Rescue Me (Sidney Crosby)

Chapter Forty Eight

"Aw, my little man," I said as I rubbed his hot head and then took his temperature, '...He's got a fever...'

"How is he?" I heard and then turned around to see Sidney in the doorway.

"Fever," I said and then sighed, "It's low, but enough to make me worried."

"Yeah, my mom said that she's gunna come over later," Sidney said and I looked at him.

"I can handle it, it's not like he's never been sick before," I said and he nodded his head.

"She misses you," he said and I smirked and nodded my head, "Maybe she'll know some kind of secret to help him."

"Maybe," I said and then stood up and walked over towards Sidney and hugged him, but then pulled away quickly, "You feeling all right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're pretty warm too," I said and then felt his forehead, "I think you have a fever too."

"Oh come on, it's the first day of vacation," he whined and I laughed.

"I think you should go lie down too," I motioned but he shook his head.

"I'm fine, I'm just still tired from driving," Sidney muttered and I sighed.

"Come on, let's go," I pulled on his arm and walked him down the hallway and into his room. The doorbell rang downstairs and I pushed Sidney onto the bed, "Sleep, don't wear your body out."

"The door-"

"I'll get it," I said and then left Sidney in the room and then walked down the stairs and to the front door.

"Hi Julie!"

"Mrs. Crosby!" I said happily as the woman stood on the other side of the door and beamed when she saw me. I looked down and saw that she had a pot in her hand and I moved out of the way for her to come in.

"It's Trina, Julie," she said and I smiled and nodded my head, "How's Josh?"

"He has a low fever, and I think Sidney's getting sick too," I said and she looked at me.

"Well it's a good thing I made enough soup," she laughed and I smiled and followed her into the kitchen, "My it smells good in here."

"I made breakfast this morning, sorry, I haven't had time to clean up," I said and then walked over towards the sink and started to fill the dishwasher, "Josh had upset his stomach after taking a bite of breakfast," I sighed and then looked at Trina.

"Aw, the poor thing, maybe it's because of the weather," she said and I nodded my head, "Maybe he caught something still in Pittsburgh."

"I don't know, but Sid probably caught it," I said and she sighed.

"I think you're right," Trina said and I saw that she was looking passed me. I turned around and saw that Sidney was standing in the kitchen doorway looking pale, "I think you are sick, sweetie."

"I'm fine mom," he said and then walked over towards the fridge, "Josh is thirsty."

"Sid, come on, you're pale as a ghost," I said and he sighed looking tired, "Go lie down with Josh."

Sidney pulled two bottles of water out of the fridge and then waved towards his mom and I and was out of the kitchen.

"Oh boy, you have your hands full," Trina said and I laughed, "So tell me about this whole thing that happened."

"What?" I asked confused, but then realized she was talking about the mob, "Oh you mean-"

"Yeah, Sid tried to explain it to me last month on the phone, but I knew he was angry, and when he's like that he doesn't talk clearly," Trina explained and then sighed, "Just like his father."

I softly smiled and then sat at the table and rubbed my face, "All right-"

"Wait! I'm gunna make coffee, would you like some?"

I laughed a little and then nodded my head, "Did you stock the house up before we came?"

"Yes, I always make sure my boy has enough food and supplies in here."

"You're a good mother," I said and she smiled towards me.

"Well what about your family?"

"They live down in Texas, I call them constantly and talk to them for hours, now that I can, but actually going down to visit it tough."

"I bet seeing you made them feel a lot better," Trina said and I nodded my head.

"I wasn't able to see them for seven years."

"That's a long time," she said and I nodded my head and watched as she poured the water into the coffee pot, "You've had a tough life, Julie, but I'm happy that you and my son found each other."

"Thank you, I am too, I love him very much."

"I know you do, and I know he loves you very much as well," she said and then walked over towards the fridge and grabbed some milk, "Do you take sugar in yours?"

"No, just some cream," I said and she nodded her head.

"That's how I like mine too," she laughed and I smiled, "I do have to confess that I was scared when Sidney told me your past. I was afraid for his safety."

"I know, I've tried to leave to-"

"I know, he's told me, you're a brave girl Julie," she said and then walked over towards the table with two coffee mugs, "I don't know if I would have been strong enough to run for that long."

"I had to protect my son," I said and then sighed, "It was more for him than me."

"And Kevin?"

"Kyle."

"Kyle. He's in jail, right?"

"Yes," I said and then took a sip of the hot coffee, "He'll be in there a long time, I hope."

"So what was this incident that happened last month?" she asked and I looked up towards her sitting across from me at the table and sighed.

"Well, it had to deal with Kyle too," I started and she looked at me, "Everyone knew that something happened at his trial. Our lawyer had told me that there wasn't enough evidence against him to put him in jail for more than five years, even though everyone knew that he's done more than enough bad to make him stay in there for life."

"Horrible."

"I know, but at the trial, we were all waiting for him to only go away for five years, but then, like some miracle the jury said for life. My lawyer and Kyle's didn't know what had happened, but we weren't asking any questions, we had gotten what we wanted," I explained and Trina nodded her head, "For two months we were fine, I was starting to feel safe again, but then these two guys showed up at the shop and asked for Allie, saying that they were agents with the FBI."

"Were they?"

"I don't know," I said and then sighed and ran my fingers around the side of the cup, "Sidney and I were up all night looking at the security tape trying to figure out what their 'meeting' was about."

"Did you figure it out?"

"No, it was too confusing and I'm pretty sure that my eyes weren't working right," I laughed and she nodded her head, "I went to get some sleep, but when I had gone into my apartment, Allie was sneaking down the stairs, so I followed her and found that she was stealing the tape."

"For what?"

"I don't think that she realized that Sidney and I had already watched it," I answered and Trina nodded her head, "I argued with her, and she kind of grabbed me and told me to get into her car, she drove to this old abandoned place and then told me to get down and had a meeting with these big scary guys," I explained and then sighed.

"You seemed to be attracted to danger," Trina said and I nodded my head.

"I thought that too," I said and then took another sip of my coffee and then explained on how I snuck into the trunk of the car while the guys got into it and drove to this dock by the pier. I told her everything that happened and all about this Boris. She gasped when I told her that his men had hurt me in more ways than one.

"Does Sid know?" Trina asked and I sadly nodded my head, I told her about them having to purposely lose the game to keep us all safe, "Pigs."

"I know, I was telling them to win he game, but there was too much at risk."

"How's your leg?" she asked and I looked down and placed my hand where the bullet had gone in.

"It hurts sometimes, I couldn't really go to the hospital to get it properly removed, but Doc did a good job on getting it out, cleaning it up, and stitching it," I said and then felt Trina grasp my hand, "I mean there's definitely going to be a scar, and it definitely was painful, but-"

"Have you seen the guy since?" she interjected, clearly seeing that I didn't want to talk about that.

"He showed up after the game, but since then, no," I said and Trina looked surprised, "The wives and girlfriends, other than Marc's wife, didn't know about the plan, but when he showed up, everyone knew."

"And how are you?" she asked sounding concerned.

"I have nightmares," I said quietly, "I wake up screaming, or having Sidney waking me up, I'm terrified. I don't think that I was this scared when it came to Kyle."

"Have you talked to anyone?"

"I talked to Sidney and Vero, but that's about it."

"Does Josh know?"

"No! Sidney had Mildred take him out of the state before anyone found out behind him."

"Smart."

"He protected me and my son," I said and looked at Trina, "Your son's done so much for me, that I don't think a lifetime of telling him 'thank you' would be enough."