Emily stretched out on the large bed and realized she was alone. She sat up and searched the bedroom, but didn't see him, then sighed and laid back down. The bed felt amazing this morning and she didn't want to get up. Only a few minutes later, she stumbled out of bed and ran into the bathroom.
Morning sickness had gotten stronger over the last few days, and she'd spent a good part of her day sitting on the cold tile floor. Chevalier didn't know, she somehow managed to keep it from him, afraid of how he would react even though it was perfectly normal.
“Em?” Chevalier called into the room.
Emily cleared her throat and called back to him, “Will be out in a sec.”
“I have some breakfast for you, Gordon sent up biscuits and gravy.” She heard the sound of a tray being placed on the small table by the fire.
Emily fought against the lurch in her stomach at the thought of gravy, but it was too much and she turned back to the toilet.
“Emily?” She heard him run into the bathroom, his voice was worried.
“Go away,” she finally managed to say.
“Can I get you something?” He knelt down by her as she laid her cheek on the cold floor.
“Get that food out of here,” she told him, and then shut her eyes.
Chevalier sighed, “Maybe you should see the doctor.”
“I'm fine, just don't bring food into the bedroom.” She wished he would leave so she could take a nap on the floor.
He was out the door and removed the tray from the room, then returned to her side before she even realized he'd left.
“Let me put you to bed,” he said, sliding his hands under her.
“No, this feels better.” She moved her face to a new spot and sighed as the cold tile cooled her cheek.
He watched her for a few minutes, wishing there was something he could do.
“Go away,” she said again.
“If you need me, just call,” he told her as he left hesitantly.
Chevalier stepped into the ante-chamber and told Anna to leave Emily alone, then went down to his office and picked up the phone, dialing quickly.
“Doctor Edwards, please,” he said hurriedly.
“He's with a patient, may I help you?” the nurse asked.
“No, tell him it's Chevalier and tell him, now.” She could tell by the tone in his voice that he wasn't to be messed with.
“One moment please.” Her voice was irritated.
It was only a few minutes later that Dr. Edwards was on the phone, “This is Dr. Edwards.”
“Doctor, this is Chevalier, from the island.”
“Yes, I remember.” He honestly sounded pleased.
“My wife, she's pregnant and...”
“Yes I know. I saw her last week.”
Chevalier paused and then smiled slightly, “Yes, I guess you did. She's pretty sick now, can you come?”
“Sick as in a fever, or sick as in nauseous?” the doctor asked, concerned.
“Nauseous”
“It's morning sickness. She'll be fine in a month or so.”
“A month?!?” Chevalier couldn't believe how blasé the doctor was about it.
“Yes, get her some soda crackers and Sprite, that'll help.”
“Right, I'll do that.” He wrote the two items down on a slip of paper.
“Call if she gets worse. As long as she's eating and gaining weight, she'll be fine,” the doctor said kindly.
“Sure, ok,” Chevalier said, and hung up the phone.
He stepped out of his office and called for a young heku that was walking past, “You… come here.”
The young heku turned to him, terrified, “Y.. yes, Sir?”
“Can you sail a yacht?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“There's one docked to the south of the pier, take it and go into town immediately and get these. When you get back, give them to Anna,” he demanded, and handed him the list before heading up to Emily's room.
Emily wasn't in bed yet. He rounded the corner and was about to tell her he was taking her to bed when he saw her sound asleep on the floor. He sat down beside her and leaned up against the wall to wait.
Several hours passed and Chevalier was debating moving her to bed when he heard Anna in the next room. He got up quietly to meet her, “Did he get it?”
Anna nodded and set down a box of crackers and some cold Sprite in a glass, “You didn't specify, though, so he brought back 16 cases of crackers and 64 big bottles of Sprite.”
Chevalier smiled. He was pleased at the amount, he'd rather have too much than not enough.
Anna looked toward the bathroom, “How is she, Sir?”
He glanced at the door, then back to Anna, “She's asleep on the floor.”
Anna gasped, “You should move her to the bed. She can't be comfortable.”
“I tried that,” Chevalier said, a little irritated Anna assumed he hadn't thought of that on his own. “She said it felt better on the floor.”
“Hrm,” Anna sighed, and left the room.
Chevalier returned to the bathroom and Emily looked up at him from the floor. He reached down and picked her up, “You can come back to the floor after you eat.”
“Ugh, I can't eat,” she told him, and rested her head in the crook of his neck.
“These are doctor's orders… Sprite and crackers.” He sat her down on the edge of the bed and handed her a cracker.
Emily took it and looked at it for a while before taking a tiny bite.
“You're going to have to do better than that.”
“If it stays down, I'll take another,” she said, not moving.
Chevalier studied her. She was pale, but otherwise looked fine for having slept on the bathroom floor. He did notice a twinge of annoyance in her voice, but was able to refrain from chuckling.
She took another bite and then sighed, “Please go away.”
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, “What if I say no?”
She glared at him and he again found the restraint not to laugh.
“You're driving me insane, Chev.” She took another bite of the cracker.
“I'm not leaving, not if you're sick. Maybe I can help.”
“I'm not sick… and you've done enough.” Her voice was icy.
Chevalier considered it for a moment, and then figured he better leave. He wasn't sure why her irritation was endearing, but he knew she wouldn't find his observation amusing.
“Ok, call if you need me then,” he said, and kissed her forehead before leaving.
Emily took a drink of Sprite and then got up and got dressed. She wouldn't admit it to Chevalier, but she was feeling better after eating some.
Finally managing to pull herself together, she headed out to the barn. She knew that in the barn, she wouldn't have someone making comments or watching her like she was about to die suddenly.
Peanut came to greet her as she entered the barn and she sat on the hay to pet him, “How's it going, Peanut?”
The cat curled up in his favorite spot on her lap and purred as she pet him.
“So I guess you