"Okay, come
on... you've got to eat something," Jenny said, cautious and soft-spoken. She
went to sit down on the edge of the couch, but realized there was no edge of
the couch to sit upon. So, instead, she sat down on the coffee table and
balanced the plate on her bare knees. "It's been... how long? A
day? A day and a half since you came down sick? You need to eat
something."
"I don't
need to eat. I don't need anything." Shane
lifted her hand and waved her away.
"How about some eggs?" Jenny suggested, scraping the fork
against the plate as she moved the eggs around. Maybe the smell would waft over
and tempt Shane.
"No eggs." She
sniffed and rolled over onto her other side. With her eyes closed, she nuzzled
into one of the cushions along the back of the couch. She hugged one of the
smaller side cushions to her chest.
Jenny
sighed. "Okay... not a fan of eggs today. How about..." she set the fork down and
stared at the plate. She picked up a piece of toast. "Cinnamon and sugar toast.
My speciality."
"No toast."
The toast
moved closer. "Just a few bites. I promise you've never tasted toast this
good before."
"No toast,"
Shane repeated, flat and unemotional.
Leaning
forward, Jenny dangled the triangular piece of toast over Shane. "Come on... have
the toast. It's simply scrumptious."
"Then you
eat it," Shane said. "Because I don't want it." She
squeezed her eyes shut even more tightly. Her shoulders rose, brushing past the
ends of her short hair to touch her earlobes.
"I already
had some," she said, sure Shane wasn't buying it. "This is for you." Her hand
moved back and forth, swinging the toast like a pendulum.
Shane
opened an eye and looked up at it. The dark kohl outline was strong but not
enough to make Jenny back off. She closed her eyes again and gave her head a
shake. "No," she said, her voice deeper than usual. "No eggs. No toast. Nothing." There was a moment of pause, then her body shook
and she sneezed. The sneeze was short and halting, but wet. She lifted her hand
again and rubbed at her nose with her hand partially splayed.
"Okay..." Jenny
said with a sigh. After setting the toast down on the plate she held the fork
against the plate to keep it from sliding off as she set it all down on the
coffee table beside her. She watched as Shane rubbed her nose into the back of
her hand between thumb and forefinger. "Maybe something else
then? A shake?"
"No
shakes," Shane said, sounding a little more agitated
now. Her body seized up again and shook as she sneezed twice into the couch
cushions. She was wearing tight jeans, ripped here and there, and a blue hooded
sweatshirt over a white wifebeater. But she still
shivered a little, coming off the sneezes.
"How about a blanket?" Jenny offered, cocking her head.
Shane was
rubbing her nose more often now, and sniffling. "No blanket."
Jenny sat
in silence for a while, then leaned forward again. "No
eggs," Jenny clarified. "No toast," she continued. "No blanket." Her lips were
right by Shane's ear and her voice was even softer than normal. Shane tried
hard to be silent, but her nose was running and she just had to sniff. Jenny
smiled. "How about a Kleenex?"
Shane's
shoulders rose again as she gave a laugh. "Yeah," she said finally.
"Yeah?" Jenny echoed.
Shane nodded.
"Yeah."
Jenny
slapped her hands upon her knees, just below the hem of her skirt, and she
jumped to her feet. "Excellent start!" She headed to
the bathroom for a box of Kleenex. And when she got back, Shane was sitting up and
chewing. A piece of toast was in her hand. Jenny just smiled knowingly and sat
down on the couch. It was a new box of Kleenex, so she ripped it open and
pulled out a few tissues.
Shane
froze, looking at Jenny. She swallowed the last bite of the piece of toast and her
eyes went from Jenny's face to Jenny's hand then back up again. She reached
over and ignored the Kleenex Jenny had extracted. Shane took a few out of the
box and brought them to her face, rubbing her face into them rather than the
other way around.
"It's really
good toast," Shane confessed. She looked over at the plate, then
went for the second piece that was there. She smiled, toast in one hand and the
tissues in the other. She took another bite and sighed. "Fucking
good toast, actually." She snuffled into the tissues, balled them up,
and set them down on the couch to her side.
Jenny
smiled a pleased smile and put her head on Shane's shoulder for a few moments. The
strap of her lacey shirt slipped off her shoulder but she didn't make a move to
right it. "Well now that you believe me about the toast, is there anything else
I can get you?"
Shane
shrugged and coughed into her shoulder. "You know, I could probably use some Codeine,"
she said hopefully.
"Mmmm," Jenny mused. "Perhaps you should just start with something
a little softer. I think there's some Nyquil in the medicine cabinet from the
last time Tim was sick. Can I get you a little of that?"
Shane
shrugged and frowned, dropping her head down a little so that her eyes were
half-hidden by her dark hair.
"Right..."
Jenny said, nodding in understanding. "You don't need anything," she said
gently and matter-of-factly. She tilted her own head in one direction, then
back towards the other side. He gestured largely, waving her hand. "So I'll
leave the bottle and a spoon on the sink. Just in case. And I'll be in my room
writing. Within shouting distance... just in case." She
smiled at Shane.
Shane rubbed
two fingers at her nose, then wiggled her face a little,
nostrils flaring with irritation. Her fingers flicked at her nose and she
quickly swallowed so she wouldn't sneeze with her mouth full. Her eyes closed
and she stopped rubbing only when she realized it was doing no good. She
snapped forward, sneezing, her chest practically hitting her thighs. She
sniffed wetly as she helped herself to more tissues.
"Okay,"
Jenny said, standing back up. "So..." she clasped her hands and held them to her
face, thumbs pressed against her lips. Her index fingers were straight out,
pointing up and touching the tip of her nose before she turned her hands to the
side and rested her lips against the back of one of her hands. She was pointing
down at Shane now. "So you don't need me to hope that you'll feel better, so I
won't say that. But I will say I'm going to the store a little later and I
shall be perfectly positioned to buy anything if you just so happen to think of
something you do need."
Shane
sighed and Jenny shrugged. "It's just a statement, not a suggestion," Jenny
said, dropping her hands and smiling. "Because I know what you actually need is
just to be left alone right now."
"Thank
you," Shane said, smiling back at her. Then she lay back down, stretching out
along the couch and rubbing herself into the cushions again to get comfortable.
Jenny walked to the hallway and waited until she was sure Shane was asleep.
Then, to the sound of stuffy, almost snore-like breathing, Jenny snuck back
over and draped a blanket over Shane, just in case. Shane murmured something in
her sleep which Jenny took as a good sign.