Authors: Marla Monroe
“What is it?” Brad demanded.
“He said to give her one of the anaphylactic shock injections we have in our first aid kits. He said since she made it through the first part, her body is fighting it and this might help. He doesn’t know for sure, but it’s the best he can come up with. She’s drowning in her own fluids. It will get rid of some of them.”
He administered the injection on her thigh, then crawled up in bed with her. In less than a minute, she began to breathe easier, though she continued to shake occasionally. At least she wasn’t fighting for each breath. Brad sighed in relief.
“What else did he say?”
“That was really about it. Other than she still might not make it, but I don’t believe it. She’s going to be fine. Right, Brad?”
“You know it, Kirk. She’s a fighter.”
They spent the next few hours keeping her warm and bathing her when her skin grew hot. She alternated between being hot and cold. Somewhere around two in the morning, she settled down and seemed to relax into a more natural sleep. The men were afraid to go to sleep, so they took turns sleeping and watching over her.
Early the next morning, Brad woke Kirk up to let him take over.
“How is she?” he whispered.
“No change since last time you were up. She’s resting quietly.”
“I’m going to go fix something for us to eat so we can take care of her. I also need to call up Greg and Steven and let them know we aren’t going to be there today. Or maybe for a while.”
“Right. I didn’t even think about work.” Kirk sighed and stretched then got up to sit on the chair and watch out for her.
Brad hurried downstairs to contact the others. They were naturally worried and made him promise to keep them updated. He felt like they truly were worried for Carmen. It was good they had developed a friendship with the family.
He cooked some dried eggs and made toast from a loaf of homemade bread that Carmen had made earlier in the week. He shook his head and ate, then took some up to Kirk. The other man had turned the chair around backward and was straddling it, laying his arms across the back of the chair. He looked up and smiled.
“Thanks, I was getting hungry. She hasn’t moved. Do you think we should keep her turned or something?”
“Probably would be a good idea. I’ll sit with her while you eat and then you can go work in the garden some while I watch her. I’ll finish up the garden when you come back in. She’ll kill us if we let the weeds take over while she’s sick.”
Brad turned Carmen to her side, putting a pillow at her back to keep her that way. Kirk helped then left them to go downstairs. Brad tried talking to her. He wanted her to do something to acknowledge he was there.
“Carmen, baby. If you hear me, squeeze my finger, baby.” He held her hand in his with his finger in her palm.
She didn’t move.
“Baby, can you hear me? Can you move your hand for me?”
Still nothing.
“We’re worried about you, baby. You need to wake up and let us know where you hurt. We’ll make it better, I promise.”
He cursed when she didn’t move or make a sound to let him know she was even in there. He needed something to keep him going. He was so afraid they were going to lose her. Brad hurried to the bathroom and got a fresh cloth. He dipped it in some water and wet her lips with it. After a couple of times, her tongue reached out and licked at her lips. He continued doing it until she no longer licked her lips.
It was something, anyway. He repeated the process every thirty minutes until Kirk came back upstairs. He told him what he was doing and Kirk got excited.
“That’s great news. She’s thirsty, so she’s got to be getting better.” Kirk ran downstairs and got some of the passion fruit and mashed it up in a bowl.
“What are you going to do? Don’t choke her, man.”
“I’m not going to. Let’s see how she reacts to something with taste.” He smeared a small amount on her lower lip and her tongue reached out to lick it off.
Her whole mouth got in on it this time. He put some more and she was soon sucking it off his finger. Brad insisted on a try. When he laid his fruit-covered finger on her lip, she reached out and sucked his finger in her mouth where she promptly bit him.
“Fuck!”
Kirk chuckled but quickly sobered up when Brad glared at him.
“Let’s give her some to chew on.” Kirk put a small bite in her mouth.
She immediately began to chew on it. Then he added some water and she swallowed. Both men grinned. They could keep her hydrated and fed until she woke up. Brad tried one more time to get her to react to his voice, but she didn’t respond.
“You can’t demand she follow your directions, Brad. Give her time to get over the shock her body’s had. She’s doing better. That’s all that matters right now.”
“You’re right, Kirk. I’m just impatient. I can’t stand not being able to talk to her.”
“Go finish the garden, and then we’ll fix something for her to eat and see what she will chew on.”
“I’m not putting my dick in there, that’s for sure.” Brad grinned, glad that they could smile some now. “I’m going to go call up Steven and Greg and let them know how she’s doing. They were really worried earlier.”
“Good. I’m sure Janet will be glad to know that she is doing better.” Kirk continued giving her water and fruit until she no longer took it from him.
Brad hurried downstairs and out to the garden. The damn thing looked like a small jungle growing up. He hadn’t paid much attention to it over the past few days. He’d been too engrossed in finishing their first house. Now he admired the lush greenery and how well Carmen had been keeping it up.
He weeded the last few rows. Then he went around with a pair of gloves and found every possible thistle plant there was and destroyed it. He made sure to burn the bits leftover as well. He didn’t want her to ever go through this again. They might not be so lucky next time. He even burned the flowers she had placed in the vase to be sure there wasn’t anything left of the dreaded plant. He would pick fresh flowers for her when she was able to sit downstairs again.
Once he got hold of Steve, he filled the other man in on what they had managed to accomplish with Carmen and thanked them for their prayers.
“I’ll call you again in the morning and let you know how she is.”
“Janet is anxious to come see her. Would you let us bring her over once Carmen is awake again?”
“That would be great, Steven. Carmen would probably love to have another woman to talk to about being sick. She’s bound to be scared right now. I just wish she could talk to us.”
They said bye and Brad hurried back upstairs to see if there had been any change.
Chapter Ten
Three days later, Carmen finally opened her eyes for a short period of time. Kirk nearly scared Brad to death yelling for him when it happened. Brad ran up the stairs, nearly slipping when he did.
“What’s wrong?”
“She opened her eyes. Look.” Kirk sat back on the bed.
“Baby, can you hear us?” Brad asked.
She didn’t say anything, but her eyes moved to look at them. Kirk felt sure she heard them but still couldn’t answer for some reason. Brad was smiling from ear to ear, but soon sobered when he realized she was closing her eyes again.
“She’s probably tired. Maybe she’ll leave them open longer later,” Kirk suggested.
“I’ll sit with her for a while.” Brad took over the bedside vigil, leaving Kirk to head back downstairs to finish up dinner for them.
He ate then took a plate up to Brad. The other man was busy feeding Carmen and nodded at him to leave it on the bedside table.
“She’s eating pretty well tonight. She didn’t eat so well this morning.” Brad placed a little water on her lips. She sucked it in.
At the sound of her sucking, Brad looked at Kirk.
“Do you think she could sip from the glass?”
“Worth a try.”
Brad placed the glass at her mouth and tipped it up until the water was against her lips. She opened her mouth and sucked, then swallowed. She repeated the process until half the glass was gone. Then she stopped and sighed.
“Hey, another breakthrough. She’s going to be good as new soon,” Brad said.
“I’m going to take a quick shower. I’ll be back to relieve you in a few minutes,” Kirk told him.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
After he had finished in the shower, Kirk climbed in bed with her and pulled her so that she was resting her head on his chest. Brad left them to go shower as well. When he returned, they dozed off and on during the night.
Sometime around four, a noise woke Kirk. He sat up and listened. Sometime during the night, Brad must have pulled Carmen’s head over on his chest because that was where she lay now. He listened closely for whatever had wakened him. Just when he thought he was hearing things, he heard it again.
“Tirsty.”
Kirk’s brows furrowed. “Tirsty?” He leaned over Carmen’s head and noticed her eyes were open. He hurriedly climbed over Brad and looked at her.
“Are you thirsty, baby?” he asked in a quiet voice.
“Tirsty.” Her lips moved just a little.
Kirk whooped in joy and kissed her.
“What in the hell?” Brad sat up growling. “Kirk! What are you doing?”
“She’s thirsty. She said the word, Brad. She said
tirsty
.”
“Well, give her something to drink, asshole.”
Kirk grinned like an idiot and grabbed the glass. He held it to her lips and she sucked down half the glass before he stopped her.
“Easy, baby. Rest and I’ll give you some more in a second. You don’t want to make yourself sick.”
“Thirsty,” she insisted. Her eyes followed him as he picked up the glass again.
“Here you go, baby.”
She sucked up the water then stopped and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, there were tears in them.
“Oh, baby. What’s wrong? You’re getting better. We’re not going to leave you alone. We’ll be here with you, baby.” Kirk took her hand in his and gently squeezed it.
Brad sat up, cradling her in his arms. “You’re going to be just fine, baby. It’s just taking a little time. Bear with us, baby.”
Later in the morning, the three of them were all entangled when Kirk woke up again. This time, he extracted himself from them and climbed out of the bed to relieve himself. When he had finished and washed his hands, he returned to the bedroom and sat on the chair to watch Carmen’s face for any sign she was moving around inside.
Brad finally woke up an hour later and climbed out of the bed. Kirk helped him arrange her so that she was in the middle, making sure she wouldn’t fall out of the bed if she began thrashing around again. Then he slipped downstairs to fix something for breakfast.
Kirk watched as Carmen opened her eyes. She looked around then settled on him and a smile lit her face. He thought for a moment she was going to say something but she just smiled.
“Thirsty, baby?” He settled the glass against her lips and watched as she sucked up the water. Then he spooned some fruit into her mouth and she chewed and swallowed.
He helped her eat and drink for the next twenty minutes. When Brad returned with something for Kirk to eat, she smiled at him, too. Brad ate it up and climbed in bed with her to talk to her.