Adriana woke to find Arsenio watching Bruce, who was still sleeping. Neither of them knew they were being watched. Adriana smiled as she watched Arsenio reach forward, wanting to touch Bruce's face but also, not wanting to wake him. He pulled his little hand back and touched Bruce's hair. Bruce's dark hair had become long enough to fall over the sides of the pillow. Arsenio found a silver strand and lifted it. He looked at it for a second and then let it fall back down. Arsenio sighed, wanting Bruce to wake up soon.
He rolled over to face Adriana. He didn't know she was awake until he turned around. When he saw her, he smiled immediately.
"Mommy," Arsenio whispered.
"Good morning, sweetie," she said to him, also whispering. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead and touched his cheek.
"Daddy is sleepy," Arsenio whispered.
"Yeah..." Adriana said. "I'm sure he'll be up soon. He just needed a good night of sleep at home in his own bed."
"Mommy, it's morning," Arsenio said.
Adriana laughed softly. "Night of sleep is just an expression, baby," she said.
"Oh..." Arsenio said. "Mommy, can I write today?"
"Oh sweetie," she said. "Not yet...I'm still waiting for Dr. Kapoor to give the okay."
"Okay..." Arsenio said. "I wanna show Daddy helicopter."
"I'm sure he'd love to see it," Adriana said.
Arsenio rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Still sleepy little one?" Adriana asked.
"Yeah..." Arsenio said and yawned again.
"Want to get a little more sleep, tiny?" she asked.
Arsenio turned his head and looked at Bruce.
"How about this?" Adriana asked and Arsenio looked back at her. "You go back to sleep and I'll wake you up as soon as your Daddy is up. You won't miss anything, I promise."
Arsenio considered in for a moment and then closed his eyes. Adriana kissed his cheek and he fell asleep. After he was sleeping, Adriana looked at her watch, which also served as a device to let her know when the city needed her help. She looked at the notices, all of them looking like they could be handled by the police. It was 6:55 a.m. and she was very tired. She didn't often feel tired, but she had been lately.
And there it was again. Nausea. She left the bed as gently as she could and went into the bathroom. She walked through the large room over to the toilet and leaned over. It felt like she could nearly taste the refuse in her mouth, but it didn't come up. She took a few deep breaths and shut the lid on the toilet and sat down.
After sitting she felt the mildest of stomach aches in her lower abdomen. An ache? Maybe she was just sick? Perhaps she had eaten something bad days ago that was still clearing out. The ache in her abdomen left quickly along with the nausea.
She looked at the bathroom clock. After sitting for a few minutes she stood up and again felt overwhelming nausea. Again, she opened the toilet seat, this time almost praying something would come up. It would a relief. Her insides felt icky. Again, nothing.
She slammed the toilet seat and left to go over the sink. When she entered the other part of the bathroom, she saw Bruce coming in.
"Excuse me," he apologized. "I didn't realize you were in here."
She watched as he turned to leave.
"Hey, wait," she said. "It's okay, I'm done if you have to go."
"Thank you," he said and turned back.
