Love & Lies

Chapter Eleven

Jessie was convinced by the end of day, her body would just explode from a mix of emotions after the ringer she was through the past few days.  She went from feeling so nervous to feeling simultaneously annoyed and relieved after she finally got to talk to Jenny; she was hoping Jenny would be more specific as to what happened, but didn't pressure her when Jenny rushed her off the phone quickly confirming their plans.  Jenny had assured her she was fine and was now officially banned to have caffeine by the doctor that examined her in the emergency room.  Deep down, though, Jessie felt something was off and was hoping Jenny would come clean later tonight as Brendan admitted he was just as lost as she was when she asked him.

"I can't believe our little corner deli got you so sick yesterday," Jordan said as he shifted his position in the booth across from Jessie.  The tiny diner was somewhat empty as the early bird dinner crowd would arrive in an hour.  "I just had a sandwich from them on the go a few days ago."

Jessie shrugged as she played with a piece of tomato in her salad.  "That's the last time I'm too lazy to make lunch!  I'm sorry for ruining Friday.  I really was looking forward to seeing a film," she admitted a little disheartened; she knew she should have just taken Jackson straight upstairs from his walk and made a quick sandwich, but decided to treat herself to something different.

"Jess, I didn't bring it up again to make you feel bad.  I was legitimately worried," Jordan said as he extended his arm to give Jessie a reassuring tap on her free hand.  "You looked so sick I honestly was thinking of taking you to the hospital.  Food poisoning can get serious."

She tried her best to block out what happened yesterday, but throwing up bad enough to nearly pass out on the cold tile floor in front of the toilet was a hard memory to erase.  She could not even remember the last time she was that ill and had secretly shared the same thought as Jordan.  "Thank you again for staying with me and running down the block just to get me a Gatorade," she told him.  

Jessie smiled in her mind out of gratitude and for the fact that yesterday really made her fall deeper for Jordan.  He never left her side by the bathroom, which he later cleaned without being asked, and even carried her to bed as she proved too weak to even stand.  While she slowly sipped her Gatorade, he took a cold, damp towel to blot the sweat on her face and even fed her soup he prepared from her cupboards when she felt well enough to ingest some liquid nutrition hours later.  

"No need to thank me.  When you called to cancel, you sounded so sick I could not just leave you by yourself," he said.  "The movies can wait.  A late lunch with you today is perfect."

He winked at her before finishing his last bite of his tuna melt so he could move on to his fries.  "What time did you end up leaving?" Jessie asked before attempting one last forkful of lettuce.

"Not long after you fell asleep around eleven," he responded with a fry in hand.  

Realizing she was beginning to feel nausous forcing any more food down her throat, Jessie pushed her plate away.  "I don't even remember falling asleep so I'm sorry being such bad company," she apologized.  

Jordan laughed at her as if she had three heads.  "Are you kidding?  You were deathly sick so don't apologize!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing.  "We were just watching a movie."

Jessie couldn't believe how out of it she was to not even have any recollection of this.  She remembered Jordan sitting at the edge of her bed with Jackson just talking to her while she was sitting up propped against her pillow.  He did say something funny that she could not for the life of her remember and then the last thing she recalled was him asking her what channel she wanted to watch.  The next thing she knew it she was waking up the next morning around ten all tucked in her bed.