That way she wouldn’t be even more tempted to drag him off to her room and make love to him again.
The next morning Charm said she wasn’t feeling well, and went back to bed without eating breakfast. Miss Pearl was unimpressed, even when Mina said she’d thought Charm might have a fever, though the thermometer said her temperature was only very slightly elevated.
“We’ll keep her home today, but it’s back to school for her tomorrow. Half-term holidays always make it difficult to get children back into the school schedule.”
Kiah rolled his eyes but made sure to do it where only Mina could, and his grandmother couldn’t, see him. Mina held in her chuckles and somehow kept a straight face.
“I’ll keep an eye on her today,” she said as they heard the beep of a horn outside, heralding the arrival of their transportation. “I’m sure she’ll be okay.”
But Charm showed signs of getting worse as the day progressed, complaining of a headache, and with a spike in her temperature that worried Mina. Since it was flu season, even in the tropics, she gave her a dose of acetaminophen and kept an even sharper eye on her than before.
She called Kiah early in the afternoon and left a message asking him to call her back, but before he could, she knew she had to make a decision. Charm was excessively sleepy, and now complaining of joint pain to go along with her blinding headache.
All kinds of horrible thoughts were going through Mina’s head, especially with the memory of the not long past camping trip. Encephalitis, meningitis, the dreaded chikungunya—none of them were off the table, in her mind, and she made the decision to take Charm to the hospital.
It was only as she was getting Charm dressed that she realized she also had to figure out how to get her there. Should she call an ambulance? The taxi driver the family used on almost a daily basis?
“Auntie,” Charm said with an air of urgency. “I’m going to be sick.”
And Mina got her into the bathroom just in time for her to lose what little she’d eaten that day.
That made the decision for Mina.
Without thinking too much about it, she finished helping Charm put on her clothes. Then she fetched a basin from the washroom, and, grabbing the car keys and her handbag on the way out, led the youngster to Kiah’s car.
Just as she had finished strapping Charm into the front seat, and placed the basin on her lap in case of need, her phone rang. She answered it as she closed the passenger door and started around the car to the driver’s side. The relief swamping her, as she heard Kiah’s voice, was visceral.
“Hey, I got your message. What’s up?”
“I don’t like how Charm looks. She’s lethargic, with joint pain and a blinding headache so bad it made her throw up. It may just be flu, but I’m taking her to the hospital.”
“Did you call an ambulance, or Mr. Brown?” he asked, referring to the taxi driver.
“No,” Mina replied, already sliding into the driver’s seat. “I’m driving her myself.”
“Jesus, Mina.” The stress quotient in his voice rose a number of levels. “How bad is she?”
He knew she hadn’t driven since the accident, and wasn’t used to the St. Eustace streets, or driving on the left-hand side of the road. Hearing she was worried enough to even attempt it was making him panic.
“I’m sure she’ll be all right,” she replied, trying to calm him, even though her own anxiety was through the roof. “I’m just playing it safe.”
“I’m on my way back, as soon as I find the driver,” he said. “And I’ll pick up Granny, too.”
“Good,” she said, glad it was a right-hand drive vehicle, so she could adjust the seat without too much trouble. “I’ll call you from the hospital.”
Thank goodness the car was automatic, as well, so once she’d got it in gear it was just a matter of steering, and remembering to stay on the proper side of the road.
Charm moaned softly from the seat beside her, wringing Mina’s heart.
“What hurts, baby?” she asked as she drove through an intersection perhaps a little faster than was wise.
“My head. The light hurts, even with my eyes closed.”
“We’re almost at the hospital, okay? We’re going to get you all fixed up.”
God, she hoped she was wrong, and it was nothing more than a bad case of the flu, but her intuition warned her it was something more serious. Better to be safe, and look like an overly concerned mother, than sorry later on.
When she pulled up outside of emergency, it was to find that Kiah had called ahead to warn them she was bringing Charm in, and there was an orderly and nurse waiting with a wheelchair. As they eased the girl out of the car Charm vomited again, and the nurse and Mina exchanged worried looks.
“Don’t leave me, Auntie,” Charm said, holding on to Mina’s arm.
“I’ll be right here, baby, but I have to move the car, in case an ambulance or another emergency comes in. Go with Nurse Schofield and I’ll be with you in a minute.”
But it wrung her heart to see the fear in Charm’s damp eyes, and when she’d found a spot to park and was running back to the building, she had to dash away a few tears of her own.
“Dr. Jonas is in with her,” the head nurse told Mina, once she was back inside. “Go on in.”
“Dr. Langdon is coming in from Morningside—”
“I know,” the nurse said, walking briskly and leading Mina to a cubicle. “He told us what was happening, and said he was giving you the power to make any decisions necessary regarding Charmaine’s care until he arrived.”
Behind the curtain, she found Neil Jonas examining Charm, with a nurse in attendance.
Mina put her hand on Charm’s shoulder and said, “I’m back, baby.”
The little
