When Stef got to Mike's she ran in to the family room where Brandon was laying on the couch. She noticed her son was sweating and she reached down and felt his forehead. "Mike, he's burning up, how long has he been like this?"
"I don't know, a couple hours. He woke me up about 4am and he has thrown up 3 times".
"Has he had anything to eat or drink?"
"No, I figured he'd just throw it up and for the last hour he's been complaining that his stomach hurts".
Stef tried to wake Brandon so she could take him home and she noticed he was very lethargic. He could barely open his eyes. "Mike something is seriously wrong with him, we need to get him to a doctor". Mike could see the fear in Stef's eyes, so he picked up Brandon and took him to his car. Stef jumped in and they rushed Brandon to the hospital.
An hour after Stef left, Lena tried calling her to see how Brandon was feeling. Stef didn't answer so she left a message. She was wondering if Stef would feel guilty spending the night with her when her son was sick. She put the thought out of her mind and started some work she needed to do. School would be starting again in a week and she had a lot to do.
The doctor told Stef and Mike that Brandon was fine. He had a virus and was dehydrated. When they stuck the IV needle in Brandon's small arm, Stef couldn't help but cry. If she had only been with him when he first got sick, she would have known how to take care of him and he wouldn't be going through this right now. How could she have been with Lena when her son was sick? She was wrestling with her emotions as she sat in the chair next to her son's bed. She checked her phone and noticed two missed calls from Lena. She couldn't talk to her right now. She had a hard enough time calling her parents to tell them Brandon was in the hospital.
About 4pm, the doctor came back and checked on Brandon. He seemed to be back to his self again and had actually eaten something two hours before. She was thrilled when she was told she could take him home. She was glad she didn't have to work the next day, she wanted to spend the whole day with Brandon. Mike dropped them off and said that he'd stop by the next night after work. After she got Brandon settled in his room, Stef curled up on the couch with some tea. She had been so scared this morning when she had first seen Brandon. She couldn't imagine what she would have done if it had been more serious. Brandon was her life and she already felt bad enough that she had torn apart their family. If anything ever happened to him, she didn't know how she could go on.
Lena was surprised when she looked at the clock and it was after 4p. She had been focused on all her paperwork that she didn't notice how much time had gone by. Her heart sank when she looked at her phone and there were no messages or missed calls from Stef. She panicked, thinking the worst she picked up the phone and dialed Stef again. God, she hoped that Brandon was ok. She silently begged Stef to pick up the phone, and was disappointed when she didn't. She left a heartfelt message asking Stef to please let her know how Brandon was doing and that she was worried about him, and her. When she didn't hear from Stef by 10pm, she was seriously worried. Either Brandon was really sick, or Stef didn't want to see her again. She thought that their evening and breakfast together had gone well, but who was she kidding, Stef WAS still married and had a son. She probably realized that she missed her family and wanted it back.
The next morning, Stef was so excited when Brandon came running into her room with a big smile on his face. As he crawled into bed with her, she asked, "How are you doing B?"
He responded, "I'm starving".
That was music to her ears, "Let's go eat". She made them both oatmeal and Brandon ate more that she did. She asked him what she wanted to do that day and he asked if he was going to pre-school. She answered, "No, we are going to have a Mother-Son day".
Brandon screamed, "Yeah, can we watch cartoons".
"Of course we can" she responded. They spent the day watching cartoons and playing Legos.
At 5p, Mike stopped by to check on Brandon. She invited him to stay for dinner and they had Brandon's favorite, lasagna. As she sat across from Mike, she felt a little bad. She had been thinking a lot about him today. She knew that he was hurt when she left, but she hadn't been happy in a long time and until recently didn't know why. Sometimes she really missed their family, but she knew that she couldn't stay with Mike. He hadn't made her happy in a long time and she felt bad for him. He had tried, but there was nothing there. After dinner, Brandon went into watch a movie and Stef walked Mike out. He walked outside and then turned and apologized to Stef. "I'm sorry I didn't take better care of Brandon. I just didn't realize he was so sick. He means the world to me Stef and I would do anything for him".
Stef saw the sadness in Mike's eyes and said, "I know Mike". I was scared yesterday too". She leaned in and gave him a hug. He kissed her on the cheek and said bye. He slowly walked to his car and Stef walked back in the house.
Lena couldn't believe it. She knew she shouldn't have come here. She was just so worried about Brandon and Stef and had to check on them. She had been sitting in her car outside Stef's apartment for 10 minutes before she worked up the courage to open her door. That's when she noticed Stef open her front door and walk outside with a man she only assumed was Mike. Her heart sank when she saw Stef hug this man and he kiss her. She sank down in her car as he drove away. It was all she could do to drive home. She wasn't even sure how she did it through her tears. She ran into her house and collapsed on her bed. Jenna had been right she was crazy to get involved with a married woman.
After Stef put her son to bed, she went to check her phone for messages. She was surprised that Lena hadn't called. She had thought of her often over the last two days but she needed to focus on Brandon. When she got her phone out of her purse she realized it was dead. She wasn't even sure when the last time she had checked it. She plugged it in and started to clean up the dinner dishes. After her phone charged a little she noticed she had several missed calls and messages from Lena. She suddenly felt guilty that she hadn't talked to her. Wow, she must be really worried. She listened to Lena's messages and her heart broke hearing the worry in Lena's last message. She immediately dialed Lena's number and was disappointed when it was straight to voice mail. She left a message apologizing that she hadn't been in touch and that Brandon was doing fine. She asked Lena to call her back.