Sink or Swim || Outer Banks || JJ Maybank

Chapter 24

Madison's head pounded and her stomach felt as if it were turning in on itself. She groaned as she buried her head further into the pillow and she felt the bed shift beside her. "I hope you haven't been watching me sleep like some creeper."

She could almost hear the eye roll from JJ, "You've been asleep for twelve hours." Madison shot up in the bed, her head spinning from the sudden movement, and she felt JJ's hand on her back to steady her. "Easy."

"Twelve hours?! But we need to get back to Crain house," Madison couldn't believe that they had let her sleep so long. Sure she felt like absolute crap but this was what they had been searching for their whole lives, she wasn't about to let some cold keep her on the sidelines.

JJ relaxed back against the headboard when he was sure she wasn't going to fall out of bed but was ready to catch her at a moment's notice if he had to. He purposely ignored her comment about going back to get the gold. "How do you feel?"

"Much better," she tried to lie because all she could think about was how pissed her brother was going to be for having to wait for her. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to adjust to the light in the room. She tried clearing her dry throat and coughed when she couldn't catch her breath.

He could almost hear how fast her heart was beating and the slight wheeze every time she took a breath did little to settle his nerves. "Maddie," JJ tensed beside her.

"I'm okay," she squeezed his hand briefly before starting another coughing fit. He handed her a glass of water that she took a few sips from before handing it back to him. When she had caught her breath once more she laid back down, resting her head against his chest.

"Go back to sleep," he muttered, threading his fingers through her hair.

She reveled in the feeling of his comforting touch and though she wanted to fight him on getting out of bed it felt way too good. "John B been home?"

JJ sighed at her question but kept playing with her hair in hopes it would lull her back to sleep. "He dropped off the soup last night and was here this morning with orange juice and goldfish." He felt Madison still at his words and he thought she was having trouble breathing at first. "What? Baby, what's wrong?"

"He really brought me goldfish?" She questioned in disbelief.

"Daddy," a six year old Madison called out from her room, using the back of her hand to wipe away the snot that just wouldn't stop running from her nose. "Daddy!" Her bedroom door opened with a squeak before her light flicked on. She blinked at the brightness but then pouted noticing it was John B and not their dad. "I want daddy."

John B padded over to her bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "He's not home yet. You woke me up."

"I want daddy," Madison repeated again, this time with so much sadness John B almost felt like he was about to cry too. "I don't feel good."

John B stared at his sister with a look of disgust on his face. "You don't have cooties, do you?"

"I do not!" Madison exclaimed, thinking it would be the end of the world if she did. "My nose is yucky and my tummy hurts."

John B glared at her for another second, determining for himself if she actually did have cooties or not, before spinning on his feet and leaving her room. She could hear him moving a chair to climb on the kitchen counter and the cabinet closing with a sharp bang seconds later. He came back to her room with a bag of goldfish and handed it to her. She looked at the bag in her hand and then back to her brother, a silent question of how that was supposed to help.