Chapter 19 Why Mommy's Ears Are Red
Jessica was grateful that Gabriel had been at home last night to keep Danielle company. She took a perfectly fried egg from a nearby plate and placed it in his plate, "I see that your wounds are healing pretty well. Eating an extra egg shouldn't be a problem."
After saying that, she, too, lowered her head to eat, just like Danielle.
Gabriel now temporarily lived in her home, and Jessica found it hard to express her thanks. After all, who knew when he would fulfill his promise of repaying her a hundredfold or if it could truly be realized? In the end, it was unclear who owed whom.
At breakfast, Gabriel looked across the table at the mother and daughter, who were eating with almost identical manners, and said, "Thank you."
Jessica bowed her head even lower, still wrestling with whether she should say thanks again. The man was just sitting properly at the table, sharing breakfast with them, and she couldn't shake a vague sense of oppression.
It shouldn't be like this. She hadn't felt this way before.
After all, she had been calm when she brought home an injured, bloodied man.
The truth was she had never frequently shared a living space with a man before.
Eating breakfast together in the peaceful morning was an unfamiliar and uneasy activity for Jessica.
Danielle suddenly asked, "Mommy, why are your ears red?"
Jessica quickly turned to look at Danielle, who had eaten bread eat, blinking at her in confusion.
Gabriel followed her gaze.
Jessica swiftly untied the scrunchie in her hair, letting it down to casually cover her ears. "I might have caught a cold in the rain and got a bit of a fever," she said.
After speaking, she gave Danielle a warning glare, "Eat up."
"Okay, Mommy. I want some fried eggs too," Danielle said, her eyes adrift before brightening at the sight of the eggs on the plate.
Jessica placed a fried egg in her daughter's plate,. "Eat it up; you're going to turn into a little piggy."
Danielle pouted, "I am not getting fat like a piggy!"
She looked up at Gabriel on the opposite side, her glossy lips pursed, "Am I fat?"
Gabriel, inadvertently caught in the mother-daughter squabble, replied, "Not fat."
Danielle's face instantly flashed with a backed-up, triumphant look as she turned to Jessica, "See, Spencer said I'm not fat! Mommy, you're making things up! You're the piggy!"
"Quiet!" Jessica cut the fried egg into small pieces for her, "Eat up."
Gabriel had been spot on. After sending Danielle onto the kindergarten bus, she found herself congested and slightly headache-ridden. Taking her temperature confirmed that she indeed had a fever.
The illness wasn't severe, but with the typhoon weather and having stayed in the studio all night before braving the early morning rain, even someone with sturdy health could be overwhelmed.
The medicine cabinet was out of cold remedies, so she headed to the pharmacy she'd frequented in the past few days and picked up what she needed. Returning home, she boiled some water, took her medicine with hot water, and wrapped herself in a blanket on the couch to read her script.
Gabriel heard several sneezes in a row and came out to see Jessica wrapped up on the couch with tissues stuffed in her nostrils. She was sneezing nonstop, looking like she was got a bad cold.
Noticing the script in her hand, Gabriel asked in a deep voice, "Have you taken any medicine?"
