"Yeah Mom," Jonathon reassured her. "Best to stay away, we don't want to catch what you have!"
"Subtle dude, real subtle," Adam laughed as he punched his brother on the arm.
Olivia dug through the medicine basket above the fridge to find some type of cold medicine that might help her sleep away the morning. She managed to find some nighttime flu medicine and a few cough drops. That would have to do for now. She went back upstairs and crawled under the covers. She picked up her phone and checked her email for messages. Sure enough, there was one from Luke:
Good morning sleeping beauty! I hope you slept well last night. You sounded so adorable as you nodded off, I couldn't help thinking about what it would be like to be there, holding you. I'm not talking anything sexual (not that I haven't thought of that mind you!!!), but just to hold you as you fall asleep. I hope that one day I will have that opportunity. Talk to you tonight!
She smiled to herself at the thought of falling asleep in his arms. But not with this cold, that's for sure. She almost snorted at the thought of it and quickly succumbed to a spasm of hacking coughs. Oh yeah, she thought, Sexy. Really sexy.
She slept for a few hours and when she woke, she decided to try some soup. She wasn't really hungry, but she hoped that by eating some soup and maybe some toast, that the liquid would help soothe, and the toast would have a scratching effect, on her beleaguered throat. She entered the kitchen, bathrobe wrapped tight around her, her slippers flip-flopping on the floor. While the soup was heating, she went to her computer and checked the dating site. Sure enough, there were a couple of cards from Luke. One had been sent early this morning and had a cute puppy dog on the front and inside it read, "I find you adorable!" The second card had flowers on it, and a short message written by Luke that said, "Thinking of you!". It was nice having someone thinking about her all the time, although she was beginning to wonder where he found the time.
Curled up on the couch, she napped on and off throughout the afternoon, the sound of the TV her only company. As she slept, couples squealed over finding their ideal home, audiences oohed and ah-ed when the war veteran's house was renovated.
The boys came home from school and checked to make sure she didn't need anything. She got up a couple of times to use the washroom and to make sure the office hadn't left her a message on her phone or sent her an important email. She sent off a message to Luke, letting him know she had received his messages but that she was sick.
Her phone rang shortly after she sent the message.
"Hi, are you okay?" Luke asked, concern tinging his voice.
"Oh yeah, it's just a nasty cold," she reassured him. "I stayed home and nursed it today, so hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow."
"I hate to hear you sounding so sick," he said. "But on the upside, your voice is even sexier sounding than usual."
Olivia laughed, which caused another fit of coughing. When she came back on the phone, she apologized for leaving him waiting.
"Seriously though Olivia," Luke said. "You should maybe get that checked out, you don't sound so good."
"Oh, I'll be fine," she brushed off the suggestion. "It's just day one of the cold from hell."
"Okay, if you say so, but I'm keeping an eye on you, young lady!" he joked.
They talked for a while longer, and then they agreed that they should call it a night so Olivia could get to bed earlier than usual. The cold was exhausting her, and she wanted to take care so it would be gone as soon as possible.
"Goodnight Olivia," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'm not sure I'll be able to make it for lunch tomorrow as we had planned," Olivia said. "Unless I feel radically different tomorrow, I imagine I'll be home from work for the next couple of days."
"Don't worry, you not being at work won't stop me from seeing you," he stated, decisively.
"Oh, believe me, you don't want to see me and risk catching this cold!" she assured him.
"We'll see," he said. "For now, you just get some rest."
Having felt progressively worse as the evening went on, she didn't need to be told twice. Dosing up on the overnight flu and cold medication, she climbed into bed and was soon sound asleep.
~~~
She lay in the morning sunlight, wondering what she had ever done to deserve this cold. It had been a long time since she had been knocked on her butt so thoroughly by the common cold. She had vaguely heard the boys get ready for school a couple of hours ago, but she hadn't been able to convince her body to fully awaken. Now she reluctantly slid out of bed and grabbed her housecoat. Heading into the kitchen for some tea, she stopped by her computer to check her messages. As she expected, there was one from Luke:
"Hope you are feeling better today. I can't wait to see you. I'll come by around noon with some lunch."
Oh no, there was no way she wanted to see Luke while she was in this condition, and she certainly didn't want to give him this cold. She looked at the clock and realized she needed to let him know quite soon not to come as it was getting later in the morning.
"I'm sorry Luke, but I'm not fit for human consumption today. I look like hell, and I really don't want you to get this. Let's plan for something in a day or two?"
She hit send and took another sip of her tea. The hot liquid soothed her sore throat and gave her a reprieve from the scratchy pain. She laid her head on the desk and closed her eyes for a moment. The ringing of the phone interrupted her moment, and she reached for her cell.
"Hi, Olivia speaking," she answered, without looking at the call display.
"Hi, it's Luke speaking," he responded.
"Hi Luke, sorry about having to cancel but I really feel awful," she said.
"Oh, we're not canceling, I'm going to bring you over something to eat so you keep your energy up and can get well soon," he informed her.
"No, really Luke. I would rather just crawl back into bed," she insisted.
"But we were supposed to see each other today, and I've been looking forward to it," he cajoled. "I'll only come by for a bit, and then you can get some more rest."
"But I don't want you to catch this," she argued.
"Don't worry about me. I'm not afraid of a cold bug," he said, a touch of irritation in his voice. "And don't worry, you look great no matter what."
"Okay," she said reluctantly.
"I'll be over in about an hour," he said, the decision made.
She hung up the phone feeling out of sorts and annoyed. She didn't want to see anyone today, but she supposed it might do her some good to have a reason to get dressed and cleaned up a bit. She stretched her arms over her head in an attempt to shake off the cobwebs in her mind and her body. She would rather go back to bed, but instead, she headed to the washroom to jump in a hot, steamy shower so she could get dressed and be ready for Luke.
An hour later, almost to the second, the front doorbell rang. Olivia met him at the door and guided him to the table and chair set on her front deck.
"If you insist on being around my bugs, at least we can limit the exposure and eat out here," she said.
"As I said, if I want to see you, I won't be letting some bug stop me," he said decisively.