Girls in Pants - Ann Brashares [63]
Eric knelt next to Bridget. He put his hand on her forehead again. He bent down close to her ear. “I don’t really want to leave you in here with the two of them. You want to come back with me? My cabin is empty this weekend. You can sleep.”
She nodded gratefully. She was only wondering how she was going to get from here to there without freezing to death. She wasn’t wearing anything but her underwear under the blankets.
He had an idea for that, too. He put his arms under her and scooped her up, still tucked inside her blankets. He carried her out of the cabin and into the night, with Katie and Allison watching his back in surprise and indignation.
She felt light in his arms. She rested her burning face against his neck. She was shivering again. He pulled the blankets closer around her and rested his chin lightly on the top of her head.
She was trying her hardest to remember each of these things he did, to mark them in her brain permanently, because they were immeasurably sweet. Maybe they were the sweetest things that had ever happened to her or ever would. She kept hoping that this, unlike all those blankets she imagined getting and glasses of water she imagined drinking, that this was real. Please let it be real, she thought wistfully. And if it’s not, let me just stay here anyway.
He pushed open the door of his cabin with his back and put her very gently into a bed—his bed, she hoped. She wanted to smell his smell. He was careful to tuck her blankets around her snugly. She tried to stop shivering.
“I’d put another blanket on you, but I don’t want you to get overheated, you know?”
She nodded. She noticed he’d been carrying a bag, also, looped around his wrist. “Here.” He unloaded a bottle of Advil, a bottle of aspirin, a bottle of water, a bottle of orange juice, a thermometer, and a paper cup. “The nurse isn’t back till Sunday, but I got into the infirmary in case we need anything else.”
She fluttered her eyes, trying to focus on his solemn face. “It was unlocked?”
He shrugged. “Now it is.”
He filled the cup with water and poured two pills into his palm. “Ready?” He helped her to sit up in bed.
She tried to figure out how to get her hand out without letting any cold air in. She stuck her hand out up by her neck, keeping the rest of the blanket tight around her. She thirstily drank the water and another cup and another with her little T. rex arm.
“Poor thing. You were thirsty,” he said.
She took the pills, wincing as they went down. Her throat felt swollen.
“Thank you,” she said, lying back down. She felt tears fill her eyes at the extravagance of his kindness to her.
He put his cool hand on her cheek again. “I am worried about you,” he said quietly. And looking at his face, she could never again question whether they had really become friends.
He took the thermometer out of its case. “Open up.”
“Are you sure you want to know?” she asked. She knew she was hot.
He nodded, so she opened her mouth. He waited for the mercury to settle. It didn’t take very long. He studied it with his eyebrows furrowed. “God, it’s 104.7. Is that safe?”
“I’ve been there before,” she said faintly. Why did she have to do everything in such dramatic fashion?
“Should I call a doctor?” he asked.
“I think I’m going to be okay,” she answered truthfully. “I’m not scared or anything.”
He lay on the bed opposite her, propped on his side, watching her carefully.
“I’m going to call your dad,” he announced, sitting up. He got his cell phone from the top drawer of his bureau.
“Don’t call my dad,” she said softly. “He’s not…there.”
“It’s midnight. Where would he be?”
“No. I mean.” She took a break. “He’s just not there. In that way.” She was too tired to explain any better.
He looked at her, the corners of his mouth turned down. He looked deeply troubled about that.
He lay down across from her again.
The more she wanted to stop shivering, the more she shivered. She didn’t want him to worry about her.
He couldn’t stand to watch her shake. He got up and came over to her. He picked her up inside her ball of