Free Babygirl and the Mean Boss by Pepper Pace Page B

medication.  The instructions on the medicine bottle indicated that if a dose was missed to skip it and take it at the next regular interval so she did just that.
     
                  Nicole tried to watch TV but after about an hour, her head was pound ing so bad that she couldn’t stand the sound of it and the sun coming through the windows made it that much worse.   She went upstairs to the bathroom for aspirin found it .  Perfect.  She took four. 
     
                  She splashed her face with cold water, hoping that it would make her feel less nauseous , but when that didn’t work she went back downstairs to nuke herself some hot tea .  She was deciding between raspberry pomegranate and regular L ipton ’ s when the phone began to ring.  She hurried to the living room to answer it, f eeling a bit disoriented.
     
                  “Hello.”  She said breathlessly.
     
                  “Hey…” Marty said.  “What are you doing, running a marathon?”
     
                  “No.”  She sighed.  “Nuking some hot tea.”
                 
                  “Why didn’t you answer the phone?”
     
                  She scratched her head confused.  “What?  I did - ”
     
                  “No.  I didn’t get an answer so I called back.  I gave you about a minute, maybe two.  How are you feeling ? ”
     
                  She was rubbing her head.  “Um…headache.”
     
                  Marty didn’t say anything.
     
                  “Marty?”
     
                  “I’m o n my way home.”  He hung up.  She looked at the receiver for a few moments before hanging it up and heading back to the kitchen to finish making her tea.  Why was he coming home?  Was he going to do that every time she complained about a freaking headache?  She would have to convince him that she wasn’t a delicate china doll.  Nicole stared at the lukewarm water in her mug.  It had just been steaming hot, no w it was lukewar m.  What the…?
     
    ~ *** ~
     
                  Nicole felt like she was being swung around in a circle like a kid on one of those playground torture devices.  Gasping, she clutched at the nearest thing to her, which happened to be Marty.  He was holding her in his arms a look of fear in his eyes.              
     
                  “Marty?”
     
                  “You f ell.  When I came in you were l ying on the floor.”  She reached up ignoring the straining in her shoulder and felt the back of her head.  It didn’t feel any more sore tha n normal.
     
                  “I’m taking you to the hospital.”  He said breathlessly as he hurried to the door.
     
                  “No.”
     
                  “Nicole- ”
     
                  “STOP!”  He did, surprised.  “Put me down.”  Reluctantly he did.  “Marty, I didn’t hit the back of my head.”
     
                  “Let me see.”  He said, moving behind her and pulling aside sections of her afro .  Tentatively he touched her head with his fingertips .  “ Maybe you didn’t .”  He sighed and she decided not to tell him about the excruciating pain or he really would make her go to emergency.
     
    “ Nicole… that’s it. ”  His eyes narrowed.  “I am not leaving you alone again.”
     
    “Marty-”
     
    He stalked away from her and walked back into the kitchen, picked up a fallen bar stool and angrily slammed it onto its legs.  One minute she was risking a blackout in the shower, the next she was l ying on the floor.  Her head could have…
     
    Nicole just stood in the doorway because his attitude reminded her of the tomato incide nt, when he was so angry at her.   But this wasn’t her fault!  
     
    He g l anced at her and then