At home after picking up Oscar’s prescription, Meredith made him a snack that he barely touched. Then she carried him to bed and only managed to get through one storybook before he crashed.
Jamie was nowhere to be found, so Meredith grabbed her MacBook, her jacket, and her phone, and went to Leona’s sewing room. The woman was bent over her sewing machine working on what looked like the violet bodice of a bridesmaid’s dress. With a mouthful of straight pins, she didn’t stop sewing when Meredith entered.
“Leona, I gave Oscar his medicine, and he’s napping. Could you let me know if he wakes up? I’ll just be outside.”
“Mmm,” Leona muttered, still without looking up and not bothering to remove the pins to speak to her.
Assuming this meant yes, and knowing she wouldn’t be far anyway, Meredith headed outside to her car again. She climbed into the passenger seat and pushed it back as far as it would go before angling the rearview mirror to run her fingers through her hair. Not great — she looked like someone who’d been awake since four in the morning — but it would have to do. With her laptop balanced across her knees, Meredith chose Gray’s contact on her phone and tapped the FaceTime icon.
“Oh my God, you’re FaceTiming me.” Gray answered, a confused frown taking up the screen on her phone. His greeting and her nerves made her laugh. “And now you’re laughing…”
“I’m sorry.” She tamed her fit of giggles. “So this is my idea.”
His brow arched doubtfully. “Meredith, sweetheart, this is a terrible idea.” But even he couldn’t say it without laughing, which only set her off again.
“No, no, it’s a great idea,” she argued, raising the phone and trying to find an angle that didn’t make her face look haggard and sleep deprived. “I just wish I didn’t look so awful.”
“You’re beautiful. Hold still so I can look at you.”
Meredith’s blush was immediate. Her giggles dried up along with her mouth. By the look of it, Gray was climbing the stairs to his study, and even though his eyes smiled for her, she could see he was squinting.
“Can you see me?” she asked, worried for him.
“Yes.” And then almost inaudibly. “Thank God.”
“Are you okay?”
The lines in his forehead smoothed as he looked into the camera. “Better now.”
She watched him sit behind his desk.
“How’s Oscar?”
“He’s asleep. Thank you for asking,” she said, meaning it. “Last night was rough, but he’ll be better soon.”
Gray frowned again. “What happened last night?”
Did he really want to know this? “Well,” she hedged. “He woke up sick with a fever, and let’s just say we both had to take a shower before we could get back to bed.”
“Oh, Meredith,” he said, voice dipping in sympathy, “that doesn’t sound fun.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Did you go to class today?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Through the camera, he appeared to study her. “And you just took him to the doctor’s office? You must be exhausted.”
Meredith sat up straighter in her passenger seat. “I’m okay,” she said, trying to smile past her fatigue. He needed her help. This wasn’t supposed to be about her.
“You put yourself last,” he muttered, his eyes narrowing. “It’s time someone put you first.”
The words meant more to her than he could know, but she didn’t want him worrying about her. “Gray, really, I’m fi—”
“Are you in your car?” he asked, pulling the phone closer to him and frowning into the screen.
“It’s the only place where I have any privacy.”