I couldn't open my eyes. I felt too hot, too weak. For one terrifying moment I thought it might be the pneumonia come back to finish the job. But these symptoms felt different. I felt like my whole body had a fever and I was swollen. With immense effort I rolled off the bed and onto the floor. Surprisingly enough I didn't get dizzy as I expected, I was simply too fatigued to stand. Gathering all the strength I had left, I shakily crawled across the floor and through the threshold of the side door. I made my way slowly across and yard and was halfway to the house before I realized I was not alone. Glancing around I found myself staring into the blue-gray eyes of Magic. His ears were up and he did not growl, but I froze anyway. He walked over and sniffed my head. When he seemed satisfied I slowly reached my hand out to rest on his back.

“Easy Magic..” I murmured while pushing myself slowly into a stand position. The dog never moved. Holding onto his collar I haltingly made my way up the back porch steps and to the back door. Raising my hand to knock, I nearly fell when the door opened and Irene's face appeared.

“Why, Alexa! I was just coming to get you and...” the words died on her lips as she peered into my face.

“Are you alright?” I swallowed and licked my lips.

“I'm sorry Irene,” I rasped. “I think I have the flu, I was just coming to tell you.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, “We need to get you back to bed, and you probably need broth, yes plenty of fluids...” Irene babbled on to herself all the way back to the guest house and as she helped me into bed and then in a blur of words and colors, she was gone leaving Magic in her wake. I whispered something incoherent to the dog and fell into a deep sleep.

Hours went by and when I finally woke up, Magic was still sitting by the door. In fact, to look at him, you would think that he’d never moved an inch. I felt stuffy and lightheaded. My thoughts were moving in slow motion, but one stood out against the rest. I slowly rolled over so I could climb out of bed. The trek to the restroom was long and hard; twice I thought I was going down, but somehow I made it. After answering the call of nature I went back to bed; however, I did not go back to sleep, my thoughts were soon taken up with a certain young man. The young man with is thick, curly black hair and his screaming deep blue eyes. “Ethan” I breathed. I wondered what he was doing at this very moment. I wished we could be together for the first time since I’d run away from him. “Why did I do that?” I knew that I’d probably hurt him and confirmed his suspicions all at once in the moment I ran away. Magic padded over to the bed and placed his big head down on the covers. I absently reached over and stroked the big head.

“You’re a good boy, Magic” I murmured. I daydreamed about Ethan, Law and I living the perfect life, but soon I drifted to sleep again.

I awoke to the cool touch of Irene’s palm on my head.

“Hi honey” she smiled. “Did you sleep well?” I nodded. She smiled again. “Do you want something to eat?”

“Please” I whispered. She sat next to me for ten minutes, feeding me some broth she had made. I was too weak and uncoordinated to feed myself and it made me feel helpless. I told myself that in that moment if I knew God, I would ask him to make me better. But I didn’t believe it God.

---

I woke up with memories from the day before still fresh in my mind. Very heavy on my mind, was the brunette who had come on to me. It all felt so surreal; so disconnected. I headed out for the day to look for a job. I suddenly wondered if Alexa had a job wherever she had run to, but the thought soon passed. I applied at the convenience store for the job of bag boy and at the local restaurant for the job of bus boy. I even thought of asking my father if he had a job I could apply for at his clinic, but I thought better of it. As much as I thought I liked Nancy, I was pretty sure I wasn’t ready to see her everyday at my father’s clinic. I remembered the conversation with my mother about her earlier that day.

“You knew he had a girlfriend already?”

“Yes, Ethan I knew”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Your father didn’t want you to know just yet. He thought you might be, slightly sensitive to the subject seeing as how close you’ve become with him”. I sighed as I remembered my mother’s words. My parents were constantly making choices for and about me, without consulting me. I was 18 already; a man. I was ready to take on and handle anything that came my way. After all, I’d handled they’re divorce. The whole thing made me queasy; it also made me wonder if there was something else my parents were hiding from me. Did my mother have a significant other as well?

Something didn’t feel right. I drove aimlessly around town until I ended up at my Auntie Day’s house. She lived clear in another county, but somehow I’d subconsciously directed myself here.

I got out of the car and knocked on the front door. There was no response. I knocked again. I was about to give up and go home when I heard some noise coming from the back yard. I went that way and what I saw, amazed me. My Aunt Damian was rushing around her yard like a mad woman. Wild hair flying in all directions, and wearing a faded housedress she looked like a crazed housewife. As I stood there observing, she threw several potted plants to the ground; smashing them on the patio. I could hear here cussing under her breath and I finally unglued my feet and walked toward her.

“Auntie Day, what are you doing?” I called. She stopped.

“He didn’t call” she muttered. “Who didn’t call?” I asked. “Kevin” She whispered it. I walked slowly up to her as the tears started to roll down her face. I touched her arm and she threw her arms around me, sobbing as she clung to me. In all my years of living, I had never seen my Aunt Damian cry before. The pitiful sounds she was making, stirred sympathy from deep inside me and I held her until all her tears were spent. She pulled away and gave me a lopsided grin. Then we cleaned up the mess like nothing had ever happened. We spent the day together just cleaning and reminiscing. It was when I was almost home that I remembered; I hadn’t told her about Nancy.