Page 23 of Nanny for the Bodyguard

It’s not long before I hear the doorbell, and I perk up, walking over to Jade. “Hey, that’s Hazel. I’m going to go let her in. She’s got medicine, so I need you to sit up, okay?”

“Okay.”

Jade doesn’t even open her eyes to move, and I rush downstairs. When I reach the door, I fling it open, and Hazel is there with a smile and a bag from CVS.

“Here we go. Children’s ibuprofen. She’ll take some, and it’ll lower her fever. I also picked up some kids’ stomach medicine in case it gets funky.”

I take the bag, peering inside. “Thank you so much. Okay, umm…”

Hesitating a moment, I look at the instructions on the box of fever reducer, and suddenly, I don’t know how to read.

When I haven’t moved, Hazel steps up to me, putting her hand on my arm. “Would you like me to come in and help?”

Relief floods my nerves. “Oh, fuck yes. Please.”

She laughs, and then we get the medicine ready to take upstairs to Jade. Hazel follows me as I go into her room, knocking gently on the door that I left open.

Jade perks up, trying to look at us as we go in, but her eyes are drooping, and she doesn’t want to lift her head.

“Okay, sweetie. I need you to take this medicine. It’ll help your fever.”

Taking the little cup, which is lined with ounces and filled to the level for a six to ten-year-old, Jade drinks down the sweet-smelling whitish liquid and then gives me back the empty cup.

“Your tummy still doing okay, Jade?” Hazel asks, and Jade nods. “Good, good. Well, we have some extra medicine if it starts to feel off, okay?”

Jade just nods again.

I’m ready to stand at the side of Jade’s bed and just watch her sleep, but Hazel pulls on my arm and leads me out of the room.

“Get some rest, Jade. If you need anything, we’ll be downstairs. We’ll see how you’re feeling in the morning.”

Reluctantly, I follow Hazel down to the kitchen, and she walks over to my sink to rinse out the little cup that Jade used and wash her hands.

“You’ll probably want to, too. Kids are like little petri dishes.”

Unable to stop the laugh, I go up to the sink, washing my hands and smiling at Hazel.

“How do you know so much about what to do?”

Hazel offers me a little grin, drying her hands on a towel before leaving me to finish up while she reaches for something under my island.

“Jade’s not the first kid I’ve ever been around. I used to babysit in college occasionally. It’s why I felt comfortable at all offering to help you. The basics stick with you.”

“Well, I’m fucking grateful. I didnotknow what to do.” I look up at the ceiling, imagining where Jade is sleeping in her bed. “God, I hope she’ll be okay. That fever was so high. Touching her was like hugging a furnace.”

As I’m sitting down at the island, still so damn on edge, I notice that Hazel had grabbed one of the bottles of wine from the fridge I have installed where a cupboard was.

“She’s going to be fine, Easton. Kids get sick. It’s normal.”

Hazel goes to the cupboards by the sink and pulls down two wine glasses, coming back to the island and fishing around in the drawer for the corkscrew.

“The medicine works for about eight hours. So, check Jade’s temperature again around then or whenever she wakes up. She just needs to rest. The ice pack will help to comfort her, too. Keep an eye out for a temp that doesn’t go down or any change in symptoms, and you’re solid.”

I watch, a little in awe, as Hazel pours us two glasses of red and walks over to me, handing me the drink. I take it, sitting down at the island with her, and let out a massive sigh.

Taking a sip of the wine, I close my eyes, trying to breathe. “Thank you. Again.”

“Of course. You looked like you needed it.”