Contagious (38 page)

“
What do you have in mind?” Hayden asked, refilling the glasses.

“
Never Have I Ever?” she suggested.

“
Sure. Who wants to go first?”

“
I’ll go,” Raeya said. She held up her glass. “Never have I ever had a one night stand.”

Hayden and I drank. He poured more into our cups. “Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex,” he said.

I took a drink.

“
Shit,” I said, shaking my head as the tequila went down. “Crap. What haven’t I done?” I smiled deviously at Raeya. “Never have I ever color coded my closet.”

“
You’re a bitch,” she said and took a drink, recoiling at the taste.

I laughed. “Here,” I said, grabbing the limes and salt. I used a pocket knife to cut the still frozen limes up. “Your turn again, Ray.”

“
Good. Never have I never been in jail.”

I drank.

“
Never have I ever,” Hayden began, “had a fake ID.” I drank again. He laughed. “Maybe you should sit this one out. You’re gonna be sick soon.”

“
I’m fine. I’m only sipping it.” I could already feel the buzz set in. “I don’t like this game anymore. All it does it make me sound like a slutty bad person.”

“
You are a slutty bad person,” Raeya giggled.

“
Never have I ever,” I said loudly. “made notes about zombies.”

Raeya scowled and took a drink.

“
Never have I ever lied about my birthday to get free desserts at a restaurant,” she said. Hayden and I drank.

“
Never have I ever had a fear of porcelain dolls,” Hayden said almost shyly.

“
Orissa!” Raeya snapped and took a drink. Hayden and I laughed.

“
Never have I ever enjoyed listening to country music,” I directed to Hayden.

“
This is getting personal,” he said and took a drink. I laughed like that was the funniest thing in the world, evidence I was getting drunk.

“
It is,” Raeya agreed. She leaned toward me. “Never have I ever had bruises I couldn’t explain.

Hayden and I drank.

“
Where’s that lime?” he asked.

“
Right here.” I tossed it to him. “Ok,” I started, filling up the glasses again. I stood and made my way to the IPod. I flipped through the songs until I found one I liked enough to dance to. I tried to pull Raeya up to dance with me. She laughed but refused. Hayden tossed his drink back and stood. I grabbed his hands and made him dance with me.

“
You’re a horrible dancer!” I told him, laughing. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. I hooked mine around his neck.

“
Sorry I’m not a pro like you,” he laughed back, leaning in, his hazel eyes sparkling.

“
Watch and learn,” I said. I finished off what was left in my cup and went to the middle of our small room, showing off what I thought were my impressive dance moves. After a song passed, Hayden picked me up, spun me around and fell back on the bed.

“
Ok,” he said, still holding onto me. “What do you miss most?”

“
Miss most?”

“
From before the zombies?”

“
Hmm…everything?” I said loudly.

“
I miss privacy,” Raeya pointed out. “We have next to none here.”

“
Yeah, I miss that too,” Hayden agreed. “And football and chocolate milk.”

“
Chocolate milk. What are you, five?” I teased. “I miss cookies, going to bars, having fun, and sex.”

“
Sex,” Hayden repeated. “You’re telling me.”

“
Oh yeah!” I unscrewed the bottle and took a swig. “You came straight here from overseas. You haven’t gotten any in a
long
time, right?”

He took the bottle from me. “Maybe.”

We kept talking about the things we missed for awhile until Raeya said she was tired and wanted to go to sleep in her own bed. Since Hayden was less drunk than me, he walked her down, needing to open the doors for her. I lay down in Hayden’s bed, cradling the bottle of tequila.

“
You’re not asleep are you?” he asked, closing the door.

“
Of course not,” I said, sitting up. He joined me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me back down. “Want to watch a movie?”

“
Sure,” he agreed.

I had to pry his arms from me to get out of bed. Dancing along with the still playing music, I picked out a horror movie. We didn’t finish before we were drinking again.

“
Salt, drink, lime!” I shouted. I licked my hand, ran it over my chest and sprinkled salt on my cleavage.

“
You want me to lick the salt off of you?” Hayden said, his words slurring.

“
Yeah.”

“
Ok.” Hayden more than licked me. I shrieked and laughed as he bit at me, dropping the lime as I pushed him off.

“
Your turn.” He salted his abs.

“
And yours again!” I said as I sprinkled salt on my boobs. Right as Hayden licked me, the door opened. “Padraic!” I shouted with an attempt to say his name with an accent.

Padraic’s blue eyes were wide with shock. “O-O-Orissa?”

“
Come have a drink with us!”

Hayden’s hands were still planted on my waist. His tongue wasn’t on my skin but his head was still nestled in my breasts. “Hello Doctor,” he said, also speaking with an accent.

“
What are you doing?” Padraic asked Hayden.

Hayden blinked, sitting up. In a moment of general confusion, he looked at me. “Shots.”

“
Take one!” I held up the bottle. I put the bottle to my lips. As soon as the alcohol touched my lips, Padraic took the bottle.

“
I think you’ve had enough,” he said softly.

“
No!” I stood to take it back. My foot caught on Hayden’s. He attempted to catch me but ended up falling on the floor too. We, of course, laughed like it was seriously hilarious.

“
You both are drunk,” Padraic stated.

“
Your face is drunk,” I retorted, laughing even harder.

“
This is pathetic,” Padraic scoffed, watching Hayden and I try to get up.

“
Then why did you come?” I questioned. I rolled onto my back and stared at Padraic.

“
You were supposed to get your blood typed. When you didn’t show up I thought something bad happened. Obviously, I was right.”

“
Nothing bad—I love this song!” I started singing along with Journey. Hayden got to his feet.

“
Nothing bad happened. I won’t let anything bad happen to Orissa,” he slurred.

“
Yeah, you can really take care of her,” Padraic jeered. “You’re doing a bang up job.”

“
I can take care of myself,” I reminded both of them, taking a break from
Don’t Stop Believing
.

“
No you can’t,” Padraic said, waving a hand at me. “Obviously!”

“
Oh come on, Paddy. I’m an adult. I can do what I want.”

“
You’re not acting like an adult. Not at all. Look at you, drunk and writhing on the floor. You’re an A1 for Christ’s sake. Have some self respect!”

“
I am an adult!” I nearly shouted. I realized I’d have more credit in my argument if I wasn’t lying on the floor. At that moment I doubted my ability to stand. “And just because I’m an adult doesn’t mean I can’t have fun!”

“
Orissa, you have drill tomorrow morning. And Hayden, you’re seen as a leader. Maybe expectations for Orissa are a shot in the dark, but you-you should know better.”

My world might be spinning, but I could still be insulted. I remember Hayden defending me, reminding Padraic we’d been through a lot and that we all deserved a break. Maybe Hayden wasn’t as drunk as I thought he was. I faltered in my attempt to get up. Padraic offered a hand to help me up.

“
No thanks. I don’t want to not live up to your expectations,” I snapped, knowing that didn’t make sense. Just to piss him off I took another shot.

“
I’m sorry,” Padraic said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“
How did you mean it?” I stumbled back to Hayden’s side, sinking down on the bed next to him.

“
I-I didn’t mean it as anything. I was mad, ok. And I’m sorry.”

“
Prove it by taking a shot,” I suggested.

Hayden took the bottle, poured a small amount in a glass and offered it to Padraic. “Loosen up,” he said, shaking the glass.

“
Fine,” Padraic said and tossed it back. His face made me laugh. “How can you stand that?”

“
Drink more. It’ll taste better,” Hayden suggested, taking another drink.

“
See,” I said, putting my arm around Hayden’s shoulders. “This can be fun.” I smiled. “I have to pee.” I stood, wobbled and leaned against the wall as I walked down the hall to the bathroom. I decided to shower for some reason as well. When I came back, Hayden was lying in his bed.

“
Bed time,” Padraic suggested. My stomach flip flopped and I knew sleep was a good idea.

“
Ok. Night,” I told him, kneeling on Hayden’s bed, trying to push him over so I could join him under the covers.

“
Whoa, missy. Your own bed,” Padraic said, taking my hand.

“
I want to snuggle.”

“
Well, you, uh, can’t.” Padraic gently pulled me.

“
But it’s cold!” I argued. “And I like to cuddle.”

“
I always cuddle with Orissa,” Hayden drunkenly confessed.

“
Sure you do,” Padraic said, thankfully not putting much—or any—stock into what Hayden was saying. “Come on, Orissa, get into your own bed.”

“
Do you want my blood?” I asked him suddenly.

“
Not right now, alright?”

“
Ok.” The last thing I remember was Padraic tucking me in. My head pounded when the alarm went off the next morning. Hayden hit snooze more than once and we ended up sleeping through breakfast. Rider came in to wake us up, I think disappointed he didn’t find us naked and in bed together. Training was hell; my head pounded, I felt like I was going to puke, and my reactions were off. I made it one mile on the treadmill before I had to run to the bathroom.

Hayden had done his disappearing act again. When I dragged my tired, nauseated butt back to our room, I was instantly annoyed to see him lying in bed.

“
How did you get out of that?” I asked, kicking off my shoes. I collapsed onto my bed, too tired to bother showering.

“
I told Fuller I didn’t feel well.”

“
You are so up his ass.”

Hayden shrugged. “How do you feel?”

“
Awful. I’m going back to sleep.”

“
Did you eat yet?”

“
Ugh, no. Do not mention food right now.”

“
You’ll feel better.” He tossed me a box of crackers. “Want anything to drink?”

“
Water,” I mumbled. I ate a few crackers and drank a bottle of water. I felt a little better. Still, I slept until dinner. Lisa asked me to watch the Friday Night Movie with her. I looked at Hayden, nonverbally asking if he’d come with me. He nodded and said he’d love to. Some of the dogs were lounging around with us, including Argos and a German Shepherd named Greta that Hayden was particularly fond of.

After
Toy Story
ended, I walked Lisa to her room and hugged her good night. Hayden and I were slowly making our way to the upstairs when someone crept up behind me.

“
Can I have your blood?” she asked.

I whirled around and was face to face with a thirty-something year old woman. Her brown hair stuck out in a frizzed mess around her face, gray eyes hidden behind wire rimmed glasses. She wore an oversized sweatshirt with silk screen butterflies printed across the chest and a long yellow skirt. She held up a syringe.

My first thought was that a crazy had gotten in. Or that someone was infected and we didn’t know it. My heart raced as adrenaline pumped through my body. I took on a defensive stance, wide-eyed and ready. Hayden laughed, put his hand on the small of my back and said,

“
Orissa, this is Dr. Cara.”

“
Oh.” Well, that was anti-climatic. “Uh, why do you need my blood?”

“
Blood typing,” she said as if it was obvious.

“
Right. Um, yeah. Sure.” We followed her through the hall into the hospital ward. “Where’s Padraic?” I asked.

“
Not here,” she told me. “Sit. I only need a little bit. More if it’s good like Underwood’s.”

I sat on a cold, stiff stool. Hayden stood behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Are you ok with getting your blood drawn?” he asked.

“
Meh. It’s not like I’m all ‘yay needles’, but I can handle it.”

“
So you don’t need me to hold your hand?” he joked.

“
No.” I rolled up my sleeve and extended my arm so Dr. Cara could tie the rubber band around me.

“
You have nice veins,” she commented as she plunged the needle into my skin.

“
Thanks, I think,” I replied.

She pressed gauze over the pinprick sized hole and walked over to a counter. The exam room was dark and sterile. It reeked of bleach and cleaning products. I watched as Cara divvied my blood into different wells on a plastic dish. She then added some sort of chemicals, gently shook the dish and waited.

“
AB positive,” she told me. “Lucky you.”