Page 85 of Loving Kai

“Okay, let’s get you to bed, kid. We had a pretty full day.”

Kai went to bed without a fuss and hugged Dog tightly as Abe put the blanket over him. “Goodnight, buddy.”

“Papa hug.”

Abe hugged him. “Love you, kid.” He patted Kai for a few minutes until Kai fell asleep, then he turned on the baby monitor and left the room. He had another hour or so of work left on Maggie’s car.

He retrieved the speaker half of the monitor and took it to the garage, then got to work on the car. Forty-five minutes later, he got behind the wheel. “Okay, here goes.” He turned the ignition, and the car started, idling quietly. Abe went to look at the engine compartment. “Perfect.” He dropped the hood. “Done.”

He texted Maggie. Your car is finally done.

She responded a few moments later. Yay!

You can come and get it in the morning before work if you want. Or wait until after. Doesn’t really matter.

I’m excited. I’ll see you in the morning.

Abe went inside, took a shower, then checked on Kai. Kai’s breathing sounded strained, and Abe felt Kai’s forehead. “Dammit.” He lifted Kai’s shirt and felt his chest. “You’re burning up, kid.”

Abe went to his room to grab his phone, then returned to Kai’s crib.

Allie sounded sleepy. “Honey. Is everything okay?”

“Kai’s running a fever.”

“How high is it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know if I have a thermometer.”

“I bought you one. It’s in that bag I bought with medicine and stuff.”

“Okay, I’ll go get it.”

“If it’s under a hundred, give him some of the baby Tylenol and then check on him in an hour or so. If it’s over a hundred, call me back.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He ended the call and returned to his room to check the bathroom for the bag containing the thermometer. It didn’t look anything like he’d expected, and it took several minutes to rip it out of the impenetrable plastic packaging. “What is this damn stuff made of?” When he finally freed it, he opened the battery compartment. Empty.

He checked on Kai, who was stirring, then went to the kitchen to find the right sized batteries. After spending more time digging through the junk drawer, he returned to Kai with a working thermometer.

“Okay, kid, let’s see what this thing says.” He swiped Kai’s forehead. 103. “Shit.” He did it again. 103.2. Kai woke up and started to cry. Abe picked him up and called his mother.

“What’s the temp, Abe?”

“103. I really need you, Mom.”

“Give him some Tylenol. I’ll be right there.”

Abe took his crying son to the bathroom and dug the unopened box of baby Tylenol out of the bag. He ripped open the box, wrestled with the childproof lid, then poured the correct dosage into the plastic medicine cup.

“Okay, here you go. This will make you feel better.” Kai turned his head. “Come on, buddy. You need to take this.”

When Allie arrived fifteen minutes later, Abe was still trying to get Kai to take the medicine. Kai was crying, and Abe wasn’t far from tears. Allie came into the kitchen, where Abe was pacing the floor in full panic mode. She took Kai from him.

“Take a breath, honey.”

“Me or him?”

“Both of you.”