are some strong drugs they're giving you. Stop fighting sleep, rest."

"Hmmm, but you're so cute when you do your math homework."

"Physics, actually," she clarified.

Then she licked the tip of her pen and scribbled on the edge of her paper before continuing whatever she was working on.

There was a calming clarity when I looked at her, "marry me," I heard myself say. I thought it would sound weird, and I would wonder where it came from, but if anything, it felt like something I should have said before.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, "You're brain is frying from that fever, go to sleep, stop fighting it; you're not even going to be a challenge in math if you keep it up," she said leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"No. Lips," I mumbled, and she let out a soft laugh and pressed her mouth on mine.

"Thank you," I said before falling asleep.

When I woke up again, Lia was beside me in bed. She had showered, put on her P.J.s, and was reading a book she had told me earlier she needed to finish for English.

"You get a lot done?" I asked sleepily turning to kiss her shoulder. I wished I didn't have a drip on my arm so I could wrap my arms around her.

"Yeah, thankfully."

"My sister is on the couch?"

"No, she's actually spending the night at Lana's. I think she and Chris hung out all day."

I knew exactly what they were doing when she told me this. When I got back from Brazil, I managed to put together some recording devices. She went with Chris to place them around the barn.

"Is there something going on there?" She asked me.

"You would know before me. Chris and I don't really talk like that. Especially when it concerns my sister."

"Your phone rang a few times while you were sleeping," she said and placed the phone in my hand.

"Thanks."

"Your friend Viviana texted you a few times. I didn't read it, but it popped up."

"I don't care if you read it."

"I know, but it's weird."

I rubbed my eyes tiredly, "let's see what she wants."

I opened up my phone, she messaged me 8 times, asking how I was.

"Robbie, you haven't talked to her since the hospital? She's worried," Lia said.

"She's annoying."

She shook her head, "let her know you're okay. Don't be a jerk."

"You don't have to live with her, trust me. I am constantly reminded of that Benjamin Franklin quote about guests smelling like fish after 3 days. Except it's been a lot longer than that...and the smell is much worse."

I texted a quick I'm fine. Doing better. Before setting my phone down and lacing my fingers with Lia's, "read out loud to me, I'm tired of my dreams," I said, squeezing her hand.

She settled against me and scotched down so I could see the book as she read.

She was reading Their Eyes Were Watching God; I had read it already since we had the same teacher. I finished it on the plane earlier in the week.

I loved the sound of her voice. Sometimes, when I was away, if she had gone to sleep and I was feeling so anxious to the point that the medication barely did anything, I would play voice messages I had saved from when we dated.

When my phone buzzed again, it was from Maria. It was just a green checkmark. I guess she and Chris were successful.