Look Beyond What You See

Sickness

 "Aerys? Aerys, it's time to get up," Juniper's voice echoes from somewhere far away. I groan and pull the covers over my head. For once in my life, I am cold in my bed despite all of the overstuffed covers and fluffy blankets on top of me. My head is pounding. "Aerys.... Wait. You never sleep in. I never have to wake you up. Something must be wrong with you. Let me feel your forehead, dear." She wrestles the covers off of my head and lays a cold hand on my forehead. I hiss and retreat into my blanket cave. Every muscle aches. I think I'll not move that quickly again.

"Goodness, Aerys, you're burning up!" Juniper declares. "I'll go tell Their Excellencies that you are indisposed and will not be following your usual schedule today. Do you feel like eating anything?"

"No," I groan.

"Of course. Well, I'll send Malina in to keep you company and take care of you, and we'll see if Their Excellencies let Dmitri come in here to see you."

Dmitri. The roof last night. I was thoroughly chilled and soaked when I came in. We spent hours out there in the wet. Maybe Juniper is right and such behaviour is unhealthy. I feel terrible. Juniper fortunately does not ask how I think I got sick--for indeed, I can think of no other explanation for my overnight indisposition--and leaves the room quickly. Her footsteps on the ground shake my bed and hurt my head. A wave of dizziness overtakes me, even though I am lying down. A moment later nausea hits. I poke my miserable head out of the blanket cave just in time to see Malina coming into my bedchamber. A second later she's at my bedside with a waste-bin, and I'm retching into it. Wonderful.

"Thank you," I mumble once I've emptied the meagre contents of my stomach into the bin. I feel slightly better for it, better enough to sit up, supported by my massive piles of pillows. Malina smiles, but her eyes reveal concern.

"It's no problem. Once I heard you'd taken ill, I came straight in. Looks like I got here just in time. Oy, Ginny, clean this out, will you?" Malina flags down a passing chambermaid and hands her the waste-bin. "How do you suppose you got sick? You were fine yesterday."

"Dmitri and I were out on the roof for a long time last night."

"In the rain? No wonder--"

"I kept us under a water shield for most of it. But I got up there well before he did...."

"I never thought I'd say this, but maybe Juniper's medical wisdom has a bit of merit. No offence, but you look terrible."

"I feel terrible."

Malina chortles briefly at that. "Let me get you some water. That might help, at least with the aftertaste...." She continues talking, but she's in my bath-chamber now and I can't understand her. I sink back down into my bed again as another wave of dizziness hits. I wish Dmitri were here. Actually, I really don't want him to see me like this, especially with a strumpet like Yekaterina around for him to compare me to, but I can't help feeling that having him close would make me feel better.

Malina returns to my bedside with a glass of water and coaxes me into something of a sitting position, again supported by my pillows. I sip the water slowly. It seems to have more revitalising power in it than usual. Maybe I'm just extremely dehydrated? But that doesn't make sense. I was in the rain forever last night...but I was maintaining a water shield, and I don't think I brought all that water back into myself. I don't think I drank much yesterday, either....

"You should probably have several of these, if you can keep them down," Malina observes, as if voicing my thoughts.

"We'll see how this first one goes. I feel a little better already, but...probably best not to rush it," I agree.