Something Worth Fighting For

Chapter Twenty Four: Till The Light Fades

Chapter Twenty Four: Till The Light Fades

Derek didn't have to worry about Natalia wandering into Dallas's room at night. The week Natalia's parents returned, everything had turned upside down. She had come down with a cold.

Her parents had been home for a week, the second week they were home; Natalia couldn't belive how much homework she had gotten. She had an assignment due almost every day. Some of her classes were had finished units around the same time, so the tests had been scheduled either on the same day or a day apart.

To top it all off, the weather wasn't co-operating. It had been fluctuating between hot and cold, Natalia's cold had not been getting better.

Natalia sat at her desk finishing her script, it was due tomorrow. She had managed to finish her essay a few hours ago. Natalia stretched before breaking into fit of coughing, her cough had gotten worse.

Natalia ran to get some water from the bathroom tap. She put her hands under the water, forming them into a cup, and gulped some water down.

As the coughing subsided, Natalia looked in the mirror. Her face was all red. Natalia washed her face with cold water, the colour faded. She patted her face dry with a towel.

She couldn't understand what would trigger these fits. She would be breathing normally and then the next breath would make her throat itch and suddenly she would be gasping to breathe.

Natalia had asthma and the cough wasn't making her life easier. Lately Derek had been driving her crazy, reminding her at every turn to keep her inhaler on her.

“Lia, you know as well as I do, that when weather changes you get sick fast. So just keep it with you. It'll give the rest of us a peace of mind.” he had pleaded with her in the morning. Natalia had taken her orange inhaler from him and pocketed it.

Natalia sat back at her desk. The script was almost done. She was hungry. I'll get food as soon as I finish this, she thought. Natalia glanced at the clock on her computer. 10:30pm. She groaned. Time had flown by, she didn't know how much longer she would have to stay up.

Her script had been about a girl who whose best friend had left in the summer to go to his family. She hadn't thought it would create such a void in her heart, but every where she went she would remember him. Then she got a call from him telling her he was coming back, only to have him tell her the very next day that he wasn't. In the end, the girl had learned to tune out the thoughts of him, until one day she bumped into him at school.

Even Natalia knew her plot could use some work. It was the dialogue that gave it strength.

Natalia sighed as she got back to work. She fixed the format of the document. So far it was almost twenty pages.

As she started typing, she heard a light knock on the door. She rolled her chair to the door and opened it.

Dallas stood on the other side. He was holding a plate of food. “Thought you could use some company, and something to eat.” He told her.

Natalia smiled, she let him inside. She had not been able to spend very much time with him. Not only was she sick, but her homework had taken over all her time.

“Thank you.” She told him. Natalia coughed a bit. This time it wasn't as bad. Still she saw the look of concern on Dallas' face.

“I'm fine.” She told him. “No you're not.” Dallas retorted. “You haven't been eating dinner, half the time I go to eat at dinner and you're not there.” He looked worried.

“I just have to finish this stuff. I don't know why everything is due this week. It's like Derek told all my teachers to keep me busy.” She told him. It had the effect she was hoping for, Dallas smiled.