Two Halfs, One Heart

Chapter 12- Side Effects

~💚~

We were following Ben as he was following a criminal as Upgrade. "There he is!" I said with a smile. "You sure?" Max asked me. "Totally," Gwen said, agreeing with me. Then we saw a black and green motorcycle and I knew it was Ben. "Look, I'm telling you, that motorcycle, it was driving itself," The criminal tried to tell the cops. "Where's Ben? Max asked us. "Long chase, hot day.... I'm thinking..." I said as I gestured to the nearby ice cream truck.

~💚~

We opened the truck and he was shaking like a leaf, holding an ice cream for dear life. "You OK?" Max asked his grandson. Ben only sneezed in response. "I'll take that as a no," We went back to the Rust Bucket to take care of Ben. He was laying down and had a thermometer in his mouth. It started beeping, indicating Ben's temperature. Max took it and read it.

~💚~

"Well, 101. Sorry, Ben, it's official. You have a summer cold," Max said. "Maybe from now on you'll think twice.... before having snack time inside an ice cream truck," Gwen said. I looked at her, "Like we wouldn't have done the same thing," I said as I bent down to feel Ben's forehead. Ben was about to sneeze but it went away. Then he took Gwen's new blouse and wiped his nose.

~💚~

"Hey! That's my new blouse!" Gwen said, disgusted. Ben sneezed and said, "Maybe from now on you'll think twice... about leaving your new clothes just lying around," Ben said, throwing Gwen's words back at her. "That's disgusting Ben. Here, use a tissue," I said as I handed him a tissue. "Cold tablets, decongestant... cough suppressant, hospital mask," Gwen said, listing all of her supplies. "I don't need all that junk," Ben said, dismissively.

~💚~

"They're not for you, dweeb. They're for Paige and I. Once a bug like that gets out, there's no stopping it," Gwen said as she handed me a mask and I put it in my pocket. "Why don't you just lock me away in some closet somewhere until I'm better?" Ben asked. "Can we grandpa? Pretty please?" Gwen asked. I jabbed her in the side with my elbow, not wanting to hear about locking Ben anywhere.

~💚~

"All Ben needs is a dose... of my famous San Ju Yen Pien cold remedy. Let's go. Chinatown's just down the block," Max said. We came out of the drugstore with everything Max needed to make the cold remedy. "You know, it's hard to find fresh potaikadon root anymore. It's all freeze-dried nowadays," Max explained. Ben started coughing, "Can I get a milkshake or something? My throat is killing me," Ben said as he held his throat.

~💚~

"My poor baby," I thought as I watched Ben be miserable because he was sick. "Don't worry. The stinkweed honey in the San Ju Yen Pien... coats your entire esophageal area," Max said. Ben opened the container and smelled it. He whipped back at the smell so it must smell pretty terrible. "And that's a good thing?" Ben questioned his grandfather. "So, where exactly did you learn how to make this stuff, grandpa?" Gwen asked.

~💚~

"I picked it up from a monk in Guangdong, China," Max said. Gwen and I gave him a questioning look. "Yhey have plumbing in China, too, you know," "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank all of you... for your support of my downtown redevelopment program. It's truly a truly a dream come true," A woman standing on a stage said. The crowd seemed very uninterested in what she was saying.