Cece raised an eyebrow. "Oh really now? You won't
make me do anything?"
"Only if you are that tired again," he
corrected her with a mischievous grin. "Which I won't let you, Cece.
Something serious could go wrong if that happens again. I'm just glad you
passed out when I was around," Patrick said, more stern this time.
Cece rolled her eyes. "It was just exhaustion,
Patrick. It happens when you lack sleep for a week and then drive straight
through the night and only get two hours of sleep. I had to do it or else I
wouldn't have made it to your dinner."
Patrick reached over and grabbed her right hand and
clutched both hands to his chest, as if making sure she was paying attention.
"But you didn't make it anyway. Neither did I. So obviously it wasn't
worth it."
Cece yanked her hands away from him and quickly sat up,
causing her head to spin for a moment and her skin scream from a burning pain
all over her body. She glared at Patrick accusingly. "But if I hadn't
tried to get here in time you'd be furious and tell me that I wasn't trying
hard enough, that you never get to see me as it is. You know that if this
hadn't happened then you would have been grateful that I had driven all night
to get here!"
Patrick took a step back from her sudden burst of anger
and sighed heavily. "I guess you're right. I'm sorry, Cec."
"You better be!" Cece sat back down in the
hospital bed and crossed her arms across her chest stubbornly.
A knock sounded at the door before opening to reveal a
graying doctor with a name badge claiming the name of "Jonathon
Pesch".
"I was glad to hear you were awake, Cece," the
doctor said cheerfully, paying no mind to the tension that filled the room. He
walked to her bedside and began tapping on the monitor and fluid bag.
"Everything seems to be normal, but you really need to be making sure
you're getting enough sleep. There are many side effects to being lacking so
much sleep that you are passing out." He turned to Cece, watching her
intensely to make sure she was listening.
"Dr. Pesch, tell me, can one of the side effects be
my skin feeling like it's on fire?" Cece asked, feeling the discomfort all
throughout her body.
The doctor frowned. "Well, I suppose it could be an
allergic reaction to something, but it wouldn't be from lack of sleep."
Cece shrugged, becoming all too aware of the pressure of
the hospital gown she was wearing as it pressed against her tender skin. It
certainly did feel like sunburn, and suddenly she wished she had the magic
cream she had made up in her dream. Think
of something pleasant, she thought to herself, remembering the words the
dream Loyie had told her.
"We can run a few tests just to make sure it's
nothing to be concerned about," the doctor said, interrupting her
thoughts.
Cece only nodded.
What seemed like hours of poking with needles and being
asked over and over again, "Does this hurt? Where does it hurt the most?
What does it feel like?", the doctor did as many tests as he felt necessary.
"Maybe we should keep you another night for
observation," Dr. Pesch suggested, eyeing the clipboard in his hand as if
the test results would magically appear there.
"No, really, I'm already feeling much better,"
Cece lied. In fact, she felt much worse, her skin burning on her back from the
doctor sticking her with needles to see if she was allergic to anything, and
burning from all the pressure he and the nurse where putting on certain limbs
of her body to see what hurt worse. "Maybe I could just go home and you
can call me when the results come in."
The doctor looked up from his clipboard, chuckling.
"Cece, there could be a number of serious side effects from such a lack of
sleep, but being overly tired and
having burning skin? This may all be something much worse than being too
tired."
Patrick, who had been sitting on the waiting chair
watching Cece with concern, stood up in a rush and grasped a hold of the
doctor's arm. "What do you mean?" His hazel eyes were wide with
worry. Even his shortly cut brown hair seemed more ruffled than Cece first
remembered seeing after she woke.
The doctor patted Patrick's arm, letting him know that
Patrick needed to let go of his arm. "I don't know yet. That's why I
prefer to keep her here over night to make sure everything is really
okay."
Cece shook her head. "Dr. Pesch, really, I'm feeling
much better. It feels more like I just have a bunch of needle pricks in my back
now," she joked, making the doctor smile at her attempt for humor.
Patrick, however, seemed less than amused.
"Cece, you should listen to the doctor. What if this
is something worse?" Her fiancée stepped closer to her, putting on his
calm cop face that Cece hated to see during one of their arguments. He
certainly was preparing to keep her in that hospital, but Cece wanted nothing
to do with another moment spent in that bed and in the hospital gown.
"Patrick, I need sleep, not observation, and I would
prefer to do it at home in our own bed," she said through gritted teeth,
emphasizing his name in a warning tone.
"I'm sorry Miss Rank, it's not negotiable," Dr.
Pesch said, scribbling one last note before sticking the pen into the pocket of
his white coat.
Sighing, Cece glared at Patrick. She waited for the
doctor to leave before lashing out at her fiancée. "That was uncalled for.
I could be sleeping in my own bed tonight! How could this be anything but me
being over exhausted? You know that I
drove all night!"
Patrick crossed his arms and stood straighter, the calm
cop face never leaving his expression. He was ready for this fight and was
gathering all his ammo. "You and I both know that this isn't the first
time you drove all night to get home and then gone out to dinner or a movie
with me only after a few hours of sleep. You do it practically every
month." He never rose his voice, but instead took on a stern tone that
always made Cece furious.
"Well maybe this was just a fluke. I had to drive
further than normal so of course I was going to be more tired than usual!"
Patrick shook his head. "You've driven from
California all the way to Virginia without stopping before. Cec, this just
isn't like you. Maybe you should just speak in our area. You know Roanoke
School District has asked you to speak there several times, and even Richmond
wants you. There's plenty of opportunity here."
Cece watched Patrick for a long moment, grinding her
teeth in frustration. This wasn't the first time he had suggested she stay in
Virginia, rather than travel from state to state speaking at major conferences
for many major corporations. "The one
week I travel every month is enough to pay for our bills for that month. If I
stop doing all these conferences you know I'll be gone nearly every single day
to make up for what I get paid now. Even with all the gas money I spend in that
week, it still is plenty to cover our apartment and utilities!"
Patrick sighed heavily before dropping his crossed arms
and lightly clasped Cece's hands in his. He was starting to cave, finally.
"Cec, I don't care about the money. You can just work whenever you want.
So what if it's not as much as you get paid now? We can just tighten up on our
budget. Please, Cece, I don't want anything to happen to you." He looked
into her eyes, his hazel eyes pleading.
Cece looked back intently, her gray eyes locked seriously
onto his. "Then tell me how we are going to pay for this wedding? Tell me
how we're supposed to afford the new car you bought me? Tell me how we're
supposed to afford even our tiny little apartment?"
"We can cut back on some of our expenses. We can
sell the car and I can buy you a used one since you wouldn't have to drive it
as much. We can make it work, Cec."
She shook her head and pulled her hands away from
Patrick. "I thought you supported me. I thought you were proud of me and
the fact that I could talk in front of a huge crowd of people and bring them to
tears and have them come up to me and ask for my autograph and my advice."
Patrick glared at Cece, anger rising in his eyes.
"Don't you pull that crap on me, Cece. You know how proud I am of you and
all that you do for people, but not at the risk of your own health!"
Taken aback, Cece swallowed hard, suddenly regretting her
decision to use the 'support' card on him. She knew how excited for her he
always was when she got a call from a company asking her to speak at their
conference, then got more excited when she mentioned how much they were willing
to pay her.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered and let her eyes
drop to the blanket, hating to see how angry she was making him. His anger was
out of concern for her. Cece supposed that she would be reacting the same way
if the roles were reversed, though she knew there was always a chance that
Patrick would get hurt on the job. She just never tried to keep him from his
job like he suddenly was for hers.
Patrick tipped her chin up with a finger, though Cece
didn't look into his eyes.
"Look at me," he commanded. He waited for a
moment until Cece gradually brought her eyes up to meet Patrick's. "I love
you. That's why this scares the crap out of me."
"I love you too," she finally replied tiredly.
She reached forward and ran her fingers along the back of Patrick's head,
slowly bringing him closer to her.
He smiled and caressed her cheek before leaning over all
the way and kissing Cece deeply. She let the kiss linger for a moment before
pulling back slightly. She blinked a few times to regain her bearings, knowing
how Patrick's passionate kisses always made her head spin.
Grinning, Cece kissed the tip of Patrick's nose and
rested her forehead against his. He chuckled and closed his eyes, sighing
heavily.
"I knew you wouldn't be mad at me for long," he
teased, making Cece hit his arm and push him away from her.
She stuck her tongue out at him, letting him know that
she was only joking. He laughed and backed away from the bed, hands held up in
surrender. He turned and grabbed the heavy wooden framed waiting chair and
placed it beside the bed.
"Now, tell me about this dream you had," he
said, settling into the chair and casually kicking his feet up onto the edge of
the bed.
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