The Law of Polarity

9. Ronan Scares Me Sometimes

Aiden.

Aiden!

AIDEN!

A whisper-shout stirs me awake and the resting embers in my veins flare to life at the sudden alarm. I bolt upright in bed, my eyes wide but fuzzy, my thoughts still caught in the haze of sleep, and now my palms threaten to catch ablaze.

"Hey, sorry to wake you... I tried texting to see if you were up."

I squint into the darkness, trying to make out the silhouette standing in my doorframe with their head peeking out behind the door. I glance at my phone: it's midnight, so I've only been asleep about an hour, and I do have 2 texts from—

"Ronan?" My voice comes out like gravel.

"Yeah... can you do us a favor?" He speaks quickly and uncharacteristically flat, and it's not helping to ease my worry. "Kal caught a cold— I thought maybe you could come help?"

I shake my hands out to soothe the burning before grabbing my glasses off the nightstand. Both my mind and body are struggling to catch up to being so suddenly awake, but with his urgency guiding me, I manage to push my sheet off and stand up. I pass by Jaspers blanketed form in his bed, still sleeping through all this. He and Mira had another fight after we got back from the fireworks two nights ago, so he's been sleeping here.

I make my way to Ronan, and shuffle-follow him back to their room.

"He caught a cold?" I ask, "It's July— do people even get colds in July?"

We stop outside their door so he can fill me in, "He catches these colds like 2 or 3 times a year... he just tends to be a bit more prone to them I guess. Lower body temp and all. He had one a few months ago, just a little bug, but this one seems a bit worse. He was fine when we got back from fireworks, but ai noticed him sniffling this morning and had the chills by the time he got home from class."

Ah, that explains why he wasn't at work this afternoon. I didn't really look at the schedule so figured he was off today, but he probably had to stay home instead. Nice of Wren to tell me.

Ronan continues, "His colds are a little different though because of his weaving. He was shivering when he went to bed, and I offered to grab you then but he said he didn't want to worry you or get you sick... but then I woke up to pee, and well.. you'll see. I can only do so much for him, this time I thought maybe you could help."

I want to give him some kind of answer, some kind of reassurance, but don't even know what I'm walking into yet... so I just nod, giving him the go-ahead. He gives me a hesitant look before opening the door so we can step through.

Kal's dead.

Actually, I can see him breathing. My bad.

He just looks practically dead.

Alright maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but when I first saw him my heart definitely stopped for a second while I tried to sort it out.

I'm glad Ronan left his lamp on, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make much out.

Kal lays on his side curled up in bed, with his navy, star-covered comforter pulled up over his nose. What catches me off guard though is the layer of frost coating him. Layers of delicate ice crystals lay undisturbed, cocooning him in a frozen blanket.

I would think it beautiful if I didn't know better.

Just the top half of his head peeks out from the thick duvet. His hair is littered with snowflakes, and the tips of his ears are a stark red.