Shorts

fever

More than an hour had passed for their calltime and Maine had not answered texts or calls made to her by her team. She was scheduled for a shoot with Alden that day. He was getting prepped and he, too, hadn't gotten any reply from her. Although Dean, her brother, lived with her, he had gone off to school and only said that she was still sleeping when he left their unit earlier in the day. Alden called her one more time before asking to be excused from the venue of their shoot and heading for her condo which, luckily, was nearby.

Being a frequent "visitor" at her building, the guards easily recognized him and his car and allowed him in almost instantly. He also had spare keys to her unit. He quietly entered and heard a faint hum of the aircon and a very faint sobbing. He locked the door behind him and scanned the common areas of the unit. It looked the same, like how he always saw it when he visited. He knocked on her bedroom door and quietly opened the door to let himself in.

He found Maine wrapped in her comforter and curled up like a fetus in bed. She was sobbing. He immediately went to her. She had her eyes closed with tears streaming down her flushed face and she was obviously shaking. "Maine..." he said softly and she opened her eyes but she didn't seem to recognize him. She closed her eyes again and pulled the comforter even higher up her face. He put his hand on her forehead and confirmed his suspicions as soon as he saw her in such a state. She was burning with fever.

He ran to the bathroom and grabbed the hand towel hanging by the sink and wet it with water. He applied the moist towel on her forehead. He went to the living room where he had a bag of clothes and pulled out a jacket he always brought along with him. He put the jacket on Maine and cuddled her to share his body heat with her. He then texted the people at the shoot of Maine's condition and apologized for having to reschedule the shoot when things were better for all.

Her hands and feet were cold so he got some socks and put it on her. He rubbed his hands together and applied the heat he generated on her hands. Every so often, he would stand up from the bed and change the moist towel to a cooler one.

Finally, about an hour after he had arrived at her side, her body seemed to relax more in his arms. Also, he noticed that her flushed face was now a little less red and that she had broken into a sweat. He kissed her gently on the head before getting up to get a towel and a t-shirt for her. He returned to her and saw that she was somehow struggling to get up. He rushed to her again.

"...I need to pee..." she said softly so he assisted her as she walked to the bathroom. He helped her sit on the toilet then moved just outside the door. When he sensed that she was done. He came back in and saw that she was standing by the sink with her hands gripping the sides. She was looking at herself in the mirror, eyelids heavy and hair in disarray. Then, all of a sudden, she heaved and lurched forward, vomiting into the sink. He started rubbing her back. He yanked her towel from the rack and used it to wipe her neck and then he slipped his hand under her shirt to wipe her back. When she finally stopped heaving, he offered her a cup of water for her to rinse her mouth.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he gently hugged her and rubbed her back.

She broke off from his hug and heaved once more into the sink. After 2 more blows, she looked at him and nodded. This signaled him that she was over her vomiting spell so he sat her on the toilet. Just as he was wiping her sweat from her forehead, she heaved again and vomited once more. He was quick to grab the trash bin nearby but got some splatter of vomit on his shirt and hands. When she sat up after several heaves and small spits, she was spent and limp like a ragdoll.  He cleaned her up then helped her change her shirt. Then, seeing how tired she'd become after all that had just happened, he lifted her and carried her back to bed. He tucked her back in, combed her hair with his hand and kissed her on the forehead. He went into the bathroom to clean up and change his shirt then went out of the bedroom to prepare some soup for her.