Burns

2.

Discomfort shot through my body like a harsh laser. I hissed in pain as I gently rolled over to the side of my bed. Sweat clung to me, making me a canvas for its wet mess. My chocolate locks clung to my face, its strands wet.

My bottom lip quivered, trembling as my breaths grew rapid and strained. I was struggling to breathe, my struggles being showcased as short wheezes. I coughed dryly cursing at the vile fever that latched on to me in the wee hours of the morning.

No doubt the beating from yesterday didn't go unnoticed by my body. Its impact dealt a heavy blow that I was now paying for. I dipped the tip of my tongue to moisten my dry and slightly cracked lips. My body trembled at the intensity of my shaking and shivering.

Despite how cold it was, the sudden heat that claimed me internally made me cry out. "God make it stop!"

I felt a sharp sting zap up my spine, hitting my brain with such intensity that had me holding onto my head, gripping my hair with so much force, fearing that my head might explode if I dared take my hands off for a second. My body shook and my head spun, a sudden dizziness making my head ache.

The fever ate at me and so did the body-ache and pain that accompanied the swelling and throbbing parts of my body. I felt warm liquid trickle down my left nostril and immediately raised my hand to swipe it away, my eyes blinking at the red stain.

I sniffled, wincing as the sharp, metallic scent of blood wafted through the air, making my stomach churn.

About a year and a half ago, I noticed that I tended to bleed from my nose, whenever my body was put under stress, be it physically, emotionally or mentally. And the bleeding was always accompanied by a sharp sting that struck a nerve in my head and most times, a high-pitched ringing would set off in my ear, causing a mind-distorting headache.

Old man Joe did everything he could to get me to go to a hospital and see it through but what was the fucking point? I didn't fancy hospitals and especially not in my case. If painkillers and antidepressants couldn't treat any shitty problem of mine then the problem might as well find it's way to hell.

I managed to twist my body enough that I was gently inching closer to the little nightstand beside my bed. I weakly lifted my hands to desperately pull out a drawer and began frantically searching for my bottle of Aspirin tablets, Naproxen or Ibuprofen. Pretty much anything that would relieve me.

My hand made contact with a bottle and I immediately brought it out, turned on my night light to have a look at the title. Feeling satisfied to find out it was my bottle of Aspirin, I popped a couple tablets onto my palm and threw them into my mouth. I grabbed the halfway gone bottle of water and gulped it down. My body collapsed on the bed and in a few minutes, the relief kicked in.

I sighed as I felt my breathing return to normal and a sudden relief that came with feeling like a certain pressure had been relieved in my head. The heaviness that made me feel like my head was going to explode or something, was gone.

My phone pinged and I weakly reached for it. I brought it to my face, hissing like a vampire at the brightness. I lowered the freaking brightness and tapped on the new notification. It was from someone named "Nightwolf_20".

Apparently he had viewed my profile and checked out the reviews on my page on Reddit and was convinced that I was the man for his job. I sighed tiredly as another message dropped in. He was requesting my feedback.

I rubbed my exhausted eyes and typed a feedback. His reply came in less than a second and with it was an image attached to it. My eyes rose in surprise as I stared at the picture of a botched red 1971 Ford Thunderbird. He wanted to know if I could restore the car to its former glory.