Chapter 22 (1/1)

Charmaine opened her eyes against the bright rays of the sun.  She made to get up but quickly fell back onto the bed.  Her stomach was churning and she felt cold, very cold.  Although she was shivering with cold, there was a thin layer of sweat filming over her entire body.  She huddled in the cocoon of her blankets and closed her eyes, praying that this sick feeling will fade away. "Charmaine!  Are you awake?" Raymond called out from beyond the closed door.Charmaine unwillingly opened her eyes and glanced at the clock.  She can't believe noon was fast approaching.  She had never slept past 9:00 am in her lifetime.  She heard Raymond calling her name again and turned towards it.  That small movement made her dizzy and her stomach queasy. "Go away," she mumbled and slinked back underneath the blankets.Raymond thought he heard her but wasn't sure.  He knocked again, "Charmaine!  If you don't hurry we'll be late."  When there was no response he grabbed the knob of the door and said loudly, "I hope you're dressed because I'm coming in."  He twisted the knob but the door wouldn't budge.  "What's going on in there?  Open up will you?"Charmaine threw the blankets over her head and drew her knees up to her chest.  This position alleviated some of her queasiness and it gave her the strength to say, "Go away and let me sleep."Raymond immediately knew something was amiss with her.  Charmaine was an early riser and even when they stayed up late rehearing lines, or going over schedules, she was always up in the morning hours.  "I'm coming in," he informed her and left to retrieve the spare key to her room.  The spare key that she didn't know existed but he did.  Opening the door, Raymond saw a heap underneath the blankets.  "Are you in there?" he asked jokingly and approached the bed.  Nudging her with his hand he said, "Charmaine?"Charmaine made a moaning sound when Raymond gave her that light nudge.  It brought on a powerful wave of nausea and she huddled tighter into a ball.  "Leave me alone," she said weakly.Her voice didn't sound right to Raymond and taking hold of the blankets he flipped it back to reveal her face.  Charmaine was as pale as a ghost.  Alarmed, Raymond bent over her and touched his hand to her forehead, "Are you alright?"  Feeling the fiery hotness of her head he said, "You have a fever."Charmaine smiled softly at him and quipped in an out of breath voice, "Is that all?  I feel much worse than that."Giving her a stern look, Raymond scolded, "A fever is not something to joke about.  It could lead to serious brain damage if you don't tend to it.""But it's not my head that is hurting," Charmaine whimpered as a sharp pain clenched her stomach making her feel like she's at death's door.  She could actually taste the acidic bile at the back of her throat waiting to spill.Seeing her grimace, Raymond took hold of her shoulders and gently lifted her up to a sitting position.  "Tell me exactly what you're feeling."Charmaine opened her mouth and was about to tell him when the surge of nausea that she had been holding back spilled forth.  Unable to hold it longer she gave a slight shudder and heaved, vomiting on Raymond.Raymond jumped back in repulsion.  He looked down at his ruin pants and then at Charmaine.  She was still sitting in the position he had left her in.  Her face was still pale but there was a wavering smile on her face.  With the odor of her vomit filling his nostril and making him gag, he asked with annoyance, "Why are you smiling?"Regaining a bit of strength since the wave of nauseas has passed, Charmaine said weakly, "Because you threw up over me once and I've been meaning to pay you back for it."Raymond saw the amusement in her eyes and a vague memory of that incident flashed through his mind.  Quickly foregoing his annoyance he strode to the door, and said with authority, "I'm going to change and then I'm taking you to the hospital.""No doctor," Charmaine mumbled and laid back down in bed.Raymond didn't say a word in response as he went across the hall to his room.  He changed quickly and returned to Charmaine's room in minutes.  Pulling the blankets down he ordered, "Let's go."Shivering without the heat of the blankets, Charmaine wrapped her arms around her body to shield off the cold.  "No," she mumbled stubbornly and winced when she felt another wave of nauseas forming.Pressing a knee onto the bed Raymond looked at her and taunted, "You better get changed otherwise I'll be more than happy to do it for you.  Believe me I'll do it, even if it's against your wishes."Charmaine's eyes flew open when she heard his subtle threat.  Flustered that she didn't have any strength in her to move much less change she said breathlessly, "I feel really awful.  Every time I move I feel like throwing up."Raymond touched her face tenderly and said, "That's why I have to take you to the hospital to get checked out."Charmaine saw the concern on his face and weakly nodded her head, "I know," she whispered.Making the decision for her, Raymond went to her dresser and pulled out a simple button down shirt and a pair of loose fitting pants.  He returned to the bed and placed it beside her.  Lifting her arms gently above her head, he grasped the hem of her nightdress and slowly began lifting it up over her thighs, higher up above her stomach and keeping his eyes on her face, Raymond pulled it over her head.  Charmaine didn't make any efforts to hide her nakedness from him.  She was too sick and weak to bother with modesty now.  With the softest of touch, Raymond eased her arm into the sleeve of the shirt.  When that was done, he gently rolled her to the side facing away from him.  After spreading the shirt across her back and tucking it under her other arm, just as gently he lowered her back to the bed.  He saw a rosy hue on her cheeks despite the paleness of her face and when he met her gaze, she quickly looked away.  Guessing that she was feeling shy or perhaps even embarrassed by having him dress her, he joked, "Now that I've seen you naked, you have no choice but to marry me."Charmaine was saved from making a comment when Raymond left her side and kneeled down at the foot of the bed.  He slid her feet, one at a time, into the legs of the pants and gradually pulled it up, making sure that his movements didn't jolt her too much.  Throughout it all, he remained impersonal and caring at the same time.  When she was at last dressed, he slipped his arms under her and lifted her up against his chest.  "Off we go," he told her softly only to realize she had fainted.--------------------------------------------------------Raymond paced the floors outside the ER room, glancing every few seconds at the closed curtain where Charmaine was being evaluated behind.  The curtains suddenly pulled back and the doctor on duty looked towards him.  "How is she?" Raymond asked anxiously.The doctor looked down on his clipboard before answering, "She has a bout of food poisoning.""What?" Raymond gasped in surprise.  "That can't be.  We eat the same food every day and nothing happened to me.""You have a stronger stomach then," the Doctor said in that same monotone.  "We've pumped out her stomach and she's fine now.  She's still very weak from the procedure but in a few days she'll be back to normal."Raymond looked past the Doctor at Charmaine, who was lying as still as death on the hospital gurney.  "When can she leave?"The Doctor looked down at his clipboard again and waved a nurse over.  Handing the clipboard over to the nurse, he answered, "I gave her a light dose of anesthetic that will probably wear off in an hour or two.  She can leave when she wakes up.  When she goes home she has to stay away from fatty, greasy food for a day or two.  Plain congee or oatmeal is good and nothing to drink besides warm water.""Thanks Doctor," Raymond said then hurried into the room to see Charmaine.  Asleep and with her face washed of her usual rosy complexion, Charmaine depicted the picture of a sick little girl and Raymond had an impulsion to personally take care of her, to mend her back to health.  Covering her limp hand with his, he said softly, "You gave me quite a scare before when you fainted, but luckily you're going to be fine."  He brought his hand to gently caress her hair and whispered, "Tell you a secret," he paused and then touching her face continued, "I've grown to like having you around so try your best not to scare me like this again."------------------------------------------------Myolie walked into the make up room and the first thing she did was rummage in her bag for her cell phone.  Not finding any missed calls or messages, she dropped the phone back into her bag and sat down behind the mirror."Are you expecting a call?" Kenneth asked as he slowly walked into the room.Myolie smiled when she saw who it was.  "Not really.  I just wanted to see if I gotten any calls."Taking the chair beside her, Kenneth kept his gaze in front of him as he began his routine.  "How was Shanghai?" he asked conversationally.Myolie swiveled her chair to face him.  With a dreamy smile she answered, "It went very well.  I think Raymond is very serious about me."Surprised by her answer, Kenneth turned to look at her, "Why do you think that?" he asked carefully.  From his conversation with Raymond just the other night, Raymond had told Kenneth under no circumstances would he ever be with Myolie.  To hear Myolie say otherwise puzzled him."Because I just do," Myolie responded simply and turned away from him to continue her own ministrations.Dumbstruck by what he was hearing, Kenneth didn't utter another word.  He mechanically combed his hair, all the while wondering had he somehow misheard or misinterpreted Raymond's words.  Thinking back again, he knew he hadn't.  From the very beginning, Raymond had made it clear that Myolie was only and will always be nothing but a close friend.  Through the mirror he cast a glance at Myolie.  She was putting away her stuff and was now standing up."Well Kenneth, I guess I'll see you later," Myolie said and walked out.  As she left the room she took out her cell phone and scroll down her list of contacts until she found who she was looking for.  With a grin, she pressed the button to dial that number.