Thinking Out Loud ➵zauren

Chapter 20

The sun was starting to go down and Zayn had been asleep for hours but Lauren had not closed her eyes for one minute. As she was watching tv when Zayn had first fallen asleep she noticed that he was breathing rather quickly and not how he usually does once he's asleep. His fever also still remained and she had uncovered their bodies and laid him next to her rather than on top of her a while ago. Lauren was now sitting on Zayn's desk chair that she had pulled up next to him and was watching his shallow breathing. She worried something was wrong because the medicine hadn't helped his fever at all and he seemed to be short of breath with an occasional cough as he slept that sounded different than it had when he first got sick, it seemed like he had lots of gunk in his lungs each time he coughed. Lauren began to wonder if this was the first time he'd had a fever since he got sick and if he had been having any other symptoms he wasn't telling her about. As Lauren reached for her phone on Zayn's nightstand she heard him start coughing excessively, waking up and putting his hand on his chest as he sat up a bit.

"Babe, are you okay?" Lauren questioned worriedly as Zayn continued coughing.

"My chest is killing me," Zayn murmured after his coughing subsided, "it almost hurts to breathe."

Lauren noticed his breathing was still very shallow, "Does it hurt when you breathe in deep?" Lauren questioned and Zayn nodded.

"I feel really nauseous," Zayn mentioned as he covered his mouth.

"Do you feel like throwing up?" Lauren said standing up from the chair and placing a hand on Zayn's back that she could feel burning up through his thin t-shirt.

"A bit," Zayn said as he tried to stand up but Lauren noticed he was weak on his feet and she wrapped her arm around his waist to support him.

"I've got you," Lauren said as Zayn supported his upper body on Lauren's shoulders.

They walked to Zayn's bathroom and Lauren helped Zayn sit on the edge of the bathtub that was near the toilet. Zayn started coughing again and suddenly he bent his head down and vomited into the toilet. Lauren reached under the sink and grabbed another small washcloth before wetting it and squatting next to Zayn who was still bent over though he wasn't vomiting any more and wiped his mouth. Zayn grabbed Lauren's wrist weakly and moved it away from his mouth.

"More?" Lauren asked and Zayn nodded before beginning again. Lauren started to remember the time Sofi had been sick like this and it turned out she had pneumonia. From what she could remember, she had all the same symptoms Zayn did.

There was a light knock on the bathroom door and Lauren stood up as Zayn continued throwing up to open it.

"Oh Mila, good thing you're here," Lauren mentioned as she saw her bestfriend on the other side of the door.

"Was that you throwing up?" Camila asked concerned.

"No, it's Zayn, I think he has pneumonia," Lauren stated as she pointed over her shoulder.

"Oh I was kinda worried it was you, you know," Camila said gesturing to her stomach.

"I'm not pregnant Mila," Lauren smacked Camila's shoulder.

"I was just making sure!" Camila responded rubbing her arm. "So what makes you think he has pneumonia?"

"Remember how Sofi had like a cold at first and then she got like a really bad fever and the chills and started throwing up and getting chest pains?" Lauren asked and Camila nodded. "Well he's had all that and I gave him medicine to help the fever and it hasn't gotten better, I feel like it's gotten worse actually and he's been sleeping since we got here and he just woke up now and started vomiting and complaining of chest pains and he's been short of breath for hours, I was watching it as he slept."