Fever Read Free Page B

Wednesday men’s lunch group.’
    He was trying to hold it together, but Eve could hear the tremor in his voice. Of course he was freaking. It was his dad . And Luke had already lost his mother. He never talked about it. All Eve knew was that she’d died in a car accident when he was really young, about five years old.
    ‘Oh no, Luke. That’s horrible,’ Eve exclaimed. ‘His dad. The flu,’ she mouthed to Jess, and her friend’s eyes darkened with concern.
    ‘It pretty much had to happen,’ Luke said quietly. ‘I mean, he’s the minister. It’s his job to be around people. He spent the whole day yesterday making calls on everyone in the congregation who’s down with it. This morning before the lunch too.’
    ‘He’s a good man, doing that,’ Eve said. ‘How bad is it?’ Stupid question , she thought, nibbling at her lip the way she always did when she was nervous. If you had Flu X it was bad. Period.
    ‘He’s not feeling all that sick, but his fever’s pretty high,’ Luke told her. ‘But, you know—’
    ‘Yeah,’ Eve answered. It didn’t feel like there was anything else to say. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she added anyway. Why was it so hard to find the right words sometimes?
    ‘Look, I know this is a big favour, but I was wondering …’ Luke hesitated.
    ‘I owe you a couple of dozen favours at least. What?’ Eve prompted him.
    ‘I need a place to stay. The doctor checked me over, and I’m fine. At least so far. But he wants me out of the house or else I’ll definitely catch it too. The Deepdene town council has arranged for nursing teams to give in-home care to all the infected people. They don’t want sick and healthy people living in the same houses. So …’
    Luke. In her house? For days? Eve couldn’t tell if her fluttering heart meant she was thrilled or anxious beyond belief. ‘That makes perfect sense,’ she told him. ‘Let me ask my mom. I’m sure she’ll say you can stay.’
    Jess sat up fast and grabbed Eve’s arm. They had one of their eye conversations. Jess’s eyes: Luke is staying with you ? Eve’s eyes: OMG . Just OMG .
    ‘I thought I’d be able to stay with Ben Flood or one of the guys on the team.’ Luke had joined the football team when he first moved to town, and then he moved on to basketball with everyone else when the season changed. ‘But Ben’s sick and so are a bunch of the other guys. We’ve had b-ball practice every day lately, and everyone’s in the locker room together afterwards …’
    ‘That’s like a huge petri dish for germs,’ Eve said, automatically repeating what her surgeon mother always said as her mind whirled with the pros and cons of a Luke stay-over.
    ‘Yeah. It’s no surprise the flu spread through most of the team,’ Luke agreed. ‘But I’ve been checked out by the doctor and am showing no signs – at least for now … Anyway, I didn’t know who else to call.’
    ‘I’m the first one you should have called. Have you ever been in Ben’s room? The flu probably isn’t the worst thing you could catch in there,’ Eve told him. ‘I’ll check with my mom and call you back.’
    ‘You’ve been in Ben’s bedroom?’ The volume on Luke’s voice had gone up a few notches. Is he jealous? Eve wondered, and the thought made her smile.
    ‘We were partners on an English project last year,’ Eve said. ‘I’m hanging up. Call you in a few.’
    ‘Luke wants to stay here. With you?’ Jess burst out the second Eve hung up.
    ‘Yeah. The public health people don’t want healthy people and people with the flu in the same house,’ Eve answered.
    ‘His dad. That part flew out of my head for a second. Poor Luke. I can’t even imagine. I don’t want to even imagine …’ Jess shook her head.
    ‘I know. I couldn’t even come up with something decent to say to him. What are you supposed to say to someone whose father is that sick?’ Eve asked.
    ‘It’s more about being there than about what you say, I think,’ Jess answered.