It wasn't like her to call in sick to work. And certainly not two days in a row. But when she woke that Sunday morning, barely a month after returning from a trip to Seattle, she knew that something was wrong.
Her stomach lurched and it was all she could do to make it to the bathroom before the inevitable happened. Minutes later, her stomach empty, she felt completely and utterly miserable. She rummaged around the bathroom cabinets frantically looking for something; anything to settle her stomach. Her mind went back to the day before and then the day before that, hoping to pinpoint exactly what she could have eaten that may have contributed to her state of wretchedness. She was always so careful about her diet. It was a trait that other people (even Frasier and Niles) found rather odd. But Lilith saw nothing wrong with it. Why was it so strange to want to eat as healthy as possible? She had certainly reaped the benefits in more ways than one.
Admittedly beautiful, she didn't have to glance into the mirror to appreciate her curvy figure, flat stomach, well-toned arms and dark, wavy hair that fell to just below her shoulders. The tight bun that had become her signature of sorts was something that she wore less and less often, choosing instead to wear her hair down. Frasier often told her that he preferred it that way. And Brian said the same thing in not so many words.
Her next breath caused her chest to ache.
Brian….
God, she hadn't thought about him in such a long time. Well, not consciously anyway. But she was no fool. She knew that he would always be there in her memory and in a small place in her heart. The image of him was buried in her mind, ready to surface at any given moment. And she wondered if her all too frequent headaches were subconscious reminders of the man that she used to love.
She never dreamed that she would marry again after her divorce from Frasier. He was, and always had been the love of her life. In many ways they were complete opposites, but in others they were a perfect match. From the moment they met there was an undeniable chemistry between them that neither of them could ignore.
The birth of Frederick (inconveniently in the backseat of a taxi) was the happiest moment of her life. Frasier was a wonderful father and she wouldn't trade their life together for anything in the world. But their marriage simply wasn't to be.
She blamed herself and that damn Dr. Pascal for trying to steal her heart. In the process she'd lost her husband; almost forever. She shuddered at the memory of seeing Frasier standing on the ledge of the building determined to end his life. She didn't know how she could go on without him, despite the differences that tore them apart. And she hated that her relationship with Frederick had become strained because of it.
It was true that Frederick was in a difficult period of his life; it certainly wasn't easy becoming a teenager. But it wasn't easy to parent one. However, she couldn't help but think that the changes that Frederick was going through attributed to their strained relationship. It was a critical time in his life and he needed his father; he needed his father a lot more often than their weekly long distance phone calls allowed.
She brushed away angry tears. "Damn it Frasier, why did you have to move back to Seattle?" More tears followed, but this time she made no effort to get rid of them. No one was there to see them anyway. However, anyone who could see her would most likely think that her emotional state was due to the fact that she still loved Frasier. But it simply wasn't the case.
She wasn't in love with Frasier anymore and hadn't been in love with him in a long time. She'd moved on. And, as she gathered from his conversations with Frederick, so had Frasier.
Like a cruel joke, Brian entered her thoughts once again. How could she have fallen for his charms? His good looks? His words of love? She'd really and truly believed that he loved her; so much so that she'd fallen in love with him and subsequently married him, despite the reservations of her son.
She stupidly assumed that Frederick's anger and hostility were normal reactions to the presence of a new man in her life. But she began to wonder if, perhaps, Frederick was more intuitive than she thought.
Her stomach reminded her of the reason she had gotten out of bed in the first place and she gulped down the strongest medicine she could find. When she climbed back in bed, she was certain that she would feel better in a few hours, but her restless sleep gave way to even more misery. Unable to take anymore, she climbed out of bed and picked up her phone.
The cheerful voice that answered brought a wave of guilt that added to her nausea.
"Monique, it's Lilith. Listen, I won't be in today. I'm not feeling well at all."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Clearly Monique was just as stunned by the news as Lilith. And then Monique spoke again.
"All right, Dr. Sternin. I hope you feel better. I'll let the others know that you won't be in today."
"Thank you Monique. So do I."
Feeling even more guilt, Lilith settled into bed, praying that her lab assistant's words would somehow have an effect on her and make her well again. Dear God, what was she thinking? Had her sudden illness made her completely mad? It was by all accounts likely and she vowed to do everything she could to improve her health as quickly as possible. She was wasting valuable time by not being at work, not to mention causing an undue hardship on her coworkers and employees.
She laid in bed all day, save for the few times that she managed to drag herself into the kitchen in an attempt to make herself something to eat. But by early evening she still wasn't feeling any better. She knew that she couldn't afford to miss any more work, but she also knew that she would be useless at the office. And she with reluctance, she called after closing time and left a voice mail stating that she would be out for a second day.
Ideally, she would have taken advantage of her rare day of free time and just relax (God knew that she deserved it), but something didn't feel right. She never got sick; ever. She was sure that her illness was nothing serious, but just to be safe, she scheduled a doctor's appointment for that afternoon.