Matt's POV
“Take two doses of these a day, for the next couple of days. You have my contact if things worsen, Matthew. Take care.”
The doctor handed me a small paper bag with individual packets of medication.
Doe was outside in the waiting room, giving Isaiah an early morning call.
The time was 7AM when he arrived and dropped us off at the orphanage.
On arrival at our room, Doe replaced her belongings then took a shower, preparing to go for her shift.
“Are you crazy?” I asked her before she could step out the door, “Stay here.”
“No, Matthew,” she protested, “You're the one who's sick. Not me.”
Then she left, without saying another word.
I threw the covers over myself to sleep.
&&&
I woke up at noon, first with a text from Doe. Word of my food poisoning had spread quickly among the volunteers, and minutes after, I received a flood of good wishes.
I got stuck on the toilet twice, and then threw up even before taking my medication. I struggled to get dressed, and to be honest I felt like crap.
Still, I staggered across the road to the orphanage.
I offered to do many odd jobs throughout the course of the day, but was denied all. I was pretty useless in my condition.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Carla said to my face, as the rest of the committee filed in.
“I'm okay,” I argued, “Brief me -”
“Get out.”
When I wouldn't budge, Carla continued as if everyone were in top shape. Isaiah and all seemed to be nodding off to sleep once the subject didn't concern him.
Carla revealed that she had gotten into contact with someone who was willing to buy the orphanage for one million dollars. I scrunched up my nose at the figure.
“Make it two million -”
“No, that'll never work,” Isaiah interrupted in a pessimistic tone.
“- And a half.”
Listening to my fellow members, I learnt that the persons at the community centre were more than ready to hand over the building.
“I spoke to one of the ladies, and she said we could go check it out first,” a young woman whom I'd seen several times before spoke up, “To ensure it's what we want.”
I immediately went on to jot down key notes that could be helpful in the decision.
I still felt a little sleepy and overwhelmed. Unfortunately, it was obvious.
“Really, Matthew. Take a day off,” Carla insisted, almost dismissing me.
“I'm fine.”
I fought to steer my way through all the new information and short-term goals. They needed someone to go check out the centre and Isaiah and I seemed to be the only two people who weren't already assigned tasks.
“I'll go. Just tell me what you need me to find out,” I kept back a yawn.
“You made the list, Matthew.” Isaiah reminded me dryly.
I was confused at first, but then followed his eyes to the piece of paper in my hand.
“Oh,” I shook my head, “...Right.”
I looked at Carla eagerly. It wasn't as if she could have said 'no'.
“No.”
“Carla, that's not fair -”
“Well who will you go with?” she turned back to me.
I looked at Isaiah, who looked around the room.
“I'll ask...Roseline, I don't know,” I shrugged.
Reluctantly, Carla allowed me. I had mixed feelings about it, but went along.
I packed up my things, hoping to catch Doe in the kitchen.
“See y'around,” I patted Isaiah on his shoulder, who gave me a thumbs up.
Walking out of the room, I bumped into Helen Baker. She was holding Jackley's hand in a tight clasp and he looked at me with his bright, honey eyes.
“Did I miss something?” I scoffed.
“A 'sorry' would have sufficed.”
Helen tried to strut away but I blocked her path.
“I'm serious,” I furrowed my brows.
“Well, yeah. While you were out emptying your guts, I became Jack's temporary guardian,” she smiled proudly and pretentiously.
I didn't believe it. There was no way. I hadn't been gone for that long.
I slowly kneeled to Jack who wriggled out of her grasp and gave me a tight hug.
I ruffled his hair, “Watch your back with her, okay?”
“Are you still sick?” he asked quietly.
“No. I'm feeling a lot better.”
Helen interrupted our talk, claiming that she and Jack had a session awaiting them.
“Helen,” I turned back, “The key word in there is temporary.”
The woman laughed, “I wouldn't count on that.”
I mocked her words on my walk to the kitchen. I peeked inside and didn't see Doe, or Hannah.
I walked up to the girls' bedroom and found the two with four other orphans, including Ava, doing hairstyles. I stopped by the door, waiting for someone to recognise me.
“Matthew's here,” Ava announced, after briefly looking up at me.
I watched Doe mutter something, then put half of Ava's hair into a bun. The other half was already plaited.
Great. Now all I needed to do was convince Doe.
“No, no, no. Never,” she chided me outside the room, “You need rest.”
I groaned, “Please, c'mon.”
She looked at me in a condescending way, “How are you feeling?”
I shrugged off some of my discomfort, squinting at her.
“Are you going to pass out?”
Doe searched my face for unusual paleness.
“Dude, no. I feel fine,” I stepped away, “I really need someone to come with me. I won't ask for anything else. Ever. No actually, I'll go it alone.”
I could have told that Doe felt conflicted, but by the time she finished Ava's hair, we were in a taxi.
We had just a written address to follow, and after several detours, we pulled into the lot of a neat, modern structure. It was on flat ground, in contrary to our present location.
We stepped out of the car after Doe paid our driver and walked up to the front door. I noticed the 'for sale' sign turned over.
Doe knocked firmly on the door, after I shrugged at her.
There was no response, and Doe looked prepared to leave.
“Over here!” a high-pitched, female voice startled us.
A blonde lady motioned for us to enter through the back door.
We kept our formalities short, and cut straight to the point.
On first glance, the area wasn't worth a dime, but as we walked further into the well-lit hallways and noticed the shiny tiles, it earned my respect.
There were rows of bedrooms and bathrooms, reminding me a little of dorms. The aroma that floated in the air was like detergent.
That was irritating, a bit.
“The layout isn't too homely, as you can tell. But it's modern,” the lady admitted, “And very safe and easy to personalise.”
That was true.
I made a note of everything I observed.
I left it up to Doe to judge the colourful, old-fashioned kitchen and I wrote based off her advice.
“The storage is sort of limited,” Doe politely told the woman, “That's something we can fix on our own, right?”
“I bet.”
We later found out our tour guide's name was Angelina, when she left us upstairs so she could answer the phone.
I had stopped multiple times to recover from my failing strength. I needed to eat something, but it felt impossible with the permanent nausea settled in my stomach. Even if I wanted to have a full meal, I doubt I could have.
Unexpectedly, I walked into a wall and fell hard onto the floor.
“Matthew?” Doe ran and squatted in front of me, “Can you make it to that chair?”
She pointed across the room to a single chair conveniently out of it's place.
“Nah. I'm good,” I held my head for a moment, then I stood, trying not to alarm Doe.
When Angelina returned, she invited the both of us to sit with her, as she filled three cups with tea.
I didn't want to look desperate, but I was. I gulped down my share. In addition, Doe gave me hers when our host's back was turned and she held my empty cup instead.
“So...what do you think?” Angelina's chocolate-coloured eyes widened.
Keeping everything from the bedrooms to the family room in mind, the place was great. In fact, it was perfect.
“We'll get back to you, but as far as I know it's a yes,” I tried my best not to sound the way I was feeling.
The three of us stood, and returned back downstairs where we had met.
“I hope to see you all again,” Angelina smiled widely and shook our hands.
“In the meantime, you can keep that 'for sale' sign turned over,” Doe hinted, reading my mind.
Having no vehicle sucked. We were dependant on something as liberating as transport. All because Doe had insisted that I shouldn't be driving.
We waited at a taxi stand, reviewing some of the photos Doe had taken of the place.
“My favourite part's the location,” Doe pointed out, scoping the premises.
“Mm.”
I kept glancing up at the setting sky, given that the stand had no covering. All I saw above me were shades of grey. As if that wasn't enough, the coldest raindrop I'd ever felt landed right onto my nose.
“Doe... it's raining,” I said calmly.
She acted immediately, pulling an umbrella out of her bag at the last minute.
Much sooner than I had anticipated, the drizzle turned into a pour of freezing rain.
We ran under the veranda of the community centre. I wasn't soaked, mainly because Doe neglected herself and extended the umbrella over me.
Her hair soaked up the water like a sponge, but her clothes and shoes... Not so much.
“Um. Well -”
“What?”
“Nothing.” I quickly turned back to look at the road.
Doe called Isaiah, who argued with her on the phone for nearly ten minutes before agreeing to come pick us up.
“He probably hates us,” she laughed, hanging up the call.
“...Yeah.”
I couldn't get myself to look at Doe in the state she was in. I felt drop-dead guilty.
A while later, Isaiah's white vehicle pulled into the lot, there to save the day.
&&&
“Carla!” I burst into the meeting room, which silenced any conversation that had been taking place before.
She gave me a strange look, mostly cause I was partially wet.
“Yes, Adler?”
“I think it's a good deal, but we should offer more than they have set out. I'm thinking maybe seven hundred thousand,” I sounded congested as I rattled off, and then left the tangible information with her.
I promised to send the pictures later and hurriedly left the room to go to the kitchen.
A little after 10pm, Doe took a shower. She returned from the bathroom dried off and warm, dressed in pyjamas.
I handed her the hot cup of tea I had made before leaving the orphanage and went back to my laptop.
“This show sucks,” I commented on an episode I'd been watching for the past fifteen minutes.
Doe rolled her eyes and sat on the bed beside me.
“You know, Roseline I've always wondered...” I stretched to put my laptop away, “What's your actual nickname?”
She sipped, “My mother calls me Rose.”
“That's... beautiful,” I murmured, “I guess. A little.”
Doe swallowed two or three tablets, then reminded me to take my second dosage.
“...Are you addicted to pills?” I asked her, seriously.
“No, I get migraines alot, Matt.” she answered, lazily.
“Oh. How's your hair?”
“Fine,” she laughed shortly, “Needed the moisture anyway.”
Doe opened her Bible and read through a verse or so, keeping them to herself. That was definitely the most exhausted I'd ever seen her.
Still, she remained captivated like every night, as if it wasn't all the same. Maybe to her, it wasn't.
Doe let me sleep on the bed that night, causing me to feel like more crap.
She didn't leave my side immediately, instead encouraged me to pick a reading of my own.
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.” Proverbs 3:27-28
Doe's faith amazed me. It amazed me to a point beyond explanation.
And it was enough to make me have a little faith too.
______________________________________
A/N
ok so this is the last update for the next few days,
i actually did four days in a row,
praise the Lord,❤
but actually im taking my birthday weekend off so,💌💖
yeah see you all next week,
bye.🌟