A/N: Hey guys! Next to no plot progression here but it's the longest chapter so far. Enjoy the angst/drama/heartache free chapter!
"May, she will stay, resting in my arms again"
"Holly?" Gail peered around Holly's apartment door as she jimmied her keys out of the lock. She stepped aside from the door and reached behind to close and lock it as she surveyed the apartment. Gail quickly removed her jacket and threw it on top of her bag on the floor. She still felt pretty warm, was it hot it here? "Holly?!" Gail called out again, a little louder this time, as she looked around. Everything seemed to be in order. Gail stepped into the kitchen; Holly's keys were in the dish and her bag was on the counter. She was definitely home. Gail looked up from the counter and headed for Holly's ensuite bathroom when she heard the toilet flush. Gail stopped short in the doorway, "Oh, grosss!" Holly just glared at Gail from the floor, "I mean, are you...are you okay?"
"What are you doing here? I told you should go to your place tonight," Holly coughed out.
"You said you were sick. I wanted to make sure you were okay," Gail nervously looked around. She hated vomit. It creeped her out to no end. "You're not dying are you?"
"Maybe just a little," Holly coughed again.
"Well stop it," Gail turn and backed out of the doorway, "I'm gonna get you some water," and headed for the kitchen. Sick people were gross. It really freaked Gail out. The only thing she hated more than being sick was being near someone else who was sick. And puke was just in another category all to itself. She spent a minute rummaging through the cabinets but the kitchen was a total food desert, not to be confused with a food dessert. She headed for the fridge and pried it open. Goddamn Holly's fancy, shiny Subzero. That thing is harder to open than an armored car. What a waste too; Gail took stock of the fridge and counted five beers, a half empty Brita pitcher, one greek yogurt, half a bottle of wine, a jar of ketchup, mustard, and some maple syrup. She sighed and snatched a glass out of the cupboard and went back to the fridge and pried the freezer door open. Ice cream, some more ice cream, vodka, gin, and some bags of frozen vegetables. She grabbed a few ice cubes from the tray and shut the door and headed to the sink. Gail let the faucet run cold for a minute and took a deep breath. Colds, viruses, disease were all gross. There was a reason Gail hadn't wanted to become a doctor and it had nothing to do with her mother, nor did it have to do with her disinterest in developing a good bedside manner. Blood and guts, dead people, Gail could deal with all of those, no problem. Sickness creeped her out; especially a mystery sickness. A shiver went down Gail's spine. She pushed those thoughts out of her head and whipped out her phone. What to do, what to do, what to do. Puke, sickness, and snot. Leo! Traci! Gail texted Traci; 'Holly's like puking everywhere, and there's snot and vomit, and it's really gross. What do I do?'
Gail filled the glass, turned off the faucet, and headed out of the kitchen. She found Holly on the living room sofa curled up under a blanket. "Hey," Gail sat down on the coffee table, "I got you some water," she placed the glass on the table next to the sofa. "I put some ice in there. One time some super nerd told me cold water hydrates you faster than warm water."
Holly cracked a smile and turned to face the ceiling with closed eyes, "a super nerd, huh?"
"Super duper nerd. But I figured if you can only keep it down for a few minutes, better make 'em count."
"Funny," Holly coughed again, "but kinda clever."
Gail grabbed the water off the side table and moved the glass around in front of Holly's face, "you know you want someee." Holly opened her eyes and reached out, grabbing the glass and taking a sip. "But seriously, you're not dying are you?"
Holly rolled her eyes, "no, I'm not dying...sure feels like it though," Holly let the glass rest on her stomach and closed her eyes. "It's like I have gremlins forcing their way out of every orifice of my body," Holly reached behind her head to grab a tissue and proceeded to blow her nose.
Gail shuddered, "every orifice?" Holly just glared at her and reached for another tissue. "So you have nothing to eat here besides ice cream and alcohol, and I'm guessing you're not very interested in that right now. So I'm gonna run out and get you something," Gail looked around, "and probably like twenty more boxes of tissues."
"Gail, really, I'll be fine. You didn't have to come over here," Holly pleaded.
"Shut up. You have puke in your hair," Gail stood up and headed into Holly's office and grabbed the trashcan. She dropped it on the floor by Holly's head on her way to the kitchen to grab a plastic bag. "Okay," Gail lined the trashcan with the plastic bag, "while I'm gone you're not allowed to die or puke anywhere besides the trash and the toilet." Before Holly could say anything back the doorbell rang. "Expecting someone?" Gail asked as she rose from coffee table and headed for the door.
"No," Holly huffed. Great. Who could it be?
Gail checked the peephole. It was Holly's mom. Holly's mom. Holly's mom, who happens to be a mom to three children and is married to a pediatric surgeon. Sicklings have got to be right up this woman's alley. Gail swung the door open with a large grin on her face, "good evening Mrs. Stewart!"
"Oh Gail! I'm so glad you're here! But you must stop calling me that. Really dear, it's 'Anne'."
"Sorry, right. It's good to see you, Anne," Gail looked at the multiple grocery bags Holly's mom and brought with her as she hurriedly took off her jacket and hung it on the coat rack.
"Mom?!" Holly called from the living room, "what are you doing here?" Holly's mom took after the sound of Holly's voice and Gail followed along.
"Oh thank god you're not curled up in a ball on the street. I was so worried when Summer mentioned that you left work early because you were sick," Holly's mom sat on the coffee table and brushed the hair out of Holly's face.
"Mom, really, I'm fine. You don't have to stay. I'm okay," Holly looked up at her mom with pleading eyes.
"Nonsense. Caterpillar, you never miss school or work. I'm going to make my chicken noodle soup," she spoke with such finality; there really was no saying no to this woman.
Holly scrunched up her face and looked away, "oh, mom, can you not talk about food right now?"
"Oh, sorry dear. For when you're feeling a little better."
Gail's phone buzzed in her pocket. She tuned out the conversation around her as she unlocked the screen. A text from Chris:
"You coming to the Penny tonight? I don't know if I can stand Dov and Chloe alone for more than 5 more mins..." poor Chris. Such a good guy.
Gail quickly typed back: "Can't :( Holly's puking all over the place. You can come over and hang out with us though if you'd prefer. P.S. WHY ISN'T THERE A PUKING EMOJI YET!?"
Oh! A text from Traci:
"Just take her temp every hour or so and make sure she's drinking fluids. She's a doctor so she's probably got that under control. God help her. BE NICE, GAIL."
Gail responded with: "Wow, Traci. Aggressive with the caps lock there. But thanks."
Chris texted back:
"I think I'm good where I am but thanks" and, "Be nice, Gail :)"
Why was everyone telling her to be nice?! Gail quickly put her phone back into her pocket and spoke up, "okay, well I'm gonna run to the store real quick before your tissue shortage turns into a catastrophe. I think you'll be in good hands while I'm gone. I'll get you some meds too; some strong ones."
Holly's mom patted Holly's knee, "Caterpillar, I'm gonna go get started on that soup for you," and headed for the kitchen.
Holly looked up at Gail with her best puppy dog eyes, "will you get me that special peppermint tea I like from Whole Foods?"
"Whole Foods?" Holly batted her eyelashes at Gail, "I was just going to go around the corner-Whole Foods. Whole Foods it is. I just have to take your car because I'm running on fumes."
"And make sure you get the real cold medicine. They can't keep the real stuff on the shelf-"
"Anymore because of the meth heads? I'm a cop remember?" Gail laughed.
"Oh. Yeah, duh. Well the stuff on the shelf doesn't work so make sure you get the methy stuff."
"Leaving now," Gail waved and walked out of the living room right before Holly turned and heaved into the trash can. Gail shuddered; gross.
It was over an hour later by the time Gail fought rush hour traffic all the way around town and then back again. She huffed into the elevator with the shopping bags and punched the button for Holly's floor. Thank god for elevators. She trudged down the hall to Holly's door and turned her key in the lock. As soon as the door opened Gail was met with what had to be the most delicious smell she'd ever smelt. Holly clearly didn't learn to cook by watching the Food Network. Gail immediately started to regret the dinner she had slapped together in the pre-made section of Whole Foods and scarfed down in the parking lot.
"Oh, Gail honey, try some," Holly's mom was immediately in front of her holding out a wooden spoon of soup, "I think there may be a little too much thyme." Holly's mom looked up at her expectantly so Gail dove right in.
"Mmmmm," Gail hummed through a full mouth. Chicken soup was kind of boring, but this chicken soup was amazing. Why hadn't Holly gotten sick before?
"Gail?"
Gail gave Holly's mom a thumbs up through a full mouth as she backed down the hallway to where Holly had called her name.
"How ya doing?" Gail casually sat down on the coffee table across from where Holly's head was resting. Suddenly she was being yanked by the front of her sweater. Her face was inches away from the back of the sofa and Holly was hissing in her ear: "you. Have. To. Make. Her. Leave."
Gail pulled away a little so that she was looking Holly in the eyes, "huh? What? Your mom?"
"Yes, my mom. Betty Crocker is driving me nuts. She means well, and she's helpful but I'm not nine anymore. She can't make me use a neti pot anymore," Holly whispered.
"Well what do you want me to do?" Gail was at loss. Holly's mom wasn't exactly someone you kicked out. Even Gail knew that.
"This is all Summer's fault. If she hadn't opened her big mouth I could just die here in peace," Holly flopped back into the couch and started coughing.
"Hmmmmmm," Gail's eyes darted around the room looking for some inspiration, "why'd you even tell Summer you left work early?"
"We were supposed to have dinner tonight, remember? I called her when I started feeling sick."
"Where's your phone?" Gail asked, looking around for the device.
"Ummm," Holly felt around the couch before pulling it out from under her back and offered it to Gail.
Gail raised one finger, "hold that thought," and ran off to the bags of supplies she'd bought. She grabbed the Colorox wipes and bounded back to the living room. Gail took the proffered phone and gave it a good wipe down before disappearing into Holly's bedroom.
The phone rang three times before Summer answered:
"Hey, Holly Bolly," Summer greeted, cheerily.
"Actually, Summer bummer, it's Gaily Waily," Gail said, getting down to business.
"Oh! Sup?" Summer asked casually.
"Your mom is wassup. Apparently you said something to her about Holly being sick. She came over here and is apparently forcing Holly to use a neti pot? Or something? Anyways, I've been charged with getting rid of her. So that's where you come in. Make it happen."
"Shit. Well what do you want me to do?" Summer was at a loss. Their mom could be pretty pushy when she wanted to be.
"I don't know. You and Holly were supposed to have dinner tonight right? Well make something up. Some emergency or something; you really need your mommy tonight. Maybe a pet died, you got dumped, failed a test, someone hurt your feelings, maybe your roommate sexiled you. You'll think of something..."
"Uh, okay. I'll figure it out...maybe I can get a nice dinner out of tonight after all..."
"Super, you've got like ten minutes," Gail informed Summer that the clock was ticking.
"Don't worry, I'm on it. Tell Holls I'm sorry about 'Tornado Anne' and that I hope she feels better."
"I will. Later, kid."
"Bye Gaily Waily," Summer bid Gail goodbye in a sing song voice.
Shit, Gail thought as she hung up the phone. Hopefully that won't stick. Gail made her way out of the bedroom again and busied herself disinfecting the apartment because; GROSS. She made Holly give her a step by step breakdown of her movements after getting home from work. Much to Holly's surprise, a few minutes after Gail had emerged from the bedroom her mom came and sat next to her and apologetically explained that she needed to go tend to Summer.
"Such a drama queen, your sister," she mused.
"She sure has a way with flair," Holly joked.
"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Holly's mom questioned.
"Really mom, I'll be fine. Thanks for the soup. You really didn't have to come out here. I'll be fine," Holly pleaded.
"Okay," Holly's mom sounded skeptical, "if you need anything just call," she smoothed down Holly's hair again, "love you, Caterpillar."
"Love you too, Mom."
She kissed Holly's forehead and headed for the door. "It was lovely to see you Gail, make sure she doesn't croak on us," she gave Gail a tight hug, and just as soon as she had come, she was gone. Gail quickly wiped the door handles again. Only god knows what lurks on those golden orbs.
"So, Summer had an emergency, huh?" Holly called from the couch.
"Sounds like it," Gail mused as she walked in to the living room.
"Have I told you lately that I love you?"
"I am pretty awesome, aren't I?" Gail flopped into the armchair next the couch, "you know what else is awesome?" Gail wagged her eyebrows.
"What?" Holly asked, curious.
"Taking your temperature!" Gail said with an enthusiastic, open mouthed smile.
"Greatttt," Holly groaned.
That night after she put Holly to bed Gail once again, disinfected the living room, kitchen, and bathrooms. And then she gave Holly's leather couch another wipe down. Gail was not going to get sick. That was not going to happen. It was still pretty early so she channel surfed for a little while before making a bed for herself on the couch; Gail was not going to get sick. As she tried to fall asleep Gail couldn't help but think about Holly's mom. That woman could cook. She couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to stay home from school sick with Mrs. Stewart. Or, would she have been able to stay home since she was a judge? Maybe Doctor Dad stayed home with them. Gail never knew who she would get stuck with as a child. Her mom never made it an easy day so Gail tried her hardest never to stay home sick from school. But her mom tried. Superintendent Mom even told Gail multiple times that she should stay home but Gail refused. Steve did it too. Gail had felt so bad for him when he'd had his tonsils out in high school. He had to stay home from school for three days after the surgery, which also happened to be the last three days before Christmas break started. Their mom probably made him do more schoolwork at home than he would have had to do at school. Oh well, Steve survived. Gail could hear rain starting to patter on the window. On the bright side, at least she rarely fell behind on assignments. Gail hated having to catchup.
"May, she will stay, resting in my arms again"
- Simon and Garfunkel "April Come She Will"
A/N: Thanks again for all the reads/reviews/favs! I hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you think! We've got another chapter of time hopping (because I'm not time jumping? It's kinda like a hop? I'm pausing along the way?) and then it's on to...well, I won't give it away... ;)