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Merry went to the kitchen first and after opening a few cupboards, found the glasses. The back of her shirt was sticking to her skin, but she tried to think of anything else except the smell of Jace’s puke. She grabbed two plastic Spider-Man cups, filled one halfway full from the tap, but when she walked into Jace’s room, he was lying on the floor in his jeans and no shirt.
“You didn’t make it very far, huh?” She sat down next to him and held out the water cup. “Sit up for me. That’s right. Now, I want you to put a little bit of this water in your mouth, swish it around and spit it out into this cup, okay? Don’t swallow it.” Jace did as she asked and she praised him. “Nice job. Do you need to do it again? That taste in your mouth can be gross.”
He shook his head and she put the dirty water cup off to the side of his dresser on the hardwood floor. She got to her feet and set the clean cup next to his bed so he would have it if he got thirsty. Jace laid down again looking dazed, while Merry opened his dresser drawers until she found a matching set of superhero pajamas.
“Can you get dressed by yourself or do you need help?”
“Help,” Jace said softly from his fetal position on the floor.
“Help it is.”
Merry got him out of his jeans and into the pajamas. Once he was tucked into his bed, she ran a hand over his sweaty mussed hair. “I’m going to get cleaned up, but I will be just down the hall if you need me.”
Jace nodded, his eyes already drifting shut.
Merry left his door open and stood in the hallway, debating. She could probably make it home for a change of clothes and back, but in case Jace woke up while she was gone, she didn’t want to leave.
She went to the kitchen and dumped the dirty water cup. After going through several more cupboards, she found a plastic mixing bowl, and set it by the side of Jace’s bed quietly. His eyes remained closed, his breathing coming heavy and a little raspy. She looked at the clock next to his bed. Four-thirty. Hopefully Clark got her message and could get home before the after-hours clinic closed.
Merry padded down the hallway to the master bedroom, feeling a little weird about being in Clark’s room without asking. The dark wood bed matched the side tables and dresser, and the room was neat, the brown bedspread folded back and smooth.
She went through his drawers, pulling out a T-shirt and a pair of sweats. She stepped into his bathroom and undressed, wadding her soiled clothes into a ball as she removed each piece. When she pulled out her wet ponytail and her hair touched her bare back, she realized it really had gone everywhere and the thought almost sent her head-first into the toilet.
The front door opened and closed with a hard snap. “Merry? Jace?”
At the sound of Clark’s voice, Merry wrapped the towel around her and ran out of the bathroom, shhhing the whole way. He was coming down the hallway when she came through the open doorway of his bedroom and he stopped in his tracks when he saw her.
“Shhh, hey. I put him in his room to rest. I would have taken him to my parents, but I thought he would be more comfortable at home”
His eyes widened as they traveled over her from the top of her head to the toes of her feet. Clark took a few steps forward and looked through the doorway of Jace’s room, his face tight with concern.
“What happened?”
“My mom called and asked if I could bring him home. I can’t leave until every kid gets picked up and when he came to my office, he was a little down, but I thought it had to do with a mean kid in his class.”
“Someone’s being mean to him?”
“It’s not a big deal, he can tell you about it later. He fell asleep in my office while I finished up and when I woke him up, he felt warm, so I took his temperature and it was over 100. I gave him Children’s Tylenol but then he threw up as I was getting him out of the car to bring him inside, so I got him cleaned up and tucked in, but I didn’t give him the meds again because my mom wouldn’t ever give us meds when we were vomiting.” She paused long enough to take a breath and continued, “Oh! And I am sorry but I got out some of your clothes to change into because I didn’t want to leave him and—”
Clark moved so fast, she didn’t have time to react. His arms wrapped around her in a fierce hug, his mouth hovering over her right ear.
“Thank you.”
Merry felt his body trembling against hers and hugged him back. “Of course. I was a little out of my depth, because I don’t have a lot of experience with kids. I didn’t know a fever could come on like that, but I just kept thinking about what my mom did for me growing up when I got the flu.”
Clark pulled away, just far enough to look into her face.
“You did fine.”
“He was asking for you.”
“I’ll go in and check on him.” Instead of releasing her, his arms tightened. “Thank you for caring.”
Merry blinked up at him. “Why wouldn’t I care? I did what anyone else would have done for him.”
“That’s not true. I can’t remember either of my parents taking care of me so well. They’d give me medicine and send me to my room, but they didn’t stay with me. Sam was the only one…” He took a shaky breath, running his hands over the towel at her back. “Thank you for being you.”
The way he looked at her as though she’d walked over hot coals and dived through the depths of hell when all she’d been was a decent human being tugged at her heart strings and tears pricked her eyes.
