Chapter 7 – The Insanity Continues UnabatedYou know those sweepstakes mailers that you get in the mail from time to time? As it turns out they're not all phony; Mr. and Mrs. Bunch won a four-day all-expenses-paid vacation to Starlight Shores and are leaving tomorrow morning. They've put Ethan in charge until they get back, which has him a little bit uptight. It's not little Ian that he's worried about, either. He's a very sweet baby and almost never cries.
It's Lisa that he's the most concerned about—especially after he accidentally walked in on THIS scene earlier this evening:
You should have seen the look on Ethan's face when he came into my room afterward. I wasn't sure whether he was going to cry or throw up. Fortunately he did neither, but both of us did come to the conclusion that nothing good could possibly come from this.
We might be in for an interesting four days...
Day 1: FridayThe first day is coming to a close and things seem to be going smoothly so far.
Mr. and Mrs. Bunch left early this morning. Both of them seemed pretty excited, though I could tell that Mrs. Bunch was apprehensive about leaving Ian after only two weeks. Ethan reassured her that everything would be just fine.
We called for a babysitter for Ian before heading off to school. She seemed nice enough, and Ian was cooing and giggling like crazy when we got back home.
Arlo really seems to love the little guy. After he had finished his homework he spent probably the next hour chatting to him. “And when you learn to walk I'll show you how to kick a soccer ball! Then I'll teach you how to throw a baseball and how to swim, oh, and you HAVE to learn how to swing on the swings! And learn how to fish, and...”
So cute.
Lisa wound up with detention this afternoon, and apparently so did VJ. Both of them appeared at the front door just after four, looking smug. Fortunately they behaved themselves (we think). It's nearing eleven and he still hasn't left. They're down in the hot tub and I don't want to know any more than that...
Darlene wasn't acting like herself. She was very quiet for most of the afternoon and went to bed early. I hope everything is all right.
Day 2: SaturdayWell it's official: Darlene is sick.
The poor thing was up coughing and sneezing all night. Finally at about three this morning Ethan carried her downstairs and put her in their parents' bed so she could have a room to herself. Once daylight broke he went back down to check on her. Darlene was asleep, but her face was moist with sweat and she was very flushed.
Ethan checked her temperature and realized why: she was running a fever of 101° F.
“I'm calling for a doctor.”
A short time later the doorbell rang, and I went to answer it. Much to my surprise the person on the other side was none other than Geoffrey Landgraab. To be fair, he looked just as shocked to see me as I was to see him.
“Holly Alto?!”
“Hi, Doctor Landgraab. I'm assuming you're here for Darlene?”
“Ah...yes.” He looked me in the eyes. “Holly, what happened? Nancy and I grew quite concerned when you suddenly disappeared. According to your father you “ran away from home”, but neither of us believed him. We were afraid that something...unfortunate might have happened.”
“Mother kicked me out, actually. I've been living here for the past couple of weeks.”
“Truly?” He heaved a sigh. “It pains me that you had to become involved in all of this. I am deeply sorry.”
I led him toward the back bedroom, where Ethan was helping Darlene to sit up. He looked up at Doctor Landgraab and shook his hand. “Hello doctor. I'm glad you could come on such short notice.”
“Not a problem at all.” He looked down at Darlene. “And how are you feeling, little miss?”
“Awful,” came Darlene's weak reply. “I'm all stuffy and I can't breathe good. My tummy kinda hurts too.”
The doctor pulled out an odd, flat electronic device and held it over Darlene's chest. He pressed a red button at the top of it and the screen came to life, displaying what appeared to be vital signs. Doctor Landgraab pursed his lips together and tapped one of the numbers on the screen. “Hm, her white blood cell count is high and her oxygen is a touch low.” He pulled out his stethoscope. “Darlene, I'm going to need you to breathe in as deeply as you can, okay?”
Darlene nodded and took a deep breath, which caused her to start coughing.
“Oooh, yes. You definitely have some sort of infection in those lungs.” He looked at Ethan. “It looks like bronchitis. Fortunately you caught it in its early stages so she should recover pretty quickly with the right medication.”
He pulled a couple of foil-wrapped pills from his bag and handed them to Ethan. “Have her take one of these now, then the second one later this afternoon. I will write a prescription for the rest.”
Ethan smiled. “Thank you sir. What is the charge?”
Doctor Landgraab thought for a moment. “None.”
“Doctor, you made a house call. You took valuable time out of your day to help my sister.”
“Oh I am quite aware of that. Consider this a gesture of thanks.” He glanced over at me and smiled.
I can only imagine what the conversation will be like in the Landgraab household tonight.
Day 3: SundayLisa has been in rare form today. Last night Ethan told her in no uncertain terms that she was not allowed to bring VJ over while Darlene was sick. She didn't take it well.
“
Lisa! For crying out loud!”
Ethan wasn't the only victim of her mischief.
Around noon she announced that she was going over to VJ's house. As soon as she had closed the door Ethan collapsed in the armchair with a sigh.
“Here's hoping she's not back until after dinner.”
We heard some movement from the back bedroom and Ethan stood up to check it out.
“Ethan, just relax. I'll look in on Darlene.”
“You sure?”
I put my arms around him. “You're exhausted. You've been up since four and have hardly had a break since. Go take a nap for a while. Let me help.” Ethan smiled at me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks.”
I walked into the back bedroom and found Darlene fully awake and standing up. She looked up at me and smiled.
“Hi Holly.”
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“A little better I think,” she replied. “It doesn't hurt as much when I breathe, and I'm only coughing a little bit.”
“That's good news. Do you want anything to eat?”
“Not really.” She shook her head. “Holly, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“You like my brother, don't you?”
“Yes I do,” I said. “I like him very much.”
“Do you love him?”
“Yes.”
Darlene looked me straight in the eyes. “Are you going to marry him?”
Now I was sure that I was blushing. “I really, really hope so.”
She started to giggle. “I hope so too! I like you!” The child glanced around the room. “There's somebody that I hope to marry someday.”
“Oh? Who would that be?”
“Promise you won't tell anybody?”
“Cross my heart.”
She motioned me to lean in closer, then whispered a name into my ear.
(I promised her I wouldn't tell!)
The rest of the day went by quickly. I brought a bowl of soup in for Darlene at about three, then cuddled up with Ethan and Ian on the couch to watch a movie. Both of us were too busy playing with the baby to pay much attention to the movie though. Ian is just adorable.
I can't help but think that someday...
Never mind.
Day 4: MondayBack to school for what is bound to be a stressful week. Finals start on Wednesday and run through next Monday.
Ethan is more than ready for his parents to be back. The good news is that Darlene was feeling well enough to go to school today, and for once Lisa was actually being somewhat personable.
Oh, I almost forgot—today was also Arlo's birthday! He wanted to wait until his parents got home before having the real celebration, but we did have a cake. Then he went off to play video games.
Sigh, well, I had better get back into the textbooks. The first final is Physics, and it's my worst subject. Wish Ethan and I luck—we'll both need it!
