Waking up the day after, Alina didn't feel any change in her neck; she felt some pain in her throat too, but the pain in her jaw didn't hurt as much. She checked the time, and it was late—almost past 12, and she barely felt like she had energy to get up.
She saw a few missed calls from everyone else and texts wondering where she was. She called back Debbie, and she instantly picked up.
"Alina, darling, are you awake?" Debbie asked concerned.
Alina opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She furrowed her brows, confused. She cleared her throat. "I just woke up," she said, with a hoarseness in her voice.
"Alina, are you alright? You sound sick, sweetheart," Debbie asked, even more concerned.
"No, I'm fine, it just hurts a bit," Alina said, not sounding very convincing.
"I'll come up with water; you might have been dehydrated," Debbie said.
"No, no, I'll come down; I need to get up anyway," she said, starting to talk more clearly now after clearing her throat again.
"Alright then," they hung up, and Alina quickly got changed into more presentable clothes. She walked out to the pools, seeing everyone sit there smiling.
"Here she is," Tony laughed, "we thought you had died for a second," he added.
Alina laughed and took a seat on the empty sun bed. "Do you feel any better, Alina?" Stacey asked
"My neck is still hurting and my throat too a bit," she explained.
"Oh, yeah, your voice is not sounding too good," Lewis said.
"Maybe you're sick?" Jasmine asked
"Nah, how can you get sick in this weather?" Lewis looked at Jasmine
"You need to actually get exposed to a virus and not the cold to get sick, you idiot," Jasmine rolled her eyes.
"Guys, come on!" Tony looked at his son and daughter.
"Auntie Ali, can we go buy ice cream?" Harley walked up to her.
"Darling, Ali feels a bit sick; maybe we should let her rest." Stacey looked at her son.
"Oh no, that's fine, I would love to go," Alina assured Stacey, "me too." Summer ran with Poppy behind her. Everyone looked at the girls running up to Alina; it was a beautiful sight.
"Let's go, kids," Alina grabbed their hands and led them to the ice cream shop inside the cruise.
They went over to the ice cream shop and looked at the flavors. The kids took their time, scanning every flavor they had.
"I want that one," Poppy pointed at the strawberry flavor. "Ooh, good choice, Poppy," Alina smiled.
"I want too," Summer looked at Alina, "you want strawberry too, Summer?" She asked the little girl. Summer looked up and nodded determinantly.
"Alright, Harley, which one do you want?" Alina kneeled down and looked where he was looking. "Blueberry," he said, pointing at the ice cream.
