TWENTY-THREE
Burning Up
CAI WOKE, HIS throat burning. It was dark in his room, but what light there was hurt his eyes. He needed water and sat up, waiting for his head to stop spinning before he attempted to get out of bed. A bottle of water on his bedside table dripped condensation onto the wood.
Nora.
The cool water soothed his throat, and he took gulp after gulp. His phone was plugged in next to him, and he grabbed it, staring at the time. It wasn’t the middle of the night like he thought. It was barely dinner time, and he’d only been asleep a few hours. He tried to push himself off the bed, but his body broke out in a cold sweat, and he shivered. Finally giving up, he lay back down.
God, his throat hurt. He took another drink of water before noticing the throat lozenges and spray on the table. Despite his pounding head and sore throat, he smiled. She was taking care of him, plugging in his phone, making sure he had water. He loved that girl.
The words echoed in his mind, and he suddenly remembered saying them as she tucked him in. After placing a lozenge on his tongue, he burrowed under the covers again. He was glad he’d told her how he felt and she’d responded. Her voice sounded in his mind; she loved him, too.
A tiny knock sounded on his door. “Come in,” he said, his voice a croak.
“Cai?” Nora’s form was silhouetted against the hall light. She came inside a bit more, closing the door behind her. “How are you feeling?”
The bed dipped beneath her weight, and her hand touched his skin. When she moved to take her hand back, he held it there, pressing her cool skin against his. “That feels good.”
“Are you thirsty? Hungry?”
“I just had water.” Talking hurt his throat again, so he reached for the bottle. She got there before him, handing it to him and watching him take a sip. “I’m not hungry,” he went on.
“I wish we had a thermometer. Should I bring you to urgent care? Or the ER?”
“No.” He shook his head, chomping the lozenge still in his mouth. Anticipating his move, she got him another one, unwrapping it and placing it in his hand.
“Thanks.” He closed his eyes and felt her move away, but he stopped her. “Don’t leave yet. Keep me company?”
“Okay,” she whispered. Her feet shuffled across the carpet, and then she curled herself next to him. As soon as she was situated, she ran her fingers through his hair. He nearly groaned. Her fingers lightly raked his scalp, easing the tension he felt from his neck to his forehead. He must have groaned because she chuckled. “Okay?”
“Very.”
“The guys are downstairs,” she told him. “Well, except for Matisse. He went back to bed. But Ryan and Apollo and Seok. I made lasagna.”
“How was it?”
“I think it’s going to be too soggy. I think pasta in the slow cooker is a bad idea.”
“You put it in the crock pot?” Each word out of his mouth hurt his throat, and he took another sip of water.
“You don’t have to talk,” she said. “Do you want me to be quiet?”
He liked the way she filled him in on the action in the rest of the house. It made him feel like he wasn’t alone, even sequestered away like he was.
“Let’s see.” Her fingers continued their gentle movement through his hair. “Oh! I got a second interview at a comic book store downtown. Seok’s going to help me do comics research. Did you know he has a collection of She-Hulk books? The series is called, Savage She-Hulk, and she’s a lawyer.” Her hand paused at his forehead. “Are you sure you don’t need me to take you to the doctor?”
He shook his head.
“Ryan offered to come with me to the soup kitchen.”
Cai groaned. He and Nora’d made an longstanding date to serve dinner at one of the churches downtown on Wednesday nights, and he hated to miss it.
“You can’t sneeze into people’s macaroni, Cai.” She kissed him, resting her cheek against him. “I’m worried about you,” she whispered.
“I’ll be fine. Not the worst I’ve felt. Had measles once.”
“How?” But she interrupted him before he could speak. “Never mind. Tell me when you’re better. You’re all caught up on your vaccines now, right?”
He was. The series of shots was the first things he’d done when he left his family.
“I was older, too,” she said. “My first vacs came when I was taken from my mom, but then there was a gap when I went back to her. She didn’t finish some of them, so I had to start all over again.”
Cai opened his eyes, turning over to stare at her and forcing her hand away from his hair. He entwined her fingers with his. Her words showed him how much the two of them had in common. It was getting harder to keep his eyes open, but he wanted to hear more about her. “Keep going,” he said, but his throat closed on the last word, and he coughed. Reaching across him, she grabbed his water and handed it to him, watching him drink.
“Tomorrow,” she said, taking it back from him and easing off the bed. “I’m going to get you more water.”
She edged to the door, opening it. The light hurt his eyes, and he had to look away.
“I’ll be right back,” she said and shut the door, leaving him in darkness.
Closing his eyes, he listened for her footsteps in the hall, hoping it took her no time to fill up his water and return. He’d forgotten how lonely it was to be sick. When he was younger and ill, his mother would check on him from time-to-time, but she was so busy with the rest of his family he often lay for hours alone.
The door opened, and she snuck inside, closing it quickly behind her before the light could bother him. “Here.” She placed an icepack wrapped in a dish towel against his head and handed him his water and two green capsules. “I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but this is worrying me. You can’t swallow, and you have a fever. If you’re still sick in the morning, we’re going to the doctor.”
It felt like he had a golf ball stuck in his throat that he needed to swallow around, so he nodded. If he was still feverish in the morning, he would go. Her hand replaced his on the icepack, moving it from the back of his neck to his forehead. The whole time, she kept up a steady stream of conversation about innocuous things. Mostly She-Hulk. She seemed very fascinated by She-Hulk.
“It’s interesting, you know? The Hulk, he loses his intelligence when he changes, but not She-Hulk. And they’re cousins! I love it. I’m going to read Seok’s comics tonight. Then I’m going to do research tomorrow about vampire comic heroes. I took the Vampires in Literature class at Brownington. Matisse made fun of me, but whatever.” She chuckled and leaned down to kiss him.
The pills did their job. Drowsy, nose no longer running like a faucet, he focused on Nora’s voice. He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, he was on his back, Nora curled into his side.
If it was possible, he felt even worse than when he’d gone to sleep. His entire body ached, and when he reached for his water, his eyes were swollen and dry. The bed shifted, and a small hand reached over him for the water.
“Cai!” Her hands were suddenly on him, touching his face, his neck. The bed bounced beneath him as she scrambled out.
“Apollo! Ryan!”
He tried to squeak out that he was fine, he only needed sleep, but his eyes were too heavy.
Deep voices, their words hard to make out, reverberated through the room. He kept his eyes closed; even with the lights off, it was too much work to keep them open.
Apollo’s voice was in his ear, and then a t-shirt was shoved over his head. Hands moved his body into position, dressing him like a doll while his head lolled about. Nora stepped between his legs, and he let his head drop to her chest. Her hands stroked his neck, and then she stepped away and the guys were there, wrapping arms around his shoulders and hefting him to his feet.
Somehow, he walked downstairs and into the night to be loaded into the car.
“He’s fine,” a deep voice said. No. It was a voice he never wanted to hear again. So familiar, yet still it had the ability to terrify him.
Shocked, he searched for its source. The car interior was blurry. Nora and Apollo had been there a moment ago; where had they gone? Why had they left him?
“I said he’s fine.” The voice said again. “Leave him.”
“No!” His voice came out a croak. “No!” It was his father. How had he gotten here? I’m not fine! I’m sick! I’m not faking! Lashing out desperately, he tried to push away the hands pulling him. His father would put him in the basement and lock the door. He’d be stuck down there on the dirt floor with nothing to keep him warm.
“Cai.” Two small hands cupped his face. “You’re okay. You’re at the hospital.”
Blinking to clear his vision, her dark face suddenly came into view. As she tipped her head, her forehead brushed his. “You’re okay,” she whispered again. “You’re sick, but you’re okay. We’re all here.”
The world shifted, and her face receded from his. He wanted to call out, but he couldn’t. As if she knew what he needed, she appeared again, holding his hand tightly in hers. “I’m staying with him,” she said.
Locking eyes with him, she repeated, “I’m staying with you.”