Charitable Hearts (10 page)

“Where is he?”
Maggie asked as she stormed into Levi’s house.

Gary pointed to the basement. “I swear I wanted to tell you, but he threatened me.”

Maggie stopped and narrowed her eyes, grabbing him by the shirt collar. “Gary, you ever keep something like this from me again, and I promise you, I’ll make Levi’s threats seem like a daydream.”

His eyes widened and he swallowed hard. “Yes, ma’am. Never again.”

She let him go and nearly ran down the stairs. “Levi,” she called as she hit the bottom step.

“Here,” he said, barely above a whisper. He was lying on the couch, wearing a white tank top, and jeans. His hair was matted to his head, and he looked pale.

“I thought you said you were just tired,” she said as she sat on the edge of the couch facing him. Maggie laid the back of her hand against his forehead. “Levi, you are burning up. You need a doctor. Maybe even a trip to the ER”

He sat up, grabbed her arm, and looked at her, terrified. “No, promise me no hospitals.”

“But…”

“Promise me.”

Maggie’s expression softened. “Okay, but I need to call a doctor at least.”

He let her go and fell back onto the couch. “There’s a doctor who does house calls in my contacts.”

“Gary has your phone right?”

“Yeah.”

She walked to the stairs and called up to Gary. “Call his doctor, now!”

Without coming down to the basement, Gary yelled back down. “Yes, ma’am.” The look on her face when she grabbed his collar was not something he would forget anytime soon.

Levi started coughing and Maggie came back to the couch and sat down. “Why are you down here and not in your bed?”

“I like it better down here.”

“I’m going to go get a cold washcloth and bring you something to drink. You need to stay hydrated.” Maggie touched the side of his face. “You should have told me. I can’t believe you had Gary lie to me. Don’t ever do that again.”

Levi smiled weakly. “I won’t.”

“I’d say don’t go anywhere, but think that’s a given.” Maggie jogged up the stairs.

Gary was still on the phone trying to get through to the doctor. He paced around in the kitchen until she heard someone on the other end. “Two hours?” Gary asked. The voice on the other end spoke a little louder. “No, no that’s fine. Just come as quick as you can.” Gary hung up and set the phone down on the bar. “His secretary said he’d be here in a couple of hours. He’s on a call currently and she said I should speak to people with more honey if I expect to attract bees.”

“Where are your dish or wash cloths? Also,” Maggie said as she opened their fridge, “he needs to stay hydrated so we need some stuff with electrolytes in it.”

Gary pointed to a drawer next to the oven, walked to the door and grabbed the keys in the dish. “I’ll go get it now. Anything else?”

“I know he likes popsicles, right? Get anything he might like.”

“I’ve got this. Just don’t leave him too long. He hates being sick and he’s always afraid of being left alone.”

“I’m going right back down. Pinkies.”

Gary smiled and shut the door behind him. Maggie rushed around the kitchen getting ice water and grabbing a couple of the softest dish towels she could find. Back downstairs, Levi was restless when Maggie returned. She set the bowl of water and towels down on the coffee table and sat on the edge of the couch next to Levi.

“I can’t believe you kept this from me.” She dipped a towel in the water and wrung it out. Levi jumped when she placed it on his forehead.

“I’m freezing and…,” he said and started coughing.

Maggie dipped another towel in the bowl of water and wrung it out. “I hope the doctor isn’t really two hours away. I think you might have the flu.”

“Whatever it is, I hope you don’t get it. I feel terrible,” he whispered. “My throat hurts.”

“Gary is getting some stuff. I asked him to get popsicles too.”

“The fruity kind?”

Maggie dug out her phone and texted Gary. “Yes, the fruity kind.”

“Good.” He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

Maggie picked up the cloth on his forehead, re-wet it, and replaced it.
I care about him, and it’s dangerously close to being something I can’t handle.
Levi turned on his side, facing her. She finger combed the hair above his ear and then palmed his cheek. “I’m sorry you feel so bad.”

Levi put his hand over hers. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I wanted to stay at the event and I knew you’d make me leave.”

“Of course, I’d make you leave. I care about you. It bothers me to see you like this.” She pursed her lips and closed her eyes.
I do care about him. I do and I can’t seem to stop.

“You care about me, huh?” Levi mumbled and looked at her. He turned on his back again.

“Yeah, I do.”

She gently ran her thumb over the scar above his lip. “Where did you get this?”

“In grade school. A couple of girls were doing double dutch jump rope. I thought I’d be cool and jump in, but I hit the pavement face first. My tooth came through my lip. Even chipped it.”

“Ouch.”

“You could kiss it and make it better.” Levi half smiled.

“I think it’s a little late for that.”

“Emotionally. I hurt in here.” Levi tapped his chest.

Maggie shook her head and laughed softly. “Still, a little late.”

He gave her a small smile, closed his eyes and soon he was sleeping soundly. Maggie stayed downstairs with him until she heard Gary upstairs. She looked at Levi, hesitated a moment and then made her way upstairs to see what Gary had brought back from the store.

She was surprised by the number of bags covering the bar. Gary was already busy putting things up. “I got a bunch of stuff.”

“I can see that.”

“He hasn’t been this sick since we were in high school. His parents were really careful because of Amelia.”

“Where are his parents?”

Gary stopped putting stuff up a moment, and whistled. “After Amelia died they kinda drifted away. Levi was already pretty big as an actor, and I guess they just needed to not be parents for a while. Levi married Rachel and she also helped put a big wedge there because they felt he was getting married too quickly. Really, it was just people hurting and taking it out on each other.”

Maggie nodded. “I can see that. I don’t have any family.”

“No family? At all?”

“Nope. I was adopted as a kid by an older couple. My mom died when I was in tenth grade, and my dad died shortly after my sophomore year in college. I was an only child. My last living uncle died two years ago.”

“Wow, and so it’s just you?” Gary watched Maggie’s face when he asked the question. It was a split second, but Maggie’s expression shifted and he was sure he’d hit a sore spot. She smiled, and yet, at the same time, she looked sad. Like she’d briefly remembered something.

“It’s just me.”

“Well, you do have Laura.”

“True. She’s the only real family I have.”

Gary frowned.

“Okay, so I have you and Levi now.” She smiled and batted her eyes.

He smiled and continued putting stuff up. He handed her some bottles of Gatorade, and a box of popsicles. “You can put those in the fridge downstairs. The rest can go up here for now.”

Maggie nodded. “I’m gonna go back down. Try to get him to drink something, maybe eat a popsicle.”

“I’m gonna stay up here so I can wait for the doctor.”

She smiled and walked back downstairs. Levi was restless, tossing and turning on the couch. He was shivering and the towel had fallen off his forehead. Maggie sat down next to him and picked it up. It was like it had never been wet, so she dipped it the water again and reapplied it.

“Hey,” she said and gently shook his shoulder. “I’ve got some popsicles and Gatorade. Do either of them sound good?”

“Just something to drink.”

Maggie helped him sit up, and take a sip of Gatorade. He had no color in his face at all and she was sure his fever was higher than when she first arrived. She looked at her watch and checked the time. It’d had been an hour since Gary called. “The doctor should be here soon.”

“I hate doctors, hospitals, all of it. Hate it.” He hugged her around the waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

Maggie rubbed his back. “I know and I understand.”

“If he brings out a needle, I’m going for the door.” His mouth moved against her neck.

She could feel how hot he was and yet he still shivered. Maggie pulled up the blanket which had fallen to the floor in front of the couch and wrapped it around him. “Don’t make me hold you down,” she said and chuckled.

“I’m a biter.”

“I’m a kicker.”

Levi tried to laugh and began coughing again. When he stopped he winced. “My chest hurts.”

“I know. You need to drink some more.” Maggie straightened the pillows behind him so when he leaned back he was sitting up.

“I don’t want anything.”

“Okay, so hospital it is.”

Levi grabbed the bottle of Gatorade and took a long drink. “Ugh. Nothing sounds good or tastes good or looks good.”

“I know.”

“Thank you for coming and taking care of me.”

What do I say?
The internal war began to wage again. Maggie cared for him.
I more than care for him, but I won’t risk hurting like that again.
She leaned closer. “I don’t mind. I hate to see you feeling so bad.”

Levi held the Gatorade and leaned his head back. He held Maggie’s eyes, and his expression changed. “I keep pushing myself on you and you keep pushing back. It’s like I can’t take a hint.”

Maggie felt caught off guard.
No, you are charming, funny, and I miss you when you aren’t around.
The thought startled her even more. She bit her lip and her eyes watered. “No,” she said and looked down. The words were caught, she regained her composure. Maggie lifted her eyes to his, but he’d fallen back to sleep.

She felt terrible. He thought he was being pushy, but he didn’t understand that it wasn’t him. It was her and her inability to let anyone in. Maggie wiped the tears that started to fall. It had been a long time since she cried and even then she hadn’t cried long. A few tears and she’d run from anything that could even remind her of what happened.

“Hey, everyone decent?” Gary called down the stairs. “Doctor is here.”

Maggie quickly wiped her face and cleared her throat. “Yeah. Wait. Why would anyone be indecent, Gary?”

“I don’t know. A guy, a girl, alone in a basement. I’ve learned it’s better to ask.” Gary moved aside as the doctor walked to Levi.

“He’s sick. What did you think could be going on?”

“I was just making sure.”

“Gary, sometimes, your mind is like a maze.”

He smiled.

Maggie crossed her arms and turned her attention to the doctor.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Kline,” he said, extending his hand to Maggie.

Maggie shook his hand. “Hi, I’m Maggie Lawrence.”

“Are you the girlfriend?”

Gary looked away and smiled.

Maggie swatted him on the arm. “No, just a friend.”

Dr. Kline sat on the edge of the couch. “Has he been keeping down the Gatorade?” He picked up the loosely held bottle and set it on the coffee table. Dr. Kline began his examination by checking Levi’s pulse and blood pressure.

“So far, yes.” Maggie answered.

“Has he eaten anything today?”

Maggie looked to Gary. “Uh, no, not that I know of.” He thought for a second. “I don’t think he ate yesterday either.” He avoided eye contact with Maggie after that admission.

The doctor tilted Levi’s head up and swabbed the inside of his nose. “I’ll need to take this sample back to my office, but I’m fairly certain he has the flu.”

“I thought so too.” Maggie said.

“His fever is pretty high.” The doctor wrote down a few notes. “I’m very tempted to call an ambulance so he can be kept under observation. With this high a fever, dehydration is quite possible.”

“No,” Levi groaned.

“Mr. Martin, I understand people can be very hesitant when it comes to hospital stays, but the flu is rather serious. With your history of asthma, it would be easy for this to turn into pneumonia.”

“Gary will stay here. He’ll make sure I keep hydrated.”

“I’m staying too.” Maggie interjected and Levi smiled.

The doctor looked between the two of them and back to Levi. “If there are any changes whatsoever, anything to give you cause for alarm, I am ordering you to take him to the hospital. I don’t care how much he complains or screams.”

“You have my word.”

“Keep pushing fluids. He probably won’t feel like eating for a few days. I’m calling in a prescription for Tamiflu. If you have any trouble with the instructions, call my office and I’ll call you back. Should be pretty easy to follow, though.” The doctor dug in his pants pocket, pulled out a phone. “What pharmacy?”