A Matter of Trust (18 page)

“
Jake, the kids …
“

“
Honey, I’ll take care of
everything, but first we need to get you to the doctor. Come on,
now, let’s get going.” He reached and took her hand and pulled her
up. She swayed again, and he put his arm around her waist and led
her to the door. On his way out, he asked Diane to lock up at
closing time and cancel all appointments for the rest of the week.
He waited for Trish to blast him for it, but she seemed to be
concentrating too hard on remaining upright to argue.

Jake put her into his truck and ran
around to the other side. She put her head back and remained silent
for the whole drive except when she went into coughing fits. By the
time they got to the hospital, she had trouble taking deep breaths
without having chest pain or severe coughing.

Jake parked his truck and helped Trish
inside. He settled her in the waiting room and went to the
receptionist and told her the name of the doctor Josh had given
him. She assured him she would call him when the doctor arrived.
Jake went back and took the seat next to Trish. Her eyes were
closed, and she took shallow breaths in an effort to keep from
coughing anymore. She looked pale, clammy, shaky, and weak. And she
was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Overcome with love, he put his arm
around her and guided her head to rest on his shoulder. Too sick to
resist or argue, she rested against him silently until a nurse came
for her. Jake refused to let her go without him, which worked out
just as well, since she probably couldn’t have made it on her
own.

Dr. Villalobos introduced himself and
explained Josh had defended him successfully in a bogus malpractice
suit that probably saved his career, so he’d happily come in on his
day off to help any friend of Josh’s.

Despite Trish having taken pain
killers a couple of hours ago, her fever remained at one hundred
and four. The doctor said if it got any higher, she’d have to be
hospitalized. And that was just the beginning. After a thorough
exam, he determined that Trish had multiple infections in her
sinuses, both ears, her throat and her lungs. Further, she had a
serious case of walking pneumonia.

The doctor gave her a treatment for
her lungs, two shots, one antibiotic and one steroid to ease the
inflammation in her lungs, and enough prescriptions to open up her
own pharmacy.

“
Trish, as your doctor, I
have to tell you that if you don’t rest your body, you’re going to
end up in the hospital for an extended stay. I’m going to send you
home now, but if you don’t rest or if your temp doesn’t drop within
twenty four hours, I’ll check you into the hospital, anyway. This
is a serious situation that more than likely could’ve been avoided
if you would have been healthy to begin with, and I can tell by
your current condition that you weren’t getting the right amount of
sleep or nutrition. Your body’s worn out, and it couldn’t fight
against what should have been a minor problem. What probably
started out as a single infection has spread throughout your entire
respiratory system and then some.”

“
I’ve given you the
strongest meds available to jump start your immune system, and I’ve
given you samples of everything, so you won’t have to fill the
prescriptions until tomorrow, but you have to do your part if
they’re going to work. I’ve given you the medical terminology, but
let me put it in laymen’s terms. You’ve got single mother
workaholic syndrome. Next time you want to skip eating and
sleeping, you’d better ask yourself who’s going to take care of
your kids if you work yourself till you drop again. As it is, it’ll
be a long time before you’re in any kind of shape to go full speed,
and your immune system will be weak for the better part of a year,
more than likely, although a lot of that will depend on how well
you take care of yourself from now on.”

Jake had been holding Trish’s hand
throughout the doctor’s speech, but she wouldn’t look at him or the
doctor, just kept nodding her head and crying silently. Jake helped
her with her coat and sat her at the entrance until he could bring
the truck around. She kept her eyes closed the whole drive home,
and Jake would’ve thought her asleep if her tears hadn’t continued
to fall steadily. He reached over and held her hand.

Poor baby. She was done in physically
and emotionally. He’d never seen her look so defeated. She didn’t
notice until Jake turned the truck off that he’d brought her to his
house.

“
The kids …”

“
Are with your parents.
I’ll go for them after I get you settled.”

“
I have to go home, Jake.
Trevor has school tomorrow.”

“
No, Trish, what you have
to do is go to bed. Didn’t you hear what the doctor said? Do you
want to have to go to the hospital?”

“
No, Jake, I don’t. I’ll
try to follow the doctor’s advice as much as possible, but I can’t
just put my kids on hold. I know I’ve overdone it, and I know it’s
my own fault that I’m where I am now, but no matter what, my kids
come first. They’re more important. I’ve messed everything up.
Again. God, don’t you think I know that?”

“
Honey, I’m not sure what
all you’re talking about, but I need you to listen to me for just a
few minutes, okay? I’m not going to yell at you again, and I’m sure
not going to kick you when you’re down or say I told you so. I just
want you to hear what I’m saying, okay?” At her nod, he continued.
“I know you’re very independent, and I respect you for it, but
everyone on this earth needs help from time to time, no matter how
strong or how tough they are, and now is one of those times for
you. The only thing I want you to do right now is rest and take
care of yourself. I’m asking you to trust me to take care of the
rest. Can you do that? I’ll take care of the kids, I’ll take care
of you, and I’ll take care of anything else that comes up. You need
to concentrate on getting better. Please, honey, let me. Trust me.
I won’t let you down.”

Trish looked at him and nodded, and
she let him take her into his bedroom, undress her and put on one
of his t-shirts, give her all her medicine, and put her to bed.
Then, he made several phone calls and went to pick up the kids at
their grandparents’ house, stopped off at their house, then brought
them home with him after telling them they had to be real quiet and
let their mother rest, because she was sick.

Trish was vaguely aware of Jake
checking on her through the night, taking her temperature and
giving her medicine as needed, but mostly she just slept. She
didn’t wake up until ten o’clock the next morning when Jake checked
her temperature again. When she saw the time, she zeroed in on his
face.

In a raspy voice she asked, “The
kids?”

“
I took Trevor to school
this morning as usual and Lex over to your mom’s. She offered to
keep the kids with her last night, but they were scared and wanted
to see for themselves that you were okay. Your mother will pick up
Trev when school lets out as usual. We finished all his homework
last night, plus the regular baths, story time, brushing teeth,
etc. etc. I stopped by your place on the way home with the kids
last night and picked up some clothes.”

“
I need to call Diana …
“

“
I called her last night.
She’s cancelled all your appointments for the rest of the week and
will open and close for you. I also called Eva and Callie, and
they’ll be checking in on things while you’re out and until you get
back on your feet.”

“
You’re hired.”

Jake smiled down at her. “At least you
still have your sense of humor. It’s time for more medicine, and I
have a variety of beverages to choose from including Gatorade,
several juices, sodas, and more. The doctor said to drink plenty of
fluids. I also have about a dozen different kinds of soup for you
to choose from if you’re hungry, and Eva’s bringing some homemade
Mexican stew guaranteed to cure whatever ails you, according to her
grandmother. Can you eat something, honey?”

Trish shook her head. “I just can’t,
Jake, but I’ll try to drink some juice.”

“
Okay, I’ve got apple,
orange, cranberry, and grape. What’s your pleasure?”

“
Apple’s good,
thanks.”

He left and came back shortly with her
juice and helped her sit up to take a sip. She would’ve liked to
tell him she could do it by herself, but the truth was she wasn’t
so sure she could’ve managed on her own. She’d never felt so weak
in her life. When she said she had to go to the restroom, he had to
help her stand and walk. She finally drew the line at him helping
after that, but he waited outside the door until she came out and
helped her back into bed. She drank a little more juice then fell
back asleep until late afternoon when Jake woke her up to take more
medicine, then drifted back to sleep until nearly six
o’clock.

By then, Jake had gone to pick up the
kids, and had started fixing dinner. Trish swung her legs over the
side of the bed, so she could go to the restroom again, and
although she felt pretty sure she could stand, she wasn’t at all
sure she could make it all the way to the bathroom and back on her
own without falling. As it stood, the room began spinning, and she
hadn’t even made it all the way out of bed yet.

“
Mommy? Are you
okay?”

“
Hey, son. I’m just a
little sick, but I went to the doctor, and he gave me medicine, so
I’ll be feeling better soon. How are you doing, sweetie?” He moved
closer to the bed. “Don’t get too close, because I don’t want you
to catch what I have, okay?” He nodded solemnly.

“
How did school go today?”
Trish’s voice came out thin and raspy, but it was the best she
could do.

“
Okay, I
guess.”

“
Did you study for your
spelling test tomorrow?”

He nodded. “Jake helped me. He also
helped me with math and my journal. He’s a pretty good helper. We
slept here last night, and we’re gonna sleep here tonight, too,
only not in the tent. Jake said we can sleep in the tent on
weekends, but not on school nights. Me and Lex been sleepin’
together in one of the other bedrooms. Jake said we could have our
own room if we wanted, but we wanted to sleep together, since this
isn’t our house and stuff.”

“
That’s probably a good
idea, son. Are you behaving and watching out for your
sister?”

“
Yes ma’am. She got kind
of scared when we tiptoed in here last night with Jake and you were
sleeping. She wanted to sleep with you, but Jake said you had to
get well first. He read us a story and everything. He’s doing a
pretty good job.”

Trish smiled.

“
Hey, you’re awake. Are
you hungry?” Jake entered the room and joined them.

“
I didn’t wake her up,
Jake, she was already awake, I promise.” Trevor looked up at Jake
solemnly.

“
Okay, buddy. You want to
go tell your sister Mom’s awake, so she can come see
her?”

“
Sure. I’ll be right
back.” Trevor left the room in search of his sister.

“
How are you feeling,
honey?”

“
Very light headed. Can
you help me make it to the bathroom again, please? I’m afraid I’ll
fall.” She leaned on him and took baby steps all the way to the
bathroom. Jake waited for her again and was helping her back to bed
when the kids came into the room. Both kids’ eyes looked huge as he
tucked her into bed.

Lexie’s chin started to tremble, and
Trevor put his arm around her. “Momma, are you getting
better?”

“
Yes, sweetheart, I sure
am. Pretty soon, I’ll be as good as new. Don’t worry, baby. Jake’s
taking very good care of me, and I’m not going to work for awhile,
so I can stay in bed and rest. How was your day?” Trish smiled at
her baby girl and encouraged her to tell her about her
day.

Apparently accepting her mother’s
words as gospel, Lexie told her all about her day from helping her
grandmother bake cookies to coloring her mom a picture, so she
would feel better soon. Jake left the room, so they could visit,
and he went back into the kitchen to finish dinner. By the time he
finished, Trish was ready to go back to sleep, but managed to eat a
little bit of soup and drink some more juice with her
medicine.

Jake swiped her forehead with the
thermometer again. “Fever’s down to one hundred two. Still pretty
high, but it doesn’t look like you’ll have to be hospitalized,
anyway. Are you feeling any better yet, or is it still too soon?”
He reached to take her hand.

“
My throat’s not as sore,
but I’m still real achy and weak. The cough syrup not only keeps me
from coughing, it knocks me out. I guess that’s good. I’d love to
take a hot bath, but it’ll have to wait for tomorrow. I’m too tired
tonight.”

“
Tomorrow, then. Do you
want me to go get anything from your place for you? Pj’s, a change
of clothes, chick stuff?” Jake smiled down at her and stroked his
fingers down her cheek.

“
You’ll be happy to know
that I plan on staying in bed at least until the weekend. Maybe a
change of clothes this weekend, but since I won’t be going anywhere
anytime soon, there’s no rush. Jake, thank you for everything. I
don’t know what the kids or I would’ve done without your
help.”