When the medicine wore off, Lux woke up suddenly. She was so sore. She felt as though she'd done hundreds of sit-ups. Her back ached.
She rubbed her eyes sleepily and tried to sit up, groaning from the pain. She smiled when she saw Cate sound asleep in a very uncomfortable looking position on the chair beside Lux's hospital bed.
Then, she noticed a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the bedside table and a large stuffed lion next to her bed.
"Hey, Kiddo," Baze said. He ruffled her hair affectionately.
Cate had called him in tears as soon as Lux had fallen asleep. She'd told him Lux had the flu and could've died because of her heart problem. He swore his heart had stopped for a moment.
Then, she'd relayed how scared Lux had been of the hospital. She was there for three years and she was the only kid who had no visitors, Cate's words had broken his heart.
"What are you doing here?" Lux asked sleepily.
"What do you mean what am I doing here?" Baze made a face. "Where else would I be when my kid's in the hospital?"
Lux smiled. "Did you do all this?" She gestured at the bouquet and the stuffed lion.
Baze nodded proudly. "Remember the YouTube video? The lion?"
Lux smiled and nodded, touched at the gesture. "How could I forget?"
Cate awoke with a start. Her neck was sore from sleeping in such an awkward position. She rubbed it, watching Lux and Baze.
Lux looked better, she noted. The color had returned to her face. She no longer looked white as a sheet.
She was smiling at Baze. She looked more relaxed, less afraid. Cate smiled and shifted so she was sitting next to Lux on the hospital bed. "Hey." She squeezed Lux's shoulder gently.
"Did we wake you?" Lux asked apologetically.
The doctor interrupted, knocking lightly on the door before entering. He moved around, taking Lux's temperature and checking her for signs of dehydration. Cate noticed Lux wasn't as shaky this morning.
"Well, Lux, you're looking good. I'm going to fill out your paperwork and then you can go home," the doctor reported.
"Wait, are you sure?" Cate demanded nervously. "I mean, you said her immune system, it isn't-"
"Cate!" Lux protested, rolling her eyes.
The doctor smiled good-naturedly. "She's out of the woods now. You might want to keep her home from school for the rest of the week. Make sure she gets plenty of rest and drinks lots of fluids. The medicine took the edge off her fever. If she spikes a temperature again, I recommend Tylenol every four hours."
"Cate," Lux said suddenly in the car on the way home. "Did you-you didn't tell Baze I thought I was pregnant, did you?" Lux remembered Baze's reaction to finding Bug's condom the night of Winter Formal and winced.
"No," Cate said softly. "That's one of those mother-daughter things. He doesn't need to know." She smiled a little at the thought. She was used to Lux having secrets with Baze. It was kind of nice to be the one who was there for Lux for a change.
"Thanks," Lux replied gratefully, breathing a sigh of relief.
Baze arrived at Cate's a few minutes after Cate and Lux. He carried the stuffed lion and flowers up to Lux's room and found Cate and Lux arguing.
"I'm not even tired," Lux protested, as Cate pushed her toward the bed.
"Sleep anyway," Cate said firmly.
"I just woke up an hour ago," Lux whined.
Baze smirked. Cate tucked her in and sat down next to her on the bed. "The doctor said you needed rest," she said.
Lux settled into her bed. Cate didn't move. "What, are you going to watch me sleep?" Lux demanded.
Cate nodded and situated herself upright against the headboard. Baze pulled Lux's desk chair beside the bed and sat down. After a few minutes, Lux and Cate were sound asleep, snuggled up together in Lux's bed. Baze smiled, watching the two loves of his life sleep peacefully.