Lizzy: Dr’s good. If anything changes I’ll let u know straight away. See u soon.
Lizzy: I am now the proud of owner of a wide selection of super comfy pjs and the worlds most extensive collection of zombie films.
Ben: :)
Lizzy: You rock in all the ways.
Ben: Pjs were Lena’s idea. Zombies were mine.
Lizzy: They both made my day. Thank you.
Ben: What movie u watching?
Lizzy: Dawn of the Dead.
Ben: Original or remake?
Lizzy: Remake. Love the actors in it.
Ben: Cool. Never seen it.
Lizzy: It’s not Romero, but its fun.
Ben: Show it to me sometime.
Lizzy: You got it.
Lizzy: Arrived. Going to sleep.
Ben: Ok?
Lizzy: Yes. Just tired. Have a good concert.
Ben: Thanks. C u in the morning.
*
Yes, the sad fact was, Ben and I were probably better at texting one another than we’d ever been communicating face-to-face. Apart from that one night in Vegas. Oh, and the time in his truck. And in his hotel suite tub after his argument with Jimmy, though he’d been somewhat under the influence that night.
Anyway, the flight wore me out. I went straight to bed when Anne and I hit Saint Louis. But I didn’t exactly get much sleep.
“Fuck off, dude!” was my wake-up call. “You don’t come in here.”
“Out of my way,” said someone in a distinctly deep and pissed off tone.
“Easy.” Another male voice. A different one this time.
“Ben, be reasonable. She’s still sleeping.” That was Anne, her voice placating.
“It’s one o’clock in the afternoon. She said she was better, why the fuck is she still sleeping?”
I sure as hell wasn’t anymore.
“Anne, he’s got a point. Has anyone checked on her lately?” I think that was Lena, but what she was doing here, I had no idea.
“Something’s wrong. I want a doctor here now,” said Ben.
“Just a minute. We’re all worried about her.” Ev, perhaps?
Hell, it sounded like everyone was visiting.
“Told you, man,” said Mal. “You don’t come into my rooms. I may have to work with you. But I don’t want a fucking thing to do with you outside of that.”
“For Christ’s sake…”
“You fucked with my trust.”
“I know,” sighed Ben. “And I’m sorry. Right now, though, I need to know she’s okay.”
“I’m fine,” I said, stepping out of my room. “Hey, you’re really all here.”
And I do mean everyone. David and Ev, Lena and Jimmy, and of course my sister and Mal, what with me still sharing their suite. Thank goodness I was wearing a pair of the spanking new blue lounge pants and matching striped tank top, tiny bare baby bulge poking out in between.
“Liz.” Ben rushed me, engulfing me in his big strong arms.
“Hi.” I mumbled into his T-shirt-covered pec. Yeah, I’d kind of frozen. Generally, we didn’t do this, but also it felt far too good. My poor, tired body got shivery in the best way. The man was just asking for me to hump his leg or something. Desperate really wasn’t pretty.
“Are you okay?” he asked, studying my face.
“I’m fine. I just overslept. Sorry to worry everyone.”
He frowned, big hands cupping my face, gently turning it this way and that for his inspection. “You don’t look okay. You look tired.”
“I couldn’t get to sleep last night. I’m bouncing back from the cold just fine, though. No more Queen of the Phlegm or any of that.”
“You sure?” He gave me a dubious look.
“Screw you, bud. I’m glowing.”
The big jerk gave me a sheepish look. “Sorry. Just been worried about you.”
“Apparently my iron levels were a little low. I’m taking supplements now, eating more. I’ll be back to normal in no time. And really, I feel fine. I feel great! Being up and around is awesome.”
“Why couldn’t you sleep?”
My mouth worked fine, but really my brain was too sleep-addled just yet to invent a plausible lie on demand. Worse, my face began to fire up. Crap. Out of all the questions in all the world, I particularly did not want to answer that one. Not even a little.
“Why?”
“I don’t know, I just couldn’t.”
“Liz.”
“Ben.”
“Tell me why,” he barked.
“Because the walls here are thin, okay? It was too noisy. Now enough with the questions. I’m hungry.”
“Ha,” shouted Mal triumphantly, hands on hips. “Your nightly fun-time party boy bullshit kept her awake.”
“I’m on the other side of the fucking building,” said Ben. “How the hell could I be keeping her awake?”
“But then, if it wasn’t you…” Anne’s brows slowly rose and she covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh dear. Sorry, Liz.”
I nodded, unable to face her just yet.
“What,” asked Mal, eyes full of confusion. “What are you two talking about?”
Jimmy snorted. A moment later, his brother did much the same. At least Ev and Lena managed to keep the bulk of their reaction on the inside. They were nice girls.
I’d never needed to know that my sister was a screamer. Never. That Mal was a screamer too just kind of confused me. If only you could have memories bleached from your brain. What an extraordinarily useful thing it would be.
“Pumpkin? Explain.”
Anne pulled Mal in close and whispered in his ear. Then Mal started snickering.
“It’s not funny,” said Anne.
“It kind of is.”
She shook her head, arms crossed over her chest.
“Lord of the Sex strikes again!”
“Shuddup.”
Huge grin in place, Mal smacked a kiss on her lips.
“So you got caught up on sleep okay?” Ben asked, ignoring their carrying on.
“Yes. Thanks.”
“We better get some breakfast into you. What do you feel like?”
“Hmm.” My tummy grumbled audibly. Me no care. “I want the biggest omelet known to mankind.”
“You got it.”