When they got home on Sunday afternoon, Rusty went straight to the shower, despite the fact that he had taken a shower at the hospital just a couple of hours before. He wanted to wash the 'hospital' off of him as soon as possible. Sharon changed into pajama pants and a sweatshirt before pulling the wrinkled sheets off of the couch and replacing them with fresh sheets from the linen closet, then did the same with the pillowcase on the pillow that was still there from the week before. Eileen carried Harper to the nursery to change her diaper and settled her on the floor with some toys when they returned. Sharon threw the dirty sheets into the laundry room, put some Advil and Rusty's pain medicine on the coffee table, unsure of which one he would want to take when it was time, and sank down into the couch, which gave Eileen an idea. She went back to the nursery and slowly came down the hall, pushing the ottoman from the rocking chair in front of her.
Sharon got up to help her mom. "What are you doing with this?"
"I'm going to put it in front of the couch. We're probably going to need some extra leg room when all three of us are in here."
"Oh, good idea." Sharon got back on the couch and stretched her legs out on the ottoman while Eileen walked through the bedrooms for extra pillows, got Sharon a glass of water, and sat beside her. Sharon removed her glasses and lay on her mom's shoulder, emotionally drained and exhausted. It didn't seem possible that Rusty had only been in the hospital for two days. A headache had started forming behind her eyes on the way home, no doubt from the stress and lack of sleep from the last several days, and now it was pounding. Eileen covered her daughter with a blanket and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight.
"Rusty's going to be fine, honey."
"I know, Mom. I just...I'm so glad you're here," Sharon murmured, getting comfortable against her mother. She grimaced slightly from her worsening headache.
"You have a headache," Eileen noted, sounding concerned. She put her hand on Sharon's cheek and looked her over.
"No, I don't."
"That was an observation, honey, not a question." The comment took Sharon back to her childhood and teenage years, when she always denied being sick, not wanting to miss school or something fun. She had never been able to fool her mother, though. Just like Emily and Ricky had never been able to fool Sharon when they tried to act like they were sick to get out of something, or exaggerated their symptoms when they actually were sick. Rusty couldn't fool her, either, when he denied being sick at all or downplayed how badly he was feeling. He had been better about telling her how he was feeling this time, but she wondered if it was because the germs had originated with Harper, thus shifting the blame from him. Of course, she would never blame either of them for being sick or think they were too much trouble, but Rusty still didn't seem to understand that. Sharon couldn't bear to think about Rusty getting sick and being treated with anything besides love and comfort before he came to live with her, and she had to blink back a few tears that threatened to escape.
Eileen retrieved two Advil from the bottle on the coffee table and placed them in Sharon's hand. She swallowed them and took a few sips of water before leaning against her mom again. Harper was actually sitting in one place and playing with some of her toys at the moment, but she never remained stationary for long, so Sharon kept an eye on the baby as her mom held her and ran her fingers through her hair. "Close your eyes and relax, darling. I'm watching Harper." Sharon didn't have to be told twice. She closed her eyes and snuggled more deeply into her mother, so happy to be in her arms. As relieved as she was that Rusty was finally home, she was still a little nervous about being away from doctors and nurses in case something happened. Pushing those thoughts away, she fully relaxed for the first time in a long time, knowing her mom could fix any problem that may come up. Sharon was almost asleep when she heard Rusty padding down the hall.
"Come here, baby," Sharon murmured drowsily, arms open, eyes still closed. Rusty dug through the stack of blankets at the end of the couch for his favorite one and cuddled against Sharon, making himself comfortable. Sharon easily found his forehead with her hand, still not opening her eyes. "You still have a bit of a fever."
"Did you really expect that to change in the two hours since they took my temperature at the hospital?"
"It could happen. You okay? Need anything?"
"I'm fine...Oh, god, did I get you sick?" Rusty hadn't expected to find Sharon wrapped in her mother's arms like this. She seemed vulnerable for the first time, like, ever.
"Of course not, honey. And it's time for you to take your medicine."
"Just Advil, please," Rusty said, eyeing the bottles on the table. "I don't like the way that other stuff makes me feel...It doesn't make me feel sick or anything," he amended quickly, when Sharon's eyebrows furrowed and one eye cracked open in his direction. "It just makes me feel groggy and ugh."
"'Kay..." Sharon started to sit up to get the Advil, but Eileen held her back and got it herself.
"I've got it." Eileen reached for the bottle and retrieved three tablets. "Here, sweetheart." She handed Rusty the tablets and Sharon's glass of water. After taking the pills, Rusty settled back in Sharon's arms. Eileen kissed Sharon's forehead, wanting to make sure she wasn't coming down with something. After over a week of taking care of at least one sick child and the fatigue and stress of the last few days, Eileen wouldn't be surprised if Sharon's immune system had given in.
Sharon could tell exactly what her mother was doing. Growing up, a forehead kiss that lasted several seconds longer than usual was always her first clue that her mom knew she was getting sick. "I'm not sick, Mom," Sharon muttered.
"What? I-"
"You were seeing if I have a fever, like I can't tell the difference between a regular kiss and a temperature-check kiss."
"Just making sure."
Sharon realized that Rusty had been quiet and that he felt heavier against her. "He 'sleep?" She murmured.
"He was out half a second after he took the medicine."
"Harp?"
"She's fine, too. She's pulling everything out of your purse, but she's fine."
"Oh, yeah, she loves to do that. At least it keeps her safely occupied for a while."
"You seem like you need a nap, too. Go to sleep, and I'll be spoiling Harper until you wake up."
"That's comforting."
Eileen scratched Sharon's back and ran her fingers through her hair as she lay against her, humming softly until she was asleep. After a few minutes, she propped a few pillows up behind her and gently lay Sharon down. She shifted herself against the pillows, maintaining her tight grip on Rusty. Eileen watched her sleep, thinking that this was the first time since she'd arrived that her expression looked somewhat peaceful. She straightened the blankets over the pair and kissed each forehead, then picked up Harper and carried her into the kitchen. While Harper sat happily in her high chair with some yogurt bites, Eileen quickly started dinner and put Sharon's and Rusty's clothes from the hospital in the washing machine, whether they seemed to have been worn or not. After adding her own dirty clothes to the laundry, she lifted Harper out of her high chair and carried her back to the nursery, leaving Sharon and Rusty to sleep in peace.
A couple of hours later, Sharon woke up, but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. She could smell spaghetti sauce cooking and could hear the dryer running in the laundry room. She cracked one eye open and spotted her mom rocking a sleeping Harper in the recliner, and she could tell from Rusty's heavy breathing that he hadn't thought about waking up. Relieved that her mom had taken charge, she went back to sleep, waking again a little while later when Rusty was stirring in her arms.
"How are you feeling?"
"God, let me open my eyes first." Rusty sat up and started to lift himself off of the couch.
"What do you need? I'll get it," Sharon said, trying to pull Rusty back down.
"I don't think you can pee for me, Sharon. As convenient as that would be."
Sharon laughed. "I guess not." She looked over at Eileen. "How long has Harp been asleep?"
"Almost two hours."
"Seriously? She hardly ever naps that long. She just catnaps for the most part. Even if we're holding her."
"She's also never taken a nap with Gran," Eileen said, smirking.
"Oh, dear god." Sharon rolled her eyes. "Feel her, Mom, she still looks a little flushed. I meant to ask you to give her some Motrin earlier."
Eileen felt Harper's forehead and ran her hand through her blonde curls. "She's still a little warm, but she seemed fine, otherwise, before she went to sleep."
"Is dinner almost ready? I'm starving," Rusty said, coming back into the living room.
Sharon checked her watch. "It's only 6:00, but I'll go ahead and start the noodles. I'm starting to get hungry, too. They won't take long to cook." She got Rusty settled on the couch again and went to the kitchen to cook the spaghetti noodles and make a salad. Eileen came in with Harper as Sharon was finishing up.
"Hi, baby girl! Did you decide to wake up?"
"Ma-ma!" Harper said happily. Sharon reached for her, but she turned back to Eileen.
"All right, what exactly were you and Gran up to while I was asleep?"
"That's none of your concern," Eileen said, handing Harper to Sharon and taking over in the kitchen.
Harper wrapped her arms around Sharon's neck and lay on her shoulder. "Aw, have you missed Mommy this weekend? I've missed you, too. I don't want to leave you ever again." Sharon kissed her forehead and sat her on the counter long enough to pull her dress off over her head, knowing she was going to make a mess with the spaghetti. "Rusty? Go wash your hands. Dinner will be ready in a minute."
"That was awesome, Gran," Rusty commented after dinner. "I don't think Harper liked it too much, though." Most of Harper's body was smeared with spaghetti sauce. She had inhaled her spaghetti and cried when it was gone.
"I'm just going to go ahead and give her a bath," Sharon said, pulling Harper out of her high chair. She held her away from her body and walked her down the hall. When Harper was clean again, Sharon put her pajamas on her and carried her back to the living room. Rusty lay down in Sharon's lap when she sat beside him. Like many nights before, they just watched Harper entertain herself like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Eileen finished cleaning the kitchen and joined them on the couch. "What did we do for entertainment before we had Harper?" Rusty asked. "Like, seriously. It's insane how long we could just sit here and watch her."
Sharon laughed. "I've been wondering that, myself."
A couple of hours later, Harper was rubbing her eyes and getting irritable. Sharon went to the kitchen to mix a bottle and came back to the living room. "I think someone's ready for night-night," she said as she picked Harper up. "Girl. It is so far past your bedtime." She still felt a little warm, so Sharon gave her some Motrin and carried her to the nursery after she had gotten goodnight kisses from Eileen and Rusty. A few minutes after Sharon had disappeared down the hall, Rusty got the baby monitor from her room and lay back down on the couch.
"I like to listen to Sharon put Harp to bed," Rusty admitted sheepishly to Eileen. "I know she listens to me, too, when I put her to bed, but that's to make sure I follow the 'routine.'"
"That sounds about right." Eileen tucked Rusty in on the couch and smoothed her hand over his forehead. "You look like you're ready for bed, yourself."
"Ugh, I'm tired of sleeping." Hearing Sharon's soft voice reading to Harper was lulling him into drowsiness, though, and her singing made him even more sleepy. He watched the monitor with heavy eyes as Sharon spoke softly to Harper and laid her in the crib. When she came back to the living room, she knelt beside Rusty and put her hand on his cheek.
"Come on to bed, honey. You look sleepy."
"Noooo, just let me stay in here."
Rusty hadn't strayed from Sharon's side since they got home, if he could help it, so she figured he was also feeling a little uneasy about being away from the hospital. "Come on, honey. I'll lie down with you until you fall asleep, and, if you want, you can come get in my bed if you wake up later. Or call me, if you don't want to get up. You don't have to be alone if you don't want to be."
"'Kay."
Sharon gave Rusty his pain medicine and waited a couple of minutes for him to get ready for bed before going back to his room. She sat on his bed and held her hand to his forehead, looking concerned. "Goodnight, darling. Wake me up if you have another nightmare, or if you need anything at all. I mean it." Rusty just stared at her for a few moments, not saying anything. "What?" Sharon tilted her head, trying to figure out what the stare was about.
"Sorry. It's still weird sometimes when you look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"It's nothing. I can just tell you are concerned and really care about me when you look at me like that. No one's ever been that concerned about me before."
"Honey," Sharon murmured, not knowing what to say.
"Even for the few years that my mom was actually sober, she never took care of me like this. When I was sick, it was like she didn't know what to do, so she just ignored me, like that would make it go away."
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." Sharon turned Rusty's lamp off and lay down beside him before he could see the tears forming in her eyes.
"I mean, I guess that's better than getting hit in the face by her stupid boyfriend for having a stomach virus."
Sharon knew she would start sobbing if she tried to say anything else, so she wrapped her arm around Rusty and held him close, hoping he would fall asleep quickly. When she felt his body relax against her and heard his breathing become more deep and even, she held him for several minutes before getting up. She eased herself out of his bed and tucked the covers more tightly around him before leaning down and kissing his forehead. She gently wiped away a few tears that fell onto his face and left the room, leaving the door ajar.
Sharon went to her bathroom and splashed cold water on her face before going back to the living room. The emotions that she'd been pushing aside for the last couple of days were catching up to her, and she would probably have a good cry before she fell asleep, but she was composed again, for the time being. Luckily, she hadn't cried enough for her eyes to betray her. Or so she thought.
"Sharon! Honey, what's the matter?"
Sharon opened her mouth to ask her mom what she was talking about, but a sob escaped, instead. Unable to explain, she just sat beside her mother on the couch and lay on her shoulder as sobs wracked her body. Thinking about Rusty's troubled background made her sad enough when he was healthy, but thinking about it when he was so sick and vulnerable was heartbreaking. That, combined with the fear and anxiety from the last two days, had pushed her emotions to the breaking point, and she was thankful to have her mother's arms around her while she finally let them out.
"I-I-he-" Sharon tried to explain after she had calmed down a little bit, but the words got caught in gasping breaths, and her shoulders were still shaking.
"Shh, honey, you don't have to explain. I'd be crying right about now, too. Just cry all you need to. You'll feel better." Sharon had told Eileen enough about Rusty's history for her to guess what this was about. She patted Sharon's back and held her tight as she cried into her shoulder, not happy that this was a problem that she couldn't even begin to fix.