We Don't Have Forever

It’s been two weeks and this damn flu still won’t go away. I had only taken that one day off and since then, I’ve been going to school and work, taking loads of cold medicine to keep myself feeling semi okay. Jon was away on a road game for the next two days, having just left this morning and his game being tomorrow afternoon. After finishing my shift at the store, I headed back to the apartment, changing into something comfortable and calling Sidney. We had started talking a lot more often, especially since when he was last in Chicago, I was too sick to see and I didn’t want him catching my flu.

“Hey! How’re you feeling?” He asked as soon as he answered. I smiled a little at hearing his voice, he was so cute sometimes.

“Eh….still pretty shitty. The next time I can take medicine is right before bed.” I said, starting to feel a little hot and pulled off my hoodie.

“Sorry…I wish I could help.” He said, sounding a little pouty. I just laughed, shaking my head at it.

“I wouldn’t want you to catch this. I’m sure you would be much more miserable than I am, since you’ve gotta play on the ice.” I said, flipping through the channels on the TV to find something to watch.

“Maybe….hey, how’s your temperature? Did you check today?” He asked, making me smile again. He was trying so hard, even though we were miles away from each other.

“I’ll check right now.” I said, getting up and going to the bathroom, pulling out the medical kit that Jon kept and finding the thermometer, turning it on. I waited for the three beeps signaling it had finished and checked. 101.4, making me scowl at it.

“What did it say?” He asked, making me sigh a little bit.

“99.4….just a little hotter than normal.” I said, tossing it back in the kit and putting it back in its place.

“Just take it easy, okay? Drink lots of water too.” He said, the sound of something shuffling around on his end. It was late and I knew he had an early practice.

“Go to sleep, Sid, you need to rest.” I said, going back to the couch and curling up with a movie playing.

“You too, you need it more than I do…text me if anything changes, okay?” He said, making me smile. Just he being concerned made me smile. He was literally one of the sweetest guys I had ever met.

“Okay…goodnight, Sidney.” I said, hanging up and placing my phone near my pillow so I could reach it.

I watched the movie for a bit before starting to fall asleep and eventually, being completely knocked out. I was tossing and turning for a bit before my body shook me awake, sweating like crazy and feeling worse than I had in the past two weeks. I could barely breathe now; feeling like my chest was going to cave in with every breath. I had some trouble breathing the past few days but now, I almost felt like I was suffocating. I tried to stand up and try to shower, to clear up my airways but I suddenly became dizzy and the tunnel vision came in quickly, making me fall to the floor. I reached for my phone and quickly dialed Kylee’s number, praying she would answer. After a few rings, a very sleepy hello came through.

“Kylee….I can’t breathe…I can’t stand…I feel like…way worse than before…” I explained, gasping between my words as talking was even difficult.

“Don’t move, I’m coming over right now.” She said, hanging up quickly. I stayed rooted in my spot on the floor, phone clutched to my chest. I wasn’t going anywhere fast, that was for sure. I just hoped that this was the last of my flu and that I could be back to normal soon.