Chapter Twenty-one
Brian curled in a fetal position. He didn’t know how much more of this pain he could take. He knew he needed to apply more of the ointment, but he needed help. This flare-up was the worst he had ever had.
He knew it was stress related.
This time he would need help. His help was mere footsteps away in the other room. All he had to do was ask, but Brian didn’t want Karlie seeing him like this.
“Lord. Please.”
Brian prayed his usual prayer as he shifted his legs inch by inch. He needed to use the bathroom. His body trembled as he tried to keep from crying out in pain.
“Lord, please. Please. Please.” This time a sob escaped. Every single movement he made was excruciating. He placed a fist in his mouth before swinging his legs to the floor. Next came the task of lifting his upper body.
This required a new prayer. “Lord, help me.” Gritting his teeth, Brian hoisted his body in a single determined lunge. Fire laced his back. “Argh!” He fell back onto the bed.
Brian’s outcry was loud enough for fresh banging on his door. “Brian! Let me in!”
He moved his head toward the sound. If she only knew, he would if he could. Pain and the urgent need to relieve himself quickly conquered his pride.
“I can’t,” he huffed. “Help!” His voice sounded like a small croak.
“Will my key card work in your door?”
“Try,” he said. Even that one word took effort. He wiped his face with his hand.
A few seconds later, Karlie rushed inside waving the key card in triumph.
Brian watched her freeze when she realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He didn’t have time to explain. He had to go.
Real bad.
He lifted his arm like a baby would when asking to be picked up.
Karlie raced to his side. “You can’t stand?” she asked.
Brian huffed and shook his head.
She crooked both her hands under his arms and assisted him to his feet. They shuffled over to the bathroom. Brian entered the small space. He heard Karlie’s huge intake of breath. She had seen his back.
Hanging his head, all Brian could do was close the door and unzip his pants. “Ah,” he breathed. Nothing felt as good as that release. He washed his hands, grabbed the ointment, and opened the door to a waiting Karlie. “Thank you.”
With a brisk nod, she helped him back to the bed.
He sat on the edge.
Karlie slipped beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.
He knew she was waiting for him to speak. “I have psoriatic arthritis.”
She scrunched her nose. “What’s that?”
“It’s a kind of psoriasis that comes with crippling pain. When I get a flare-up, the area is tender and painful. Fortunately, my back and sometimes my feet are the only places which act up. Once I apply the ointment and medicine, it usually helps ease the pain.”
“I know Kim Kardashian has psoriasis, but I had no idea it could be painful,” she said.
“Normally it isn’t. I just happen to have the form of it that is.”
Karlie touched his arm. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I was ashamed. I didn’t want you scorning me or feeling repulsed by it. It’s not contagious.”
She slapped him lightly on the arm. “I could never scorn you. Silly man. I thought you had a genius IQ. And I know it’s not contagious.”
“You sure? You might wake up tomorrow with spots all over your lips.”
They shared a laugh.
“Can you rub some of this on my back?” Brian asked, holding out the ointment. With a nod, Karlie took the small tube. He angled his upper body to give her access. Brian sighed with relief once the medicine had been rubbed in.
“Thank you,” he said, facing her.
Karlie nodded. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Wait. Is this the reason why you sometimes would disappear for a day or two?”
He nodded.
“And, here I was thinking you were holed up with some girl or something.”
Brian chuckled. “Well . . . that’s been true too. But I always make time for you. Always. Unless I’m sick or bedridden.” He watched her eyes warm at his words.
“Let me see it in the light.”
Brian tensed because he wasn’t comfortable with the idea. “Karlie, you’re the first person, besides my parents, I’m telling about this.”
She touched her chest. “I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me. Now turn around and let me see.”
It took every ounce of courage he possessed to allow her a closer inspection. His heart hammered in his chest. Would she avoid him from now on? Would she eat with him? Would she be the same toward him?
Brian jumped out of his skin when he felt Karlie’s lips on his back.
“What are you doing?” he whispered. Not for a million dollars would he admit how her gesture touched him. A tear threatened to spill. He blinked it away.
“I’m sorry for your pain,” she said.
Hearing the sorrow in her voice, Brian faced her. Her eyes glistened.
Was she crying for him?
His heart cracked open at her compassion and every ounce of self-consciousness departed. Brian knew there was nothing he couldn’t share with Karlie from now on. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. “I don’t deserve a friend like you,” he whispered from atop her head.
Her shoulders shook. “I’m sorry you’ve been going through this all by yourself. I wish you’d told me.”
“If I had known that was all I had to do to get a kiss, I would’ve a long time ago,” he joked.
Karlie pushed out of his embrace. “I’d like to pray for you.”
His feet felt weightless. “You want to pray for me?”
“God is a healer. There isn’t anything He can’t do.”
“I’ve been praying for two years and so far . . .” Brian shifted and cupped her face with his hands. “I’m sure you have a direct line to God, though.”
She tilted her head. “You’ve been praying?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s two words. Lord, please. Tonight, I added a few more pleases to my prayer.” He lowered his head with slight embarrassment.
“Brian Oakes, are you blushing?” Karlie asked.
He lowered his head. “No. I’m too mature to blush.”
“You are!” she exclaimed. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about praying. I’m glad to hear it. Maybe that’s why God sent me to your door. He knew you needed help. That’s answered prayer. I’m going to pray and add my prayers to yours. If the two of us touch and agree on something in faith believing, we can move mountains.”
Brian stared into her face. She meant every word she said. How he wished he had her certainty! “I don’t know if I have enough faith.”
“You don’t need a lot. The Bible says even a speck of faith, the size of a mustard seed, is enough to do the job.”
He pictured the miniscule seed in his mind. “That’s not possible.”
“Yes, it is,” she assured him. “Faith multiplies exponentially when we put it into action.”
Brian nodded. He was impressed. “I’d like to see that verse.”
She nodded with excitement. “I’ll look it up for you.” Karlie rushed to the nightstand and opened the drawer to locate the Bible kept there. She scanned the pages of the New Testament until she located Luke 17:5–6.
“Here it is,” she said. “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”
Brian rubbed his chin. “All it takes is faith?”
“Yes. Faith is your ticket to heaven—and healing. Let’s bow our heads in prayer.” Karlie clasped her hands. He followed suit and closed his eyes.
“Dear Heavenly Father, you’re a divine healer. There is nothing impossible with you. Whatever you command must be done. Whatever you bind in heaven is bound on earth. I come before you putting Brian at your feet. He is ailing and in pain. Lord, we thank you for sickness and pain because how else would we know how much we need you? I ask you to heal him if it is in your will. But if it is not in your plan for him, then give Brian the strength to endure. Help him to trust that you know what is best for him. Give him relief, Lord. Help him, please. I hate to see him suffer, but I thank you for this window to prayer. Draw him closer to you. I thank you in advance, Lord, and I pray this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Brian did not understand a lot of the jargon she used, but hearing Karlie pray for a heathen like him touched his heart. All he could say was, “I believe.”
Listening to Karlie’s earnest supplication on his behalf for a divine healing, Brian knew two things. Karlie was serious about her relationship with God, and he wasn’t worthy of her.
She helped him back into bed. He rested on his stomach knowing he would be able to sleep well, thank God.
She stretched out beside him.
“Karlie, what are you doing?” Brian asked.
“I’m staying here with you. What if you have to use the bathroom or something? I have to be here.”
“I can’t have you sleeping next to me,” he said. “Just leave the connecting door open. I’ll yell if I need you.”
“I can’t believe I’m the one saying this, but, Brian, you need to lighten up. This is a king-sized bed. If it makes you feel better, I only intend to stay here until you’re sound asleep.” She yawned. “So quit worrying and go to sleep.”
“There’s a couch,” he said.
“Go to sleep,” she said. “I’ll be gone soon enough.”
Brian quit fighting. He was too tired and sick to continue the debate. He vowed to remain on his side of the bed. He wasn’t going to have God strike him dead with lightning or something worse. With a wide yawn, he closed his eyes.
Karlie heard her phone alert through the connecting door. She rushed into her suite leaving the door ajar. It was 2:15 a.m. She hoped it was Jamaal reaching out to her. She looked at the screen and sighed. She had gained another social media follower. Whoop-de-doo!
She wandered back into Brian’s suite. He hadn’t stirred. She smiled at his sleeping form. He looked so . . . innocent. On impulse, she decided to snap a picture. She held back a giggle as she slipped back into the bed and spooned him. Then she hit the capture button.
Karlie composed a cheeky text: Now you can say we slept together.
Then she hit send, laughed, and went to sleep.