Secrets of a Roughwood (Vincent ValentineXOC) Romance

Chapter 7

The next morning had Reece not feeling so well…

Neither was Lucy.

The cold must have really gotten to them because, no matter how enhanced they truly were, they still had the dreaded sickness. The one that isn't bad enough to stay home for, yet makes you feel as if you are dying…

They both had a terrible cold.

Lucy was the first to wake with a cry that would make the president of Shinra himself feel bad for her. Her little nose was running and those fire eyes were watering so badly, the entire pillow was soaked. The loud sound had both Vincent and Reece hanging over her in seconds and trying to find a solution to the sudden problem.

"Lucy, what's wrong baby?" Reece said as she scooped the toddler into her arms. The child continued to wail as Vincent laid a hand on her forehead. "She has a fever." The man stated the obvious in a blunt tone as the mother gasped in terror.

There it was. That fear again. Vincent silently noted it as Reece felt her head for herself. "Oh no…Oh gosh, I should've got her out of that room quicker, she's sick! What do we… do…?" He realized that Reece was about to panic before she let out a series of coughs herself that ended abruptly in a powerful sneeze. The girl had not yet opened her eyes from the second sneeze when a hand was laid promptly on her forehead as well.

"You have it too. It seems as if you are both sick."

Reece laughed low in her chest. "I don't get sick." "Well, you are," replied Vincent as he gently pushed her back into the sheets. "You might as well rest it off." Reece coughed loudly as she tried to fight it, but ultimately surrendered to the illness as she rested her hand on her head. "How will I care for Lucy if I am…"

"I will tend to you both."

Vincent then strolled out of the room with a purpose in mind as Lucy drifted off into a restless sleep beside her mother. It wasn't long before Vincent came back into the room with a cup full of tea, steam rising from the saucer in tiny swirls of heat. "Drink."

Reece took a long swig of the hot liquid before coughing one more time and resting her head on the pillow. "You probably think I'm pretty pathetic, right? First the stupid accident in the truck, now I am sick." She tried to laugh off her humiliation. "I promise I'm not trying to make life harder on ya." Vincent blinked and paused to look at her with a furrowed brow. The glare had the half smirk off of Reece's face replaced with a more serious feature.

"I don't think anything…except that you are an exceptional mother who protects her child at all costs."

With that, Vincent once again left the room and closed the door to a dumbfounded Reece behind him.

The next two days were rough. Lucy was in hysterics most of the time. The one year old had yet to be sick in her life up until that point quiet surprisingly. You would think that with the constant traveling the toddler would have developed something, but as the second day arose Lucy appeared to be feeling much better and was all babble and smiles by noon.

Her mother unfortunately, was a different story. Maybe it was the fact that even though she was enhanced, she wasn't as powerful as the other two… or because she was the one closest to that dreaded weather. Nevertheless, the 'cold' soon turned into Pneumonia. Reece couldn't hold her head up by that following morning, and when night fell her entire body was on fire with aches and chills that had her jokingly contemplating suicide.

The tea wasn't helping and after the fourth dose of fever reducer, Reece had pushed away the medicine and downright refused another dose, as she had coughed to the point of puking the last two mouthfuls.