He sang the entire time, ignoring the fact that his twangy melodies were occasionally interrupted by my hack. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop. My entire body ached at this point, and I actually wondered if I would suffocate from my coughs. One after another, over and over again, grating cough after cough. The rare moments not coughing were spent gasping for air, only to start the vicious cycle all over again.
Tennessee didn’t stop his cooking, but he did glance over his shoulder with a look of worry quickly washing over his face. “Girl… if you get me sick…”
“I hope this is nothing.”
Tennessee nodded. “Well…” Wiping his hands on his apron, he turned and faced me. “I have dinner under control. I want you to go lie down. You’re about as white as the snow outside, and I sure as fuck don’t want you spreading whatever plague you have all over the kitchen.”
Panic sunk in, as well as a renewed feeling of cabin fever, and I did everything I could to hold back the next spell of coughs. Spending time with Tennessee was the only thing that had kept me sane the past few days. Being locked away in my bedroom would damn near drive me crazy. I needed human contact. “I’m going crazy in this house. I don’t want to go to bed and do nothing. All I’ve done is nothing.” Tears welled in my eyes. “Please, I won’t cough anymore. Put me to work. I need to feel useful.”
Tennessee walked over and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “You’ll be good as new with a little rest.”
“But I just have a cough. It’s nothing and—”
“Matthew will skin me alive if he returns from New Orleans and you’re sicker than a dog. He’ll think I can’t take care of you in his absence. And I sure as fuck am not going to piss off that man. You’ve met him. No fucking way.” He smiled as he shook his head. “You’re sick, Aria. Lordy knows what ails you, but I do know that with proper rest, you will get better. At the very least, I can tell Matthew that I have been taking care of your sick ass by making you sleep.”
I knew Tennessee was right. Matthew would be pissed to return to the house to find me sick, and he would be even angrier to find out that nothing was done about it. I knew I couldn’t win this argument and started to cry out of frustration. I was trapped. I was alone. I was now sick. I was being a whiny brat and I knew it. I just wanted things to be normal and to have some damn chicken soup.
“Now don’t you go and start crying in my kitchen,” Tennessee chastised. “You know you need rest. That cough ain’t going to go away by itself.” He reached for my arm and helped me stand. “Now get to bed before I beat that ass of yours.”
I swiped at my eyes feeling stupid for getting emotional and sniffled. “I’m sorry I’m such a pain in the ass. I know you’re just doing your job. And I really hope you don’t get whatever this is. I feel like shit.”
Tennessee gave me a soft pat on the butt and started ushering me out the kitchen door. “If you cause me to burn my gravy, I’ll make sure you have to lie in bed on your belly for the next week because your tail will be so sore. You think Matthew is the strict disciplinarian… you haven’t met a southern chef with burnt gravy.” He gave a small smirk before turning to attend to his meal preparation.
I walked out of the kitchen feeling more pathetic than ever. I couldn’t even do something as simple as peeling potatoes. The thought of going back to my room alone depressed me. I just couldn’t spend another minute staring at the four walls. Allowing my stubbornness—mixed with an ounce of foolishness—to take over, I headed to the living room.
Those four walls were no different than my bedroom walls.
I felt like everything was closing in on me.
I never thought I would admit it, but I missed Matthew. I was bored out of my mind, and although Matthew was my captor, he would at least be fresh energy and another face. Memories of the days before he left alone had my body tingling with want. He didn’t give an exact date of his return, but Tennessee had said it would be soon.
The walls…
The silence…
I needed some fresh air. Cough or not, I needed to feel as if I weren’t trapped in a cage. A quick step outside wouldn’t kill me. It wasn’t snowing at the moment, and compared to the other days of late, today actually was much warmer. The sun would be setting soon, and it would be nice to actually feel its rays on my skin for even a minute or so.