WHO: Xo Valdez-Munroe and Rafael Valdez. WHEN: August 24th, 2018. WHERE: Common Grounds. SUMMARY: Raf has no sense of self-preservation and made himself sick. Xo finds him in the coffee shop and initiates Mom!Xo rescue skills. WARNINGS: Eh? Feels? Mentions of feeling sick. Possibly light swearing?
It had been a long few weeks since he’d spoken to Ted and explained his unfortunate situation. He could see it several different ways and he understood. But he also knew how Serena felt. There was still some part of him that felt that way, too. He wasn’t sure if it was panic at the idea of being alone or if he truly did still love her. In the end, he felt like he’d been chasing his tail for months since she had arrived back in town.
Logistically, it made sense for him to go from the bar to the coffee shop. He had someone checking on the dogs periodically, so they were well fed and walked. If he’d been smart, he would have rented the apartment above the shop, but he thought moving would be complicated. And it was doubtful that he would have spent much time there anyway.
Without a manager, and down several baristas, Raf had been spending much more time wallowing in the coffee shop. He was still bright and shiny when the customers were there, but he felt Serena’s words cutting deep into him. He heard the disappointment and betrayal in Ted’s voice. He was afraid to dream about it, so he skipped sleep. He worked at the shop, walked over to the bar, finished at the bar, walked over to the shop. It was like pacing back and forth.
For a while, it wasn’t bad. It was manageable. With the heat, however, it was starting to wear on him. His apartment didn’t have air conditioning. The coffee shop didn’t have air conditioning except for the office--and he needed to help customers. He could have visited Xo, but one look at him and she’d know. She always knew.
He smiled as he passed over an iced coffee across the counter to a customer. The cup was already coated in condensation. His ice machine was hard at work and he barely had enough each hour to meet demand. He definitely didn’t have enough for ice water. As the shop cleared, he turned to lean against the counter, closing his eyes for the briefest of moments.
It felt like the ground was moving beneath him. His head spun. His stomach rolled. His eyes snapped back open as he stared at the espresso machine. He took a tentative step forward, uncertain. His back was coated in sweat. He licked his lips in concentration as he walked his way from behind the counter to the closest table. He didn’t quite make it.
Instead, he stumbled and found his way to the floor, sitting a few feet short of the counter and the table. The pain in his head increased. He tried once to stand, but as the spots danced along his vision, he opted to stay sitting. He was grateful for the lull in business as he attempted to pull himself together.
Even the air seemed to stick to places it was so hot. Stopping by the coffee shop hadn't been entirely the plan but Xo wanted to check in on her brother. Knowing him it was likely that he was overworking himself instead of taking a break as he rightfully should. Always working hard for others without looking after himself.
Xo stepped into the shop in time for her to see her brother stumble down to the ground. Movement took over and she knelt over quickly, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. “Heeeey there.” She cooed. “Stay down.”
Raf felt like he was sitting in the middle of a playground merry-go-round, spinning, with nothing to hold onto. As he heard his sister’s voice, he lifted his head, just barely, sweat pouring down his face now. He panted for breath. “It’ll be a minute for coffee,” he joked, though he knew that he was in no state to get up or make drinks.
“It'll be more than a minute.” Xo immediately pointed to one of the young men in the shop watching. She snapped and pointed as she looped her brothers arm over her neck. “You, help me get him off the floor.” Which given her brother had quite a bit of size on her would take some doing.
“Is the office locked, Raf?” She asked as the boy sprung to help her.
He wanted to help, but it was as if he was weighed down with rocks. His arms were heavy. His legs were heavy. His head was heavy. As she moved to help him, he weakly attempted to move his feet, shuffling briefly. Behind closed eyes, sparks of color. Panting breaths. At her question, he lifted his head, opening his eyes to try to focus on her face.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I can’t remember.”
“Do you have the key on you?” She asked as the young man followed suit and looped Raf's other arm around himself. “One. Two. Up!” She counted as they lifted up her brother.
Lopsidedly but it wasn't her fault she was short. “If the keys in your pocket I'll grab it.”
The additional support helped the effort he was making, but he clearly couldn’t walk on his own. Not with the vertigo. He tried to think where he’d put the keys when the jingle reminded him. “Back pocket.” A beat later, “Xo, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” Xo ordered as she reached into her brother’s back pocket. It was a hard balance but it was managed with only a near miss sway. “Got it, got it!” Xo held up the key as a matter of apology for their helper as they worked their way slowly to the office.
A wiggle of the handle and it was locked. But luckily the key was in hand as she popped it. A burst of cooler air came forth as they did. “Okay onto the chair you go.”
He settled gently into the office chair, grateful for the air conditioning, but still felt overheated. Everything continued to spin and he groaned quietly as he reached for his face to cover it with his hands. He was always the one to offer help, not ask for it. “I’ll be okay,” he mumbled through his hands. “I’ll sit for a minute and then it’ll be fine.”
“No it won’t.” Xo chastised. “Now stay put.” she shooed their helper away with a thank you. Probably Raf would want to offer him a free coffee or something. Xo didn’t exactly have that on hand. Instead she busied herself getting behind the counter, grabbing a cup to fill with water, a dry cloth that she could dampen.
With tools in hand she came back to the office, putting the towel on Raf’s head and pushing the cup to his hands. “Sit, drink, close your eyes.”
Truthfully, the best Raf could’ve done was a slow slither to the floor. Her command was followed without objection. As she returned, he groaned at the water, shaking his head slightly. “I can’t, Xo. I haven’t been able to hold anything down in days.”
“Days?!” Her voice went shrill even though she knew she shouldn’t. The cup went down a bit rough on the desk as she marched out.
“All right, EVERYONE OUT!” Xo announced, immediately proceeding to shoo the few people remaining. “We need to emergency shut down. Yes I’m sure you understand. Yes, I apologize that it’s inconvenient. He just collapsed.”
With the crowd shooed out Xo flipped the sign to closed and locked the door. She marched then back to the office. “Okay, I’m going to call the doctor now and drive you in.”
Raf didn’t know what he was expecting when he’d told Xo the truth, but it hadn’t been an evacuation. He tried to get out of the chair to stop her, but barely managed to stand before sitting right back down. The shop would be fine. They could close for a little while. This was fine.
As she returned, he looked up, face red despite the cool towel. At her words, he balked, shaking his head, which only served to make him feel a little more green around the gills--emphasizing her point. But Raf was stubborn. He swallowed, eyes closed, inhaling carefully through his nose and then out through his mouth. “It’s probably a 24-hour thing. Or it’s stress. Or the heat. It’ll pass. I’m fine. You have to get back to work.”
“You are going to sit there and you are going to do what I say.” Xo ordered, finger out and pointing at him as her other hand went for her phone. “Mama will hear about this and I am calling her right after I get you an appointment.”
The receptionist answered and Xo immediately began rattling off information. “Yes I need today.” she pointedly added, toe tapping as she waited for a time to be given to her. “Yes, we can do 4 o’clock. I’ll see you then.”
The call ended and she went to her brother’s side, patting his head before she went to go dial their mother.” It was all he could do to sit there listening to Xo making plans for him. He felt guilty. Since Serena had returned to town, everything had started to fall apart at the seams. Now Ted knew about how he felt. Serena wanted to fix things after ten years of separation. And then he’d gotten the call from Noah’s dad that his wife was sick. They weren’t sure how long she had, but she wanted to see him.
He huffed a breath as Xo patted him on the head. With so much to deal with, he’d been neglecting some of his most important relationships. Especially Xo. When she was off of the phone, he looked up at her, blinking through blurry eyes to focus on her face. “Serena doesn’t want a divorce. And I have no idea what to do.”
There were quick arrangements made with their mother. Xo would need to go to work, but they could trade off with babysitting Raf. Because apparently when left to his own devices this happened. And what was family for if not to be overbearing when one of them needed it?
She took a sharp breath at Raf’s comment, moving along to relay her discussion with Mom instead. “I’ll be taking you to the doctors. After that I’ll drop you off at my house, mom’s coming over with Olly and you’re spending the night in the guest room. Dad’s going to go and check on the dogs with the spare key.”
Her hand ran against his hair gently, a habit when Olly wasn’t feeling well. “If you want a divorce we can figure out a way to force it. You don’t have children, but she could in theory try to come for property.”
He knew better than to argue. Not with their mom involved. Instead, he frowned and sank further into the chair. There was no escaping this time. Some part of him was grateful, but most of him was guilty. He sighed, wiping a shaking hand across his forehead. “Okay,” was really all he could think to say.
“I don’t really have anything,” he said. “I guess she could come after the shop, but I don’t think she’s malicious. Just—” He hesitated. “I feel like I’ve lost control of everything.”
It was fair and Xo knew that feeling all too well. She constructed control around herself, the illusion that she could influence events around her to get the best outcome. But that didn’t mean anything, not when life had its own way. “If you were in control. What would you want?”
The answer was instant and impossible, so he opted to say nothing instead. He gave a one-sided shrug and then shuffled around on the desk for a moment, looking for his phone and his wallet. “How’re you holding up with Olly and the school thing?”
Xo shook her head, because of course he just avoided the question. Like he avoided the fact that he was getting sick. “If we’re changing the subject, can you walk? Or are you leaning on me to get to the car?”
At this, he nodded, finding his footing thanks to the reprieve from the heat. He swayed for a moment, but he’d gotten himself into this mess and he’d see his way out of it. “I can make it to the car,” he said. “You’ll have to drive, of course,” half joking, half sincere.
“I was already planning to.” Xo motioned, hand on his arm as he got up. If it was too much he could lean on her. He always could.