Hand in Hand

Chapter 26

Don and Meryl felt like they hadn't slept much throughout the night due to the unwelcome visit from his mother and the babies waking up early. They couldn't help but notice that the babies seemed a little unsettled; and though Meryl didn't want to upset her husband, knowing he was upset enough, she knew it was the tension from his mother. So Meryl did everything she could that morning to make things light and happy. Don on the other hand was trying to move on from what his mother had done to his wife; but it was extremely hard for him. While he was still furious with his mother; his main concern was making sure his wife and children were safe and happy. He for one just wanted to get the hell out of Indiana; but he knew how important it was to his wife for them to stay, so he decided to make the best out of an incredibly stressful situation.

***

Don and Meryl were about to leave to go pick up his father for his chemo treatment when what Meryl had fought all morning caught up with her. She didn't want Don to worry so as he walked out of the bedroom to pack their babies, who were sleeping in the sitting room in their bassinets, Meryl ran to the bathroom and got sick. "Darl, do we need to take milk for..." Don turned around and realized that his wife was no longer walking behind him like he was a minute ago. His head snapped back to the bathroom when he thought he heard her getting sick. She had seemed okay all morning. Don was terrified that all the stress and activity had made her concussion worse. He quickly checked on the babies and kissed their heads. "Just keep sleeping and we'll be back." Don quickly ran into the bathroom and sat behind his wife, holding her hair and rubbing her back as her body was shaking and she was dry heaving. "Take it easy, baby. Try to breathe."

"Well, there went breakfast." Meryl tried to tease as she flushed the toilet and laid her head against it. "I'm okay, don't look so worried."

Don got up to wet a washcloth and then gave it to her. "Bullshit. As soon as you feel steady enough we are getting you to the hospital."

"What?" Meryl shook her head. "No, we need to get your dad to chemo. It's not the flu or anything."

Don knew it wasn't the flu; and he wasn't worried about her giving his father or the other chemo patients a bug. He was worried about her concussion. "I know that; it's your concussion. You have only been out of the hospital a couple of days and haven't been resting like you should; and yesterday was just one big mess of stress."

"And it was filled with wonderful moments." Meryl said, talking about the good points of the day before, as Don helped her up and she sat on the lid of the toiler. "It's just my allergies."

Don shook his head as he knelt down in front of her. "I have been married to you for over half our lives and I have NEVER known you to throw up from your allergies. We are getting you checked out. I'll see if Mike will take Dad."

"No; we're taking him. Don, you're right it's not allergies, but it's not my concussion either. I know what it is. I've been fighting it all morning." Meryl took a deep breath knowing she needed to come clean with him. "It's my nerves. My stomach has been doing flip flops all morning but I didn't want to upset you. It was everything I could do to eat breakfast."

Don's heart twisted when he thought that the stress from his mother was making her physically sick. He gave her a kiss to her forehead before helping her to brush her teeth. As she brushed her teeth he leaned up against the counter beside her. "Okay, I know how important it is to you for me to spend time with Dad; but I don't want you anywhere near my mother or that fucking house. So, I will drop you and the babies off with Maggie and I'll take Dad to chemo."

"Don, no." Meryl said with a mouthful of toothpaste before spitting it out. "I'll be fine. I want to be with you. I want us to spend that time with your father. That is why I planned this. I can deal with her; it's not like we'll be around her long."