" Ok, Meghan, can you tilt your head back for me just a tiny bit?"
Her mouth wide open, Meghan lifted her chin upward and bent her head back. Her eyes casted upward and she glanced at the ceiling momentarily.
" That's perfect, sweet heart. I'm only going to take a few seconds ok? I just want to observe your glands one more time."
Meghan found a tender comfortness in her doctor's soothing tone. He placed a wooden tounge depresser into her mouth and was careful not to shove it too far down the back of her mouth.
With his mini flash light, he observed her tonsils, and glands, then moments later removed his materials from her mouth and informed her that it was ok that she close her mouth again.
" Give it to me straight Doc. Just tell me now that I won't be able to sing anymore and I'll try my best to hold back my tears as you leave."
Dr. Shiloh's white gloves snapped loudly as the man in his mid forty's slipped them off and discarded them inside of his black medicine purse. To Meghan it looked like one of those heavy bags that those magicans tote around with bunnies and doves hiding inside.
Dr. Shiloh smiled warmly at his patient. The girl could be down with the flu and still, her spirit would never falter.
" If I were to tell you that, then that would make me a liar. You of all people should know that I am not one to be untruthful to my patients."
He caught the skeptical stare being sent his way and chuckled. Zipping up his bag he set it down onto coffee table and sat down beside it. " Now, don't give me that look. I was just kidding with you when I said that you were going to need surgery that last time." He conveyed, slipping off his thin glasses to tuck them into his coat pocket.
Meghan sounded with an ' Mmhmm' and narrowed her eyes on him while securing her purple fluff blanket around her body a bit more. She was sitting crosslegged on the sofa before him.
" I'm still holding that against you, you know. Everytime that I get cold, your words seem to come back to haunt me like a bad dream. It's a wonder why I haven't had a check up in over four months."
Meghan was refrained from sharing a laugh with him. Her voice had become horse and her throat still felt a tiny bit sore. But on top of her pale features and slight headache, she felt fine.
" Oh, you're done already?" Meghan's aunt Debra just entered the door and she looked to Dr. Shiloh with the same concern in her eyes that she acquired last night. " How is she Dr. Shiloh? Does it look too bad? Did you already tell her about the prospect that she might not be able to perform anymore?"
Like auntie, like, niece. Underneath all of her worry and concern still lied her humorous nature. Debra smoothed her hand over Meghan's head and seated herself in the cushion next to her.
" She's perfectly fine Debra." He kindly assured her. " I checked her vitals and inspected her throat and everything seems to be in working order. So to answer both of your worries..." He fixed his gray orbs on Meghan with a nod. " Yes, you can still sing those pretty little notes that you do so well."
Meghan pretended to frown at the good news until her aunt lightly bumped her side with her elbow. She brightened. " Thank you Dr. Shiloh." She graced.
" You're very welcome my dear." He responded, leaning forward to place a small peck on her warming forehead. " Just remember to take your medicine every six hours and drink as much fluids as you can. Tea with a drop honey will work fine as well."
Meghan nodded in the affirmative and Debra stood along with Meghan's doctor of fifteen years now and embraced him in a hug. " I just want to say thank you again for flying out here on such short notice. It must have been such a hassle and-"
Dr. Shiloh waved his head. " Please Debra, it was no problem at all. If Meghan is ever in trouble, I don't care whether it is day or night, just call on me and I will surely be right on my way. You all have been like family to me. Doesn't matter if I have to fly half way round the world, when I'm needed, I'm going to be there."
Meghan beamed up at him and he winked at her. Debra looked to be as if she were on the verge of tears. " Thank you soo very much Dr. Shiloh. Let me walk you to the door." She offered.
He nodded and lifted his bag. He directed his finger at Meghan. " Feel better ok. And get plenty of rest. No singing today for you."
" Music to my ears." She joked aside. He shook his head with dismay and offered her another peck, but this time on her cheek.
Meghan glanced over her shoulder at her aunt and doctor making their way toward the door. They were speaking of something of the other that she found not to be of interest so she faced foward and let her eyes wander toward the windows.
Outside, the rain was pouring hard and the weather had dropped in tempature, making it more chillier than need be. Meghan was dreading it all. Snuggled underneath a blanket and mountains of pillows, Meghan decided to confine herself on the living room sofa with the televison, a few books, and her medication.
After last night's dilemma, she had been rushed to the nearest emergency room and treated within a couple of hours. Her stay at the hospital was meant to be an overnight one but Meghan highly refused. She despised hospitals. It's been a fear that she had never been able to succomb to ever since she was little. The doctors strongly advised her that if she were to stay it would be much better for her but Meghan was not swayed. That was when her aunt dialed Dr. Shiloh all the way from Los Angeles and asked him to fly out to see her. Hours later, Meghan had been released only to have Dr. Shiloh care for her all through the night until this morning.
Spoiled? Not in the least bit.
Coughing, though it pained her much, Meghan fell into the pillows and buried herself in until she was comfortably lying on her side with her blanket pulled all the way up to her neck. She resembled a small child who had fallen victim to a fever. She held her stuffed white teddy against her breast and focused on the television playing in low volume.
" Dr, Shiloh is a godsend. You are so lucky to be under his care, honey." Her aunt praised, entering the room once more. She stood behind the couch and peered down at her niece.
Meghan softly grunted.
Debra reached down to delicately stroke her hair. " You feelin ok there, Meg Mcmuffin?" You gave us all quite a scare last night at the arena."
Meghan grunted again. More so at the sound of her nickname.
" You need anything while I'm here? You want me to phone down for some chicken soup?"
Debra tucked a strand of Meghan's hair away when she recieved another grunt followed by a low croak. " I'll take that as a ' no ' then." She smiled and looked to the television briefly. Cartoons. Just like Meghan.
" Well, since you seem to be okay over here, I'm going to head to my suite across the hall and finish with a few calls. I'll have Shannon with me and Dav will be coming to join you shortly alright. I'll be in to check up on you later ok?"
When she got no response she bent over to place a kiss on the top of her head. " I know I know, Unh." Meghan chuckled after her aunt perfected the grunt precisely well. She heard the door close for the second time that morning and sighed.
Snuggling deeper into herself, she intently watched the coyote chase the road runner across the screen.
Debra, softly pulled the door closed when she heard her name being called down the hall. She turned round thinking that it was Dav, but was a bit surprised to find Justin marching toward her.
" Justin, um hello. What, what are you doing here? I thought that you were checked into the Hyatt?"
Justin came to a stop a few inches away from the refreshingly young blonde. She was only four years older then him at thirty five. But unlike Meghan, Debra had no ill fated feeling toward Justin. She mostly felt disappointment for him and at him. She absolutely felt that he was the perfect husband for her niece. Funny how people change so vastly.
Justin curled a hand over the back of his neck and the other at his side. " Yeah, I am. I just... I just wanted to come over and see if she was ok." They both looked to the door before he fixed his eyes on her. " How is she doing?"
Debra nodded. " She's fine. Just resting right now."
" That's good." He breathed. " I'm relieved to hear that."
Debra stepped aside and gestured toward the door. " Would you like to step inside and see her?"
Justin was enlightened but a bit hesitant. " Are you sure that that would be ok? I mean, I don't want her-"
" It's fine. If it wasn't for you being there last night, we don't know what would have happened. Justin you practically saved my niece's life. It's more than ok with me if you want to go in and talk with her."
It may have been ok with her but he wasn't to positive about Meghan.
He took her offer anyway. " Um, sure. Yeah, that would be nice."
She set her hand on the door and told him to hold on. She opened the door wide and gently called inside. " Megz, honey you have a visitor waiting to see you. You think you feel up to it?"
When she recieved another grunt, but much stronger this time she smiled and motioned for Justin to enter inside. Justin stepped in then mouthed the words ' thank you'. She smiled and softly closed the door, leaving the two alone.
Meghan stuck her hand out of her blanket and reached down for her bottle of Apple Juice when she all of a sudden inhaled the scent of Paul Gautier cologne. It was soft and strangely calmed her senses. She didn't need to sit up to figure who it was. She already knew.
" If you're just going to stand there the entire time, I don't mind, but do you think you can keep it down?"
Justin had been a bit fidgety since he entered inside and his William Rast Jacket rustled in reaction.
" My bad, I'm mean, sorry." He apologized and walked around the couch to sit on the loveseat at her left adjacent to where she lay. She finally came into his view but he couldn't see much. She was literally drowning underneath her blanket and pillows.
" You're ok." She mumbled keeping her eyes transfixed on the television ahead rather than at him. She set her juice on the floor.
Neither seemed to have a problem with the silence fallen upon them, so it remained that way. While Justin was contemplating on a way to get them both to begin speaking, he was interrupted by a sudden giggle. Sounded more like a strained gargle but it was a giggle nonetheless.
He followed her gaze toward the television where the coyote had just happened to be trapped underneath an anvil and the roadrunner had escaped down the road with his signature, Meep Meep.
" That never gets old." She voiced quietly.
He grinned sideways but it faltered when he looked to her. From the small distraction he hadn't noticed that she had sat up and was staring him dead in the face.
" Why are you here?"
Could she have caught him anymore off guard? But he quickly recovered.
" Because, I wanted to see how you were doing." He stated the obvious." After last night, I got really worried and-"
Meghan shook her head.
" No, Justin." She tapped her fingers against her forehead and shut her eyes before her headache ached on any further. She sighed a heavy one then aimed her dreary eyes past his head. " That's not what I meant."
He was more concerned with why she all of a sudden was avoiding looking at him than what she was actually saying until he dwelled on it for a second.
She wasn't searching for the answer he supplied her with. Her question was based with a whole nother meaning behind it.
He picked up on it. " We need to talk." He spoke as straight foward as possible.
Meghan didn't miss a beat. " Talk? Talk about what?"
He sat back against the seat and interlocked his fingers with a simple shrug. " Us." He was going to try and play it cool.
" Us? As in......me and you?" Before he could respond and explain his position she continued. " Well, there really isn't any use for that conversation because there is no ' us '. Justin gave her a nod to insure her that he was listening. " Now seriously, why are you here?" She questioned. More like demanded.
Justin decided not to respond and instead licked his lips and stretched his long legs out infront of him. Meghan immediately picked up on the gesture. She knew exactly what is what that he was doing. This was his way of telling her that his first initial answer that he had given her was the one that he was going to stick with.
But in her case, she felt that his reply of ' us ' was not one that applied to the both of them anymore so he might as well should just start heading to the door because there was obviously nothing that the two had to talk about.
Now it was just another unforgiving silence that had fallen upon the room again. That was until her cell phone rattled on the coffee table.
Justin, under the tense situation, preserved his calm, collected demeanor and fixed his eyes on the television so it seemed as if he wasn't listenting in on her conversation with whoever was on the other line.
Meghan on the other hand, the thought to call Big Dav and just have him escort Justin from her room had approached her but she abstained against doing so. She just merely hated the guy but in no means did he serve as a potential threat to her, or anyone for that matter.
Eh, she'd deal with it her own way. If she ignored him long enough that she was positive that he would just leave on his own. But with her knowing him the way she did, she highly doubted that that would happen.
" Hello?" She greeted.
Meghan's gloom toned regained some of it's bounce the moment she heard his voice. The instant his voice hit her ears it was filled with concern and tenderness. It seemed that some how J.C. had found out about her ordeal early this morning and Meghan had been reassuring him that she was fine and in good health. It's amazing how fast news can travel these days.
" Don't worry, I'll be fine. There is no need for you to jet from San Francisco all the way over here. I'm not going to die." She humored. " The doctor says that I'm one hundred percent ok."
After spending a good fifteen minutes convincing J.C. that it would be useless to book a flight under less than important conditions, she had eventually calmed his racing senses enough to where he was positive that she was good and well. But just the simple fact that he missed seeing her face and holding her hand was enough reason for him to want to jump on the first flight to Ireland.
Meghan smiled softly as he began to profess how much he missed her since the last time that they had seen each other which happened to be one month ago. A small ' miss you too' from her and a few more words than him, the two seperated with gracious goodbyes and Meghan's phone had found itself back onto the table.
Meghan inhaled a pleased breath but slowly released it when Justin posed a question at her. She had momentarily forget that he was even there.
" How is he doing?" He asserted with a tone of interest. He made it seem as if he was only caring about the man's well being rather that seem as if he were prying for personal information.
" How is she doing?" Meghan fired back. It was he that wanted to go there.
" I wouldn't know." He seen her brow lift. " It's over."
" Hmmmm." She hummed. " How did that come about?"
Another shrug. " I just........realized that she and I, eventually in the long run, wouldn't have worked out. So I ended it."
" Hmph, I could have told you that." She mumbled, falling into silence. " So, is that what happened to your face?"
The injury he'd sustained from the hands of Cameron was still evident on the right side of his cheek but it wasn't as bad as it had been previous. The swelling was almost invisible and the redness was replaced with a light bluish, purplish color. Meghan had first noticed it back at the arena last night but at the moment in being so caught up in trying to get rid of him, she hadn't really the chance to point it out to him. Not that she cared anyway.
His hand reached up and grazed his cheek and he slightly chuckled. " Oh, yea, kinda."
She nodded and removed herself from the couch. " You really know how to pick them don't you." She murmured, returning from her bedroom with a small pink tube she retrieved from her make up bag.
He examined it with curiosity after she tossed it in his lap.
" Vitamin K Cream Solution?"
" It'll help with the discoloration." She pointed at it. " If you use it correctly than your cheek should be back to it's normal tone in a few short days."
He shook his head and tossed it back. It landed on the cushion next to her. " Thanks, but I'll be fine."
" Ok." She asserted. " If you want to travel around looking like Scarface all day then, that's your prerogative."
He sent her a look which she returned with an innocent shrug. " Alright, give it here."
Squeezing out a tiny drop of the white product on the tip of his finger, Meghan shook her head watching him barely apply the cream onto his cheek. She dropped the remote in her hand and moved over to him.
" That's not how you do it. You never objected to having your entire face painted with concealer but your afraid of what a little cream might do to you." Squeezing out a wealthy portion into his palm, Justin stared blankly at the glob then at her.
" Where am I supposed to put all of this?" He questioned.
" Where else?" She countered.
" This is too much. I'm not going to rub this gunk all over my face. For all I know it could irritate my skin. I'm not taking any chances with this stuff." Meghan rolled her eyes. " I have to perform tonight and I'm better off with some cover up."
Swiping her fingers across his palm, she gripped his jaw and tilted his head to the left, massaging the cream where it was needed. With her index and middle finger, she rubbed small circles around his cheek. Justin fell quiet as she did this, inhaling the scent of her peach aroma and her breath that smelled of Apple Juice and throat Lozenges as she took steady breaths while concentrating on the task at hand.
" There." She breathed. " All done. That wasn't so bad now was it?"
" It kind of was." He joked aside. Her reaction was to roll her eyes again.
As he watched her suanter back to the sofa, leaving him with the cream, the sudden urge to just reach out and pull her into his lap only grew stronger with each passing second that went by. The moment her fingers grazed his face it began to feel like old times where she would often get fed up with his complaining and take over by forcing things upon him just like what she did just now.
He missed that alot. Her missed her alot.
" Well consider it as we're even."
Her voice broke his thoughts and he gave her an unsure expression. " What?"
" Consider us even." She repeated. " You saved me last night and I returned the favor. You saved my life, I saved your face."
He was completely lost. " How does you putting cream on my face constitute with me actually saving your life?"
She shrugged only to lay back in her previous position under the covers. " Honestly, I have no clue. It must be the medicine talkin."
This caused him to look at her funny then chuckled. She chuckled also and for the first time in a long time, they shared a genuine laugh. Together.
A knock at the door removed her from her spot. Justin offered to answer it but she refused. Turning the handle, she was met with Dav on the other side switching off his talkie.
" Hey babygirl, I just came by to check up on you. Is everything good? Are you ok? Need anything?"
Meghan shook her head and smiled at the burly man. " I'm fine, you don't need to get me anything. I'm officially putting you off duty for the rest of the day. You work too hard. Take a break and also pass the word along to Kelly."
He shrugged which caused her to snicker. Rarely did he ever give in that easy. She usually had to shout at him to take just a five minute break. Seems like today must be an 'off ' day for everyone. Case in point, she and Justin actually seemed to be getting along. Well, more like she being civil to him, but it was all the same thing.
" Ok, but only for an hour though and I'll be right back to check on you."
She knew that him actually listening to her was too good to be true. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
" Alright, I'll leave you alone now."
" Yeah, right." She laughed and reached up to hug him. Dav embraced her with his usual bear hug when he peeked inside of her room to find Justin on the couch. Justin wearily smiled at the man in which he crinkled his brow and his demeanor hardened.
Meghan caught his expression and furrowed her brow. " What? What is it, what's wrong?"
Dav pulled her closer to him so that she was slightly out in the hall with him.
" What is he doing in there? Is he bothering you? Do you want me to get rid of him for you?" When he began to crack his knuckles, Meghan raised a comical brow and rubbed his forearm. " Just say the word Meg, and he is gone."
" Dav, it's ok. I'm fine." She looked over her shoulder in which Dav was glaring inside at him and pulled the door closed slightly. " He can stay."
Dav then sharply fixed his gaze on her. " Are you sure about that? I mean..."
Meghan cut him off when she nodded. Biting down on her lip, she looked off to the side as if she were contemplating her decision before nodding once again to confirm it.
" Yeah, I'm sure."
Dav was hesitant but could do nothing to change her mind being that it wasn't in his position to do so anyway. Though the fatherly instincts he had over her told him to barge in there and toss the boy from the balcony, he was going to refrain from doing so. " Ok, I'll be in my room then. Call me if you need anything."
" I will, thanks." A kiss upon the cheek and another embrace, Meghan watched him bumble down the hall into his room before staring over her shoulder at her door and entering inside.
She grinned shortly at him and Justin looked to the door where Dav just stood.
" I'm guessing that he doesn't like me too much."
Meghan plopped down on top of her blanket instead of snuggling under it. The sudden laughter that erupted from her lips made him smile. With her eyes focused on the television, he thought for a second that she wasn't going to even answer his question when she reached down below and took hold of her Apple Juice. She held it against her lips and mumbled loud enough for him to hear.
" Not one bit."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Wow, an update, I know. Lol. Slowly breaking from my writers block and this vacation has been wonderful. :) This chapter, eh, I don't know, I don't think I like it too much but hey, it's something. Hope you enjoy. :) Reviews are nice too. ( hint, hint ) Lol.
Story Tags: cheaterj soloj marriedj
