Point of Retreat Read Online Free PDF Page B

cheeseburgers.
     

 
    Chapter 3
     
     
     
    Hell. Pure hell is the best way I can describe the last twenty-four hours. By the time Gavin and Eddie made it home with the boys, it was apparent that Kel didn’t have a stomach bug after all. Gavin didn’t knock when he ran through the front door and headed straight for the bathroom. Caulder was next, then Lake and Eddie. I was the last to feel the effects of the food poisoning. Caulder and I have done nothing but lay on the couch, taking turns in the bathroom since midnight last night.
     
    I can’t help but envy Kiersten. I should have just had bread, too. About the time that thought crosses my mind, there’s a knock at the front door. I don’t get up. I don’t even speak. No one I know extends me the courtesy of knocking, so I don’t know who could be at the door. I guess I won’t find out, either…because I’m not moving.
     
    I’m lying on the couch facing away from the door, but I hear it slowly open and can feel the cold air circulate as a female voice I don’t recognize calls my name.
     
    “Will?”
     
    I still don’t care who it is. At this point, I’m wishing it was someone here to finish me off…put me out of my misery. It takes all the energy I have to just raise my hand in the air to let whoever it is know that I’m here.
     
    “Oh, you poor thing,” she says. She shuts the door behind her and walks around to the front of the couch and stares down at me. I glance up at her and realize I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. She’s probably in her forties...her short black hair is traced with grey. She’s petite, shorter than Lake. I try to smile, but I don’t think I do. She frowns and glances over to Caulder, who is passed out on the other couch. I notice a bottle between her hands when she passes through the living room and walks into the kitchen. I hear her opening drawers, and she comes back with a spoon.
     
    “This will help. Layken said you guys were sick, too.” She pours some of the liquid into a spoon and bends down, handing the spoon to me.
     
    I take it. I’ll take anything at this point. I swallow the medicine and cough when it burns the inside of my throat. I reach for a glass of water and take a sip. I don’t want to drink too much, it’s just been coming right back up. “What the hell is that?” I ask.
     
    She looks disappointed at my reaction. “I made it. I make my own medicine. It’ll help, I promise.” She walks over to Caulder and shakes him awake. He accepts the medicine as I did without question, then closes his eyes again.
     
    “I’m Sherry, by the way. Kiersten’s mother.”
     
    That explains it.
     
    “She said you guys ate some rancid meat.” She makes a face when she says the word ‘meat.’
     
    I don’t want to think about it, so I close my eyes and try to put the thought out of my mind. I guess she sees the nausea building behind my expression, because she apologizes.
     
    “Sorry. This is why we’re vegetarian.”
     
    “Thanks, Sherry,” I say, hoping she’s finished. She’s not.
     
    “I started a load of laundry over at Layken’s house. If you want, I’ll wash some of yours too.” She doesn’t wait for me to respond. She walks down the hallway and starts gathering clothes, then takes them into the laundry room. I hear the washer start, followed by noise in the kitchen. She’s cleaning. This woman I don’t know is cleaning my house. I’m too tired to object. I’m even too tired to be pleased about it.
     
    “Will?” She walks back through the living room. I open my eyes, but barely. “I’ll be back in an hour to put the clothes in the dryer. I’ll bring some minestrone, too.”
     
    I just nod. Or, at least I think I nod.
     
    ***
     
     
     
    It hasn’t been an hour yet, but whatever Sherry gave me already has me feeling a little better. Caulder manages to make it to his room and passes out on his bed. I walk to the kitchen and make myself a glass of sprite when