Jim knocked on Pam’s door a little after seven. She didn’t answer right away and he knocked again. Pam came thundering through the house to open the door. Her face was flushed and she looked upset.

“Hey. Come on in. Sorry, I should have called you, but Scarlet’s sick.”

“What? Is she okay?” Jim asked as stepped in the door.

“I don’t know. She came home from school a little sick, and now she has a fever. I can’t seem to get it to come down,” she said as she put her hand to her forehead.

“Hey, we are going to make her feel better. Don’t worry.”

“Well, I’m just a little upset that she isn’t getting better and I can’t do anything for her,” Pam said as she paced between the kitchen and the hallway where Jim was standing.

“Can I see her?”

“She is probably sleeping by now.”

“Oh, well do you need me to do anything? I can run to the drugstore or pick up some stuff for her.”

“I think I’ve given her enough meds for now. I don’t know what to do Jim,” Pam said again as she wrung her hands.

Jim stepped over, put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

“Listen Pam. She’ll be fine. She might just have the flu. This isn’t the first time she’s been sick and it sure won’t be the last. Relax.”

“I know. I’m just a worry wart.”

“Yes, yes you are.”

“I’m gonna go check on her. You want to come with?”

“Yeah.”

----

Scarlet was resting in her bed as Pam stroked her hair. Scarlet had an array of soups, glasses of water, tissues, stuffed animals, crackers, and a trashcan by her side. Lindie sat at the end of the bed curled up in a ball purring. Jim and Pam watched as Scarlet breathed in and out.

“Let’s let her rest. What do you want for dinner?” Pam said.

“You want to leave her alone?”

“She needs to sleep and plus, I’m starving and if I don’t get anything in my stomach, I might fall over. Come on, let’s raid the fridge,” Pam said as she pulled on his sleeve.

----

After some grilled cheese sandwiches and chips, Jim and Pam sat on the couch. They made conversation in between check ups with Scarlet.

“So, why did you and your fiancé break up?”

“Why did you have to ask that?”

Pam let her mouth curl up into a sly smile.

“Come on,” Pam said as she nudged him with her shoulder.

“She just wasn’t the right woman for me. That’s it.”

“Are you sure that’s it?”

“I don’t know. I guess we didn’t get along very well. We had different opinions about some things.”

“Did it hurt to break it off?”

“Yeah, but after it was done, I felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders.”

“That’s a good sign.”

“I hope so.”

Pam turned her head towards the stairs when she heard Scarlet. Scarlet was making some noise and Pam immediately jumped out of her seat and ran up the stairs. Jim waited on the couch for the update.

“Jim!”

He jumped up off the couch himself and leapt up the stairs. He made his way to Scarlet’s room where he found Pam holding the crying Scarlet.

Pam looked up at Jim with her eyes glistening with her own tears. “She had got out of her bed and said she couldn’t walk. She must be really sick.”

“Oh no,” was all that Jim could say.

“Can you get the thermometer for me?”

Jim handed her the thermometer and Pam stuck it into Scarlet’s mouth. They waited patiently for the beeper to sound. Pam took it out of her mouth.

“104.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. What do I do Jim? She can’t even stand,” Pam said with the sound of panic on her voice.

“Let’s get her to the hospital.”

Pam nodded and pulled Scarlet’s blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her. Jim leaned over, grabbed Scarlet up in his arms and carefully went down the stairs. Pam took all the medication she had given Scarlet and followed Jim out to her car. When she got into the car, Jim was sitting in the backseat holding Scarlet and running his hand over her hair. Pam got in, flustered.

“Do you need me to drive Pam?”

“I can drive. You stay there.”

----

At the hospital, the nurse admitted Scarlet right away. During the car ride, Scarlet had went back to sleep and slept until they poked her with an IV. Pam sat watching nervously as Scarlet cried and reached for her. Jim rested his hands on Pam’s shoulders while he stood behind her.

“This is just a bad case of the flu. When she gets some fluids into her system, her temperature will fall and she will be fine. We’ve seen a lot of these cases this year,” said the nurse.

Pam let out a sigh of relief and Jim squeezed her shoulders. Pam looked up and smiled up at him. She was glad that he was there to help her.

After a few hours of waiting, signing papers, getting prescriptions, and worrying, they finally walked up to Pam’s door. Pam opened the door as Jim carried Scarlet back up to her room. He put her down, Pam pulled the covers back over her and they both stood there watching her again. Jim turned to look at Pam who was biting her nails.

“She’ll be fine. No more worrying.”

“She’s my baby girl. I can’t let anything happen to her.”

“Life is going to happen. Just relax. This wasn’t anything major. There will be worse things than this.”

“Don’t say that. I don’t think my heart can take it,” Pam said as he put her hand to her heart.

“Do you want me to stay up here for a little bit?”

“That would be great. Can I go get a quick shower?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right here.”

“Thank you.”

Pam rushed off to get a shower and Jim sat down in Scarlet’s bean bag chair. He slumped down to the floor and eventually ended up laying down on it. Scarlet turned over and made a little noise and Jim popped up off the floor to see what had happened. When he noticed that she was just sleeping, he made his way back to the floor. He felt his eye lids get heavy and tried his best to fight the temptation to fall asleep.

Pam entered the room with a t-shirt and pajama pants on. Her hair was in a towel and she stood in the doorway rubbing lotion over her arms. She looked and saw that Scarlet was still resting easy and then noticed that Jim was too. He had his hand resting on his forehead as his head lay on the sleeping bag. He had his feet crossed over one another and he had managed to not take off his coat. Pam took Scarlet’s temperature again and then walked over to where Jim rested on the floor. She nudged him with her foot.

“Hey, get up. You can go now,” she said with a giggle.

He moved a little and then his eyes fluttered open. He looked up at Pam then let his gaze fall on the sleeping Scarlet. He reached up and pulled Pam’s hand down until she knelt to the floor with him. Pam reluctantly settled next to him on the floor with a smile on her face.

“Is it okay if I stay?”

“Always,” Pam said as she felt his arms wrap around her and pull her in close.

“Okay…night.”

“Night Jim.”

----

When the sun came peeking through the blinds, Jim blinked the spots out of his vision. He pulled his head up to see Scarlet still sleeping. Pam was nestled up next to him with her hands tucked inside his coat. He sat up and let out a yawn and a stretch. Pam moved and sat up.

“Good morning again,” Jim said as he ran his hands through his hair.

“Morning.”

“She looks better,” he said looking over in Scarlet’s direction.

“She does. Thanks for staying.”

“Thanks for letting me stay. I guess I need to start paying rent now that I’ve stayed here two nights.”

“Nah, free of charge.”

Scarlet moved and then opened her eyes. Both Jim and Pam greeted her with a smile.

“How are you baby?” Pam said walking over to her.

“I feel okay.”

“Good. Let me get you some more medicine before you get sick again.”

Scarlet made a face then covered her mouth with her hands.

“Scarlet you have to take it or you won’t get better. Take it.”

She shook her head. Jim stood up, walked over to Pam, pretended to taste the medicine and then said, “Yum.”

“See Scarlet, Jim likes it.”

She shook her head again.

“It’s good. Lindie even likes it, Scarlet,” Jim said as he motioned to the cat sitting on the window sill. Scarlet lifted her eyebrows and then held out her hand for the cup of medicine. She swallowed hard then made a slurping noise with her mouth.

“See? Not so bad,” Pam said as she took the cup from Scarlet.

Jim and Pam exchanged glances and then laughed. Scarlet got up and Pam hugged her. She then proceeded towards the door, then turned back around, grabbed on to Jim’s leg and hugged him. Jim patted her back.

“Can we make some more breakfast with your secret ingredient today?” Scarlet asked as she looked up towards Jim.

Jim looked at Scarlet with a huge smile across his face.

“As long as it’s okay with your Mom.” Jim winked.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Pam said taking Scarlet’s hand and leading her to the kitchen.

Jim followed them to the kitchen. He felt all his emotions and feelings for Pam creeping back into the front of his mind. He had forgotten how much he cared for her eight years ago. Now, he didn’t just get Pam, he got Scarlet too. He had been won over by two amazing girls.