Free A Life Less Broken by Margaret McHeyzer Page A

you. I need to take them off so your body
cools down a little. Your fever’s too high.” She makes a pained mewling sound,
but allows me to take all the blankets off her.
    She’s
wearing little sleep shorts, socks, and a tank top. Her legs have got scars all
over them and her top is riding up so I can see her flat stomach. There are
scars and bite marks all over it. I pull her socks off and her feet feel like
an inferno.
    “Don’t cover
yourself up, okay? Let your body cool down.”
    “Hmmm,” she moans
as she turns over.
    The thing
I’m most worried about is pneumonia setting in. I’ll stay with her and monitor
her, and if I don’t think she’s improving I’ll definitely take her to the emergency
room. But being a doctor has its advantages, too.
    I go
downstairs and call Lauren.
    “Hi, Dom.
Everything okay?” Lauren asks.
    “No, Allyn
is quite ill. I need you to call the pharmacy and get an antibiotic shot and a
pack of penicillin ready for me. Tell them I’ll bring the prescription by when
you bring me the medicine. I need you to bring my stethoscope and medical bag
too.”
    “I’ll call
Charlie down at the drug store, that old dog owes me a favor.” She laughs. “I’ll
be over soon with all of it.”
    “Thank you,
Lauren.”
    I go into
the kitchen and start opening all the cupboards. There’s not much here. Maybe her
parents are due to bring her groceries, but either way there’s definitely not
enough here to make soup for Allyn.
    I look
through her fridge and find even less. But I hit jackpot in her freezer. She has
some frozen home-cooked meals, two of which are labelled ‘chicken soup’.
    I take one
out and start defrosting it in the microwave.
    As I’m
waiting for it I hear a huge thump from upstairs.
    I run up the
stairs, taking them two at a time until I’m in Allyn’s room. She must have
rolled and fallen out of bed because she’s in a fetal position on the floor.
    “Allyn,” I
try and wake her.
    “Hmmm,” she
murmurs.
    “Can you get
up?”
    “Hmmm.”
    I easily
scoop her up in my arms and place her back on the bed. Her body is sweaty, her
damp hair is all over her face, and her jaw is chattering from the fever.
    I push her
hair back from her face, and when I smooth it away from her cheek she leans
into my touch. It’s just the smallest of movements, but she definitely leans
into my hand. She lets out a soft purr as she moves against me and accepts my
warmth.
    Fuck.
    What’s going
on?
    What does
all this mean?
    Fuck.
    I move away
from her and retreat to the door, leaning up against the jamb to watch her.
    The
microwave’s been beeping for a few minutes, indicating that the defrost cycle
has finished, so I go back downstairs to see if the soup’s ready for Allyn.
Stirring it around, there are still some frozen lumps left in it, so I put it
back in the microwave to finish defrosting.
    I hear
someone at the door, and assume that it’s Lauren. I open it and Lauren greets me
with a huge smile and a white paper bag containing the antibiotic syringe and
the penicillin tablets.
    “Charlie
said to take your time, but I brought your pad over so you can write the
prescription out and I’ll take it to him on my way back to work.”
    “Thank you
for doing this, Lauren. She’s pretty bad, but if I can get the medication and
some food into her, maybe she won’t need to go to the hospital. You’ll need to
cancel the rest of my appointments today.”
    Lauren walks
into the house and looks around from the foyer. “Not to worry, Dom.  I already
did that when you called me.”
    The
microwave sounds and I look toward the kitchen.
    “It’s
chicken soup; she needs to eat.” I answer Lauren’s inquisitive eyebrows.
    Lauren
follows me to the kitchen as I head back to get the soup out of the microwave.
    “I know it’s
not my business, Dom, but what are you doing?”
    “I’m helping
a patient.”
    “Is that
what you’re telling yourself?”
    “I am.” Aren’t
I?
    “Chelsea