Page 33

Story: Starlight Wishes

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she gasped.

I grabbed a trashcan and dumped out the contents. She groaned and rolled to her side. I held her hair back as she emptied her stomach groaning in pain with each heave. Once she was done, I tucked her back under the covers and turned off the light. “Jen, honey, I need to know if you’ve already taken any medicine.”

“No. Was trying to,” she whispered. Even as quiet as her voice was, I could hear the pain laced in her voice.

“I’ll be right back,” I whispered.

Trying to avoid the glass, I searched through her cabinets looking for any prescription that I would recognize to treat migraines. Next to the sink I found a box with a familiar name for a powerful nasal spray used to treat migraines. I opened the wrapping as I walked back to her bedroom. “I’m going to help you with the meds, baby. Just lay still.” Using the light streaming in from the hallway, I inserted the tip into her nostril and pushed on the injector. She flinched but didn’t move otherwise. Then, as carefully as I could, I examined her legs for cuts. Fortunately, there was no glass embedded anywhere and only a couple minor scratches. I gently cleaned them and applied some antibiotic ointment I found in the bathroom. “Just rest, baby. I’ll check on you in a little bit.”

Her hand wrestled out from the covers and reached blindly in my direction. I caught it in mine and pressed it to my lips. “Thank you,” she whispered.

I leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Try to sleep.” I tucked her arm back under the covers and quietly left her room.

My first order of business was to clean up. I washed out the trashcan and then made my way toward the kitchen to clean up whatever she’d dropped.

“I can see you seem to be who you say you are,” a voice startled me. I’d forgotten all about Jen’s neighbor who was sitting on the couch in the living room. “I’m Ginny Thibault.” She stuck out a slender, veined hand.

I re- introduced myself and shook her hand, surprised by the strength of her grasp.

“Well, you appear to have everything under control, so I’m going home.” Sharp blue eyes latched onto mine. “Take care of her, young man. She’s a keeper.”

I chuckled. “Yes, ma’am, I will. I’ll stay until she’s back on her feet.” I wiped some sweat from the back of my neck. “Wow, it sure is hot in here.”

“Oh, one of the cooling units for the building caught fire yesterday. Fried it right up, I heard. They say it’s going to be a few days before they have it all fixed. Management brought around a couple of window units for each of us in the meantime. She helped me install them this afternoon. Maybe Jenny just hasn’t gotten around to putting hers in yet. We just got them this morning.”

“Well, I’ll definitely look for them and install them for her.”

“That would be considerate of you. She’s always doing things for everyone else. It’s good to know she has such a nice young man looking out for her.”

Her words about Jen didn’t come as a surprise to me. I walked her to the door and thanked her for helping me out. I shut and locked the door and wandered back to the kitchen to clean up the mess on the floor and look for the pizza and ice cream I had dropped when I saw Jen huddled on the floor. There was no sign of the mess, the pizza was on the counter, and a quick look in the freezer showed the ice cream I had brought. Grinning, I shook my head. Bless Mrs. Thibault. She must have cleaned it all up while I was helping Jen. I checked on Jen one more time. She hadn’t moved, but she also seemed to be more relaxed, so I assumed the meds were doing their job. I looked around for the air conditioning units but saw no sign of them. I opened a couple windows, relieved to feel a slightly cool breeze drift in. It was better than nothing. I was still starving, so I nosed about until I found a plate and helped myself to several slices of the lukewarm pizza. I settled on the couch and flipped through the television channels until I found a decent movie to watch. I felt a bit like an intruder in her home, but there was no way I was leaving until I knew she was okay.

A couple hours later, I checked on Jen once again. This time, she stirred and opened her eyes. “Hi,” she whispered.

I brushed the hair that had fallen into her eyes. “Hi, yourself. How do you feel?”

“Like a giant socked me in the head, but it’s better than the ice pick that was being driven into my eye over and over earlier.” She closed her eyes.

“Hmm. Stay here,” I commanded.

“Couldn’t make a coffee run if I wanted to,” she said weakly. I chuckled softly at her attempted humor and kissed the arm she had rested across her eyes. I left and came back with more medicine.

“Here,” I said. “It’s been long enough. You can have one more dose. Hopefully, it will drive the beast from your head.” I helped her to sit up while she administered the dose.

“You’ve got good bedside manners, Doc.” She smiled feebly and curled up on her side. I hated seeing her in pain.

“Sweetheart, Mrs. Thibault said some window units were dropped off earlier. Where are they? I’ll put them in while I’m here.”

“Oh,” she grunted. “They only brought one,” she mumbled and appeared to fall asleep.

Huh? I was puzzled. Mrs. Thibault said she had ‘a couple,’ and it’s not like they were that small, so where could they be? I stared at the beautiful woman lying in front of me. Understanding hit me like a bolt of lightning. I smiled and my heart swelled.

“You’re an amazing woman, Jennifer Mitchell,” I whispered. A quiet snore was her only response.