Maybe it was food poisoning? I did wait until the fish had cooled off completely before eating it. So, that was a strong possibility.
But I have had food poisoning before, and it never hit me like this before.
It really didn’t matter.
I was going home soon and could pick up some Pepto on my way home.
There was a knock on the door.
I groaned. “Go away.”
“You have a phone call,” Guy said. His voice filtered through the door sounding more withdrawn than normal.
“Give me a minute,” I said and stood from the toilet, twisted toward the sink to rinse my mouth out. I didn’t have to ask who it was because it was likely the same person who had called me several times over the last week once my phone died.
Luke. My brother.
A couple of minutes later, I opened the door. Guy didn’t meet my gaze. He handed me the phone then turned around and walked away.
I held the phone up to my head. “Yes?”
“Going home today, huh?” Luke asked.
I smiled. “Yes. Thank God.”
“Listen, I know it may be a lot for me to ask with everything that has happened and all, but do you think it would be too much to have you checking in on Guy every couple of days or so?”
Luke’s words filled my ears, but my understanding stopped when he mentioned checking on Guy.
Checking on Guy didn’t let me move on. Checking on Guy wasn’t involved in the steps I had come up with to move on and forget him and the things we had done. The mistake we had made.
I growled out, “What did you say?”
“Come on now, what’s so bad about checking in on him?” Luke asked.
“How much time do you have?” I asked. “I have a list.”
I pulled the phone from my face long enough to rinse my mouth out again. I didn’t want to listen to any explanation my brother was going to give me or the lecture he was spouting at that moment. Every once in a while, I gave him a non-committal sound, giving the impression I was listening when I wasn’t.
Once I finished rinsing out my mouth, I splashed some of the water on my face and then took a good look at myself in the mirror.
My skin was pale and clammy. My eyes had dark circles underneath them, almost like a bruise. But there was also a strange glow to my skin. I had no idea what that was about, and I didn’t have the energy or desire to figure it out.
But the point of the matter was I looked rough.
I sighed and brought the phone to my ear again.
“I get why you are asking me, but I don’t think it’s fair,” I said.
Luke was quiet for several seconds before asking, “How much of what I just said did you not actually hear?”
I bit my lip. “Most of it.”
He sighed. “Seriously?”
“I had to rinse out my mouth again,” I said.
“For what?” he asked.