Katie's Glimpse (The Glimpse Series) (15 page)

I pulled him towards
the table. “Well, we can’t have that. I’d hate to see all those big muscles
disappear,” I replied with a smirk. He chuckled, but I noticed a slight
pinkness to his cheeks.
Oh my gosh! I’d actually made him blush.

We sat down at the
table, and I bowed my head but didn’t actually pray. I had recently begun to
bow my head when Levi did. I would peek up at him through my lashes and when I’d
see him lift his head, I would lift mine too. I never thought I was fooling him
and that wasn’t my intentions. I did it more out of respect.

As I sat there with
my head bowed, he did something he’d never done before. He began to pray out
loud. He didn’t recite some prayer he’d learned as a kid either. He actually
spoke to God from his heart, thanking Him for specific things in his life,
including me. I almost fell out of my chair when I heard that.
I’m not a
blessing. I’m a curse, and eventually he would see it.
He said amen, and I
lifted my head. I smiled when our eyes met, but knew it looked forced. He smiled
back, a genuine smile that reached his eyes and it erased the drab feeling that
had tried to overtake me.

 We dug into our
yummy smelling burgers, but I was only able to finish half of mine. Levi, of
course, ate all of his. “Can I have the rest of yours?” he asked when he
noticed I was finished.

“Sure. If you don’t
mind eating after me.”  

“Why would that
bother me? I’ve kissed you before.”

I wrinkled my nose.
“That’s different.”

 He picked up my
burger, took his napkin and wiped off where I’d eaten it. “Is that better?” he
asked before he took a big bite.

I rolled my eyes and
laughed. He was such a goof. I watched in shock as he polished off my burger
and the rest of the fries. “How are you not fat?”

“I work out, a lot
actually,” he replied.

I assumed he did
something but now that he’d mentioned it, I was confused. “Okay, two questions.
One, when do you find the time? And two, why do you work out so much? I mean,
obviously you know you’re attractive, but you don’t seem like the type of
person who would invest so much time in their appearance.”

He grinned. “I’m
attractive, huh?” I sighed loudly and crossed my arms. “Okay, okay, settle
down. I’ll be serious. I used to go after work but since I’ve met you, I’ve had
to adjust my schedule. Now, I either go early in the morning or late at night.
As for the why, that’s personal, but it has nothing to do with me wanting to
look a certain way.”

Okay then, I
guess he’s not going to tell me. Why is he being so secretive about it?
I realized how absurd my thoughts were and
almost laughed. How could I get upset at him considering I was the queen of
secrets? “Oh, okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry into your personal
business. And as far as you changing your workout schedule, you didn’t have to
do that. We don’t have to hang out all the time.” I couldn’t believe how much
it hurt to even say those words to him. It made me want to cry just thinking
about not spending time with him anymore.

He shook his head.
“Don’t apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for. I will tell you my reason
one day, but now is not the right time. And if you think I care for one second
that I had to change my schedule, then you don’t know how much spending time
with you means to me. You’re stuck with me, Katie.” I smiled, thrilled with his
reply and began to gather up our trash.

With everything
cleaned up, I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. He followed behind me,
snatching a new toothbrush from the pharmacy bag as he passed by it. “What are
you doing?” I asked, eyeing his new toothbrush suspiciously.

“Just going to brush
my teeth. I want to have good dental hygiene too.” He gave me a look that said
he was sincere, but I knew better.

“Uh huh, you think
you might get to kiss me again, don’t you?”

He held up his hand,
feigning shock. “Katie, we’re just friends. Friends don’t kiss but if that’s
what you want, I’ll see what I can do.”  

I narrowed my eyes at
him. Somehow he had turned this conversation around to where it seemed like I
wanted him to kiss me. Which I did, but that wasn’t the point. I scooted out of
the way and gestured towards the sink, letting him go first. He brushed his
teeth while I patiently waited my turn. As I watched him finish up, I realized
it didn’t even feel weird to have him in my tiny bathroom brushing his teeth. He
turned and kissed my forehead with a loud smack before squeezing past me. I
couldn’t help but smile as I brushed my teeth.

I strolled out to
the living room and saw him sprawled out on the couch flipping through the TV
channels. I picked up my prescription sack from the counter and perched on the
arm rest of the couch. He sat up, making room for me, and pulled me down beside
him. He watched over my shoulder as I opened the sack. I pulled out a round
case and after opening it, I froze.
What in the world?!

Levi studied the
tiny ring of pills inside the case, chuckling when he realized what it was. “He
put you on birth control for your cramps.”

I was mortified, as
if witnessing my embarrassing episode with cramps wasn’t enough, he’d actually
gone to the pharmacy and bought my birth control.

I groaned. “Not only
is this completely embarrassing, but what if someone at the pharmacy knows you
and there you were, dropping off my prescription of birth control and picking
it back up. I don’t want them to think anything like that about you, Levi. I’m
so sorry.”  

He gently turned my
face towards his. “Hey, we haven’t done anything wrong. We aren’t having sex,
and that’s not even what the birth control is for. We know that and God knows
that, so that’s all that matters, okay?” 

“Okay,” I said
softly and gave him a small smile. “It’s still embarrassing though. You know
way too much about me.”

He laughed. “I could
never know too much about you. How about I make you a deal? The next time I
have something embarrassing I need to buy, I’ll call you. You can pick it up,
and then we’ll be even.” I swatted at his arm, but he was ready this time and
dodged it. As we settled in to watch TV, he put his arm around my shoulders and
pulled me close to his side. “What? Friends can cuddle,” he said when he
noticed the look I shot him.

I sighed but leaned
my head against his chest. He was always so warm and the steady beat of his
heart relaxed me. A little while later, I yawned and he noticed. “I’ll let you
get to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I got up and walked
him to the door. I handed him the money for the prescription. “You aren’t
paying for that,” I said firmly.

He took the money
and shoved it in his pocket before leaning down to kiss me on the cheek.
“Goodnight,” he said softly.

“Goodnight and
thanks for everything, really,” I said and gave him a sincere smile.

I climbed into bed a
little later and for the second night in a row- went to sleep with a heavy
heart.

The next morning, I
woke up to a text from Levi asking me to go out to dinner with him after work. At
first I’d texted back no, making an excuse about loads of homework, but the
reality was I felt like I needed some distance from him. By the time I got to
work though, my desire to spend time with him had managed to change my mind,
and I agreed to go.

He chose a new
seafood restaurant out by the lake. Neither one of us had been there before,
but he said he’d heard it was good. After driving several miles down a long and
winding road, we finally made it. It was a rustic looking place with an outside
seating area overlooking the lake. We ordered our food and when it arrived,
Levi begged me to try the fried clams he’d chosen, but I refused. Plain old
fish was all I could handle. We had a great time, and I was so happy to have
Levi as a friend. He was a wonderful guy and if I wasn’t so messed up, I could
easily picture a future with him.

After dinner, he
drove me back to the nursery where I’d left my car. He pulled me into his arms
and kissed my cheek before telling me to text him when I got home. I assured
him I would and drove away with a full belly and a giant smile.

I texted him as soon
as I walked through the apartment door to let him know I’d made it home safe.
We spent a few minutes texting back and forth before I told him I had to go. I
finished up some homework I’d been neglecting and took a shower before crawling
under the covers. It was after eleven o’clock, and I was exhausted. I had just
closed my eyes when I heard my cell phone ringing
.
Startled, I sat up.
Who
is calling me this late? Oh my gosh! I hope Asher is okay.
I grabbed my
phone from the nightstand and answered it, not even looking to see who it was.
“Hello,” I cried.

“Katie, are you
sick?”

What? Levi?
“No. I’m not sick. Why are you?” I heard him
groan and took that as a yes. “Oh, Levi, how bad is it?”

He groaned again.
“Bad. I’ve got to go.”

He hung up before I
could say anything else. I lay back down on my pillow but couldn’t stop worrying
about him.
He lives alone.
What if
he needs help?
I had to
do something. There was no way I could just go to sleep knowing he was sick,
and he’d sounded very sick. I made up my mind; I was going over there. I jumped
out of bed and didn’t even stop to get dressed. I ran out to my car in pajama
pants and a hoodie. Thankfully, I remembered to grab my tennis shoes but still
ended up driving barefoot all the way to his house.

 I pulled into his
driveway, and noticed his house looked dark. His truck was parked out front, so
I knew he was home. I opened my door and shoved my feet into my shoes. I ran up
the porch steps and knocked hard on the door. He didn’t answer, so I knocked
again. I waited a minute or two before calling his phone. It rang until it went
to voicemail. I was beginning to panic. I raised my fist to knock one more time
when the door opened. I didn’t see him, so I stepped inside. I found him
sitting on the floor slumped against the wall by the door. I closed the door
behind me and knelt down beside him. He wore pajama pants and a t-shirt. His
face was covered in a sheen of sweat and his whole body shook. “G-go away,
Katie,” he croaked out.

 “No way. I’m not
leaving you like this. I think you might have food poisoning.”

I ran to the kitchen
and wet a rag. I sat down next to him and wiped his face. “You’ve got to go to
the hospital, Levi. You look really sick and it’s scaring me.”

He tried to argue
but didn’t have the strength and finally agreed. I got up to find his jacket
and shoes. After I got him ready, I leaned in close to his face and noticed his
eyes looked glassy. I wrapped my arms under his and tried to pull him up but
couldn’t budge him. “Come on. I need you to help me. I’m not strong enough to
get you up by myself.”

He used his hands to
push himself up as I pulled and finally got him to his feet. “Good grief you’re
heavy,” I said with a grunt. He tried to smile but couldn’t, and it broke my
heart to see my strong friend like that.

I leaned him against
the wall and helped him into his jacket. I remembered to grab his wallet from
the counter before we set off to my car. The walk was long and tiresome for
both of us. He had to put a lot of his weight on me, and I was a little worried
that I would be hurting later. We finally made it, and I somehow managed to get
him in the seat. I reached over him to grab the seat belt and when our eyes met,
he gave me a faint smile.

“You’re going to be
fine.” I brushed his sweaty hair from his forehead and kissed it. I pulled away
quickly and got in my seat.

On the drive there, I
had to pull over twice for him to be sick on the side of the road. He was so
weak by the time we got to the hospital that I just parked in the ER drive and
jumped out to get some help. There was no way I could get him out of the car on
my own. I found two male nurses and informed them they would definitely need a
wheelchair. They wrestled Levi into the chair and wheeled him into the ER while
I looked for a parking spot.

I didn’t see him
when I finally made my way in. I gave a nurse his name, and she led me to his
room. I went in and sat in the chair beside his bed. They already had him
hooked to an IV and had bags of fluid and medication hanging. I began to cry as
I saw him lying there in that hospital bed, pale and shaking. He didn’t look
anything like the strong Levi I knew and seeing him like that made me finally admit
I loved him- and not just as a friend.

 I reached over and
laid a hand on his chest. I just needed to feel his steady heartbeat. He opened
his eyes and tried to focus on my face but was too medicated. He swallowed and
whispered, “Katie” before his eyes closed again.

A little while later,
someone brought me forms to fill out for him. I dug his wallet from my purse,
found his driver’s license and insurance cards and filled out the forms as best
I could. When she left, I leaned my head next to his on the bed and closed my
eyes. I was exhausted.

I woke up several
hours later as the ER doctor came in. He told me he thought Levi did have food
poisoning and I was lucky I didn’t get it too, since we had eaten at the same
place. He assured me that Levi would be fine, that he’d been given fluids for
dehydration and medication for the vomiting. He still looked sick but not quite
as pale. Relief filled me knowing that he would be okay.

The nurse came in
and unhooked him from his IV. She helped me get him dressed. I tried to focus
on something else when she pulled his hospital gown off, but seeing him in
nothing but his boxer briefs made it difficult. I saw more of Levi’s amazing
body than I ever thought I would.

When we finally got
him dressed, they wheeled him to my car and put him in the seat. He didn’t wake
up much at all. I pulled into his driveway at dawn and stared at the long
walkway to the front door. The distance didn’t matter. I had to get him in the
house. I couldn’t leave him out in the car asleep. I went to the passenger
side, opened the door and unbuckled his seat belt. I shook his shoulder.
“Levi,” I said but he only snored. It would have been funny to hear him snore
any other time, but I had to wake him up.

“Levi,” I said
louder. He finally opened his eyes. “I know you’re tired, babe, but you have to
wake up. I’ve got to get you in the house.” He gave me a sleepy, medicated
smile before closing his eyes and snoring again. I huffed and rolled my eyes.
“Levi,” I yelled in his face. His eyes shot open and darted around my face.
“Wake up, and get out of the car.”

He glanced around
for a second as if unsure of his surroundings but with my help, managed to pull
himself out of the car. We made our way slowly to the house. I was sweaty and
tired from having to handle so much of his weight again. There was no way I
could get him to his bed, so I got him to the couch where he flopped down and
went back to snoring.

I took his shoes off
and picked up his legs one at a time, heaving them up on the couch.
Thank
goodness it’s leather
.
At least it makes it easier to slide him down
onto his back.
His neck was at an uncomfortable looking angle, so I ran to
a bedroom and grabbed a pillow. I came back and picked up his head to shove it
under him when his hand reached up and touched my face. I looked down into his
open eyes and realized how close his face was to mine. He smiled, before his
hand fell away and he was out again. I let out a deep breath and slipped away
from his side.

I remembered the
doctor said Levi needed to drink as much as he could, so I went to the kitchen
and poured him some water. When I came back, he hadn’t moved. I knelt down by
his head and stroked the side of his face. “Levi, I need you to drink some of
this,” I said softly.

He opened his eyes,
and I could tell he understood me. He raised his head a little and I held the glass
to his lips while he drank. When I was satisfied that he’d had enough, I took
it away. He laid his head back down but didn’t close his eyes. “Thank you for
everything,” he said in a raspy voice.

 “You don’t have to
thank me. This is what friends do.”

He smiled and closed
his eyes. Once he drifted off to sleep, I looked down at myself. I was a sweaty
mess. I felt as though I looked as bad as he did. I was not about to leave him
home alone, so I decided to take a shower and get some sleep. I didn’t feel
comfortable digging around in his bedroom for clothes, so I went to the laundry
room and found a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt in the dryer. They would be
huge on me, but it was all I had to work with.

I went back to the
same bedroom where I had found the pillow and knew it must be a guest room. The
bed was made, and the room didn’t have a lived in feel. I went into the guest
bath and was glad to find body wash and shampoo in the shower. I stripped off
my dirty clothes and got in. It was good to wash the feel of the hospital and
sickness off of me. I got out, dried off and slipped on his shorts. As I had
figured, they were way too big. I had to pull the drawstring into a giant bow
and roll the waistband down several times. I put on the shirt and it fit me
like a dress, so I decided to tie it at my waist. I detangled my hair as best I
could with my hands and brushed my teeth with my finger and some toothpaste I
found in a drawer. I felt somewhat better when I left the bathroom to check on
Levi.

I found him still
passed out on the couch. I fought off my fatigue as I got him some fresh water
and woke him up again. He opened his eyes and reached out to touch my wet hair.
He looked down and noticed I had on one of his shirts.

 “I took a shower and
borrowed some of your clothes. I hope you don’t mind.”  

“I don’t mind. I
like seeing you in my clothes,” he said sounding more awake than before.

I smiled and blushed
at his words. “You need to drink some more,” I whispered.

He was strong enough
to hold the glass without my help and he looked much better. He slowly sat up
but gripped the side of the couch. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. My head just
feels swimmy.”

 “I bet it does. You
were dehydrated from all the vomiting so they gave you IV fluids and
medication. The doctor said it was food poisoning.”

He groaned. “I can’t
believe you saw me like that, how embarrassing.”

I shot him a stern
look. “There is no reason to be embarrassed. You were sick and couldn’t help
it. I care about you, besides, you took care of me once before.”

He smiled sweetly
before glancing down at his shirt. He grimaced. “I feel gross. I need to shower,
but don’t think I’m steady enough to get there on my own. Will you help me to
my room?”

 I smiled, braced
myself for his weight and held out my hand. He gripped it and eased himself off
the couch. He swayed a little when he stood so I planted my body up against him
to keep him from falling. “Are you going to make it?” I asked, not really sure
he would.

“Yeah. Just let me
stand here for a second,” he said as he held his arm around my shoulders.

I noticed he kept
his face turned away from me. “Why won’t you look at me?” I asked as we started
walking to his room.

“I’m trying not to
breathe on you until I can brush my teeth.”

I tried not to laugh
but couldn’t hold it in. “Oh, it’s too late for that, Levi. I’ve had your pukey
breath in my face since last night.”

He covered his eyes
with his hand. “Just shoot me now, and put me out of my misery.”

I laughed harder as
I reached out to open his bedroom door. He pushed my hand away. “You don’t want
to go in there. I was pretty sick last night. I can make it from here.”

I let him go and he
swayed again. “Uh uh, you can barely stand up. Get over yourself, and let me
help you,” I said sternly, looking into his eyes. I could tell by his
expression he really didn’t want me to see what was behind that door.

“Come on. I’ll help
you to the guest bathroom. It’s the one I used.” He let out a sigh of relief.
“I know you’re worried that it would gross me out, but I want you to know that
it doesn’t matter how bad it is in there. I would help you anyway.”