Evelyn is crying as she pukes into the bucket infront of her. "I know baby, I know" I whisper, rubbing her back.
"Daddy, I sick" she cries into my stomach. I pick her up and hold her tight. "I want mommy" she cries harder. "I know, I'm sorry ev.. she's at school" I say. She's doing her art test today and I can't get a hold of her on the phone.
I hold her face over the bucket quickly so she can be sick again. "Mom!" I yell. She walks in. She sighs, sitting next to me on my bed. She rubs her back.
"What do I do? Should I take her to the hospital?" I ask. "Honey, she'll be fine" she says. "Mom" I say. "I promise.. she just has a bug" she says.
"Drink some water" she holds a cup to her lips. Evelyn drinks it. "She needs sleep" she says. She takes the bucket and puts it beside the bed so I can lay down with her on my chest.
She sniffles. My mom leaves. "I wove you daddy" she says. "I love you so much too.. you'll be okay" I say. I run my hands up and down her back slowly. I wait until she falls asleep before stopping.
------
I look down from my phone screen as I hear Evelyn coughing. I sit up slowly, holding her in my arms. The door opens.
"Ev are you okay? I'm so sorry I wasn't here" meredith walks over. She kisses me softly as she sits down. "Mommy" she hugs her.
"Oh, my baby" meredith sighs as she starts coughing again. "Mer she's okay" I say. "I know.. you'll be fine, won't you monkey?" She says. Evelyn nods.
"How was the test?" I ask. "Good" she says. I look down. We both smile small as we see she's asleep again. "The poor thing.. how much has she been throwing up?" She asks. "A lot but it's mostly been just liquid sick she's been throwing up" I say.
She starts coughing again. she whimpers. "Mer" I look at her. "I know, she'll be okay" she puts her hand on my jaw. "How do you know?" I ask. "Because we've spoken to the pediatrician and there's just a bug going around.. she'll be okay" she says. I sigh.
Evelyn opens her eyes. "Baby" I stroke her hair gently. "Daddy" her bottom lip trembles. "Mer, look at her.. we need to do something" I say.
"Derek, you've never really seen her when she's ill before.. I have and she's always been fine" she says. "And whose fault is that?" I say. "Derek" she says. "Sorry" I sigh.
I look down at her again. "Maybe she needs something to eat" I say. "I hugwy" she says. "Okay" I say. "Do you want me to get you something?" Meredith asks. She nods. Meredith goes.
"Go with mommy pwease.. I warm here" she says. "You wanna walk around a bit?" I ask. She nods. I carry her downstairs.
I put her on the kitchen counter. "Babe she's really warm too.. I'm scared" I say. Meredith looks at me. "Babe?" She smiles. "Meredith" I say, really stressed out. "Der, she'll be okay" she says.
She passes Evelyn another glass of water. She drinks it. "Here baby, eat this" she passes her some toast. She eats some of it.
"I okay daddy" she says. I smile small at her. She's adorable. I should be the one comforting her, not the other way around. "I know" I kiss her cheek, hugging her gently.
"You're so brave ev" I kiss her nose. She hugs my neck. I hug her again. We pull away. She holds her arms out to meredith.
"Come here" meredith picks her up. Evelyn cuddles into her. "Hey" Mark walks in. "Oh, hi" I say. "I thought we were going out?" He says. "Sorry, ev's ill" I say.
"You okay?" He asks. She nods. "Hi mawk" she mumbles, holding her arms out to him. Meredith hands her to him. She's literally obsessed with mark. They're basically best friends.
"What's wrong?" He asks. "I sick today" she says. "You were? Was it gross?" He says. She nods. "It go all over daddy" she says. "Good one" He laughs. She giggles. I roll my eyes.
"Thankyou mark" I glare at him, taking her back. She waves at him. He smiles. I pass her to meredith. "I'm gonna go then.. I hope you get better evvy" he says. "Bye mawk" she says. He smiles at me before going.
"We should get her back to bed" I say. "Yeah" she says. We go upstairs. We lay her in the bed and climb either side of her, cuddling her.
