Caleb

Chapter Five

Caleb~

The next morning Declan gave the team a 5:00am wake up call so they could meet before the family started their daily routines. The four men made their way into the kitchen in search of coffee and were greeted by Rosa, the Flores family's housekeeper. She looked to be in her mid sixties and had a grandmother's charm as she moved around the kitchen, cooking breakfast for the house. She scooted a small step stool with her around as she cooked because she was definitely under five feet tall and could barely reach the high cabinets, but that didn't stop her from cooking the most delicious breakfast Caleb had ever eaten.

The team had almost finished eating, when a tall slender man with a suit and loosened tie sauntered into the kitchen. James made his way over to the table clearly still dressed in his clothes from the previous evening.

"How's it going gentlemen?" James asked as he approached the team.

"You must be James," Declan said, standing to shake his hand and make introductions.

"This is Marcus, Caleb, and Pierce."

James shook hands with each team member and took a seat at the table.

"Pierce, my dad said you'd be collaborating with my security guys at the clubs, while you're here." James said.

"Yeah man, If you'd introduce me to your crew today I'll coordinate with them and stay out of your hair unless you need me. Ricardo said you are pretty self sufficient, just need an extra pair of eyes to watch your back when you are uh...occupied." Pierce said with a grin, eyeing the lipstick marks on James' collar.

"I appreciate it man." James said, smirking back at Pierce and pulling his collar to cover a hickey on his neck.

"Which one of you will be with Lainey?"

"Right here." Caleb said, motioning with his hand.

"Dad said you've got some medical training - that's good. Stay on top of her about that shit."

Caleb appreciated the protective brother vibe he was getting from James, who seemed to prioritize Lainey's health over all else.

"Can you tell me a little more about her day to day symptoms? Ricardo gave me some details about her medications and Lainey, well...let's just say she's still warming up to me." Caleb chuckled.

"I can only imagine how thrilled she is that you guys are here." James joked.

"Her condition is pretty well managed on medication - that is when she remembers to take her medication. She's got to monitor her potassium levels pretty regularly and has some kind of hand held meter that pricks her finger I think. Main thing is to remind her to take her meds and to keep her from getting dehydrated because it's pretty bad when her potassium drops too low."

"How bad are we talking? Walk me through mild, moderate, and severe symptoms." Caleb said, cataloging every piece of information away in his mind.

"Mild would be fatigue, she gets drowsy and woozy, but usually one of the electrolyte drinks in the fridge and one of her pills will fix that pretty quick. Moderate would be muscle cramps. One of the signs that she's had a drop in potassium is muscle cramps, mainly in her legs. She's also complained that she feels like her heart is racing or like she's going to pass out when her levels are too low. Her severe symptoms haven't happened in a while, but she's had to be hospitalized from collapsing once or twice."

Caleb nodded along and sorted through the information in his head, making mental notes here and there as to what he needed to keep stocked in the house and what he needed to keep with him day to day in order to care for Lainey if her potassium levels dropped.