A few hours later I was sitting next to Finn on the cot holding hands and leaning my head on his shoulder. Dad still hadn't woken me up but Dr. Arwell assured me that it was normal for his body to take this long to heal. So far his health wasn't deteriorating, but instead holding steady. This was great news. I was trying to stay as positive as possible but it was still hard to be optimistic when I had just lost my daddy in the same accident.
"How was she when you dropped her off?" I asked Finn after a few more minutes of silence. Finn smiled.
"You mean your mom?" He clarified. I nodded.
"I'm really worried about her." I admitted. Finn smiled and kissed me lightly on the cheek.
"She's going to be fine. It's just a stomach bug. I made her check her temperature before I left. It was only just above 100." Finn told me. I nodded and pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes. I glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was almost two in the afternoon San Francisco time and my body was still on Ohio time. I hadn't slept longer than an hour in over twenty four hours.
"I think I'm going to get some sleep and then I'll call and check on Shelby." I told Finn and scooted myself into a comfortable sleeping position. I had my head in Finn's lap and my knees pulled up slightly, but not all the way to my chest.
"That sounds like a good idea." Finn agreed. I smiled up at him.
"Wake me if anything changes with dad?" I asked. Finn nodded, sending me his own silent form of a promise. I nodded in satisfaction and closed my eyes. I prayed that sleep would find me quickly. Despite everything that was happening with my life I fell asleep rather quickly. I woke up and found that Finn had fallen asleep as well. When I looked over at the clock I found that I had slept a good five hours. I glanced over at Dad and was overjoyed to find that he was in exactly the same condition he had been when I had fallen asleep. I hated to wake Finn, but I really wanted to go check on Shelby. So I reached up and gently started to stroke his cheek. He moaned softly and opened his deep brown eyes. They met mine and he smiled widely, despite his sleepiness.
"Hey Rach. How did you sleep?" He asked. I shrugged.
"Pretty well." I admitted. Finn smiled.
"That's amazing." He told me happily. I smiled.
"I'm going to go over to the hotel and check on Shelby. Will you stay and watch dad?" I asked. Finn nodded.
"Be careful, this city is a zoo." Finn warned. I nodded and stood up from the cot. I stretched for a minute before pulling out my phone.
"I'm going to take public transport over to the hotel. I'll text you when I get there safely." I promised him. Finn smiled and nodded.
"Let me know how your mom is too." Finn told me. I nodded and kissed him gently on the lips before walking out of dad's room. It took me about thirty minutes and a trolley to get to the hotel. Once I was there it took another five minutes to find the room. When I walked into the room the first thing I noticed was the room smelled sick. I took a deep breath and sat my coat down on the night stand with the room key. Finn had brought all of the luggage up to the room last night when he dropped off Shelby. I glanced around the room but couldn't find mom anywhere. She wasn't in either bed. I cleared my throat roughly.
"Mom?" I asked. No response. I wandered into the bathroom and found her curled up in a ball on the floor. She was laying one of the hotel towels. She was asleep but not comfortably. She was tossing and turning, and moaning softly in her sleep. I got down next to her and felt her forehead with the back of my hand. Her fever had definitely spiked. "Mom." I called softly and shook her gently. Her eyes slowly opened and met mine. Her chocolate brown eyes were glossed over from fever.
"Rachel?" She asked. I nodded and pushed her sweat soaked bangs off her forehead.
"Hey mom. How do you feel?" I asked.
"Horrible. You need to get out of here, you'll get sick too." Shelby insisted weakly. I shook my head.
"Mom let me take care of you." I insisted. Shelby caved almost instantly. "Have you been up all night?" I asked her.
"I fell asleep like an hour ago. Before that I was throwing up too much to sleep." She confessed. I sighed.
"We need to get your fever down and you cleaned up and in some pajamas. I'm going to turn the bath water on and got get your pajamas. Can you handle getting in the tub yourself?" I asked. Mom nodded slowly and pushed herself into a sitting position. I nodded and turned the water for the tub on. I placed the stopper in the drain and went back into the bedroom. It took me awhile to locate her pajamas, but eventually I found a pair of button up ones. When I came back into the bathroom she was soaking in the tub with her eyes half open. "How you doing mom?" I asked, setting her pajamas down on the counter.
"Tired." She admitted.
"Is your stomach bothering you still?" I asked. Shelby nodded slowly.
"Not near as bad as it was though." She assured me. I nodded and helped her out of the bathtub. Once she was dressed I made her climb into one of the queen size beds in the room. I tucked the covers around her and went in search of a thermometer. I found one and a bottle of Tylenol in her suitcase. A few minutes later she was fast asleep. I had given her two Tylenol and when I checked her temperature was just over 101. While she slept I decided to call Finn. He answered on the third ring which was a record for him.
"Hey Rach, how is Shelby?" He asked.
"She's asleep right now. I found her on the bathroom floor. The whole room smells like vomit. She's pretty sick. How is my dad?" I asked.
"He's still doing the same. Dr. Arwell said it could be days still before he wakes up." Finn answered. I nodded.
"I'm going to stay here with Shelby for the rest of the day. Come to the hotel anytime you want. Someone will call us if anything changes with dad." I told him.
"Alright. I'll let you know when I'm heading over." Finn told me.
"Okay. I love you." I told him.
"I love you too Rach. Take good care of your mom." Finn said and hung up the phone. I sighed and turned back around to look at Shelby. She was fast asleep at this point. I yawned and tried to rub the sleepiness from my eyes to no avail. I gave up and decided to crawl in bed with mom. I snuggled into her side and closed my eyes. I was almost asleep when I felt her arm wrap around my shoulders and pull me in closer. She leaned her head down and kissed me on the top of my head.
"I love you Rach." She whispered. I smiled and drifted off to sleep.
