Emotional Connection

fever

Ashley made it to about halfway through her shift the next day before Charlie showed up with an injury. There were times she thought he did it on purpose, just to annoy her. She sighed when she saw him limping.

"It's just a sprain, I swear, I just need something to be able to walk on it without being in pain." He looked annoyed at himself even, making her wonder how he'd managed it.

"What were you doing this time?" She sat down by the side of his bed. She was struggling to keep her breath, though she was doing her best to hide it. She really couldn't afford to get sick.

He looked at her, concerned, reaching with his hand to check her temperature, but she leaned away.

"I'm fine, Charlie, just tired is all."

"You have a fever, if you make the entire sanctuary sick what are you going to do then? Because you won't be able to look after them if you're one of the sick people yourself."

She rolled her eyes, muttering healing spells under her breath until his ankle went back to normal size and he was able to stand and move around without any pain. "I'll be ok, I'll have some soup tonight or something."

"Not good enough, Pete!" He called him over, not looking impressed at Ashley.

"What's going on?"

"Ash has a fever."

"I do not have a fever, I'm just tired."

Pete looked at her, feeling her forehead with the back of his hand, grimacing before pulling away. "No doubt about it, Ashley-Rae, you're sick. Pneumonia, by the looks of it. Fungal I think, considering no one here has had pneumonia recently. Go home and get some rest, you'll feel better in a week or so." Pete ordered, not listening to her objections. "Go. Charlie, take her."

She glared at Charlie before grabbing her medical bag in case she needed it at home and walking out towards the ridge.

"Hey, come on, don't be mad at me. You're running a fever and you're out of breath just walking across the room!"

"I'm not mad," she sighed, feeling as though her chest was on fire, "I'm mad at myself for letting myself get sick. And then not realising it."

He slowed his pace so she wouldn't get out of breath trying to keep up with him as he escorted her back to his place. "You did realise it, but you're worried if you're sick in bed all the time you won't be able to stop thinking about your dad. I used to be like that."

"Girlfriend on the rescue team?" She asked without thinking.

Charlie laughed, helping her through the path through the ridge, not letting her climb it, "you've been here for nearly a month, you seen me with a girl?"

She shrugged, having to stop for a few seconds to start breathing again. "Boyfriend then, I don't know."

He shook his head, "no, neither. Only ever had one girlfriend, but it's difficult to find someone willing to put up with me when I'm constantly injured and the like. No, I just worry for everyone here, really, especially those that go on missions. A year ago we lost a few people because they walked into an ambush, it wasn't a good few months after that."

Ashley nodded, standing to go on but feeling a little dizzy, trying to keep her balance.

"Here, lean on me, I've got you, come on." He put an arm around her, "where's your key? Pocket or bag?"

Ashley couldn't remember, so he took her bag and checked the pockets until he found one on a piece of ribbon, "I'm going to assume this is it. Come on Ash."

She nodded, trying to find her footing. "Sorry, usually I'm better than this, even when I'm sick."

Charlie smiled, unlocking her front door, "you have a raging fever and pneumonia."

"I have the fever because of the pneumonia."

"What?" Charlie wasn't really listening, picking her up and putting her to lay down on the sofa.

"You said... never mind." She shook her head. "Can I have a blanket?"

He looked at her, a little cautious. "Water first."

She nodded, and he helped her to sit up before handing her the glass with a straw, making sure she had a decent amount before putting it on the side table. He knelt in front of her, trying to get her to focus, but the fever was starting to set in now, and she looked too warm. "Ok Ash, you're the Healer here, I have no clue what to do so please help me."

Ashley took a breath, trying to work up the strength to talk. "There's medications for this kind of thing in my room. On the shelf there's a box, there should be an anti-fungal bottle of pills, get that."

He nodded, locating her room as quickly as he could, pulling down the box and rifling through, finding two types of the medications she was talking about, and though he tried to decipher what they were each for, he knew nothing about medicine, so decided to bring them both to her and she could help.

She seemed better after the water, though she was shivering which he assumed was a bad sign. "Um..." She read each bottle, choosing one and taking the medication. "The dose is on there. I'll be ok, just help me to bed, I'll be fine when I wake up."

He looked doubtful, but helped her to bed anyway, noticing a stack of books by the side, each of them detailing different illnesses or injuries, so he went through them until he found one that included pneumonia. She was asleep in a few seconds, though she looked too warm to him still, and he wondered if he should have just left her in the hospital; he might do more harm to her trying to care for her here.

Shaking away those thoughts, he retreated to the living room and read through the book, familiarizing himself with the treatments, the do's and don't's, and everything in between. He bookmarked the pages so he could get back to them quickly if he needed, And sat back, deciding he'd stay just in case she got worse. He sighed, opening their airing cupboard and finding a few blankets. He grabbed a cushion from the sofa and made up a bed outside her door, making sure she could still get in and out, and left it there for the night. He ran back to his own bungalow, grabbed his dragon egg and the incubator, spare clothes and decided last minute to bring extra blankets and a pillow for himself, so he'd be a little more comfortable in the hall, and set back to take care of Ashley.