When Blindfolds Fall

19: Never Again

The next evening after a storm always tends to be calmer in the kingdom of Lamia, but tonight the storm escalated and worsened even more than before.

Around five in the evening, Josiah was suddenly startled awake by the ground-shaking thunderclap that echoed in Viktor's bedroom. The rumble was loud enough he heard the window sills of the balcony doors rattle, and the lightning so bright it was visible even through the black out curtains over it.

Josiah sighed in exhaustion and sat up on the bed as he rubbed his tired eyes. The chilliness in the air raised every hair on his skin despite wearing an oversized button up shirt that belonged to Viktor. So, he moved his hands over his arms to create friction heat.

It took him a second, but Josiah finally realized Viktor was missing on the bed. He looked around the dark room, receiving only brief additional light from the lightning outside.

"Viktor?" Josiah called out, fearing that he had been abandoned again.

However, his hearing tuned into the strange noises coming from the bathroom and he picked up the sound of Viktor throwing up. Concerned, Josiah removed the blanket from himself and hurried towards the door.

"Viktor? Is everything okay?" Josiah knocked on the wood. "I thought I heard you vomiting."

He pressed his ear to the door in hopes of getting a reply, but he received none, just silence. Yet even the silence was short lived as now Josiah distinctively heard Viktor coughing and throwing up. He wasn't sure on whether he should go in or not, but when he realized this wasn't stopping any time soon, he decided to see him.

Josiah chewed on the inside of his cheek and tried the doorknob to see if it would twist. It did, so he pried the door ajar and stepped carefully inside.

"Viktor!" The ambassador exclaimed agitated when his eyes landed on his mate sitting up against the wall, panting, sweating and shivering, with his head hung low. "Viktor what's wrong?! What happened?!"

"N-Nothing." Viktor croaked out still unable to lift his heavy head. "Go back to bed Josiah."

"I can't go back to bed knowing you're not alright! How long have you been sick?!"

"I . . . I don't kn-know."

It seemed as if Viktor was about to pass out as his eyelids closed for a second, but Josiah lifted his head by holding his cheeks and looked closely at him. Viktor's skin was pale and clammy, but there was a red tint to them over his cheekbones. Josiah touched the back of his hand to his forehead and pulled back as he said:

"You're running a fever. Why didn't you say anything Viktor? You could have woken me up."

"I didn't--" Viktor coughed and groaned. "I didn't wanna . . . bother . . . you."

Josiah's mind was racing as he kept trying to find a solution to this predicament. He didn't have any sort of medical knowledge besides knowing how to put bandages on, but even he could tell Viktor needed medication right now.

"Can you stand up?" Josiah asked and Viktor barely opened his eyes to look at him. "Let's get you to bed, the floor will do you no good."

Josiah had to do ninety percent of the job to try and get Viktor on his feet and walk him back to the bed. He struggled as he held his mate's larger build and almost carried him to the mattress.

Once they were close to the edge, Viktor managed to get enough strength to lay down.

"T-Try not to fall asleep yet darling. I'll be right back." Josiah said nervously as he rushed back to the bathroom and took a small towel to run under the sink's water faucet.