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"I'm sick." The thought rattled through Mike Lawson's brain as he lay in bed feeling miserable. "First day of Spring Training and I've come down with something. Can't go out and spread it to the rest of the team. I'm staying here until I recover." He took a mental inventory of his symptoms. Queasy stomach, check. Coughing until his sides hurt, check. All over body ache, check. Chills and fever, score one for Tom Jones. He fumbled around for the TV remote when suddenly the door to his apartment swung open.
"How you feeling, old man?" Ginny Baker entered carrying a grocery bag and wearing a concerned smile.
"You should stay away from me, Baker. You don't want what I've got."
"Somebody's got to take care of you. Luckily I came prepared." She pulled a surgical mask out of the bag and put it on, covering her nose and mouth. Next she pulled out a digital thermometer and stuck it in his ear. It beeped after a moment and she checked the result. "102.3, way too high."
"Thanks, doc."
"What did the doctor have to say, anyway?"
Mike thought, but couldn't remember. Had the team doctor seen him? Mike believed so, but recalled not a single thing about a visit from the doctor. Ginny resumed pulling things out of her bag before he said so.
"I've got aspirin and Tylenol. Alternate those every two hours to help with the aches and bring your fever down. Ginger ale. The carbonation takes pressure off the stomach, but it doesn't have caffeine or sugar to make things worse. I need to get you some ice." She moved toward the kitchen.
The attention made Mike feel better. Usually when sick, he spent the time alone. Baker's care package and sincere desire to help him feel more comfortable lifted his spirits more than any doctor.
"Alright, got you a bucket of ice here." She resumed pulling things out of her apparently bottomless grocery bag. "Bendy straws, so you can drink your ginger ale while lying back without spilling it. Next is some chicken broth. You're not going to be eating solid food for a day or two, so this will keep your strength up. The thermos will keep it hot until you're ready for it."
A loud beeping suddenly started. Ginny didn't notice it. Mike found it nearly unbearable. "What's that noise?"
"I don't hear anything. Listen, I'm going to come back after..." The beeping drowned out the rest of what she said. She kissed him on the cheek through her mask then started for the door. Mike reached out for her, wanting her to stay.
...
Mike awoke in a cold sweat. The incessant beeping of his alarm clock had finally gotten through. It was the first day of Spring Training, but he was not sick and Ginny had not come to take care of him. He dreamed the whole episode.
Shaking off the disorientation, Mike got out of bed and turned on the TV. ESPN went on with the latest basketball news (Connecticut women win again!). Mike headed for the shower as they blathered.
He kept revisiting the dream as he cleaned himself. It continued a series of dreams he'd been having involving Ginny. Instead of the erotic ones he's had when he first met her, the latest batch were all quite domestic and mundane. They were dating, or living together, or married. Sometimes they had children. They were just slices of life. In every one they were very much in love, but more importantly they were comfortable with each other. Mike could just be Mike with the Ginny in his dreams, and he knew she felt the same way.
It scared him, in a way. Mike never felt that way with someone in real life. Even when he and Rachel were married he always held things back. He tried to be who she wanted him to be instead of who he wanted to be for himself. Dream!Ginny didn't want him to change.
Ia a way, he wanted to go back to having the erotic dreams. At least those he knew how to deal with. They meant nothing. He had them about all kinds of women without ever taking action. Fans, reporters, even teammates wives were all fair game for his nocturnal imagination. If Blip ever found out what Mike and Evelyn did in his dreams, the next day's headline would read "Padres camp rocked by teammate homicide."
The dreams of domestic bliss, however, made Mike uneasy. He felt like he should take some action. He just didn't know what action to take. Then the answer came.
...
The Padres asked Dr Barton to come out for the first few days of Spring Training. Ginny had never attended the preseason competition before and the team wasn't sure how she would react. Barton had seen Ginny regularly through the offseason and felt she was doing well.
A knock on her office door surprised Barton. She wasn't expecting anyone. "Come in."
Mike came in hesitantly. "Doctor Barton? I'm Mike Lawson."
Ginny had mentioned Mike quite a bit over the past few months but Barton had not met him. "Andrea Barton. What can I do for you?"
"I've been having strange dreams and I need to talk to someone. Would you refer me?"
"Refer you? You don't think I can help you?"
"Well...is this confidential?"
"If you like."
"I know you've been counseling Ginny Baker. The dreams I've been having involve her, but she shouldn't know right now."
"I maintain doctor/patient confidentiality at all times."
"I know you would never tell her directly. I'm just concerned you might accidentally let something slip."
"I don't think I would." Mike's dismissal of her professionalism perturbed Barton.
"I just think I'd be more comfortable talking to someone else."
"I could refer you to someone, Mike, but you're going to sort this dream thing out in one session then never go back."
"You think it's that simple?"
"Have a seat." She shut the door as Mike sat. She took a chair facing him. "You've had dreams involving Ginny. Are these erotic dreams?"
"No...not, anymore."
You had one last night?" Mike nodded. "Tell me what happened."
Mike described the dream of Ginny taking care of him while sick as best he remembered.
"Is this typical of the dreams you've had?"
"Sort of. They're all normal, slice of life things. We're usually living together, sometimes married, sometimes with kids, but always doing some normal family activity."
"In these dreams are you ever working with her?"
Mike shook his head. "It's always us doing things as a couple off the field."
"You've been considering retiring from baseball?"
"Yeah, it's a year-to-year process. At the end of the season I gauge how my body feels and whether I still have the desire to do what it takes to continue to play at this level."
"What will you do after you retire?"
"My agent wants me to write a book. I've also been looking into TV work. I don't really have a grand plan."
"You're divorced?"
"Yeah. I mostly get along with my ex. Sometimes I want to get back together and sometimes I want to wring her neck."
"So you don't have anyone to share your retirement with."
"No...wait, is that what these dreams are?"
"You tell me."
"One of the reasons I'm hesitant to retire is I'd miss being part of a team. So I'm dreaming I'm a part of a different kind of team." Mike sounded relieved. "Why is it always Ginny?"
"What other single women do you have regular contact with?"
"None. That's it? Ginny is in my dreams because she's the only single woman I know? I'm not in love with her?"
"You're clearly attracted to her. if you were in love with her, you wouldn't have to ask."
"You've given me a lot to contemplate."
"I told you this would get done in one session." She looked at her watch. "Actually, half a session. You still want a referral?"
"No. This has been great. Thanks, doc."
"Glad I could help. Come back and see me if you need to. Just next time make an appointment."