Heaven Knows

Thirty Two

Gail couldn't believe it. Anna nearly choked on her drink as I devoured chicken tacos.

But now I'm the one nearly choking on myself as I run out of my office to reach the restroom. The moment I enter a stall, all those tacos come right out. I knew I should've trusted my vegetarian instincts!

But I hear Anna run in since I left her midway through her sentence. "Tessa?! Are you alright?" I know all she hears is the horrible sound of my puking.

I finally take a breath as my stomach empties my lunch. I groan as I flush the toilet and walk out.

"Are you sick?!" Anna says as she puts a hand on my forehead. "You don't feel sick."

"It's those tacos," I mumble. "I knew I should've just stuck with the veggie burger..."

"Well, at least you know not to risk it with a quick try. Clearly, your stomach isn't ready to try chicken again."

"Okay," I say after washing my hands and teeth. "Let's get back to work."

"Are you sure? You don't want to go home?"

"I'm fine. C'mon."

Amazingly, I feel much better as I sit back down and work on the rest of the day. I tell this story to Tyler as he lies on the couch. He just arrived from the hospital and he tends to have some fatigue from the medicine he gets. So I usually run tender fingers through his hair when this happens.

"See? Chicken and meat are bad. I nearly died today."

"What about fish?"

"That, too."

"Then how do you live?"

"You replace those proteins with greens like peas or even chickpeas."

"Mmm. C'mere, chickpea." Tyler gestures at me to lay by his side so he can put his head on my chest like he does sometimes.

So I accommodate this position and relax at the feeling of his strong arms around me. My heart seems to melt with just his touch and my eyes start to turn heavy, too.

"What else happened other than throwing up?"

I do a small laugh and kiss his head. "Don't worry about me. What about you? What have the doctors said?"

"Same thing as always. People saying the same things. That it's quick. Hang on. Just a few more months. Can I have your number--"

"What?!"

He laughs at this and I wince as I feel his head move on my chest. It's been so sore lately. I have a feeling I might get my period soon since my nerves have died down a bit to let my body function normally again.

I close my eyes and exhaustion immediately rocks me to sleep. Tyler also seems to get tired and we fall asleep on the couch until the next morning.

I stretch and awaken at the sound of footsteps in the living room. I smile at the softness of the pillow as I hear Tyler move around the place.

"Honey?"

I groan and turn my head to the other side so I don't have to hear him.

"Sweetie."

"Mmm..."

"I'll be back. I'm going to church, okay?"

"Since when do we go to church?"

"I found once when I went out for a walk. They're really nice. Why don't you come with me? Just for today."

I groan but Tyler's fingers through my hair send shivers down my spine. I turn my head back to him and see those begging brown eyes. I close my eyes and say, "Five more minutes."