A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

I began to wonder about a few things as I lay there in my bed; A) I'm in pain, B) I'm hungry, and C) Are the ceiling tiles supposed to be moving? As you can guess, I'm as sick as a dog. My throat is killing me, as is my head over all, feels like it's a sack of bricks, about to break through due to pressure at anytime. My body is aching with every move I make as I slowly reach for my cell phone that lay on the end table. Before I know it, I'm working up a cold sweat as I hit the speed dial for Ryan.The ringing of the phone hurts my ears.

"Bren, what's up?" He answers after a few moments.

"I'm sick." I groan as I fall back onto my pillow, bad move, it sends shock waves of pain through my head.

"You sure it's not just a hard hang-over?" He asks gently, probably praying that I'm okay.

"Yea, I'm sick. I didn't do any drinking last night." I whisper, my voice hoarse.

"Be right there." Ryan speaks quickly and then hangs up.

The ceiling tiles are still slightly moving side to side as I close the phone. I roll over onto my side, hoping it'll be more comfortable. But unfortunately, the road to comfort is rather quite painful. My head begins to throb and I feel my eyes sting. No, I'm stronger then this. I quietly think through my throbbing thoughts. Don't let Ryro find you like this. I hate it when he sees me weak and half dead and din tears, it hurts him. He wishes he could've been there sooner or magically take the pain away, and I hate seeing my Ryro like that, knowing that I caused the pain in his eyes. Once he gets here though, the world will seem a lot brighter.

A few more thoughts pop up into my head, but I easily push them back out, they're nothing important. Jon and Spencer. Quietly my thoughts take off again. I wonder what they're doing right now? I-I think they went to Chicago together...heh, those two can be so weird when it comes to that stuff. Although, I'm pretty sure me and Ryro are guilty of it too. God, I wish this was over already.

My eye lids begin to feel heavy, I want so badly to sleep, but I want to see Ryro just as bad, plus, the pain won't let me. I realize then that my shirt and pants are drenched in a cold sweat, as is my hair, and the smell is sickly. Not disgusting, but sickly. The whole room probably smells the same, not just my clothing, but I have no way of telling, I don't dare to try and get up. If just rolling over to one side hurts, to stand up will probably be unbearable. I feel my eyes begin to sting again, and I let one lone tear fall. I carefully roll back onto my back, it was more comfortable then being on my side, and sigh. Not only is my throat throbbing, but it's dry too, very dry. I need something to drink, but refuse to get up.

"Bren?" A familiar voice says as the door creaks open.

"Ryro." I speak, my throat killing me.

"Wow, you really are sick, huh?" He asks as he sits on the edge of my bed.

I just slightly nod.

"Well, I'll get you some Advil for the pain. You hungry?"

I nod again.

"Okay, I'll get you something to eat too. I'll only be a few minutes." He stands up and walks out the door, closing it behind him.

But you just got here! I can't help but to think. Of course, he means good by going to get me some food and a few Advil, but I still wish he could've stayed just a minute longer. It'll be better when he comes back. Slowly, I reach for the spot on the end table where remote to the t.v. lays. I grab it and turn on the TV, searching for something to watch. I gave up though, finally settling on Mythbusters re-run. Food was main main priority now...that and my beloved Ryro. He'll have a place to sit when he comes back, I have several bean bags in here, but as for him being comfortable and well entertained, that's a whole other story. I just hope we can find something to watch on TV beside a re-run of Mythbusters that we've both seen about a thousand times.

The house is messy, so I doubt he'll be back in "only a few minutes". He'll end up raiding the fridge or cupboards looking for soup, if he can even make it to the kitchen. I should probably hire a maid or something. Then he'll search the bathroom cabinets for the Advil, do I even have any Advil? Hope so. Then he'll try to find a tray or something in the dining room, which will be propped up against the wall behind the door, hope he knows that. Knowing Ryro though, he probably does. So after that, he'll try to carry all this stuff up in one shot, tripping over his own two feet as he hurries up the winding stairs. Hope he doesn't hurt himself.

The door creaks again, and lo-and-behold guess who it is? My Ryro, his hands full and a spoon dangling from his mouth, which he's holding by the handle and trying not to let go of. I notice also, he has a thermometer in his left hand. The tray is being held by his right arm, who's hand is holding a bowl of soup. In his left hand is the Advil bottle and a bottle of juice. Carefully, he puts the thermometer down on the end table, along with the juice and spoon.

"Sorry." He chuckles as he goes to put the soup down so he can set the tray up for me.

"Dun worry about it. I should be the sorry one." I reply with a weak smile.

"Why so?" He puts the bowl of soup on the tray and sticks the spoon in it.

"Calling you up here to take care of me." I reply as I sit up.

"Here." He sticks the thermometer in my mouth. "Under the tongue for five minutes, then you can take the Advil and eat."

I sit here, slightly watching TV as Ryro pulls over a bean bag chair. I toss him the remote and it lands on his lap and he slightly jumps. Ryan just smiles at me and I nod towards the TV. Slowly, he flips through the channels, until the thermometer beeps. Yes, I have an electronic one, deal with it. He takes it from my mouth and looks at it.

"Nice. 102.3" Ryro speaks slowly. "You've got a fever for sure."

I instantly think of several bad puns in which I could use our first album's name, but instead of embarrassing myself I say; "Great. Gimme the Advil, please?"

"Yepp." He says as he hands me two Advil and the bottle of juice he brought up.

I down the pills in pain, my throat burning as the pills go down, I feel like screaming but cant because one, I have a throat full of juice and two, I refuse to hurt Ryro. Flinching I down the other pill and lay on the bed, weak and drained of strength. Ryro looks at me worried, I know it hurts him to see me like this, quietly I curse myself for calling him here, I could take of myself, right?

The soup tasted a bit blan, my sense of taste failing me. Ryro tried to keep his gaze at the TV, but every so often he glances at me. "If I could kiss you without getting you sick, I would." I speak as I finish swallowing a spoonful of soup.

"Thanks. I'd kiss you too." Ryan blushes.

I try not to chuckle at his shy response, saving me the pain and Ryro the hurt, and squeeze the blankets instead. He notices my reaction and blushed deeper, trying to regain his focus on the TV. I continue to eat my soup, now that Ryro's here, the world is brighter. Just think, this time next week, I'll be better...me and Ryro will be out doing something either stupid or intamite. I think hopefully, swallowing another spoonful of soup. I look at Ryro, he has his hat angled just ever so slightly to his left, as if to stare at me from his right. I smile to myself, It'll get better.

"You know, when you get better, the first thing I'll probably do is kiss you, right? I'm already starting to go through with drawl." Ryro speaks shyly as he moves from the bean bag to the edge of my bed.

"Yea. Me too." I reply

Ryro blushes and kisses my forehead.

"I'm already feeling better." I say as Ryro pulls his lips from my head.

"Good." He says as he plays with my hair.

"Thanks Ryro, I love you."

"Love you too, Bren."