DEAD IN BED By Bailey Simms: The Complete Second Book

PART 10, SECTION 9

Chris may have been one of the few people yet to have contracted TGV, but he looked worse than any of us. He'd been taking blood samples all morning, and his hangover wasn't getting any better. I'm pretty sure he'd slipped away at least once to go throw up in the ravine.

"Is this the last one?" he asked me, rubbing his eyes. "Please, please say yes."

I nudged my mom into the room.

"Chris," I said, a little stiffly. "This is my mom."

He sat up straight. "Oh," he said. "Hi. Mrs. Travis, right? Real pleasure . . ." He glanced at me. "What can I, uh, do for you?"

I said, "I think she's the . . . last one. The last one to be tested." I turned to my mom and whispered, "Give him your arm."

"Okay . . ." Chris obviously hadn't seen my mom raising her hand this morning, and I could tell he was trying really hard not to envision her having sex.

"This really isn't necessary," she mumbled, then she looked to Chris as she sat down. "Is this really necessary?"

Chris gave me another uncomfortable glance. "Well, if you've— "

My mom cut him off. "I just wanted to thank you, Christopher. Before anything else. You've just done so much for everyone." For a moment she stared into his eyes. "You really are such a nice boy," she said. Then she tenderly rested her hand on his knee. "And so attractive. Ashley never told me how attractive you are."

Oh my god.

Chris pulled his knee free from my mom's grasp and gave me a wide-eyed glare.

Even after catching my mom with Ed, and now this little display of affection, I was somehow still holding out hope that she wasn't positive. I just wasn't quite sure what I would do if my mom had TGV.

"Let's just get this over with," Chris said. Before my mom could object, he slid the needle into her arm.

"Ooh," she squealed, then giggled.

Oh my God.

Chris looked at my mom's blood under the microscope for just a couple of seconds, then he nodded at me slowly.

"Early stage two," he whispered.

My mom stood up. "That can't be right," she said.

I had to accept that my mom was sick. If she was going to be in denial about it, I wasn't going to be able to help her at all by denying it too.

"I'm pretty sure it's right, Mom," I whispered.

Chris nudged me, cupped a hand around my ear, and whispered, "What about your dad?"

I swallowed hard. I wasn't in the habit of thinking about my parents having sex, but now I really didn't want to think about it.

But I had no choice.

"Mom," I said carefully but forcefully. "Have you and dad . . . you know . . . recently?"

"Ashley May!" My mom covered her mouth. "Are you asking me . . . ?"

"Mom," I said. "I just caught you with Ed. Remember? So I know you're, you know . . . active." I took a deep breath. "So have you and dad . . . been active recently? It's important."

My mom shook her head, horrified. "Ashley." She gave me a hurt look. "We don't talk about these things!"

Tears welled in her eyes. Suddenly, she pushed past me and rushed out of the room.

"I'm real sorry, Ash," Chris said, shaking his head. "But we'd better get your dad in here too."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please VOTE 🌟 before continuing! Thanks! ;) xxBailey