In Another Life

10 - "You make me glow, but I cover up, won't let it show"

10 - "You make me glow, but I cover up, won't let it show"

Ava woke up with a shock, her heart thudding in her chest as it tried to assimilate itself to it's reality. Dreams were the worst.

She groaned as she sat up, her head heavy and stomach yawning, feeling like she'd taken a bludger to both head and body. She hated being sick, in case she hadn't mentioned that before.

Right. Bathroom then food. Maybe she'd feel human after that. She'd slept for almost four hours and it was freezing outside, the wind howling, snow sludgy and mocking.

Twenty minutes later she flopped onto the couch with a sigh, her body almost weeping in relief after the ordeal she'd just put it through. She watched in consternation as her hand shook with weakness as she lifted the spoon to her mouth but refused to give up. She was so so hungry, she could cry.

The sound of the door unlocking and opening didn't even bother her as the warm soup slid down her throat and she flicked her eyes to Adam in reply when he greeted her. He dropped a stack of books onto the coffee table, his backpack crashing to the floor next to it before he dropped onto the couch too.

She ate her soup in the silence, too tired to speak. Adam seemed to be just as exhausted and probably appreciated the quiet as much as she did. He grabbed the remote and switched it on, scrolling through Netflix until he found something to watch, the volume low but subtitles flashing at the bottom as he watched.

She grinned and he looked at her questioningly. "Not often I find someone who watches Netflix with subtitles," she said, gesturing with her spoon towards the screen.

He smiled tiredly. "I hope you're not judging," he replied, rewinding the show and pausing it so he could speak to her.

"Not at all! I hate missing out even a single line. My subtitles are on all the time."

He grinned and pressed play, Ava relaxing back into the couch to watch with him.

Ava lifted a finger when he hovered over 'Next episode' and made to stand up to grab her dishes but he put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her down, taking the cutlery from the table before heading to the kitchen.

The couch was extremely comfortable and she found herself sinking further into it, startling when a blanket was thrown over her. Adam grinned down at her as he passed her a glass of fizzing orange liquid and a few pills.

"That's vitamin C and your other meds. I'll just go grab more blankets then we can see what to watch, okay?"

She nodded and hoped to God that her exploding heart wasn't visible in her eyes.

* * *

Despite having slept most of the day she found her eyes drooping not long after that and Adam nudged her awake to find that the screen was black and he was encouraging her to get to bed.

He'd turned the heat up, thank goodness, and she fell into his bed without a thought, barely acknowledging being tucked in. Her future self was going to be so angry for not enjoying this but she needed to sleep. She could barely think.

* * *

The next day found her being able to keep more food down and in a rather miraculous recovery she found herself up and about and even managed to stay awake the entire day. She was still slightly weak but her other symptoms had let up. Adam made sure she took her pills on time and had brunch ready for them just as she thought she'd starve and die.

"You are so dramatic," he said, chuckling around a bite of mushrooms and eggs.

She moaned as she took a gulp of coffee and followed it with her own mouthful of delicious food. "Talk to me after you've been eating dry toast and drinking black coffee for a week."