Rescue Nova

Sick

"Mama?"

Kimberly's eyes opened when she heard that. That's when she saw it was Nova who'd woken her. Noticing it was still dark out, Kimberly glanced at the time. It was a little after two.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"I feel sick."

Kimberly worked her arm out from under the covers and reached up to feel her little one's forehead. The child was definitely feverish.

"Does anything hurt?"

"My throat."

Kimberly got out of bed, picked up Nova, and carried her to the master bathroom. She sat her on the sink's counter and retrieved the thermometer from the medicine cabinet.

"Let me put this under your tongue."

After a few moments, the thermometer beeped. Kimberly took it out of Nova's mouth and read the temperature: 101.4.

"Yep, you're definitely sick. Looks like you're staying in bed today."

"What's going on?" Leila, who was now in the bathroom's doorway, asked.

Kimberly jumped, startled. "Where did you come from?"

"Bed. Is she sick?"

"Very."

"I'll take her. You have to get up for work soon. Today's your first day working late. You need all the sleep you can get."

Kimberly was tempted to argue and let Leila go back to sleep, but she thought better of it. She'd be working until six today, so she figured she probably shouldn't be up at two in the morning.

"Thanks, honey," Kimberly told Leila before looking back to Nova. "Mommy is going to take care of you and help you get back to sleep. Okay?"

"Okay."

•••••••••••••••

Leila got into Nova's bed with her, planning on lying with her until she fell asleep, but Leila ended up falling asleep, too. By the time she woke up, it was eight. Nova was fast asleep, so Leila slowly got out of the bed, careful not to wake her. Before leaving the room, Leila felt her daughter's forehead. The fever was still there but didn't feel any higher.

Leila went to the kitchen to get the breakfast she knew Kimberly left in the microwave. Kimberly had left Leila a note telling her to check their daughter's temperature every couple of hours and to administer the children's Tylenol if it reached one hundred and two degrees.

•••••••••••••••

Sound asleep in her bed later that morning, Nova's mind had taken her to a dark place - back to the days of being with Brian. This particular dream was about the first time she was sick with him.

Nova lie alone and ill in the bed of a hotel room. She had an upset stomach and kept having to get up to go to the bathroom to be sick. Since being taken by Brian a few months ago, she'd known nothing but loneliness and pain, but this day was one of the hardest so far.

Nova's mother was never much use to her when she was sick, but she was somewhat attentive. Brian couldn't have cared less that Nova was unwell, and his apathy left Nova missing her detached mother's care.

At six that evening, Brian, who'd been in the connected room next door, came into Nova's room.

"Get dressed," he ordered, tossing the outfit he wanted her to wear onto the bed. "Customers start coming in ten minutes."