Chapter 14
When Abby opened her eyes, there were two sets of eyes eagerly peering down at her. "Are you okay, Mommy?" Riley asked, pressing a small hand to her forehead.
Abby smiled and reached up to touch his face. "I'm okay, honey. I'm just kind of tired."
"Daddy said you haven't been taking good enough care of yourself," Jill said.
"But don't worry, we're going to take care of you," Riley reassured her.
"We sure are!" Carter said cheerily, entering the room. "In fact, we might just have to tie you to the bed and tape your eyelids shut," Carter said. Jill and Riley giggled.
"I'm touched by your devotion," Abby said dryly.
"We're gonna make you lunch, Mommy!" Riley said excitedly.
"Oh yeah?" Both twins nodded eagerly. "What are you making?"
Jill and Riley turned to look at Carter, who was obviously the creator of the plan. He shrugged. "We haven't decided yet. But while we do, you're going to lie there get some rest. If I hear you moving around, I'll be back up here with my stun gun." Jill and Riley both laughed, even though neither of them knew what a stun gun was.
"Why do I feel like I'm being ganged up on?" Abby commented as Carter, Jill, and Riley were heading out the door.
"Probably because you are," Carter commented, then said, "How about spaghetti?"
"Or pizza!" said Jill.
"Or cheese!" suggested Riley.
"I don't think you can make cheese with the supplies I have on hand..."
As soon as they had left the room, Abby closed her eyes and laid her head back on her pillow, trying to ignore the way the room was spinning. Wasn't she supposed to be getting better?
When Carter sent Jill up to check on Abby five minutes later, he wasn't surprised when she reported that her mother was fast asleep. Abby had been working herself too hard; she needed the rest. Hopefully, this would convince her to stay here until she was feeling better.
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When Abby woke up, it was dark outside. She was disoriented; why am I sleeping in my clothes? she wondered. Then, she remembered that she had fallen asleep sometime around noon. It was eight-thirty.
She leapt out of the bed, then thought better of it. She was still lightheaded, so she laid back down on the bed quickly to keep herself from passing out again. She closed her eyes and waited for the dizziness to pass.
She heard the door creaking open, and cracked one eyes to see who it was. "Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked groggily.
"You needed the rest," said Carter, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Are you feeling any better?"
Abby started to nod, but her head hurt too much for that, so she simply groaned out a "Yeah." She looked around the dark room. "Where are the kids?" she asked.
"I put them to bed."
"God, I missed the whole day."
"Yeah, pretty much." Carter paused for a moment. "Abby, you really shouldn't be out looking for a job in this condition. You're pushing yourself too hard, and you need just take a break, get some rest."
"I'm okay, Carter. I'm just a little lightheaded."
"Have you been taking the vitamins the doctor gave you?"
"For the most part," Abby lied. In reality, she had lost the bottle of vitamins the first day she was at Carter's house. She didn't have money to buy any more, and she would have felt like an idiot asking Carter, so she just forgot about them.
"You need to take better care of yourself."
"I'm okay. Really. I don't really need the vitamins. I was fine without them before."
"Okay, fine. You're a grown woman, and I can't tell you what to do. But think about it, okay?"
"Sure," she said, just to make him happy. As soon as Carter left, Abby closed her eyes again. Just a little more rest...
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"How's Abby doing?"
"Abby?" Carter asked distractedly, flipping through a stack of charts.
"Yeah, you know, that woman living in your house?" Susan reminded him.
"Oh, yeah, she's doing better. Still a high fever, but she's not vomiting anymore, and I even got her to take a little food yesterday."
"Still can't convince her to come to the hospital?"
"No. She's adamant about that. She wants to be with her kids."
Susan smiled. "So what's it like, being a dad and all?" she asked eagerly, propping herself up on the counter for a long discussion.
"It's great," Carter admitted. "Jill and Riley are just- the greatest kids I've ever met."
"Every parent thinks that," Susan said, but she was smiling.
"It was so wild, you know? Just having Abby show up all of a sudden, and seeing Jill and Riley, and figuring out they were her kids. I kept wondering if they were mine, hoping really, but I was too scared to ask for a while. But now...I'm getting to know them, and it's great. I just wish things could stay this way forever."
"Is she still planning on moving out?"
"I think so, but I can't understand why," Carter said woefully. "It would be so perfect if she stayed with me. We could both see the kids all the time; we wouldn't have to go to court and fight over custody like idiots. She wouldn't have to rush out and find some overpriced apartment, and the twins wouldn't have to move AGAIN. I guess it's just because she doesn't want to live in the same house with me," he said sadly.
"Yeah, I guess so. But maybe you can talk some sense into her, after she's feeling better. Emphasize how good it would be for the kids."
"I've already tried every angle, but I'll try again. And I'll keep trying until the day she moves out."
"That's the spirit!" cheered Susan.
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How long have I been here? was the first thought that entered Abby's head when she woke up. She turned over in the bed and peeled open her dry eyelids to glare at the clock. 12pm. But what day was it? What month, for that matter?
Abby was staring at the wall when Carter came in. "Hey Abby, how ya feeling?"
"How long have I been here?" Abby asked in a deep scratchy voice. She was horrified at the sound. How many years had it been since she had spoken?
"A week," Carter said. "Feeling any better?" He picked up a thermometer and inserted it in her mouth before she could answer.
A whole week? Abby's mind was a blur. She could vaguely remember the kids coming in to see her, eating soup, and taking a cold bath. But had that taken a week?
"101.6," Carter observed, looking at the side of the thermometer.
"What's wrong with me?" Abby asked, in a voice not quite so scratchy.
"To be honest, I don't know. If I could take you to the hospital, run some tests..."
Ah, that was another thing she remembered. Carter trying to get her to go to the hospital. He had asked several times, and she had said no every time, but she couldn't remember why. Well, she must have had a good reason. "No," she repeated firmly, and Carter sighed. Oh yeah, the kids! She wanted to stay in the house to she could be with the kids. She had already been away from them so long while she was in the hospital; she didn't want them to feel like she was leaving them again so soon.
Carter was saying something now, probably about the wonders of the hospital, but Abby's eyelids felt heavier that bricks. Almost against her will, her eyes were closing, and Abby soon found herself fast asleep once again.
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"Can we go say good night to Mommy?" asked Riley, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Not tonight; Mommy's asleep."
"Is Mommy still sick?" Jill asked. Carter nodded. "How long is she gonna be sick?"
"I don't know, Jill," Carter said, lifting Jill into the bed.
"Mommy's not going to die, is she?" Riley asked.
"No, of course not! She's going to get better," Carter reassured them, though he himself was not so sure. Abby's mysterious ailment was like none he had ever seen, and he had no idea what was wrong with her. If only she would let him take her to the hospital for tests...
Abby had been sick for a week now. Carter decided that if she didn't improve in a few days, he was taking her to the hospital, whether she wanted to go or not. What was she going to do, leap out of his car?
"When Mommy gets better, do we have to leave?"
"You won't be leaving right away, but yes, soon you'll move into an apartment of your own. But it will be near here, so that you can come and visit me." At least, Carter hoped it would be near.
"Why don't you want us to live with you?" Riley asked sadly.
Carter felt awful. What could he say to that that wouldn't make Abby look like a bad guy? "It's not that I don't want you to live with me, but it's not going to work out that way," Carter said, knowing how lame his explanation sounded.
"Why not?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "But you might be able to come and stay with me sometimes," he added, trying to cheer them up.
The twins were disappointed, but they still allowed Carter to read them their bedtime story. Over the past few weeks, Carter had taken over the bedtime ritual that they were used to their mother performing. They had settled into the routine, and Carter was not looking forward to the time when his house would be empty again.
By the time the story had ended, Riley was sound asleep. "Goodnight," Carter whispered quietly, tiptoeing towards the door.
"I love you, Daddy," Jill said sleepily.
Those simple words were enough to stop Carter dead in his tracks. These were his kids. He didn't want them to leave. He loved them, all three of them, and even though he knew it was too much to ask, he wanted them all to live happily ever after. He gazed at Jill's tiny mouth, which had so innocently uttered the phrase. How could he let Abby take them away?
"I love you too, Jill," he said quietly before walking out the door.