In Sickness and In Health

Chapter Eighteen

This chapter may not be very easy on the Erin fans. I'm sorry if she is coming off like a villain, she's not...this is done to demonstrate what can often happen with two females trying to care for the same male...This tension will come to a head the next few chapters. Who will be team Erin? Who will be team Eddie? Who will have the solution? Read to find out. Don't forget to leave your comments.

Chapter Eighteen

Two Weeks Later

Eddie awoke from a dead sleep. Jamie was tossing as much as he could and she heard several soft moans. "Jamie?" She sat up and turned on the light. His face was contorted with pain and drenched in sweat. "Jamie, what is it?"

He was holding his bad arm with his good one, gritting his teeth. "Pain," he managed to reply. "Arm hurts."

"Your arm hurts?" Eddie asked. She turned slid out of bed and hurried to his side of the bed. "Let me see, let go of it."

Jamie dropped his hold and let Eddie examine his bad arm. "It's all cramped up sweetie," she sighed. "Lie still, I'll get the muscle cream and rub it into your arm. Lie still."

Eddie hurried to the medicine cabinet for the muscle cream but found they were out. "I'll be right back, sweetheart."

Eddie remembered how painful her spasms were when she was working on her arm after her operation. She couldn't imagine how painful this was for Jamie, he was exercising those muscles so hard.

Eddie hurried to Frank's room and tried to be quiet as she raided his cabinet for muscle cream. She tried to be quiet but Frank heard her, "Eddie? What's wrong?"

"It's Jamie," Eddie sighed. "He's having a spasm in his arm and I can't find our muscle cream."

Frank's feet hit the floor, he grabbed his cane and helped her find the cream. "Frank it's so late, thank you for helping but you can go back to bed."

"He's still my boy," Frank reminded Eddie and headed downstairs.

They could hear Jamie crying out in pain, Eddie ran into the room with Frank close behind. "I found your dad's cream. Let me move your arm honey."

His arm was frozen to his side he muscles spasmed and constricted. Eddie got the cream on her hands and exposed his skin. Eddie rubbed the warm cream into Jamie's skin as Frank took his right hand into his own. "It's all right son." It was breaking Frank's heart to see his boy suffering.

"Take a deep breath," Frank whispered as Eddie massaged Jamie's arm.

"That's it..." Jamie took long and slow deep breath in his nose and out his mouth. Eddie's hands found the spasm and with great effort finally got it to release.

"Move your arm baby," she advised. "Just try to move it a little bit. Tomorrow we'll talk to Roger about these."

"It hurt so bad, I'm so sorry," Jamie was embarrassed. He didn't like all the attention.

"I know it did," Eddie kissed his head. She moved the limb back and forth to stretch the muscles then laid it on a pillow. Frank was still holding tight to Jamie's hand and stroking his sweaty brown. Eddie got a cold cloth and let Frank wipe Jamie's face. She knew the father in him had to care for his boy. It was too hard on him to see this and not try to soothe him.

Jamie's eye get heavy, the pain exhausting him. "Come on, Dad, let's go back to bed. He's all right now." Eddie took Frank and guided him back upstairs. "Has he had these often?"

"No, this was the first one like this," Eddie replied. "But I think we'll have a lot more of them. Roger says he brain is starting to rework itself now and he's getting motion in that arm. I'll take the good with the bad on this. You okay?"