"Honey, you're going to be late for work," Janet said softly as she pushed on my shoulder, coaxing me from my restless sleep. I hadn't been feeling well since yesterday morning and had come to the conclusion that I was coming down with a cold. My body ached and shivered, I was sweating through the night but was freezing cold. My sleep was restless and I was blowing my brains out through my nose. Janet had packed my lunch and had wished me luck on my day, and I couldn't help but feel bitter about the fact that she got to stay at home while I went to work feeling miserable.

But, I was a business owner and I had people who needed their teeth cleaned today. Thankfully I only had four clients today and the last one was at two, so I could leave work early and go home and rest. For now, I was filling up and medications.

I felt like a slug as I walked into the office building, not even caring that my spot was yet again taken. It wasn't until I was through the front doors that Scott had done his everyday greeting of appearing out of nowhere and handing me a coffee, that was now made exactly the way I liked it.

"Wow," He said, "You look like death, are you sick?" His brows knitted with worry as he placed his free hand on my forehead, "Jeez doc, you're burning up. Should you really be here?" I shrugged, moving past him with a cough.

"I have to work, whether I'm sick or not, people pay me to be here and help them with their dental care." Scott followed behind me for a moment, before speeding up and getting in front of me with a confused look on his face.

"Have you taken anything? You shouldn't be on medication when you're drilling into somebody's mouth." I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling a ping of annoyance, was the insulting my ability to work? I was in no way impaired enough to not know what I was doing. And maybe it was the fact that after this weekend I wanted to distance myself from Scott that made everything he did a tad irritating to me, even though it was the intent. I couldn't help it. It was either be irritated with him, or do something I would regret. And I wasn't going to let that happen.

"Listen," I said, pushing past him. "You can worry about your lawyer stuff, and I'll worry about drilling into somebody's mouth Got it?"

"Sidney, that not what I-"

"I'll see you later Scott," I grumbled, my headache getting no better even after taking Tylenol this morning. I walked up the stairs and felt like crap because I didn't hear the echo of his footsteps behind me.

-

It was nearly noon, and my last patient was due in one hour and I didn't know how much longer I could last, Jennifer had been in and out of the office all morning, moving appointments for tomorrow to the next day, overbooking me in the worst way

It was nearly noon, and my last patient was due in one hour and I didn't know how much longer I could last, Jennifer had been in and out of the office all morning, moving appointments for tomorrow to the next day, overbooking me in the worst way. At this rate, I'll need to be open on the weekend just to accompany everyone.

I leaned back in my office chair, groaning into my hands when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," I called, sitting back up in the chair when I heard the door open and a bag rustle.

I looked over to see Scott, standing at the door looking sheepish with a plastic bag in his hands looking around with his lip pulled in between his teeth. "Hey," I said, then paused to cough, I waved him in and he closed the door behind him.

"Hey," He said, sitting down in the free chair adjacent to me. "I bought you some things, as an apology. I didn't mean to upset you earlier." He said, pulling out a bottle of Gatorade from the bag, a pack of halls, and sinus medication.

"Scott you didn't-"

"No, I did. I didn't mean to upset you, I was just looking out for you and it came out wrong."

"Really Kid, Don't worry about it," I said with a lazy smile, opening the halls and popping one into my mouth.

"So, about the game Saturday."

"Don't stress about it. You don't need to go."

"Oh, no! I want to go." Oh great. "I was just wondering what time I should be at yours for."

"At mine?" I lifted a brow at him, which caused him to get another sheepish smile on his face.

"Yeah, I figured you've picked me up once, I might as well get you."

"Did I tell you it wouldn't just be you and I?" I asked, my stomach flipping while I asked him, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"Yeah, you said something about somebody named Eric?"

"Yeah-- About Eric... "

"Don't worry about it," Scott said waving his hand. "I'm sure he can't be that bad."

"It's a bit more complicated than that," I stressed watching as Scott stood up from the chair looking at his watch.

"Sid, don't worry, we'll talk more about it later, but I've got to run. Feel better!" He waved, practically running from my office.

-

Eric was sitting at the kitchen table when I got home, sheets of homework laid in front of him

Eric was sitting at the kitchen table when I got home, sheets of homework laid in front of him. My kid was smart, but homework kind of kicked his ass, he wasn't book smart, he was street smart. So even though I felt like garbage, I sat beside him, looking over at his math homework. "Want a hand bud?" I asked, taking a sheet in my hand and looking it over.

Eric groaned, shaking his head. "Sam was supposed to come over and help me out with this, but he got grounded. Dad, why is math so hard?" He groaned again putting both his hands over his face before dragging them down. "I'm going to fail the exam if I can't get my shit together."

I nodded, and then patted him on the shoulder. "How about this. I'm going to go upstairs and nap for a few hours. When I come down, I'll help you study. Until then look over what you can, ok?"

Eric let out a big sigh and nodded his head. "Thanks, dad."

"No problem champ," I said getting up from the table. "I'll be down in a few."

And as I walked up the stairs to my bedroom, my phone dinged, and my stomach did that stupid flip thing again.