Stay With Me

Danny was lying in bed blowing his nose and I was sitting right beside him, my fingers playing with his hair.

“Why can’t I get well?” Danny whined.

“I’m sorry. I wish I knew why. Honestly, I think you’re getting better because your cough is breaking up and you sound more congested,” I explained.

“I thought congestion was bad?”

“It’s uncomfortable, but not exactly bad. You’ll be congested for a while even after you get better.”

He threw his millionth tissue on the floor, “Great. Just what I want… I’m gonna sound like an idiot when I talk at the wedding!”

I suddenly sneezed and grabbed one of his tissues to blow my nose.

“Now I’ve gotten you sick!” he cried out.

“Calm down. It was bound to happen anyway. I hardly leave your side. At least it’s getting out of your system.”

“But you’re getting sick.”

I shrugged, “You’ll be better.”

Danny sighed in defeat, “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Care for everyone before yourself?”

I pulled my knees up to my chin and stared down at him sweetly. “I don’t know how. It’s just how I am. I prefer other people to be happy before I worry about my needs. I’ve always been this way.”

“Oh,” he replied, blowing his nose again.

After he took the tissue from his face, I kissed his lips and climbed off the bed.

“The girls and I are gonna go hang out before everything starts getting busy with the wedding, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll be okay in here?”

Danny smiled, “Not until you come back.”

“Aw,” I replied, kissing him again. “If you sleep, time will go by faster and I’ll be home sooner.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Smiling, I kissed his forehead and then bustled out of the room to meet the girls downstairs for our day of fun.

After a morning of looking at animals only half the zoo had to offer, the girls and I decided it was time for a lunch break.

“This is so much fun! I love animals,” Kayla announced as we munched on our food.

“I can’t wait to see the giraffes!” Katie grinned joyfully.

Julie smiled, “It’s a huge zoo and I love it here.”

My face lit up remembering how Danny taught Nathan to say “zebra.”

“Thinking about Danny?” Katie teased.

“Yeah,” I sighed, not really caring that she was intending to pick on me. “He taught Nathan how to say ‘zebra’ here. It was adorable.”

“Aw, that’s so cute,” Kayla cooed.

I smirked, “Speaking of boys, you like Tom, don’t you?”

Kayla turned pink, “Why do you say that?”

“It’s obvious he likes you, so I want to know if your crush is a true crush.”

“I’m not crushing on anyone.”

Julie jumped in, “I have to disagree. Every time he starts talking to you, your face lights up.”

“It does,” Katie nodded.

Kayla stayed silent as she distracted herself with her camera.

I smiled sweetly, “You might deny it now, but once you taste the wedding cake, you’ll fall in love with him.”

“The fastest way to Kayla’s heart is through her stomach,” Julie chuckled.

“Okay, that’s true,” Kayla smiled. “But I won’t fall in love with him.”

“You will if the cake is cheesecake,” I replied.

She frowned, “That’s not fair. He knows my weakness.”

We giggled and then the teasing moved to Julie.

“So what abut you, Julie?” I smiled. “You and Mr. Poynter get along well.”

Julie shrugged, “Sure, I like him, but why rush things? I don’t even know if he likes me anyway.”

Kayla, Katie, and I looked at each other knowingly, our gazes falling back on Julie. “He does,” we said in unison.

It was Julie’s turn to blush.

“How do you know?”

“It’s so obvious. Danny even notices it and you know he’s not always the brightest color in the crayon box,” I giggled.

“But he acts the same way around you,” Julie replied, still not completely believing us.

“That’s because we’ve been friends for five years. Trust me, he totally likes you.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Definitely.”

I could see the hope in Julie’s eyes after that.

“Give him your number before you leave, so he’ll keep in touch with you,” I hinted.

Julie nodded and then it was Katie’s turn.

“Are you interested in Harry, Miss Katie?”

“Nope,” she answered calmly. “There’s a guy back home.”

We smirked at her and I decided to be nice and leave her love interest alone until I could meet him.

“Alright. I won’t ask anymore questions about your love life. I’ll want to meet him one day though.”

She only smiled and sipped her drink.

Twenty minutes went by and we finished our lunch. We threw away our trash and then I decided to check up on Danny.

“You worry about him to much,” Julie snickered.

“And he’s getting you sick,” Katie added.

I stuck my tongue out to silence them and then listened to Danny’s phone ring.

Three rings later, he picked up.

“I miss you,” he immediately said to me.

I smiled, “I miss you, too. How are you doing?”

“The same I was when you left.”

“Aw. I’m sorry. I hate that you feel so bad.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good. I can definitely tell I’m getting sick, but I’m okay,” I answered truthfully.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s my fault. I refused to leave your side, so I was going to catch your cold no matter what. It’s okay though.”

Danny coughed a few times and I made a sad face even though he couldn’t see.

“Are you having fun?” he eventually asked.

“Uh huh. We just finished lunch and we’re getting ready to explore the rest of the zoo.”

“Well, then I’ll let you go and I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Okay.”

“I love you,” he told me.

“I love you, too. Get better, Hon.”

“I am trying my best,” he paused. “Have fun.”

“I will. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I hung up and pouted. “He’s still not feeling well.”

“You should get him something,” Katie suggested. “Get him a stuffed animal.”

“Great idea!” I exclaimed, instantly jogging to the gift shop with the others following behind.

When inside the shop, I scanned the shelves of stuffed toys with hopes of finding the perfect gift for Danny. I found a lot of cute animals, but none really jumped out at me.

“Syd!” Kayla exclaimed with an excited look on her face. “I think I found something!”

I instantly ran over and looked at what she wanted to show me.

“Perfect,” I stated, picking up a large stuffed penguin that had a little baby penguin attached to it.

In the back of my mind, I hoped that Danny would look at the stuffed toy and not just see penguins, but see me and Nathan.