Chapter 51

Kara went and put the water on for her tea and came back, Richie still hadn’t moved. She shook him gently. “Rich.”

He stirred and opened his eyes, “hey princess.”

Kara turned and coughed. “What are you doing here?”

He sat up and pulled her down to his lap, rubbing her back as she coughed. “I came to make sure you were all right.”

She reached for the tissues, “you shouldn’t have come here Rich. What’s going to happen if you get sick?”

He toyed with the end of her ponytail, “don’t worry about me princess.”

The tea kettle whistled and Kara tried to move but Richie held her tight “stop right there.”

She looked at him, “I’m just going to fix myself some tea.”

Richie stood with her in his arms and set her down, “I’ll get it for you.” Kara curled up on the couch; the spot still warm with Richie’s heat. She pulled the blanket up over her and tried to catch his scent, but she was too congested.

Richie came back carrying a tray laden with a mug of tea, a glass of orange juice, cold pills, aspirin and a bottle of water. He looked down and Kara had her eyes closed. He set the tray on the table and caressed her forehead; it felt warm. Kara’s eyes fluttered open at his light touch, her gaze flitted between his face and the tray, “what’d you bring me?”

Smiling, he indicated to the tray, “what’s your poison princess, tea, juice or water?”

She pointed to the mug, “tea please.”

He set the mug of tea on the table next to her and then handed her two aspirins and the glass of juice. “Take these then you can drink your tea.” When she leaned over to put the glass on the tray he heard her breathing. “You’re wheezing Kara. You really should go to the doctor. This cold could be turning into something worse than just a cold.”

She waved him off, “stop with the doctor already, please? I’ll be fine.”

Kara hated going to the doctor. She just needed to rest and she would be fine; at least that what she kept telling herself. She sipped her tea while she and Richie watched a movie, dozing off while Richie held her close.

Richie looked down when she started to move around. He could feel the heat emanating from her. Her fever had come back and she was sweating, trying to kick the blanket off. He shook her, “baby, wake up.”

Trying to take a breath she turned slightly panicky eyes toward him, “I’m hot Rich and I can’t breathe.”

He sat her up, “okay Kara, that’s it. If you won’t call the doctor, I will.”

She was still fighting for a deep breath, “okay, get me the phone please.”

~

Two hours later they were back on the couch. Richie had helped her into clean pajamas and had given her the first dose of her prescription. Holding his hand, Kara couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “I should have listened to you the other day Rich. I’m sorry.” She had a sinus infection and bronchitis. The doctor had thought it was pneumonia, but the chest x-ray had ruled that out.

With his fingers under her chin he tugged her face toward him, “it’s all right baby. But next time, don’t wait so long. At least now you got the meds and you’ll start to feel better.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, “did I mention that I’m glad you’re here?”

He squeezed her fingers, “I’m glad I’m here too princess.”

By the next afternoon Kara’s antibiotics had kicked in and she was feeling slightly more human. She and Richie were in the chair together, flipping through the channels, trying to find something to watch. “When do you have to leave Rich?”

He looked down at her, “in the morning. We have a show tomorrow night and I told Jon I’d be back in time for sound check.”

Kara nodded, “we still on for next weekend?”

Richie kissed her head, “of course. This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for us to be doing the next time we saw each other.”

Kara grimaced, “sorry. I didn’t intend on getting sick.”

He shushed her, “I know you didn’t. No one does. Just be prepared not to see much but the inside of my hotel room next weekend.”

Kara grinned at him, “promise?”