The Free Pass

Chapter 44

Mallory

I'd woken up the day after Shawn left and I knew something was wrong. When I sat up in bed, I was struck by such an intense pain in my head, neck, and shoulders, that I fell back onto my pillow. The pain subsided slightly as I lay there. I sat up again and was hit by the same terrible pain. This time I suffered through it and made my way to the kitchen where I took some Advil and my antibiotic. I had a long coughing fit that only made my head hurt more.

Gracie was still sleeping. She'd woken up in the middle of the night to eat and had been awake for hours. I'd felt like shit then, but not this bad.

I went to the bathroom to pee and gasped when I saw my reflection in the mirror. I was pale and had deep purple circles under my eyes. What the hell was wrong with me? I peed and went back to my room. I laid in bed shivering and coughing off and on until Grace woke up.

She was hungry. I was a bit afraid to feed her, so I called the doctor's office. The nurse who they passed me off to reassured me that it was fine to nurse her. That was a relief. I fed her after I got her changed and dressed. I was exhausted by the time I was done.

I had no appetite, but I was thirsty. I drank a Gatorade and tried to eat a muffin. I took two bites and set it down.

I placed Gracie on her activity mat and laid down on the floor next to her. The cool hardwood floor felt good. She played happily for about an hour.

My phone rang. I thought it might be Shawn, but it was Karen.

"I just wanted to see if you were better today," she said cheerfully.

"Actually, I feel worse," I said. I then moved the phone away and coughed.

"Worse? The antibiotics should have helped a little by now."

"Maybe by tomorrow I'll be okay."

"Are you running a fever?" she asked, obviously in mom-mode.

"I don't know. Let me check. I'll call you back."

I got up slowly. Every muscle in my body felt like it was on fire. I went to the bathroom where I found the fancy forehead thermometer we'd bought for Gracie. I turned it on and rolled the ball across my head. It beeped.

104 degrees flashed in red.

Shit.

I put the thermometer down after turning it off and went back to the living room. Grace was still batting at the things on the arch over her mat. I picked up my phone and called Karen.

"Did you take your temp?" she asked.

"Yes. I do have a fever."

"How high?"

I hesitated a second because I knew it would worry her. "104."

"Oh god. I'm on my way." And she hung up.

I sat down on the floor next to Grace, leaning against the couch.

"Looks like we're going back to the doctor, little one. I hate to drag you there again."

She looked at me and smiled.

"Why don't we listen to daddy sing while we wait for your grandma."

I opened my phone and started playing Shawn's last album over the Bluetooth speakers.

The music stopped playing and I saw that I had an incoming call. It was Shawn. I didn't want to talk to him, because he'd know I was sick. Tonight, when we FaceTimed, I'd let him know. By then I would have seen the doctor again and things would be better. I knew I needed to be honest about my illness, but it could wait a few hours.