And I hated myself for it.
Nine
Ryan
The sound of someone choking woke me up from a dead sleep. I furrowed my brow as my eyes popped open, but I heard it again and I went racing for the kid’s room. I threw the door open and looked straight to Benjamin’s bunk just in time to see him vomit all over himself.
Shit.
“Uncle Ryan?” Zoey asked.
“Come here, princess,” I said. “How do you feel about sleeping in my bed tonight?”
I scooped her out of her bed and raced her back into my room. Benjamin was heaving on the top bunk as I went to gather up a sleeping Hunter. He didn’t even wake up as I tucked him in next to his sister, and I kissed both of their foreheads before racing back to Benjamin. I grimaced as I grabbed him off the bunk, his body covered in spit up.
This definitely wasn’t good.
I looked over at the clock and groaned when I saw it ticking by half past two in the morning. I cradled a sick Benjamin against me and could feel how hot he was. I walked into the bathroom and heard him heave again, but I managed to get him into the bathtub before he got sick all over himself again.
I turned on the water and grabbed the shower head so I could hose him off.
I helped him peel his pajamas off, but he was a wreck. Crying. Snotty nose. Covered in puke. The apartment was beginning to reek and if I didn’t do something about cleaning it up, Zoey and Hunter would risk getting sick as well. I washed all of it down the drain before I ran a hot back for Benjamin to sit in, then I went back to the bedroom and heaved myself.
Fuck. It stunk in there.
I heard Benjamin coughing again and I knew what was about to happen. I went back into the bathroom and unstopped the drain so it could all wash off him again. I sprinted into my bathroom and started looking around for medications, but I didn’t have any for kids. Nothing except vitamins, some Tylenol for adults, and some fucking Zyrtec.
And it was two thirty in the fucking morning.
I ran back to Benjamin as Zoey and Hunter fell back asleep. I shut my door, hoping that somehow it would prevent them from getting sick. Benjamin was crying and begging for his mother and it broke my heart. That was all a boy ever wanted when he wasn’t feeling well.
But Valentina was still in the hospital and it didn’t look like she was leaving any time soon.
I walked into the bathroom and dried his tears. It broke my heart to see him so sick. I knew I had to get him medication and then get him to the doctor, but I couldn't leave the house to get him anything. I wasn’t sure who to call, and calling Paul meant risking getting his own daughter sick to help me.
And then, a thought occurred.
I tiptoed into my bedroom and grabbed my phone. Then I scrolled through my contacts. There was one other person I knew who cared about these kids like I did, and I knew Benjamin would enjoy having her around.
I pressed Emma’s name and held the phone to my ear as I snuck back out of the room.
“Hello?” she asked groggily.
“Emma. It’s me.”
“Ryan? What time is it?”
“I need a favor.”
“Can it not wait?” she asked.
“Benjamin’s sick.”
I heard her sheets shuffling in the background before a small groan left her lips.
“What do you need?” she asked.
“I don’t have any medicine here for him,” I said. “And I need help getting his sheets washed while he sits in the bath.”