5 Reasons To Love Again

Chapter 100

The seat next to me dipped down, I felt strong arms wrap around me and a kiss on my forehead. My eyes fluttered open and it was Chase looking at me with concern. "You feeling alright sweetheart?" I smiled and slid my arms around him, "I'm fine. I just needed a nap today. I think that I'm just a little run down. Let me wake up a little more here and I'll finish cooking dinner."

"There's no need. Brady came home early and saw you sleeping so he had Preston pick up dinner and bring it home. I saw the stew in the crock pot so I put it in the fridge. That's ok with you isn't it?"

I nodded and smiled, "What is Preston bringing home?" Chase nuzzled my hair and said, "Oh, just some Taco Bell. Lexine looked at pictures on the menu and pointed out your favorites and hers. Preston should be here any minute. Let's have you go to bed early tonight and just sleep. I think that you need it. In fact, the doctor is ordering it!"

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Yes, doctor." as I stood up. He smacked my backside and called me a smartass. Preston walked through to the dining room carrying an armload of bags and Brady followed him with more bags. "Did you order the entire store?" I asked Preston as I sat in the chair that he pulled out for me. He smirked at me, "No, it's probably closer to two of everything." Lexine came and sat next to me to show me her latest accomplishment at school. She had written down her numbers all the way to one hundred. I enthused over it and praised her as did everyone else. Preston set down a Mexican pizza in front of me with handful of sauce packets which I immediately started to open. We all ate dinner and about halfway through my meal, my appetite vanished and I started to feel worn out. I was worried that I was getting sick. I felt a slight tingle at the back of my throat but didn't dare tell anyone. My guys would be all over me, doing their best to coddle me and I didn't want to expose them to germs if I didn't have to.

I saw Chase eyeballing me. He told me to go to bed right then and that someone else would put Lexine to bed. Giving them all a wave goodnight, I headed upstairs with Chase walking beside me. He stayed with me as I brushed my teeth and changed into a some warm cozy flannel pajamas. Tucking me into bed, he handed me my tv remote and settled down on top of the covers to stay with me for a while. "I'll make sure that somebody stays here with you tonight." he told me.

I shook my head, "No, I don't want to share any germs with anyone if I'm sick." Chase laughed and said, "Sweetie, I'm the doctor here and I'm in charge. Don't worry about it. I'll feel better if someone is here with you to make sure that you are ok." I stuck my tongue out at him and then smiled.  I turned the tv on and flipped through the guide until I found reruns of a comedy show. It didn't take long for me to get sleepy and drift off.

I woke up to my alarm going off. Instead of feeling great like I usually did waking up, I felt under the weather. Jake kissed me on the shoulder and said, "Good morning." I grumbled something back and he chuckled and got out of bed to go to the bathroom. I tried to sit up but flopped back down when I got dizzy. My stomach felt unsettled as well. Oh, great... I thought to myself. It was a fine time to come down with the flu! There was no way that I was going to be able to hide this from the guys. I'd been feeling rundown for a few days and put it down to working on my designs so much along with my nightly workouts in bed.

Hopefully a morning spent in bed would cure me enough to get out of it. I just lay there listening to the shower running in my bathroom and dozed off again. I woke up when I felt Jake's hand on my forehead checking for a fever. "You feel a little warm sweetie." he said to me.

"I don't feel good." I mumbled to him. "I think that I have the flu." He nodded and said, "You stay in bed while I give Chase a call."

I had no intentions of moving since it made me miserable. Laying there, I heard Jake telling Chase that I was under the weather and probably have a fever. Jake asked me what my symptoms were, so I told him that I felt a little queasy, exhausted and dizzy when I tried to sit up. Jake pulled a digital thermometer out of the bathroom medicine cabinet and scanned my forehead. "Her temp is 100.02 degrees." Chase told him to keep me in bed and drink plenty of liquids when I felt able to. Jake promised to do that and keep him updated. He opened my little nightstand fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He opened the cap and set it down on top. "What else can I do for you sweetie?" he said gently to me.