Nerds on Fire (39 page)

“
Oh, right.” His cheeks
flushed but she wasn’t certain if it was due to embarrassment or
because of something altogether different.

The check came with their
boxed meals. She handed over her credit card. Rylan didn’t seem to
notice which further added to her concern. She used her chin to
indicate Rylan and mouthed “
hurry
.” The young man took one look
and nodded before he did indeed hurry.

It didn’t take him long to race back
and she quickly signed the bill, offered a generous tip and then
bundled up Rylan. He didn’t protest when she helped him with his
jacket or took his car keys. She drove him home. By the time she
assisted him out of the car, he was leaning on her. Her internal
alarm jangled, heart pounding in her ears.

His housekeeper flung open the door
and moved aside so she could lead Rylan in. He moaned, as if he
wasn’t feeling well. “Bernadette, there are some boxes in the car,
they’re our meals. Could you please have someone store them in the
fridge?”

Bernadette propped Rylan’s other side.
“He didn’t eat?”

“
No.”

“
You didn’t get much
opportunity to eat either.” Sympathy laced Bernie’s
voice.

“
Correct.” Her stomach sent
up a protest.

The housekeeper helped her steer Rylan
to his bedroom. Nina was so concerned about him, she didn’t take
notice of the suite. She couldn’t have cared less about it. At the
moment, she just wanted him to be safe.

He was safe. She understood this, but
he wasn’t feeling well and she wanted to take it away. She helped
him to the bathroom where Bernadette handed off some clothes from
his closet. He was wobbly by the time he returned. Nina peeled the
covers back and tucked him in.

Bernadette left after they settled
him. Nina tugged a chair close and watched as he closed his eyes
and fell asleep. His breathing sounded labored. She took his
temperature with an ear thermometer, and it confirmed he had a
fever.

By then Bernadette returned with a
tray of food and Nina nearly cried. “Oh, Bernadette, thank you so
much.”

The housekeeper had rewarmed her meal
and added a small plate of cookies and some fruit. She also
supplied plenty of liquid for Rylan. Nina helped Rylan drink some
juice and then he slept. The food went down fast because she had
missed lunch again.

After she ate, she settled in with a
game on her phone. She could stay a little longer.

She did run her tray downstairs and
asked if someone could eventually drive her home. Rylan’s wonderful
staff all jumped up to do so. “Thank you,” she said in heartfelt
tones and then explained how she planned to sit with him for the
evening.

They quickly established a time and
then she ran back up the stairs to sit with Rylan.

If there had been any question about
whether she loved this man, they fled into the night.

“
Hello?” When her phone
rang, Trixi didn’t look at the number.

“
Trixi? This is
Nina.”

She abruptly sat up. “Nina? What’s
wrong?”

“
I think everything is
fine.” Nina’s tone wavered.

“
You only
think
this?”

“
Well, your dad got sick
while we were eating. He didn’t touch his meal and then got
feverish and wobbly.”

“
Where are you
now?”

“
He’s in his bed here at
home.” Nina drew in a shaky breath.

“
Are you okay?”

“
Yes, I think so. I’m
pretty certain he has the flu, like your grandmother.”

“
Do you want us to come
over and take a look?”

“
No, yes, I don’t know.”
Nina didn’t wail, but her agitation was evident.

Trixi exchanged a look with
Mark.

“
I’ll go take a look at
him. Tell her to meet me at the front door. If he’s okay I can run
her home,” Mark offered.

She relayed the information to Nina.
Who sounded relieved when she offered her thanks. “I’m fretting, I
know.” Nina’s admission was humble.

“
You’re doing the right
thing. It’s better if a doctor can at least verify what’s wrong.”
In the back of her mind, Trixi wondered about having someone check
in on Gran tomorrow while she and Mark were at work.

“
How long will it take Mark
to get here?”

“
Between five and ten
minutes.”

“
Okay, I’ll go downstairs
to meet him.”

He was standing by the time she and
Nina said goodbye. Mark stretched before he bent and kissed her.
“I’m going over there now.”

“
Thank you.”

He tapped her nose in that
affectionate way of his. “This is what family does.”

She nodded. It was true. “I don’t want
to take family for granted though.”

This earned her another kiss. “You
could never take people for granted. You know all too well how
precious they are.” Mark kissed her a third time before heading to
the garage.

The rumble of the garage door rolling
up was faint. Trixi got up to check on Gran.

After coaxing a little more fluid into
her, Trixi also gave her some over-the-counter flu medicine. It
should take away the aches and pains and reduce her fever so she
was comfortable. Next, Trixi called her Aunt Miriam.

Her aunt answered on the first ring,
sounding as chirpy as usual. “Hi Aunt Mirry. It’s me.”

“
Hi sweetheart. How are
you?”

“
I’m fine. But Gran and Dad
are both down with the flu.”

“
Oh no.”

Trixi sighed. “Yes. Dad has enough
helpers there to look after him, but Gran lives with me
now...”

“
And you and Mark both
work, so you need someone to check on Mom.”

“
Yes. It would be
helpful.”

“
Johnny left yesterday for
mysterious parts, so I’m home by myself.”

“
Are you okay?”

“
Oh yes. I’ll spend the day
at your house tomorrow.” She sounded distracted and then a rifling
noise filtered over the phone. “I do have the key.”

“
Excellent.” Trixi gave her
the security code for the alarm system and was reassured by her
aunt’s casual acceptance of illness.

It relieved her to know her aunt
planned to spend the day here.

Before they rang off, Miriam said,
“Don’t you worry about preparing supper in the morning. I’ll take
care of it. It will give your grandmother some breathing room if I
spend time in the kitchen.”

“
Are you
certain?”

“
Of course I am,
love.”

“
Thank you.”

They ended the call soon after so
Trixi sat and stared into the fire Mark built earlier. He showed up
before she finished her thinking, but it was okay. With no fanfare,
he tucked her into his side as he enjoyed the fire with
her.

He smelled of the cold and fall. The
slight chill about him soon dissipated.

“
How was Dad?”

“
He’s sick with the flu
like Gran.”

“
Was he
coherent?”

“
Mostly. He fussed about
Nina and I fussing, but he was obviously not feeling well, so we
won.”

She smiled. “Right. He’s not a very
good patient.”

“
No, but he was feeling so
raw he didn’t protest too much.”

“
Did you take Nina
home?”

“
Yes, and saw her inside.
She’s fine.”

“
No symptoms of the flu in
her?”

“
Not that I noticed. She
could still wake up with it tomorrow.”

Trixi shuddered. “I hope
not.”

His arm tightened around her as he
bent and kissed the top of her head. “We could end up with it as
well.”

She nodded, but figured they would
deal with the illness if it happened. Right now, she was enjoying
the man and the fire.

“
I need to let Katy know
about Dad.”

Fishing her phone out again, she sent
a quick text and then waited for Katy’s reply. “She said she’ll
check on him tomorrow on the way to work.”

She snuggled close again and gazed
into the fire a little longer. Even with the illness running
through her family, a cherished contentment settled within
her.

Chapter 38

After a quick check on her
grandmother the next morning, Trixi barreled out of Gran’s rooms
and nearly knocked Miriam over. “Hello.” She hugged her aunt in the
middle of the mudroom. “You’re here super early.”

Miriam shrugged as she followed her to
the kitchen. “I wanted to see you before you left for
work.”

“
I’m glad. Still if I had
the chance to sleep in, I so would.”

“
I get up with Johnny. I
like mornings.” Miriam, with the familiarity of family, poured
herself a mug of coffee.

Horror sprang through Trixi. “Are you
a morning person Aunt Mirry?”

“
Yes.” Miriam’s sunny smile
almost turned her stomach.

“
Ugh.” Trixi trailed to the
coffee maker. “Have you had breakfast?”

“
Not yet. I thought I could
have it with you.”

“
Of course you may. We
don’t discriminate against people like you.” Trixi poured herself a
mug of much needed caffeine.

Mark strolled into the kitchen then
and headed for her. One proprietary kiss later, he finally veered
off to the coffee pot. “Good morning Miriam,” he greeted her aunt
before turning back to her. “Why are we discriminating?”

“
We’re not. Even though
she’s a morning person, we won’t hold it against her.”

He didn’t comment, but then he didn’t
need to. His shudder spoke well enough of his feelings.

Trixi grinned as she sipped the
wake-up-elixir. There were three hungry people in her kitchen so
she better find something edible. The bread drawer revealed a new
sleeve of bagels so she took it out and split them before setting
the halves on a tray to toast in the range. Next she dug around in
the fridge for some leftover bacon from a previous meal and warmed
it up in the range as well.

Soon breakfast was ready. Mark set the
table and she added the bagels and bacon, then grabbed another mug
of coffee. Today was going to be a busy one, so she was determined
to have enough energy to face it.

Mark and Trixi also filled Miriam in
on Gran. Miriam had dropped by Wintermyer and mentioned she saw
Katy as she was leaving.

Trixi started. “She’s early today
too.”

“
Yes, she got called into
work around three this morning, I think. When there was a lull, she
popped home to shower and change clothes then rushed over to see
Rylan before returning to work.”

“
The life of a trauma
surgeon means missing sleep.” Trixi still felt for her
sister.

“
She said this is
absolutely common and she had close to five hours before the call,
so she didn’t sound worried.” Miriam frowned at Mark. “Do you ever
go in during the night?”

He nodded. “If a brain injury comes in
while I’m on call.”

“
How often does it happen?”
Trixi knew he hadn’t left in the middle of the night so
far.

“
It depends on the patient
and the injury.” He shrugged. “If they need me, I go. It’s the life
of a specialist.” Mark finished off the bacon.

Glancing at the clock she said, “We
need to hurry.”

He was right behind her as they
carried their dishes to the sink.

“
You lot go, I’ll take care
of this.” Miriam waved them away.

They didn’t argue.

Adjusting the humidity on one
incubator, Trixi watched the numbers on the monitor that told her a
lot about her tiny patient. Brandon was fighting for his life, and
only she and her colleagues stood between him and death. So
premature his skin was only two cells deep, he couldn’t even be
held right now. All touching was kept to a minimum because of his
utterly thin skin.

Since he came so early, it was up to
her to help him grow and gain weight, which was a challenge because
of his underdeveloped gastrointestinal system. He had a feeding
tube in the hopes of helping him to take in the nutrients he so
desperately needed to grow.

She noted the humidity numbers on his
incubator as her patient slept. “Trixi, Brandon’s parents are
outside wondering if they can see him,” one of the nurses she
worked with said.

“
Thank you, Tracy. I’ll go
speak to them.”

The anxiety on Tracy’s face cleared.
“I didn’t want to,” she admitted with an engaging grin. “You’re far
better with concerned parents than I am.”

“
We both know that’s not
true,” Trixi admonished as she cleaned her hands again before she
took a deep breath and went to assure fretful parents. This was
often far harder than the actual care of the tiny babies. However,
it was a huge part of her job.