Sanctity (27 page)

I nearly tripped over Kaley in my haste to
get to the door.  “Oh, sorry Baby, I didn’t know you were
there,” I bent down and gave her a hug.  As I wandered down
the hallway I paused at the guest bedroom only to find that it had
been made up and there was no trace of Dani or any of her
belongings.  “That’s odd,” I thought to myself, “I don’t
remember her needing to be anywhere today.”  I took a few more
steps and had to stop when I got to the top of the
staircase. 

I was a little breathless and had to sit
down.  Kaley lay down beside me and rested her head on my
lap.  I stroked her ears and daydreamed for a moment or two,
though I was not really certain of what.  After a few minutes
I realized that I was crying.  I absently wiped the tears away
and tried to organize my thoughts. 

Once I felt I could manage the stairs I made
my way down to the foyer and into the kitchen.  Again I
started to feel a little breathless and had to draw myself up onto
one of the kitchen stools.  There was no sign of Margaret or
of Danielle.  As I sat and wondered why I was so weak I
considered that I must be hungry and tried to remember when I had
last eaten.  I couldn’t recall what time we had dinner after
the dance and wondered why my mind was so foggy.  I knew we
were supposed to go to the Italian restaurant downtown but I seemed
to have no recollection of whether we ever went or not. 

I grew a little frustrated and confused that
I couldn’t make any sense of what I may or may not have done. 
“What is wrong with me?”  I posed the question to
myself.  I lay my head down on the table and closed my eyes as
I desperately tried to recall the evening’s events.  At some
point I must have dozed off because I jumped to wakefulness when I
felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Lily, dear, you’re up,” Margaret was looking
at me with a great deal of concern.  “Oh, Margaret,” I threw
my arms around her and began to sob.

“I can’t remember, Margaret, I can’t remember
anything about last night.  What happened to me?  Why
can’t I remember?”

“
[email protected]
, dear, ssh,” she
absently stroked my hair and rocked me back and forth.  “You
haven’t been feeling well, dear; you’ve been in bed for over 2 days
now.”

“Two days!!” I pulled away in utter
dismay.

“What day is it?”  I asked.

“It’s Tuesday, sweetie.”

“Two days,” I whispered shaking my
head.  “How could that happen and what could have
happened?  How have I lost two days,” I looked to Margaret for
some kind of explanation. 

“I don’t know, dear, you came home with
Danielle, you took Kaley for a walk, you went to bed and at some
point during the night you must have gotten up.  Kaley was a
little hysterical and woke Danielle and me.  We found you on
the floor and we helped you back to bed.  You were feverish
and weak but other than that I couldn’t find anything wrong with
you.  I sat with you as often as I could and was ready to call
the doctor but then your fever suddenly broke and you looked so
much healthier that I decided to give you one more day to rest
before I panicked.  How are you feeling, other than
confused?”

“I’m hungry and I had to stop twice just to
make it down here.”

“I’ll make you something to eat; some toast
and water, a little something until we are sure you are well enough
for more.”

Margaret brought me a glass of water before
fetching the bread from the pantry and toasting it for me. 
She brought me a little plate when it was done.  “No butter,”
I asked in dismay. 

“It’s been a while since the last time you’ve
eaten, I think it would be best to take it easy for now; until
we’re sure you’re alright.”

I nibbled at my dry toast and it seemed like
the best thing I had ever eaten.  I knew I must be terribly
hungry if toast and water felt like a gourmet meal to me.  I
asked Margaret to make me some more but she insisted that I wait a
while, at least a half hour, before I could try to eat again. 
She encouraged me to drink my water and came to sit with me at the
table. 

“Do you think you are well enough to take a
shower?” 

The prospect of a shower brightened my mood
and I told her that I wanted to give it a try.  She insisted
that I take her arm even though I felt sure that I could make it on
my own.  Kaley was very concerned and followed us down the
hallway.  It seemed like she wanted to help but didn’t quite
know how.  I called her to my side and put my hand on her back
to steady myself and between Margaret and Kaley I made it up the
stairs without overexerting myself.  I sat on the edge of the
tub while Margaret laid out a towel and robe for me. 

“Don’t push yourself. Take your time and rest
if you need to. I’ll come check on you if I feel like you are
taking too long OK?”

“OK,” I smiled and waited for her to close
the door before I stood up and adjusted the faucets and jets for
myself. 

It felt so nice to stand in the shower and
enjoy the heat from the water and the pressure of the jets
massaging my neck and back.  I washed my hair and slathered a
generous amount of conditioner into it.  I took a clip and
pinned it up out of the way so I could wash myself without rinsing
it all out.   The effort to get myself clean was really
taxing me.  Reluctantly, I decided to give in to Margaret’s
advice and sat down for a moment.  I drew my knees up to my
chest and rested my head while the water cascaded all over and
around me. 

 “Lily, are you alright, you’re starting
to worry me,” Margaret checked in on me a few minutes later.

 “Yes Aunt Margaret, just finishing
up.”

I took the clip from my hair and fastened it
to one of the jets.  I rinsed the conditioner out and turned
off all the faucets.  After wringing my hair I stepped from
the shower and dried off before swaddling myself in the fluffy robe
Margaret had set out for me.  I went to my bedroom and sat on
my bed to rest for a moment before selecting a comfortable outfit
to wear.  It seemed as though I had been through much more
than a simple fever like Margaret suggested and I began to wonder
how long it would be before I felt like myself again. 

Kaley was waiting for me when I left my
bedroom.  She looked up with knowing eyes and I felt like she
was trying to tell me she wanted to help again.  I put my hand
on her back and she gave a little wag of her tail before starting
on her way down the hall.  She looked back once or twice
almost as though she wanted some reassurance that she wasn’t going
too fast for me.  I smiled and told her what a good dog she
was. 

Margaret was just coming to the bottom of the
stairs as Kaley and I made our way down.  “How are you
feeling, Lily?”

“Better.  A little tired but
better.  I’m still very hungry, do you think it is alright to
eat again.”

“Yes, and I think it is probably safe for you
to try a little juice with the toast this time; I’m sure you could
use the extra calories.”

I tried not to worry but I hadn’t looked at
myself yet and the way Margaret was studying me made me a little
suspicious.  I hoped that I didn’t look quite as bad as I
felt.

“I called the school to let them know that
you are feeling better.  I would like to keep you home this
week but I don’t want you to fall behind.  Ms. Kelly said
Charlie volunteered to get your assignments and bring your books to
you this afternoon.  If you are not up to seeing anyone that
is perfectly understandable but he and Dani have been very worried
about you.”

“I’ll e-mail Danielle later to let her know
that I’m fine.  I guess if I’m up and around it wouldn’t hurt
to see Charlie.”

“OK.  Can you make it to the kitchen or
would you like to sit in the family room?”

“The kitchen is fine, and yes, I can make it,
right Kaley?”  I patted her back and started walking towards
the kitchen.  She stayed right beside me until I was seated
comfortably in my stool, then she lay down at my feet. 

Margaret brought me another slice of toast,
this time with a little scraping of butter on it, as well as a
glass of juice.  “I looked online to see what we can do to
help you feel better quickly.  It seems that the most
important thing right now would be to get you hydrated.  One
of the articles I read suggested that we set a timer and have you
take a sip of something with some electrolytes every few
minutes.”

“That makes sense.”

“Well, I don’t have any sports drinks here
but if you’re comfortable on your own for a little bit I can run to
the store and pick some up.  What do you think you would
like?”

Charlie always used these little packets of
powder that he put in our water bottles when we rode.  They
had a heavy dose of vitamin C as well as B vitamins and
electrolytes.  I couldn’t remember what they were called but I
remembered liking them more than most of the sports drinks I’d
tried.  I did my best to explain them to Margaret and told her
that if she couldn’t find them to pick out whatever sounded
good.   She handed me a timer and told me to stick with
the water in the meantime.

She said goodbye and headed out the
door.  I set the timer for 3 minutes and finished up my toast
and juice.  I poured myself a glass of water and I called to
Kaley.  She helped me to the family room where I stretched out
on the couch and flipped through the stations until I came to one
of the cooking channels.  It was showing a competition between
a number of pastry chefs. They were creating desserts with
chocolate and sugar and sculpting them into remarkable showpieces
that were too amazingly intricate to want to eat. 

The doorbell rang towards the end of the show
and pulled my attention away from the chefs just as they were
moving their creations from their workstations to the judging
tables.  I was hesitant to get up but Margaret wasn’t home yet
and I was worried it might be Charlie with my schoolwork.  I
didn’t want to miss him, so I called out, “Just a minute,” and
shifted my weight from the couch.  Kaley had forgotten me in
her excitement to see who was at the door.  I hated feeling so
weak as I slowly made my way to answer it.  When I got there I
gave Kaley a little pat, “Thanks for the help,” she wagged her tail
unable to comprehend my sarcasm.

I opened the door and it was indeed
Charlie.  He was watching Margaret as she pulled into the
driveway but turned toward me as soon as I swung the door back,
“Hey,” he said, his smile quickly fading to concern as he took in
my deteriorated state of health.

“Come on in,” I motioned to him.  I
moved aside to let him in as he gave a hearty greeting to
Kaley.  I called to her and put my hand on her back as I led
the way to the kitchen. 

“Here, let me,” Charlie glided to my free
side and offered me his elbow.

“Thanks Charlie.  I’m alright, really,”
but I let him help me anyway.

He had a book bag on his shoulder that
he shrugged off and put on the kitchen island after he helped me to
one of the nearby stools.  “So, I think I’ve got everything
here,” he pulled out a list of assignments and set it beside the
bag.  “Oh and there’s this,” he unzipped the bag and pulled
out a greeting card.  “It’s from everyone, we all miss
you.”

I opened the card and there were dozens of
signatures from all my friends and even some of the teachers. 
I set it down to look over later, “That’s really sweet of
everyone,” I smiled.

Margaret came into the
kitchen and said a quick
hello
to Charlie before showing me the powders she
bought.  “Yep, those are the ones,” I said and turned to
Charlie.  “I haven’t looked at myself, is it really that
bad?”  I tried to sound unconcerned. 

“Nah, you just look a little tired,” he tried
to brush off my fear.

“Thanks,” I said, “I hope you won’t worry
anyone unnecessarily.”

“Don’t fret, I’ll paint a pretty picture,” he
grinned.  “Listen, I’ve got some time if you want to work on
some of this stuff together.”

“Sure, that would be great.

Charlie hopped up and ran to his car to fetch
his work.

Margaret smiled as she mixed a drink for
me.  “Where’s your timer?”  She asked.

“Oh, I left it in the family room,
sorry.” 

“I’ll get it,” Charlie called as he stepped
back into the foyer. 

It was going off so I took a sip as soon as
Margaret handed me my drink.  I reset the timer while Charlie
gathered the first of my textbooks.  We readied ourselves for
work and after he explained the lesson to me, he started on his
assignment and I tackled mine.  I had to stop a couple of
times to ask him to clarify a point or two.  Margaret offered
to fix us a snack.  I still felt hungry and since I was
getting something, Charlie agreed to have a bite as well. 

Though he wasn’t in all of my classes,
Charlie was familiar with almost everything I was working on. 
I always knew he was smart and the ease with which he got me
through the assignments certainly reinforced my opinion of him.

“How do you know all this stuff?” I asked
impressed at how quickly he could finish what for me was
challenging work.

“Just lucky I guess, I have a good memory,”
he brushed it off.

Charlie finished his homework well before I
finished mine.  I had a couple of days’ worth of classwork
along with the homework but he helped me almost to the point where
I felt like I was cheating and when we were done I thanked him for
staying and getting me through it all.

“I have a good reason,” he stood and smiled
as he gathered his work together, “Zach cracked the frame on his
bike and dislocated his shoulder; he won’t be riding for
weeks.”

“I see,” I tossed him a sly look. 
“Well, I’m sure Margaret will have me nursed back to health in no
time and you won’t have to hit the trails alone.”