Prompt- A part 2 to the prompt of Alexis being sick
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I forced my eyes open, staring up at the ceiling. I slowly dragged myself into a sitting position, the world spinning slightly less than it had yesterday.
I placed a hand on my head, wiping away the sweat there. There was an ice pack on the ground next to my bed.
My door cracked open a little and Jer peeked in. He glared at me and came over, forcing me to lie down.
"Fucking hell, Alexis. You still have a pretty bad fever. Quit making it worse. We need you to work," he said. He grabbed the medicine from my desk and handed it to me along with a water bottle.
I took the pills. "Micah," I said, my voice raspy.
"Is that the only word you know?" Jer crossed his arms, looking annoyed. "The kid is fine. He whines way too much."
"He's five." I closed my eyes, a quick flash of nausea passing over me. Once I felt better, I opened my eyes again.
"Whatever, I'm not his babysitter or yours." Jer left the room.
I pulled myself back up to a sitting position. I rubbed my stiff neck, wishing I felt well enough to get up and shower.
My door opened again and Ike came in. He had a bowl of soup in his hands.
He set it down and fixed my pillows. I slumped back against them weakly, watching Ike as he carried the soup over to me.
He handed me the spoon and moved to hand me the soup. But my hand was shaking badly and I dropped the spoon.
Ike sighed, picking it up. "You're pathetic."
"I'm not even hungry." I closed my eyes again, ready to sleep.
Ike shook my shoulder. "Hey, wake up. You won't get better if you don't eat. Open your mouth."
I opened my mouth and Ike spooned some soup into it. I forced myself to swallow it down, waiting until my stomach settled before opening my mouth again.
"Micah," I said once I had swallowed the soup. "He was with Ace last night, wasn't he?"
"No, he was with Ace two nights ago," Ike said. "You've been sleeping for days. I shouldn't even be this surprised that you have no idea what the hell is going on. He slept in my room last night."
"Is he okay?" I asked.
Ike spooned more soup into my mouth. "The kid is fine. He cries and asks about you constantly, though."
"His mom died of illness," I said. "He's scared. I should see him."
"No. You're too sick to be around him," Ike said.
"I at least want to shower," I said.
"You can barely even sit up. Wouldn't want you looking at our junk, gay boy," Ike said, spooning more soup into my mouth.
"Oh please. We've all been naked together before," I said, closing my eyes. "What did you do while Micah was in your room? You're the reason he almost ran away once."
"It was one time and I caught him before he made it out the front door," Ike said in annoyance. "He started crying when it got dark. So I helped him build a little fort and I put a movie on for him in it."
I pictured Ike doing that with his own brother and smiled a little. Ike tried to be a hardass, but he wasn't so bad.
"Wipe that damn smile off your face, Alexis," Ike said.
"I'm feverish and delusional," I reminded.
"Can't argue with that. The kid is in my room again tonight. I'll tell him you're still alive," Ike said.
"Tell him that I'm getting better," I said insistently. I didn't want Micah to be worried that he was going to lose another person to illness.
"Got it," Ike said. "Finish your soup and then you can bathe."
I almost laughed. "What, are you going to shower with me?"
"Shut up. I'll set you up a bath. Shit, it's like having another child," Ike said.
I mumbled out a reply as I closed my eyes and felt myself slipping back off to sleep. I guess my bath would have to wait a little longer. I was just glad to hear that Ike was being so nice to Micah while I was sick.
