The Things That Will Be

Chapter Eighteen

Later that next morning, James found himself in the bathroom with a bad fever. His face looked fine, a few sweat glands here and there but nothing too extreme. His face felt hot like the inside of an active volcano. He splashed cold water on his face and tried his best to cool his epidermis down. He looked in the mirror and shook his head in disbelief. He looked fine, but felt like shit.

He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bag of frozen vegetables and applied them onto his face and sat down. Eileen walked in and saw him in this state.

"Hey hon, you feeling alright?" She asked him. He looked up at her and smiled. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Got one hell of a fever though. I might call in...I just don't know." He said. He looked at the vegetable bag and chuckled. "These veggies are nearly defrosted thanks to this fever." Eileen sat down beside him and drank her cup of coffee. She looked at him and smiled.

"Have you made up your mind yet?" She asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going I.  If I end up puking or whatever, I'll come home. No biggie." James said. Eileen nodded.

"Yeah...no biggie." She repeated. James got up to prepare his stuff. He walked over to Eileen and kissed her on the head.

"You call me if you need anything." James said to her and he went out the door. Eileen sat there smiling. She loved James. She loved him a lot. And she thanked God for showing James to her. He was one of the reasons she was adamant in her faith. James was a godsend, and a damn good one at that.

James got in his car, turned on the radio, and drove to work as Exhibition by Falling Up played.

Today started off like shit, but it was turning, slowly, into a good one. A good shit.

~

James walked into the building and George Beckit approached him with a smile. James couldn't help but smile back.

"Hey Jim, what's crack-a-lackin?" George asked. James looked at him confused and chuckled.

"Crack-a-lackin? That's a new one." James said.

"My son has been listening to this guy named XXXTENTACION. I've been trying to get into him for my son's sake. Anyways, I've found this one song that I find very good. Take a listen." George said and he handed James some headphones.

He hesitated but put them on and heard a song that sounded dreary and gloomy. Kinda sad.

"Sounds sad." James said.

"Yeah, right. It's called Limbo. Like the level of Hell in Dante's Inferno." George said. "so how's the wife?"

"Uh, you know, she's good. She's doing terrific." James said.

"What about the baby?" George asked.

"Well, uh, they're kicking already so...that's a good sign." James said. George nodded.

"That's good to hear. Well, time to work." George said and he walked off. James went to his desk and started working.

He was in the middle of writing something when he got a call. He finished writing what he was and picked up the phone.

"Hello, this is James Maxwell with sales." He said. The other end was Megan's.

"James, it's Megan." She responded. She sounded excited.

"Hey...Megan. Why are you calling me?" James asked.

"Eileen's going into labor. She's having the baby." Megan said excitedly. James opened his mouth and made an excited noise. He almost hung up the phone but pulled it right back up to his ear and mouth.

"I'm on my way." James said. James hung up the phone and looked at the many other employees who were in the middle of working. He felt bad doing what he was about to do but did so anyways. He slurped down the rest of his coffee and started running for the door screaming the good news. George stood there laughing as he watched James run out of the building.

"Way to go, James. Fucking A." George said and went back to work. James ran to his car and drove off while Whisper by Evanescence played on the radio.

A big smile was on his face. He was unaware of what was to happen in that hospital. To sum it up, it was more than the two of them had bargained for.