The Friends We Keep

“I’m tired, nothing more,” she whispered as she settled into her chair. She couldn’t be sick. With Andrew in Chicago, she was on her own. Everything would be fine. She just needed to focus.

Thirty minutes and a Sprite later, she was starting to feel a bit more perky. She’d finished the last brief she needed for tomorrow, which meant she was officially not behind. A first since taking the job. That evening off was looking more possible by the minute. She was still smiling when her cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Schaefer?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Matilda Dennison from the school. Kenzie’s thrown up twice in the last hour. I’m afraid she’s caught a bug. I need you to come get her.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Gabby threw work in her bag, then checked in with her boss before heading out. Luck was on her side along with all green lights and she made it to the school in less than fifteen minutes.

A very pale Kenzie was curled up on a cot in the nurse’s office.

“How are you feeling?” Gabby asked, touching her daughter’s forehead.

“Yucky. I threw up.”

“I heard. Let me get you home.”

Kenzie sat up and Gabby put her arm around the girl. At times like this, her babies seemed so small.

“I’ll need to get Kennedy, as well,” she told the nurse. “If one of them has it, so does the other. It’s just a matter of time.”

Matilda, a kind-looking woman in her late fifties, nodded. “That’s a good plan. We’ve had a few children out sick this week. Stomach flu. I suspect it’s going to get worse before it gets better.” Her gaze narrowed. “How are you feeling?”

Gabby thought about her own woozy stomach. Not that it mattered. She was the mom. Getting the flu wasn’t an option.

“I’m fine,” she said brightly, willing it to be true.

She signed out both girls. The nurse went and collected Kennedy. One look at her other daughter’s pale face told her there was going to be trouble.

“Mommy.” Kennedy started to cry when she saw her. “My head hurts.”

“Okay, sweetie. We’re going home.”

She ushered both girls to her SUV. They climbed in without being prodded. She buckled them into their booster seats and closed the door. Not two seconds later, Kennedy vomited all over herself and the car.

Gabby opened the back door and felt her stomach churn.

“It’s okay,” she told the sobbing girl. “It’s okay.”

Kenzie gagged, then she threw up, as well. The smell filled the car. Gabby thought about the package of wipes in the front seat and the mess that went way beyond that. She swallowed against the bile rising in her own throat.

“It’s five minutes,” she told her daughters after she cleaned them up as best she could. “Hang on and we’ll take care of the rest of this at home.”

Kennedy started screaming. “Mommy, no! Mommy, please. Help me.”

Kenzie joined in. Gabby felt tears fill her eyes. She honestly didn’t know what to do.

“Five minutes,” she repeated and closed the door.

The trip seemed to take forever. Both girls were screaming. Kennedy threw up again, then continued retching. By the time they reached the house, Gabby thought she was going to pass out from the smell.

She parked in the driveway and got out, then opened the door for the girls.

“Straight up to your bathroom, right away,” she said firmly.

She got them inside. Boomer wanted to investigate, but she shooed him away and got the girls stripped down and into the shower. They were both shivering and crying. Boomer was howling at the closed bathroom door and somewhere in the hallway, her cell phone went off.

Gabby started to ignore it, then wondered if it was the high school. Was Makayla sick, too? She glanced at the screen, saw it was Nicole, sent off a prayer asking for forgiveness and hit the Ignore button.

By the time the girls were dried off, they’d stopped crying. Gabby hustled them into one of the beds, figuring it was better to share. She was pretty sure the vomiting wasn’t done and there were only so many sets of sheets. Then she got them Sprite and ice chips and told them she would be right outside in the hall.

She rinsed off clothes and started a load of laundry, then checked the sheets. There were two sets for each twin bed.

“Mommy!”

She got back into the bedroom in time to watch both her daughters throw up. Only Kenzie made it into the trash can Gabby had placed by the bed.

Sometime around noon, Gabby was able to get outside to work on her car. The stench was incredible. She did the best she could to clean everything up. By the time she was done, she was shaking and weak and her own stomach was threatening. She told herself it was the stink, then headed back inside. The first load was done, so she put in the second and added bleach.

The house phone rang.

“Hello?”