" ER/Stand part 16 "
It was raining again. I'm so sick of the rain, Jeanie
thought as she followed Luka's cycle off the secondary road and
into the small town. It had been raining for the last couple of
days and she had gotten tired of it on the first day. It made
riding the motorcycle even harder and it was cold. Of course,
once they gave up and stopped for the day, that just made
everyone as cranky as all get out. Though no one wanted to admit
it, there was a vague sense of uneasiness running through them
every time they stopped. She didn't know why there was such a
weird feeling but there was.
Oh stop it, she told herself as they pulled up to a dank,
dark motel, you know perfectly well why you don't like stopping.
You just don't want to admit it. You don't want to stop because
your dreams are telling you that time is running short. She
shuddered involuntarily. She knew it was irrational, which was
why she hadn't said a word about her dreams. No doubt she would
labeled and disregarded the way Kerry had been.
In her dreams, time was becoming short. She didn't have the
bad dream every night but often enough to know that it was
starting to get ugly. They were in Las Vegas, the dark man and
his people, and they were preparing an invasion. Not for this
year, no. He was consolidating his forces and waiting on the
latecomers to see what final goodies they would bring. She had no
doubts that he was running a very tight ship. Her dreams told her
that disobedience wasn't tolerated and that it was punishable by
death. Even in the good dream, the one with the old woman, time
seemed to be running out. The old woman wasn't in Nebraska, not
anymore. She was traveling, heading to Colorado much the way they
were, only Jeanie knew that their destination, Carter's family
lodge, wasn't the right one. They needed to go to Boulder, to see
the old woman, Mother Abigail.
But that was crazy, and she knew that the second she said
anything, it would be very bad for her. Its irrational to want to
travel cross country just to see a woman you think might exist,
she told herself, just like its irrational to think that there's
a demon like force in Las Vegas plotting your death. Really, she
thought suddenly, it's utterly crazy. There was no other way to
describe her newfound almost belief that her dreams were
predicting the future.
Enough, she told herself as she steered her cycle to follow
the others into a motel parking lot, you are just being silly. Or
else you're developing AIDS related dementia. Now there's a
cheery thought. I could be going insane and not realize it due to
the situation. She shook her head as she parked the cycle under
the somewhat dry covered area near the manager's office. The
motel looked like something out of an old sixties movies, with
covered walkways and a cheesy looking courtyard. There were still
a few cars parked in the lot, but there was a closed sign hanging
in the manager's office window. That was a good sign to Jeanie.
It meant that whoever had owned the place had closed it before
there was much chance that anyone had died there. She was
mortally tired of dead bodies, and moving dead bodies and having
to look at dead bodies. I'm surprised I haven't caught typhoid
yet, she thought. She joined the group that was converging around
the manager door. Randi was fooling with the knob, and Jeanie
approved. Not only was she tired of dead bodies, she was also
tired of broken glass. In seconds the door was open. She wondered
why Randi had ever retired from a life of crime. The young woman
clearly had a knack for it.
" Ok, " Carter said as he waved them into a small huddle. "
It's four o'clock. We've still got some daylight left. Let's pick
our rooms and then meet in the restaurant in maybe thirty
minutes?" He waited for them to nod. Carter had gotten very good
at giving commands without actually giving orders. She gave him
credit, he knew enough to keep everything organized without being
afraid to ask for help. Luka generally decided the route and
their breaks, but once they stopped for the day, Carter usually
took over. He was generally fair about chores, and she knew that
they needed someone to make gentle suggestions about getting jobs
done. If left to their own devices, they'd all be eating nothing
but junk food. Jeanie rarely felt the inspiration to cook over an
open flame. Lucy couldn't be trusted to do much more than heat up
canned soup. Randi and Doug were content to eat potato chips
every night if allowed. Usually it was Kerry that made their
evening meal, though she rarely did more than pick at the hot
food she made. Carter ate like a horse. She had seen him not only
scarf down a meal but then break open a candy machine for snacks.
Usually, Randi, Doug and Kerry would join him. Luka simply ate
whatever was in front of him. Jeanie worried about him. She
worried about everyone else, but with Luka she sensed that he was
depressed about a lot more than just the current situation.
She shrugged off her concerns as she took one of the pass
keys and walked down the covered walkway to the first room door.
She had no doubt that Randi and Lucy would stick her with Kerry
for a bunk mate. She didn't mind and the upside was that she got
to call dibs on the closest room to the manager's office. In some
places that could mean she and Kerry would be settled in while
the others were still clearing out corpses. Of course, they only
did the motel thing when it rained. Jeanie didn't mind that
decision. Given a choice between dead bodies in a room and a
clean, fresh smelling park, she would rather sleep in the park.
But it was raining, and they had already tried camping in the wet
with disastrous results. Another night of collapsed tents,
bickering and yelling wasn't going to do it for her. I'm tired,
she thought as she looked in the first room, sleeping on a real
bed would be nice for a change. Just like eating inside, at a
table would be a rare treat and one that she was actually looking
forward to. This room will do, she decided after a moment. It was
ground floor, with double beds, and not too dusty.
She trotted back to the attached restaurant, marveling
inwardly at how every Iowan motel seemed to have the same cheesy
restaurant built in. Heavy tables, animal head lined walls, a
huge cobblestone fireplace in the corner, it was as if the same
folksy designer placed his stamp across the entire state. She
opened the door, and part of her wanted to laugh. It was as
exactly as she had pictured, right down to the stuffed rabbit
with antlers wired into its head sitting on top of the hostess's
desk. Carter was already rolling up wads of old newspaper and
stuffing it into the fireplace, while Kerry and Lucy were rooting
around in the drug bag.
" What's the plan for the night?" she asked. No doubt the
plan was similar to the plan that they followed every night. They
would make dinner, then argue with each other for about an hour.
Doug would start to drink. Randi would roll her eyes at Carter
over whatever stupid thing he said and then they would all go to
bed with bad moods. She thought their general grouchiness was
partly due to the bad weather that seemed to be following them
all through Iowa, partly because of the cold virus that was
slowly jumping from one to the next, and partly because they had
been together far too long. It's almost the end of July, Jeanie
mused, and we still haven't found any people. At least, not
people that wanted to come with them. They had run across a few
solitary individuals but those people seemed very content to stay
where they were. One had even cryptically stated, while waving
his tattered bible, that he wanted to see who was going to come
out on top first, before he went with any group. They had seen
signs of life besides. Someone had set fire to Gary, Indiana
starting with what appeared to have been giant oil tanks. Still,
the addition of some new people would have eased a little bit of
the tension. As it was, there were just too many topics that no
one wanted to discuss. She ticked them off in her mind. Doug's
drinking, Kerry's oddness, Luka's moodiness, the general
inability to sleep that everyone seemed to be suffering from.
Again, she stopped herself. You just can't sleep because of bad
dreams, you're reading too much into things. Just because
everyone else has dark circles under their eyes, it doesn't mean
that they haven't been sleeping. Traveling was hard, harder
than she had expected. When Carter had first suggested it, she
had thought it would take two weeks at most. Driving from Chicago
to Colorado had been at worst a two day drive. Three if you took
your time. What she hadn't bargained on was how awful the roads
were. There was rarely a clear stretch of road, unless they took
a back road and then it was a rough ride. Luka had taken a spill
that morning that had frightened her, and she had seen that he
was still limping. Then there was the daily major production of
getting gas. Sometimes she wished there was just one technically
minded person in the group.
Carter gestured to the fire place. " I was going to start a
fire. I thought maybe it would be nice. There are some
comfortable chairs we could drag over."
" A fire would be nice," she allowed. What would be even
nicer than a fire was a pleasant evening but she doubted it would
happen. " Did you already find a room?"
He nodded. " Luka's the odd man out tonight. I'm sharing
with Doug. You and Kerry sharing?"
Ask the obvious, she thought. It wasn't that she minded
sharing a room with Kerry. In truth, Randi and Lucy could get on
her nerves in an instant, and she got along better with Kerry. It
just felt as though they were separating based on age, older ad
younger. She didn't want to be older. I'm only thirty two, she
thought. " I think so, unless there's a problem."
" I don't care ," Lucy muttered. She was sitting on the
floor, and as Jeanie watched she slowly rolled over onto her
side. Lucy was looking decidedly pale, and Jeanie could see beads
of sweat dotting her forehead. " I think I'm dying."
" You're not dying." Kerry growled as she dumped the medical
bag out onto one of the tables. She came up an ear thermometer. "
You're just running a fever. Let me take your temperature."
" No." Lucy covered her ears. " I don't want anyone touching
me. I want a blanket."
" You need your temperature taken." Kerry's voice took on a
lecturing tone. " You can let me take it with the ear
thermometer, or we can do it the hard away." Jeanie almost
laughed as Lucy gave in. It had been a while since she had heard
Kerry be that forceful and Lucy obviously hadn't suspected it.
Then again, Lucy was also very sick. She uncovered her ears and
let Kerry take her temperature.
" What is it?" Jeanie asked as she took a step closer. Kerry
held up her hand, waving her back.
" I don't think you should expose yourself to this." Kerry
warned. " Her temp is 103.5. I think you need some Tylonel, Lucy,
and some fluids. Want some juice?"
" No..." Lucy curled up into a tight little ball. " I'm
cold." Jeanie couldn't help but agree to that sentiment. With the
rain cooling everything off, and her damp clothes, it didn't feel
like the 74 degrees that the outdoor thermometer by the manager's
office had told her. It felt chilly.
" What do you think it is?" Carter continued to fool around
with the fireplace, but Jeanie heard the subtle increase in
concern in his voice. She knew what she thought Lucy had, based
on the symptoms, and Carter had probably come to the same
conclusion.
" It looks like type A influenza." Kerry said. " Before...
before the epidemic, that's what the CDC was predicting. It's
probably what Jeanie and Doug had. Lucy, did you get your flu
shot this year?"
" I did." Lucy coughed. " I'm going to die."
" You're not going to die." Carter stood up as he spoke. "
You're just going to be miserable to be around for a few days."
Jeanie felt a cold chill run through her. Both Carter and
Kerry had a wary look on their faces, a look that suggested they
were a bit more concerned than they were letting on. She held her
tongue until they both got out of earshot of Lucy. " Is it just
the flu?" she asked nervously.
" It looks that way." Kerry said. Carter nodded agreement. "
We're making a diagnosis in a restaurant with no labs or tests. I
could be wrong, but it's pretty consistent with flu. The old flu.
Did you realize that we're all out of cold medicine? We'll need
to find a drugstore."
" But it's not the superflu?" Jeanie asked.
Kerry shook her head. " I don't think so. I'm not seeing the
swelling around her neck and that was probably the only symptom
that wasn't a normal flu symptom. I think she's just run down and
its hitting her hard. "
" Maybe we should keep an eye on her tonight." Carter said.
" I really doubt we'll be able to catch Doug before he starts
drinking. Jeanie, you shouldn't do this either. You don't need
the infection risk. Luka, Kerry and I can do shifts. It'd be ok
if Randi shares a room with you tonight won't it?"
Again with the orders in the form of a question, Jeanie
thought. She smiled. " I'm fine with it." She was surprised that
Carter had included Kerry in the "responsible" category, but more
surprised that he had been so blunt about Doug. It was an
interesting change. Of course, she realized, it was either
include Kerry or spend the entire night up himself. As a group,
they didn't give either Doug or Kerry the same sort of
responsibilities they gave themselves. Doug simply couldn't be
trusted at any given point to be sober. It wasn't just wallowing
in grief, not anymore. The problem with Kerry was two fold. While
she definitely seemed better mentally, the sad truth was that
there weren't many daily chores associated with their journey
that a disabled person could do. Or at least do in a quick
fashion. She wondered if Kerry was frustrated by that. In normal
circumstances, Jeanie thought, the answer would have been a
resounding yes, but the older woman had been surprisingly
reticent.
" I checked the kitchen," Carter said. " There's a gas stove
that's still working, but not much in the way of fixings." He
looked plaintively at Kerry. " It sure would be nice to have a
hot cooked meal." He managed to look pathetic and hopeful all at
once. " I know fresh bread would be hard, but hot biscuits sure
would hit the spot. Maybe if somebody drove their truck down to
that grocery store and got us some food.... I might be convinced
to take the middle shift tonight. And take care of the dishes
too." He smiled winningly.
" Carter, throwing the dishes into a trash can is not taking
care of them." Still Kerry did smile, and Jeanie knew that meant
she'd cave.
Lucy raised her head. " Hot biscuits with honey would be
great. My mom used to make me toast with honey when I was sick."
She coughed to punctuate her words.
" Enough, I'll go. Do either of you want to come with me?"
Kerry waited. After a moment, Jeanie nodded. Technically whoever
road in the truck was the designated Weaver watcher of the day,
but Lucy looked far too ill to do it. Besides, going to the store
meant having some control over dinner.
Jeanie sighed as she followed Kerry out to the car. Why does
everything have to be so hard, she thought. So hard and so damn
depressing. Maybe I just need some more sleep. A night spent on a
soft mattress, even with Randi who tended to chuckle in her
sleep, just might be the thing she needed.
It was raining again. I'm so sick of the rain, Jeanie
thought as she followed Luka's cycle off the secondary road and
into the small town. It had been raining for the last couple of
days and she had gotten tired of it on the first day. It made
riding the motorcycle even harder and it was cold. Of course,
once they gave up and stopped for the day, that just made
everyone as cranky as all get out. Though no one wanted to admit
it, there was a vague sense of uneasiness running through them
every time they stopped. She didn't know why there was such a
weird feeling but there was.
Oh stop it, she told herself as they pulled up to a dank,
dark motel, you know perfectly well why you don't like stopping.
You just don't want to admit it. You don't want to stop because
your dreams are telling you that time is running short. She
shuddered involuntarily. She knew it was irrational, which was
why she hadn't said a word about her dreams. No doubt she would
labeled and disregarded the way Kerry had been.
In her dreams, time was becoming short. She didn't have the
bad dream every night but often enough to know that it was
starting to get ugly. They were in Las Vegas, the dark man and
his people, and they were preparing an invasion. Not for this
year, no. He was consolidating his forces and waiting on the
latecomers to see what final goodies they would bring. She had no
doubts that he was running a very tight ship. Her dreams told her
that disobedience wasn't tolerated and that it was punishable by
death. Even in the good dream, the one with the old woman, time
seemed to be running out. The old woman wasn't in Nebraska, not
anymore. She was traveling, heading to Colorado much the way they
were, only Jeanie knew that their destination, Carter's family
lodge, wasn't the right one. They needed to go to Boulder, to see
the old woman, Mother Abigail.
But that was crazy, and she knew that the second she said
anything, it would be very bad for her. Its irrational to want to
travel cross country just to see a woman you think might exist,
she told herself, just like its irrational to think that there's
a demon like force in Las Vegas plotting your death. Really, she
thought suddenly, it's utterly crazy. There was no other way to
describe her newfound almost belief that her dreams were
predicting the future.
Enough, she told herself as she steered her cycle to follow
the others into a motel parking lot, you are just being silly. Or
else you're developing AIDS related dementia. Now there's a
cheery thought. I could be going insane and not realize it due to
the situation. She shook her head as she parked the cycle under
the somewhat dry covered area near the manager's office. The
motel looked like something out of an old sixties movies, with
covered walkways and a cheesy looking courtyard. There were still
a few cars parked in the lot, but there was a closed sign hanging
in the manager's office window. That was a good sign to Jeanie.
It meant that whoever had owned the place had closed it before
there was much chance that anyone had died there. She was
mortally tired of dead bodies, and moving dead bodies and having
to look at dead bodies. I'm surprised I haven't caught typhoid
yet, she thought. She joined the group that was converging around
the manager door. Randi was fooling with the knob, and Jeanie
approved. Not only was she tired of dead bodies, she was also
tired of broken glass. In seconds the door was open. She wondered
why Randi had ever retired from a life of crime. The young woman
clearly had a knack for it.
" Ok, " Carter said as he waved them into a small huddle. "
It's four o'clock. We've still got some daylight left. Let's pick
our rooms and then meet in the restaurant in maybe thirty
minutes?" He waited for them to nod. Carter had gotten very good
at giving commands without actually giving orders. She gave him
credit, he knew enough to keep everything organized without being
afraid to ask for help. Luka generally decided the route and
their breaks, but once they stopped for the day, Carter usually
took over. He was generally fair about chores, and she knew that
they needed someone to make gentle suggestions about getting jobs
done. If left to their own devices, they'd all be eating nothing
but junk food. Jeanie rarely felt the inspiration to cook over an
open flame. Lucy couldn't be trusted to do much more than heat up
canned soup. Randi and Doug were content to eat potato chips
every night if allowed. Usually it was Kerry that made their
evening meal, though she rarely did more than pick at the hot
food she made. Carter ate like a horse. She had seen him not only
scarf down a meal but then break open a candy machine for snacks.
Usually, Randi, Doug and Kerry would join him. Luka simply ate
whatever was in front of him. Jeanie worried about him. She
worried about everyone else, but with Luka she sensed that he was
depressed about a lot more than just the current situation.
She shrugged off her concerns as she took one of the pass
keys and walked down the covered walkway to the first room door.
She had no doubt that Randi and Lucy would stick her with Kerry
for a bunk mate. She didn't mind and the upside was that she got
to call dibs on the closest room to the manager's office. In some
places that could mean she and Kerry would be settled in while
the others were still clearing out corpses. Of course, they only
did the motel thing when it rained. Jeanie didn't mind that
decision. Given a choice between dead bodies in a room and a
clean, fresh smelling park, she would rather sleep in the park.
But it was raining, and they had already tried camping in the wet
with disastrous results. Another night of collapsed tents,
bickering and yelling wasn't going to do it for her. I'm tired,
she thought as she looked in the first room, sleeping on a real
bed would be nice for a change. Just like eating inside, at a
table would be a rare treat and one that she was actually looking
forward to. This room will do, she decided after a moment. It was
ground floor, with double beds, and not too dusty.
She trotted back to the attached restaurant, marveling
inwardly at how every Iowan motel seemed to have the same cheesy
restaurant built in. Heavy tables, animal head lined walls, a
huge cobblestone fireplace in the corner, it was as if the same
folksy designer placed his stamp across the entire state. She
opened the door, and part of her wanted to laugh. It was as
exactly as she had pictured, right down to the stuffed rabbit
with antlers wired into its head sitting on top of the hostess's
desk. Carter was already rolling up wads of old newspaper and
stuffing it into the fireplace, while Kerry and Lucy were rooting
around in the drug bag.
" What's the plan for the night?" she asked. No doubt the
plan was similar to the plan that they followed every night. They
would make dinner, then argue with each other for about an hour.
Doug would start to drink. Randi would roll her eyes at Carter
over whatever stupid thing he said and then they would all go to
bed with bad moods. She thought their general grouchiness was
partly due to the bad weather that seemed to be following them
all through Iowa, partly because of the cold virus that was
slowly jumping from one to the next, and partly because they had
been together far too long. It's almost the end of July, Jeanie
mused, and we still haven't found any people. At least, not
people that wanted to come with them. They had run across a few
solitary individuals but those people seemed very content to stay
where they were. One had even cryptically stated, while waving
his tattered bible, that he wanted to see who was going to come
out on top first, before he went with any group. They had seen
signs of life besides. Someone had set fire to Gary, Indiana
starting with what appeared to have been giant oil tanks. Still,
the addition of some new people would have eased a little bit of
the tension. As it was, there were just too many topics that no
one wanted to discuss. She ticked them off in her mind. Doug's
drinking, Kerry's oddness, Luka's moodiness, the general
inability to sleep that everyone seemed to be suffering from.
Again, she stopped herself. You just can't sleep because of bad
dreams, you're reading too much into things. Just because
everyone else has dark circles under their eyes, it doesn't mean
that they haven't been sleeping. Traveling was hard, harder
than she had expected. When Carter had first suggested it, she
had thought it would take two weeks at most. Driving from Chicago
to Colorado had been at worst a two day drive. Three if you took
your time. What she hadn't bargained on was how awful the roads
were. There was rarely a clear stretch of road, unless they took
a back road and then it was a rough ride. Luka had taken a spill
that morning that had frightened her, and she had seen that he
was still limping. Then there was the daily major production of
getting gas. Sometimes she wished there was just one technically
minded person in the group.
Carter gestured to the fire place. " I was going to start a
fire. I thought maybe it would be nice. There are some
comfortable chairs we could drag over."
" A fire would be nice," she allowed. What would be even
nicer than a fire was a pleasant evening but she doubted it would
happen. " Did you already find a room?"
He nodded. " Luka's the odd man out tonight. I'm sharing
with Doug. You and Kerry sharing?"
Ask the obvious, she thought. It wasn't that she minded
sharing a room with Kerry. In truth, Randi and Lucy could get on
her nerves in an instant, and she got along better with Kerry. It
just felt as though they were separating based on age, older ad
younger. She didn't want to be older. I'm only thirty two, she
thought. " I think so, unless there's a problem."
" I don't care ," Lucy muttered. She was sitting on the
floor, and as Jeanie watched she slowly rolled over onto her
side. Lucy was looking decidedly pale, and Jeanie could see beads
of sweat dotting her forehead. " I think I'm dying."
" You're not dying." Kerry growled as she dumped the medical
bag out onto one of the tables. She came up an ear thermometer. "
You're just running a fever. Let me take your temperature."
" No." Lucy covered her ears. " I don't want anyone touching
me. I want a blanket."
" You need your temperature taken." Kerry's voice took on a
lecturing tone. " You can let me take it with the ear
thermometer, or we can do it the hard away." Jeanie almost
laughed as Lucy gave in. It had been a while since she had heard
Kerry be that forceful and Lucy obviously hadn't suspected it.
Then again, Lucy was also very sick. She uncovered her ears and
let Kerry take her temperature.
" What is it?" Jeanie asked as she took a step closer. Kerry
held up her hand, waving her back.
" I don't think you should expose yourself to this." Kerry
warned. " Her temp is 103.5. I think you need some Tylonel, Lucy,
and some fluids. Want some juice?"
" No..." Lucy curled up into a tight little ball. " I'm
cold." Jeanie couldn't help but agree to that sentiment. With the
rain cooling everything off, and her damp clothes, it didn't feel
like the 74 degrees that the outdoor thermometer by the manager's
office had told her. It felt chilly.
" What do you think it is?" Carter continued to fool around
with the fireplace, but Jeanie heard the subtle increase in
concern in his voice. She knew what she thought Lucy had, based
on the symptoms, and Carter had probably come to the same
conclusion.
" It looks like type A influenza." Kerry said. " Before...
before the epidemic, that's what the CDC was predicting. It's
probably what Jeanie and Doug had. Lucy, did you get your flu
shot this year?"
" I did." Lucy coughed. " I'm going to die."
" You're not going to die." Carter stood up as he spoke. "
You're just going to be miserable to be around for a few days."
Jeanie felt a cold chill run through her. Both Carter and
Kerry had a wary look on their faces, a look that suggested they
were a bit more concerned than they were letting on. She held her
tongue until they both got out of earshot of Lucy. " Is it just
the flu?" she asked nervously.
" It looks that way." Kerry said. Carter nodded agreement. "
We're making a diagnosis in a restaurant with no labs or tests. I
could be wrong, but it's pretty consistent with flu. The old flu.
Did you realize that we're all out of cold medicine? We'll need
to find a drugstore."
" But it's not the superflu?" Jeanie asked.
Kerry shook her head. " I don't think so. I'm not seeing the
swelling around her neck and that was probably the only symptom
that wasn't a normal flu symptom. I think she's just run down and
its hitting her hard. "
" Maybe we should keep an eye on her tonight." Carter said.
" I really doubt we'll be able to catch Doug before he starts
drinking. Jeanie, you shouldn't do this either. You don't need
the infection risk. Luka, Kerry and I can do shifts. It'd be ok
if Randi shares a room with you tonight won't it?"
Again with the orders in the form of a question, Jeanie
thought. She smiled. " I'm fine with it." She was surprised that
Carter had included Kerry in the "responsible" category, but more
surprised that he had been so blunt about Doug. It was an
interesting change. Of course, she realized, it was either
include Kerry or spend the entire night up himself. As a group,
they didn't give either Doug or Kerry the same sort of
responsibilities they gave themselves. Doug simply couldn't be
trusted at any given point to be sober. It wasn't just wallowing
in grief, not anymore. The problem with Kerry was two fold. While
she definitely seemed better mentally, the sad truth was that
there weren't many daily chores associated with their journey
that a disabled person could do. Or at least do in a quick
fashion. She wondered if Kerry was frustrated by that. In normal
circumstances, Jeanie thought, the answer would have been a
resounding yes, but the older woman had been surprisingly
reticent.
" I checked the kitchen," Carter said. " There's a gas stove
that's still working, but not much in the way of fixings." He
looked plaintively at Kerry. " It sure would be nice to have a
hot cooked meal." He managed to look pathetic and hopeful all at
once. " I know fresh bread would be hard, but hot biscuits sure
would hit the spot. Maybe if somebody drove their truck down to
that grocery store and got us some food.... I might be convinced
to take the middle shift tonight. And take care of the dishes
too." He smiled winningly.
" Carter, throwing the dishes into a trash can is not taking
care of them." Still Kerry did smile, and Jeanie knew that meant
she'd cave.
Lucy raised her head. " Hot biscuits with honey would be
great. My mom used to make me toast with honey when I was sick."
She coughed to punctuate her words.
" Enough, I'll go. Do either of you want to come with me?"
Kerry waited. After a moment, Jeanie nodded. Technically whoever
road in the truck was the designated Weaver watcher of the day,
but Lucy looked far too ill to do it. Besides, going to the store
meant having some control over dinner.
Jeanie sighed as she followed Kerry out to the car. Why does
everything have to be so hard, she thought. So hard and so damn
depressing. Maybe I just need some more sleep. A night spent on a
soft mattress, even with Randi who tended to chuckle in her
sleep, just might be the thing she needed.