"They're not coming," Olivia said as she put her phone back in her pocket. "Sarah said Jay had an awful day yesterday. They're just going to take it easy today."
"Spending a quiet Sunday with Sarah will be just what she needs," Alex said, understandingly. "Shall I text Casey? Lily loves it when she comes to the park with us. Or do you think she'd rather not?"
"Text her. She doesn't have to come. She knows we don't expect her to come if she doesn't want to. But she seems to love spending time with the girls."
"And Wiggle," Alex smiled.
"And Wiggle," Olivia agreed.
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Jay emerged from the bedroom after 10am, and saw Sarah sitting in the armchair, reading the paper.
Sarah jumped up to greet her. She took her hand, and kissed her softly. "Hey," she whispered.
"Hey, yourself," Jay tried to sound as cheerful as she could. She saw Sarah's anxious face. "God, you're beautiful."
"Back atcha, Kazinsky," Sarah smiled. "You wanna do anything today? I thought maybe we could just relax here."
"Aren't we supposed to be meeting everyone to go to the park?"
"I called it off. Is that okay? We can go if you want. You still look tired," Sarah peered anxiously into Jay's tense face.
Jay tried not to show her relief too much. "We can just stay here," she said.
"Maybe watch a DVD?"
"Yeah," Jay sank gratefully onto the couch.
"Maybe even sleep a little," Sarah's tone was loving.
Jay nodded.
Sarah kissed her very softly. "Stay right there, I'll bring you some tea. And," she winked, "we've got croissants."
Jay smiled. "I love croissants," she said.
"I know."
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"Fuck," Caryn said, succinctly.
"Well that's eloquent," Abbie teased.
"I mean it. Fuck."
"Fuck what?" Abbie asked, smiling. She was relieved to be able to swear all she liked, as Daniel was still asleep.
"I wasn't just peeing," Caryn sounded agitated.
"CW, you're gonna have to start using full sentences, if you expect me to have any idea at all what you're talking about."
"I wasn't just peeing," Caryn said again, more slowly.
"I got that," Abbie tried to be patient.
"I was peeing on this," Caryn lifted the pregnancy testing stick.
Abbie's eyes opened almost-comically wide. "You said you weren't, last week!"
"That's what it said. Last week. But remember what the pharmacist said? These kits sometimes give false negatives. But they never give false positives," she handed the stick to Abbie.
Abbie looked down. She looked into Caryn's eyes. She looked down again. "Oh. Oh my God. Fuck," she said.
"Exactly," Caryn lowered herself to a chair. She looked up at Abbie, suddenly nervous.
Abbie was staring at the stick again. Slowly, a smile spread across the whole of her face. Her eyes lit up with pleasure. She sat on the arm of the chair that Caryn sat in. She reached out, and cupped Caryn's face with one hand. "You did it," she said, awestruck.
Caryn nodded, not speaking.
Abbie leant forward, and kissed her thoroughly. She pulled back after a few minutes. "You did it," she said, a hint of smugness in her voice. "I did it. I knocked my girlfriend up."
"Well," Caryn started to smile. "Technically..."
"I knocked you up," Abbie said firmly.
"Okay then," Caryn agreed. "You knocked me up."
"I knocked you up," Abbie repeated, again.
"I'm not arguing," Caryn started to laugh.
"I don't know why you're laughing. You're the one that's gonna feel like an alien's growing in you."
"I can't wait," Caryn said, softly.
"You won't have to. Wow. My baby's pregnant. And," Abbie's eyes lit up with mischief, as her hand started to wander. "These," she slid her hand into Caryn's shirt, "are gonna get even bigger. I'm going to enjoy this."
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Sarah nudged Jay. They had spent the day on the couch together, watching DVDs, talking and napping. "C'mon," Sarah whispered. "I think maybe you should be in bed."
"S'too early," Jay mumbled. "Wanna stay with you," her head was pounding, and she just wanted to stay wrapped in Sarah's arms.
"It's not that early," Sarah lied, as she looked at the clock. Nearly 7pm. "I'll come with you. You had a shock, sweetheart. You need your sleep."
Jay stumbled a little when she got to her feet. Obediently, she allowed Sarah to tuck her into bed, burying herself in her front when she got in too.
Sarah hated that Jay's job was taking such a toll on her. "Maybe you should hand in your notice," she suggested gently. "I'm making enough. We'd get by. Then you could finish the plumbing course earlier. Maybe pick up some shifts at the coffee shop in your spare time. What do you think?" she ran her hand through Jay's soft hair.
Jay mumbled, and held her closer.
"We'll talk tomorrow evening," Sarah suggested.
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Sarah slid out of bed at 7am the next day. She hated Monday mornings. But she loved her job, so she climbed into the shower to get ready for the day.
By 7.45am, she was ready to leave. Jay was still asleep, for which she was grateful. She had had another disturbed night. Sarah decided she was going to be forceful about getting Jay to resign. She couldn't bear to see her suffering like this again. She looked down at her, concerned to see her looking so pale. She pressed the back of her hand lightly against her forehead, and thought she could detect a light fever.
Jay swatted her hand away. She opened one eye. "s'time?" she asked, rolling on to her back with a groan.
"Time for me to leave," Sarah smiled. "Go back to sleep."
"Don't want you to go," Jay said, sitting up.
"You go back to sleep," Sarah felt her forehead again. "Are you feeling okay, honey? I think you're a little warm."
"M'okay. Headache. It'll be gone soon."
Sarah nodded, and disappeared into the bathroom. She was back moments later, two Tylenol and a glass of water in her hand.
"Take these," she instructed, getting the stink-eye from Jay, who hated being sick.
"I'm okay," Jay protested.
"I know," Sarah said mildly, holding out the tablets.
Jay swallowed the tablets obediently. Sarah went back into the bathroom, returning with Jay's ulcer medication and a thermometer. "Don't argue," she said, quietly.
Jay nodded, not even questioning when Sarah doled out double her usual dose. She was feeling a little nauseous. Sarah slid the thermometer into her ear. "100.6. That's it, I'm staying home."
"You are not," Jay glared at her. "I'll be fine. And," she smiled slightly, "you're gonna need your job. I heard you last night," she reached for Sarah's hand, and squeezed it gently. "I'll give notice when I next go in. Wednesday," she answered, before Sarah even asked the question.
Sarah was overwhelmed with relief. She kissed her very softly on the lips.
"So go," Jay said, tiredly, as she lay back down again.
Sarah caressed her cheek. "Call me. If you need anything. You swear?"
Jay nodded, as she buried her face in the pillow.
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"I'm sorry, Charlie," Casey was saying. "I can't. Because I have a job. I can't just drop everything. You know that. I'll be home this evening. We'll talk about it then."
Alex looked up. She was enjoying sharing her office with Casey, despite the lack of room. It made more sense for them to be in the same room. But it did mean that privacy was a casualty. "Everything okay?" she asked.
Casey nodded. "He says he's got movie tickets for this afternoon, but he knows I can't go to the movies at 4.30pm. So now he's pissed. Screw him."
Alex looked at her, detecting lines of tension. "You know, if you wanna go, I can always..."
Casey held up her hand to stop her. "No. You're sweet, but this is my job. And I love it. And I can't pander to his whims."
Alex nodded. "Okay," she said, quietly.
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Jay awoke with a start. Her head pounded viciously. Inexplicably, her neck hurt too. She didn't remember pulling any neck muscles. She sat up, her stomach roiling as it protested the movement. Painkillers. She needed painkillers. Cautiously, she got to her feet, swaying as she did so. She wanted to throw up, but she just knew that her head would split. So she breathed in and out carefully.
Jay searched through the medicine cabinet, relieved when she found what she wanted. Oxycontin. Thank God. She had been prescribed the strong painkiller when she had cracked a rib over a year ago, and she was relieved that she had kept hold of the remaining tablets. She swallowed a tablet dry, clutching the bottle to her as she struggled back to bed.
She lay back down, feeling worse than she ever had. She was so cold. She dragged the quilt over her, but it didn't help as much as she had hoped. She tried to steady her breathing. Sleep. She needed to sleep. If only she could stop shivering.
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An hour later, Jay sprang out of bed and bolted toward the bathroom. Her legs gave way under her and she collapsed on the hardwood floor of the bedroom, as her stomach erupted. She vomited painfully, again and again, her back arching with each expulsion. Her whole body screamed in agony.
After almost 20 minutes, the retching stopped. Jay looked up dizzily, and could see her phone on the nightstand. It seemed so far away. She dragged herself across the floor, her pajama top soiled with vomit. Finally, the phone was within reach.
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Sarah looked at her watch. 11am. Was it too early to call Jay? She had promised she would call her at lunchtime but, she reasoned, if Jay wanted her to bring her anything in her lunch hour, she would need to know what she wanted. She was just reaching out to pick up her cellphone, when it started to ring. Jay's photo appeared on the screen. Sarah smiled, and picked it up. "Hey, hot stuff," she said lovingly.
"Sa..?" Jay's voice was weak. "Don' feel good. Got sick."
Sarah's blood ran cold.
"Jay? Sweetheart?"
Jay moaned. Her stomach clenched again. She dropped the phone, as she turned to one side, dry heaving convulsively. The pain in her head was all-consuming.
Sarah had never been so frightened in her life. She snatched up her purse, ignoring her coat. "Gotta go," she called to her boss. "Something's wrong with Jay."
"Go," Eleanor said. "Call me if I can help."
Sarah was already out of the door. She ran down the street, relieved to flag a cab down immediately. There was no time to get the car out of the underground parking lot.
She tried to call Jay from the back of the cab, but there was no answer. She prayed that she was overreacting as she dialed 911. "It's my wife. She's sick. I don't know. She called me, but she's not picking up. Something's wrong. We need an ambulance," she gave the address.
Eight minutes later, Sarah burst into the apartment, leaving the door open.
She found Jay lying in the middle of the bedroom floor, whimpering pitifully. Sarah put a hand on her back, feeling the violent tremors wracking her body. She sprinted to the bathroom, grabbing towels to cover the piles of vomit that were surely making Jay even more nauseous. "Jay," she whispered, gathering her in her arms. "Jay, baby," she caressed her face, seeing the sweat pouring down her. "It's okay, sweetheart," she pulled the quilt off the bed and dragged it over her. "We're gonna make you all better. They're on their way. They'll fix you right up."
Jay was barely aware of what was happening. Her whole being was overtaken with pain and nausea. She thought she could feel Sarah's soft hands, but she couldn't swear to it. Her stomach contracted, and she tried to pull away as she heaved again and again.
Sarah held a towel under Jay's chin to catch the bile. Eventually the heaving stopped. Jay opened her eyes and tried to focus. "I...," she gasped, losing her grip on reality as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped in Sarah's arms.
"Jay!" Sarah called. In the back of her mind, she heard voices. "Jay, baby. Wake up. Stay with me, sweetheart."
Sarah felt a kindly hand on her arm. "Let us see her," an EMT was saying, as she pulled Sarah to her feet. She sat Sarah on the edge of the bed, as her older colleague knelt by Jay's head.
"We've got a pulse," he said. "How long has she been like this?"
Sarah shook her head miserably. "She was a little feverish this morning, but she said she was fine. She just called me... I came right away. She's … oh God," she felt the female EMT's hand on her shoulder.
"We're just gonna get her on the gurney," she said. "You wanna help me take off her shirt?"
Sarah nodded. Jay's pajama shirt was drenched. With shaking hands, she started to unbutton the garment. As she peeled the sodden fabric to one side, she gasped. Jay's left breast and side were covered in an angry, red, rash. The female EMT tried not to react. "You gotta glass, honey?" she said to Sarah.
Sarah grabbed the glass from the nightstand. The EMT tossed the remaining water onto the floor as she pressed it to Jay's flesh. After a second, she removed it. She looked up at her colleague, and nodded.
"Okay," she tried to sound calm. "You can help me," she said to Sarah. "We'll just get this off of her, and you can dry her off. There. Now we'll lift her onto here," she was trying to talk as much as possible so that Sarah wouldn't hear what the other EMT was saying.
"Female, late 20s, maybe early 30s. We're bringing her right in. It looks like meningitis. Erratic pulse and respiration. Fever 104.8. We're seven minutes out."