How to Love the Stars | Ghost (Simon Riley)

Chapter 23

Althea fidgeted, trying to delay the actual action of knocking on his door for as long as she could. The soup in her hand on the path to lukewarm urging her to knock before it got cold. Taking a deep breath, she finally worked up the courage to knock. She felt as if she were knocking in slow motion, each knock sounding strange and hollow. Why was this so stressful? This was strangely terrifying in a way. Althea stepped back from the door, listening for a sound. Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from inside the room, making her jump in surprise. She immediately panicked, looking around. Someone was attacking him! She needed to call the authorities, the swat team, the military- wait. She was the military. Nevermind then.

"Ghost! You okay?" Althea called out from outside the room. There was only silence. She looked to her left, thinking about whether or not she should get Soap, when she remembered something about him mumbling he was going to get some drinks with Gaz, Price, Alejandro, and Rudy and would be gone for some of the evening. She inwardly groaned, realizing she was on her own to face whatever horrors lay on the other side.

"Hold on! I'm coming in!" Just as Althea was about to open the door, it swung open, almost making her fall through.

Althea stumbled into Ghost's dimly lit room, her heart pounding as she took in the sights she never thought she'd see. His room was so neat, almost too neat. There was not a single thing out of place, everything was neat and organized. But her attention wasn't on the room any longer; it was on Ghost himself.

His mask was nowhere to be seen, making Althea freeze. She immediately covered her eyes, but she had already seen his face. She thought she had stumbled upon another creature entirely, one with the most beautiful face she'd ever seen. His features were impeccably handsome and beautiful in a way that was almost otherworldly. High cheekbones, chiseled jawline, and a perfectly straight nose complemented his striking eyes. His skin was flawless, and his lips were perfectly soft and inviting.

"Jesus, Ghost! Your mask!"

However, her trance was broken as the thoughts had to take a back seat. At first, she hadn't noticed, but the man before her looked rough, his normally composed demeanor reduced to a pitiful sight. He was wobbling, teetering on the edge of falling, his blonde hair matted and his face drenched in sweat. His face was flushed and his eyes were unfocused and squinting. Althea's heart clenched as she realized what was happening. Ghost was sick. He was really sick. She was surprised he even got to the door only falling once.

"Oh, Whisper." His unfocused eyes attempted to fixate on her. "Did you need anything?"

"Ghost! You're sick!" Althea rushed to his side, immediately trying to help. She helped keep him steady, putting a hand to his forehead. He was on fire. She unwrapped the soup she had brought with her, not caring that it had cooled down by now.

He held up a hand to try and slow her down. "I'm fine. How's your wrist?"

"You are not fine." Her words sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard them before.

"Come on, we need to get you to bed," Althea said, her concern overriding her initial panic. She took his hand, trying to lead him over, but he immediately tried to pull her back to the doorway.

"I'm not joking. I'm fine-" He tried to take a step and almost crashed to the ground again, but Althea kept him from falling. It wasn't an easy feat, because he was 200 pounds, but Althea managed. With a grunt, she pulled him back to his feet, helping him stand as he leaned on her. Why did he have to be so heavy? "Get in the bed."

She guided Ghost to his bed, his weight heavy against her as he struggled to stay upright. Sitting him down on the bed, she pulled back the sheets to get him in the bed.

Once he was settled, Althea didn't waste any time. She grabbed a basin of cool water, soaking a cloth before gently placing it on his forehead. Ghost's eyes were unfocused, lost in the feverish haze. Althea could tell he was delirious, his words disjointed and unclear. He mumbled something unintelligible to her, but she just quieted him, trying to get him to save his energy.

"Where do you keep your thermometer and medication?" Althea asked. "I'll get it." He tried to sit up, but she immediately pushed him back down. After a great deal of complaining and even some whining from Ghost, he finally told her which drawer it was in.

She searched through the drawer, quickly finding it. She took the thermometer out and placed it in his mouth with practiced ease. Her brows furrowed as she watched the numbers climb. 105 degrees. Althea's heart sank; this was a dangerously high fever. "Did you have any medication? How did it get this bad?"

He shrugged. "I had some vitamins earlier today." Althea groaned. "I'm going to get you some medication." She ran to her room, grabbing some fever medication and pills from her bag. When she got back to the room, his fever had only gotten worse. He was sitting up, half-naked and covered in sweat. Seeing him made her immediately stumble backwards as if someone at punched her in the nose, immediately covering her eyes. Peeking through her fingers, she convinced him to put a shirt back on. After coaxing him back into a horizontal position, Althea heated the soup up again in his kitchen. At first, he started to protest her cooking, as he insisted he do it himself, but Althea just rolled her eyes and covered him with his blanket again. Either way, when she tried to heat up the soup, she accidentally took it off the heat too early, so it was only warm.

For hours, she worked tirelessly. She changed the damp cloth on his forehead, fed him spoonfuls of warm soup, and made sure he stayed hydrated. The lack of heat in the soup was actually the only thing he didn't complain of. He complained about her wasting her time, he complained about how he could deal with it himself, he complained that he was fine. Althea ended up just fully ignoring him, which seemed to annoy him more than her helping him. The heat he was feeling inside his body was eventually replaced by constant shivering from the cold. Althea heaped blankets on top of him, trying to keep him warm. As she cared for him, trying desperately to reduce the fever, it only increased.

She sighed. Althea knew how terrible it was to be sick. When she was very little, she had a weak immune system. She would get sick almost every week if not every other week. Althea took a worn picture out of her pocket, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. However, the Allens, her adoptive parents had helped her through it, taking days off of work to care for her, and tended to her. They bathed her, fed her, and doted on her until she got better. She learned everything about taking care of someone sick from them. At the very least, now she could repay him by taking care of him until he was better. She felt happy that she finally found something she could help with, something that she was good at.

The last talent she had found was a heavy weight on her shoulders. She killed people every day. No matter what she did, she couldn't atone for that. Imagining their parents, their children, their special ones who would never see them again twisted her heart in a way she couldn't just shake off. No matter how much she tried to ignore it or try to pretend she didn't care, she just imagined what her parents who took her in when she was orphaned, who cared for her and loved her would think of her. Since she joined the military, she hadn't called them. She hadn't texted them. She hadn't gone to visit them. She was so afraid they would be disappointed. With a smile, she brushed a finger against the slip of paper in her hand, staring at her young smiling self dressed in a gymnastics leotard. She stared into the sparkling eyes of the girl standing next to Mr. and Mrs. Allen, holding a gleaming first-place medal.

A/N: Good morning everybody!!! I hope you all have a good day! THANK YOU FOR READING!!! I truly hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really enjoyed writing this one. I had been getting bored with writing, but writing something I thought was fun really helped. Thanks for all your kindness and support! SEE YOU TOMORROW!!!