Page 23 of Wrecked By You

Tiffany walked me to my car, waiting until I’d gotten inside and driven away. She waved as I exited the parking lot and drove onto the highway. I stuck my hand out the window and waved back at her. If things were different, Tiffany could be the older sister I’d never had. But I couldn’t afford friends. Closeness led to loose lips, to questions I wasn’t prepared to answer.

Couldn’t risk answering.

At least I didn’t have those worries with my boss. He was too self-absorbed to bother about little old me. And that suited me just fine. But I couldn’t deny how much I enjoyed those moments that passed between us, the ones where my stomach would turn over and my fingers would tingle with pleasure before Johannes snapped the tenuous link.

I pulled up outside Ginny’s house, shut the car door as quietly as I could, and trudged inside. The house was deathly quiet. I crept down the hallway and slipped inside Chloe’s room. She’d thrown her comforter on the floor but clung tightly to her brown bear, one of the few things I’d taken when we’d fled.

Kneeling beside her bed, I brushed her ebony hair out of her eyes and leaned down to kiss her forehead. She felt a little warm, but nothing too concerning. I laid the comforter over her, gave her one last loving glance, and then tiptoed to my own room.

I peeled off my clothes, threw them in the laundry basket, and collapsed into bed.

The smell of sizzling bacon and the aroma of coffee woke me. My eyes were stuck together, and my head felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds, but I hauled myself out of bed and made it to the bathroom. My plans for today comprised of taking Chloe to school and then crashing for several hours. As much as I loved working at Level Nine, I wasn’t used to late shifts and snatching my sleep in pockets of time. I’d get used to it, eventually, but right now I felt as if I were one of the walking dead, a zombified version of myself that required three strong cups of coffee before I could join the human race.

I showered, dressed, and popped my head into the kitchen to say a quick “Good morning” to Ginny before making my way to Chloe’s room. It surprised me that she wasn’t up already. She usually liked to help Ginny make breakfast, althoughhinderwas far more accurate. Still, Ginny would give her the very grown-up job of putting napkins on the small kitchen table. She’d even taught her how to fold them all fancy, and Chloe loved it.

“Morning, pumpkin.” I opened her drapes, letting light flood in. “Time to get up.”

“Mommy, I don’t feel so good.”

I perched on the edge of her bed. She did look flushed. I felt her forehead. Hot. Too hot.

“Hold on there, baby girl.” I dashed back to my room and grabbed a thermometer from the bathroom. Popping it into her mouth, I waited.

A hundred and one degrees.

Shit.

I updated Ginny and she prepared a few cold towels while I gave Chloe some medicine to hopefully reduce her fever. A hundred and one was high, but nothing to worry too much about. If it climbed higher, I’d have to call a doctor, one I couldn’t afford. Goddammit. A few more weeks at Level Nine and I’d have enough money saved to pay for a couple doctors’ visits.

Ginny would loan me the money from her widow’s pension, but I hated the idea of taking advantage of her kindness once more.

Best thing was to hope the over-the-counter medicine and cool compresses worked.

I called Chloe’s kindergarten teacher to let her know Chloe wouldn’t be attending school today, then dragged a chair in from the kitchen and sat by my baby’s bed, watching her like a hawk. Exhaustion swamped me, but sleep would have to wait.

Please, God, let her be okay.

Ginny pressed a cheese sandwich into my hand a short while before disappearing to the grocery store. She returned with more medicine, giving me one of her special glares when I reached for my purse.

Not for the first time, I wondered what I’d done to deserve a guardian angel like Ginny. Someone must have been looking after me the day I’d bumped into her in that diner.

I must have fallen asleep, waking to the sounds of a hacking cough. By the time I’d fully opened my eyes, Chloe had thrown up all over her comforter. She promptly burst into tears. I bathed and changed her while Ginny replaced her bedding. I gave her another dose of medicine and retook her temperature. It had come down slightly, but not nearly enough. Maybe by the morning, she’d be on the mend.

I was due on shift in an hour, but there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d leave my child when she was sick, no matter what it cost me. Even so, my fingers shook as I dialed the telephone number for Level Nine, and my stomach rolled over and over as I imagined Johannes’s reaction to the news that I couldn’t work tonight.

If the man threatened to fire me for commenting on the clothes he wore, chances were slim that he’d forgive me for skipping work so close to my shift. Whatever happened, happened. Chloe came first. Always.

“Level Nine, Stan speaking. How can I help?”

Relief flooded me. My shoulders slumped, and I blew out a breath. Stan. Thank God.

“Hey, Stan, it’s Ella. I’m so, so sorry, but I can’t make it in tonight. Something’s come up.” I’d told no one about Chloe. Not that I’d chosen to keep her a secret on purpose, but more that the subject hadn’t materialized. We were all too busy working our asses off to spend time on idle chitchat.

“It’s a family emergency. I wouldn’t run out on you if it wasn’t serious.”

I bit my lip, waiting for him to bawl me out. Or maybe Stan had the power to fire me, too.

“Ah, shit. Sorry, honey. Don’t worry about it. We’ll manage. You just take care of whatever problem you have, and if you can’t make it in tomorrow either, you let me know.”