Survived Me: a Shatter Me fan-fiction (Warnette)

Chapter 35 - Visit

⚠️TW⚠️
Sickness
Panic
Health concerns
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AARON'S POV:
It's now three in the afternoon. The doorbell rings. Juliette is fast asleep in my arms.

She has been sick four times since she ate and slept the majority of the time she wasn't throwing up. Her fever had increased and she found it harder to stay awake.

I slip out the bed and rush downstairs to the front door, open it and see Delelui.
"Hello, sir." He nodded in my direction.
"Delelui, come in. Juliette's asleep upstairs." I say guiding him to the bedroom.

I quietly crack the door open and see her still asleep.
Me and Delelui walk in and I crawl into the bed next to her, stroke her arm and kiss her head.
"Love, wake up," I whisper. I only receive a groan in response from her.
"Sweetheart, you need to wake up." I say and she reluctantly opens her eyes, they're all red and puffy.
"Delelui used to be a doctor, I asked him to come and make sure you're okay, could you let him check you over?"
She looks at me, dazed, then slightly nods. I turn to face Delelui and nod in his direction, I move back slightly and rest against the headboard on my side of the bed.

Delelui comes closer to her and puts a black rucksack on the bottom of the bed. He feels Juliette's head with his wrist and does the same on his own forehead to compare the two temperatures. He frowns a concerned frown.
"Juliette, what is affecting you most of all? Is it a headache or nausea?" He asks.
"I feel so weak and I feel nauseous, I also have a really bad headache and sore throat." She sighs, her words barely audible within the crackles of her chest.
"Okay, when did these symptoms start?"
"Yesterday night." She huffed. "I just brushed them off as me being tiered."
Delelui nods and then rummages in his rucksack. "Aha. Here it is." He pulls out a small needle, "I need to take a blood sample from you, is that alright Miss Ferras?"
"Yes, that's okay," she looks over at me reaching for my hand, I grab the searching hand and kiss the knuckles of it. "I'm here, love," I whisper. "Always and forevermore."

Deleui takes some blood then does usual chuck up things like checking reflexes, listening to her heart rate and looking to see if her throat was inflamed with that lollipop stick thing.

"Alright. I'll get this to base and have it tested immediately. I'll write to you letting you know what comes of it." He says and then cocks his head towards the door, eyes on me. His gesturing means he wants to talk to me, alone.
"Okay thank you Delelui, I'll show you out." I say and follow him out the room.

"Aaron, I'm worried." Those words break me, break me in ways that send a cold pang of pain straight to the pit of my stomach. "We need to get that fever down."
My eyes meet his and I can tell, by my vision blurring, that tears are starting to form. "What's wrong with her? Will she be okay?"
"I'm sure she'll be quite alright, I just don't want her fever to stay how it is, or, god forbid, get any higher." He is trying to reassure me, but he is, in fact, not!
"What can I do?" I've regained my composure.
He takes a bottle out of his bag. "Pills?" I questioned.
"Yes" he puts them in my hand. "Twice a day, before bed and when she wakes up. They'll keep her temperature from rising anymore, hopefully." He sighs. "Until the blood results come back I can't give her anything because I don't know her diagnosis."
"I understand, Delelui, I really do but what am I meant to do to make her feel better? I can't see her suffer like that." I rest my grave on the floor, my confidence fading into the area of a pea.
"Just be there for her, keep her fed and hydrated, make sure she isn't wrapped in a duvet cover, I understand she feels like she's cold but it's her body cooling her down as she has overheated." I nod with understanding, I meet his eyes and give him a soft smile.
"Thank you, Delelui, honestly."
He pats me on the shoulder and heads down the stairs then out the front door, it clashes behind him.

I walk back to the bed and see her coughing her lungs up. Rush to her side and pat her back.
I need to get her a drink. I say to myself.

I miss almost every step as I jump down the stairs to fetch a glass of ice cold water. With the glass in my hand I skip steps, again, whilst climbing the stairs.
"Love," I call as I enter the room again. "I've got you some water." I put the glass to her soft lips and tilt her head back, she sips.
After a few gulps of the water, she stops coughing.
"Thank you," she clears her throat.
"There is no need at all to thank me."

Her forehead is dripping with sweat but she's rubbing her arm signifying she's cold.  Delelui said I have to keep her fever down so I can't have her wrapped in the covers. I need her to cool down.
"I'm going to run you a bath, sweetheart. Is that okay?" She nods and I make my way to the en-suite and turn on the taps, pour in some bubble bath and pick the lavender scented soaps and conditioner. I make sure the water is only slightly warm so she doesn't feel cold and it also gets her fever down.

I turn the taps off and I can hear the bubbles popping in the water, it's calming, the scent perfectly balanced, it's strong but not too strong.

I walk out the bathroom and kiss her lips, waking her up
"Baths ready," I say and smile.
I help her up and carry her to the bath, I help her get unchanged and into the soapy water.

She rest her head back and takes a deep breath, closing her eyes. "This is nice," I kiss her forehead and then put my wrist to mine and her foreheads, comparing the warmth. Her fever is the same as I last checked, that's good, it hasn't gotten any worse. I sigh in relief.
"Is everything okay?" She opens her eyes to reveal their ocean-like view, they seem concerned.
"Yes, sweetheart, everything is just fine. Your temperature, it hasn't risen any more, that's a very good thing." Her eyes changed from confusion to joy. "Does that mean I'm getting better?" The hope in her eyes melts my heart.
"Yes sweetheart, I believe so."
Her smile regains its hopeful glow. I know she wants to be better and working, she's like me, work is her escape from her own worries and fears. I know what that's like more than anyone.
"I'm sure, soon enough, you'll be back on your feet feeling yourself again." I smile, I stroke her soft cheekbones.

I walk over to the counter, where the sink is, and pick up the bottle of pills Deleui gave me for her to take, twice a day, preferably once when she wakes up and one before bed, but as long as she takes them twice in a day, she's okay. I read the label, Delelui didn't say anything about the whole 'any time' thing, I wanted to know what they were and what side effects could occur.
"Here,"  I pass them to her and then run and grab her water I just got for her, she takes the pill with a gulp from the glass of water. "What are they?" She asks.
"They help with your fever, I read the bottle, there's nothing of any harm in them."
She giggles, "of course you read the bottle, that's why I love you so much".
"Because I can read?" I ask.
"No," she coughs. "Because you care so much about me that you do things like that on the tiny chance it could affect me. It makes me feel like I'm worth so much and I've never had that before."
I grab her hand and rest it, under mine, on the side of the bathtub. "You're worth so much, love. So much more than you could ever imagine."
"More than this world can give," I kiss her hand.
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Word count: 1428