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He nods, taking a deep breath. “I just wish that Melody was going to be around still. I bet she would come and watch me for the day.”
“Well, even if she was, she has to work today, too. That being said, yes, I’m sure she’d be here in minutes to help out. That’s just the kind of person she is. She’s selfless.”And I hurt her.
“Yeah, I like her a lot.”
“I know you do.” I pat his hand. “And the truth is, I like her a lot, too. I never thought it would end like this.”
I never imagined it ending at all once it started.
“So, why can’t you fix it?”
I feel the repeat of last night coming back, and I sigh, shaking my head. “We’ve already had this conversation, Connor. You need to get some rest and not worry about it. I’m going to try and straighten this all out. In the meantime, you have to get some rest.”
“Okay, fine.” He blows out a breath.
I reach for his forehead, doublechecking that he doesn’t have a fever. However, much to my dismay, his skin feels hot and clammy beneath my hand.
I purse my lips and jet to his bathroom, sifting through the medicine cabinet to find the thermometer. As I walk back to him, I check my watch.
If I have any chance at getting ahead of anything, I need to be at work in twenty minutes.
Worry hangs heavy in my chest as turn on the digital thermometer.
I don’t know if Madeline is going to show up at the school today, but if she does, I need to be there to speak up for myself.
Which is why I’m not going to call her.
Normally, I’d call just to see if she could watch Connor. She never can but I call anyway. Today, I don’t want her taking the opportunity to go to the school without me being there. Becauseas of this moment, I’ll be cancelling my classes and staying home with my son.
I click on measuring button as I touch it to Connor’s forehead and the display turns orange. It’s a low-grade fever, but it’s there. I set it down on the nightstand beside his bed.
“Is it bad?”
“No.” I chuckle. “But you’ve definitely got a fever. I’ll grab you some Pedialyte, water, and if you’re aching, I can get you some Tylenol.”
Connor nods, his eyes flickering back to the TV.
I spin on my heels and head out of his room to gather the necessary supplies. I also need to call in to work and cancel the day, which means I will not be seeing Melody. Of course, I don’t even know if she’ll show up to work or not today.
The thought makes me feel even worse as I fill a metal water bottle up with ice water. Connor needs to sip liquids as much as he can to refrain from being dehydrated. I finish that and then set everything on the counter.
Heart thumping anxiously, I pull my phone out, half expecting to see some sort of threatening message from Madeline, reminding me of her threats. However, it’s silent, and that almost makes me feel worse. I quickly scroll to the administration number and hit the call button.
“Good morning,” Shelly, the receptionist at the front answers.
“Good morning, this is Professor Banks.” I let out a sigh. “I was just calling to let you know that I won’t be in today. My son appears to have a stomach bug. I need to cancel all my classes.”
“Oh no. I’m so sorry. I’ll take care of sending out the cancellation email. Is there anything else I need to put with it?”
“No, thank you.” I take a moment to lean against the counter. “If I get a chance, I’ll send out another email, letting them know what they need to work on.”
“Okay, perfect. I’ll add that information to it, and then also put that if they don’t hear from you, they can expect you to be back in class in a couple of days.”
“Yeah, that’ll work. Thank you, Shelly.”
“No problem. I hope your son feels better soon.”
We hang up, and I’m left staring at the water, Pedialyte, Tylenol, and crackers that are sitting on the counter.
