The End

Chapter 14

            When the final bell rang, I rushed from the classroom. The entire drive home was filled with worries of what I may find. Would Duke be there? What if he wasn’t? What do I do? Thankfully, some of my concerns were alleviated when I saw the black car sitting in my usual parking spot.

            Opening the front door, I followed the coughs to find him laying in my bed, tissues and clothes strewn across the floor. A sleeping Duke stirred slightly, his eyes opening, a subtle grin crossing his face.

            “Good afternoon,” he croaked.

            I stepped around the bed, brushing the slightly sweaty hair from his forehead. His mouth parted with a small sigh of relief as my cold fingers swept across his hot skin.

            “Duke-“

            He rolled to his side, his bare upper body rippling with sudden, relentless coughs.

            “Please-“ he muttered, his words trailing off.

            “What?”

            “Please…lay…with…me,” he mumbled.

            I wordlessly slipped my school bag off my shoulder and crawled behind him. A low groan reverberated through his throat as I pulled his back to my chest. His skin was an unhealthy temperature, damp with sweat and flushed.

            “So…hot.”

            I sat up and pulled the blankets away. Underneath, Duke’s legs lay sprawled haphazardly, the dark sweatpants he wore clinging to enflamed skin. Carefully, I scooted off of the bed and slipped my hands around the ankles of his pants. As I tugged gently, his eyes shot open, confusion racking his withdrawn features. Giving him a reassuring smile, I continued pulling his pants off. Finally slipping them around his feet, they joined the growing heap on the floor.

            Duke, now relieved, lay with nothing but black boxers keeping him from being fully exposed.

            Taking whatever energy he had left, Duke lifted his arm, motioning me back. I resumed my spot behind him, each breath he drew vibrating my chest. Almost immediately, he collapsed, falling asleep again.

            Having already formulated a plan, I slipped stealthily from the bed to the pile of clothes. Reaching into the pocket of his recently abandoned trousers, I found what I was looking for—what I knew I would find. I left the ill boy to sleep, walking to the front porch to examine my findings. His cell phone.

            My bare feet padded across the concrete before reaching the edge. I sat, my legs dangling, as I turned the phone on. In his recent calls, I found the number I was looking for. My mind tumbling, I pressed the button. Praying my call would be answered, the dial tone was cut short, my cries for help being heard.

            “Hello?”

            “Jason? I need you to come over. It’s an emergency.”

                                    *                                    *                                    *

            The slamming car door sent flocks of birds from their perch, moving like a cloud over my house. His face was white with worry as he ran up the steps.

            “Where is he?” Jason asked, his voice riddled with panic.

            “Inside. He’s asleep.”

            Swinging the heavy front door aside, we entered, Jason hurrying me. Duke lay exactly like I left him—spread across the sheets, nearly naked. Each breath he took was shallow, shaking and crackling.

            His father rushed to his side, his hands gauging the degree of his fever, his eyes observing the condition of his child.

            “N-no,” he whispered. “I need to take him home,” he said, turning to me.

            “Will he be okay?”

            “He should—I mean, it’s worse than the last time, but-“

            “Last time?” I interjected.

            “He didn’t—oh, Florence,” Jason said, looking shocked and full of pity. Before he could continue, though, Duke began gasping for air; a trail of coughs smothering him.

            Jason leapt into action—springing behind the body on the bed and rubbing his back as he choked and sputtered. Eventually, the fit passed, leaving Duke unconscious, but alive.

            “I can’t handle this here,” Jason said, examining my bedroom. “I need to take him home.” He turned, preparing a course of action, before addressing me.

            “Florence, I need you to open the doors. Go out to the car and get it running, okay?”

            I nodded and began to leave, but not before I saw him look at his son. His gaze was full of worry, but almost like he had experienced this before—like a familiar worry. Oddly enough, disappointment tinged his eyes as he tenderly brushed the back of his hand across Duke’s face. Jason kissed his cheek, and stooped to pick Duke up. He cradled his son as though he were a child, not a full-grown man. Kissing his feverish cheek once more, he hoisted Duke over his shoulder, his body hanging limply upside down.

            I ran through the house, leaving doors open for the two that followed me, and started the car. Jason arrived at the vehicle and gently placed his child in the backseat. Stepping back, he examined Duke, lying nearly naked and almost dead.

            “Thank you for calling, Florence,” he sighed. “That could’ve been serious—well, it still could be—but, thanks.”

            “Call me when you find out what’s wrong,” I demanded, terrified by my boyfriend’s resemblance to a corpse.

            “I know what’s wrong, but I’ll call you when he wakes up,” he said sorrowfully, disappointment once again creeping back into his eyes.

            “What?”

            “That is for Duke to explain,” he smiled sadly.

            With that, he sat into is seat, shut the door, and drove away, taking my only friend with him.