Everything

15

The next three weeks went by quickly. I went to my parent's house and picked up a lot of my clothes, shoes, accessories, and makeup, my father was out of of the hospital and filing for a divorce, my brother went off to a football camp, Amelia and Chloe are so cute it makes me sick to my stomach, and Ben's been taking care of me because I'm sick. The day after I met Isabelle, I got extremely sick. I can't take any medication because Ben's mark counteracts its effects, and Ben can't heal me because we aren't fully mated.

Currently, I was laying in bed, under three layers of blankets, shivering and coughing up my lungs. Every other hour, like clockwork, I would get extremely cold and need tons of blankets and Ben's body heat, the off hours I would get really hot and sit in an ice bath.

"Baby?" Ben asked, walking into the bedroom.

"H-hey." I croaked, sounding like a dying cat.

"I hate seeing you sick, I should've waited to mark you." He frowned, climbing into bed with me. He wrapped me up in his arms as I shivered.

"No, I wanted you to mark me." I pulled away from him and coughed viciously into the elbow of the sweater I was wearing.

"I wish I could help you." He said, sounding defeated.

"You holding me like this keeps me warm and happy." I said, smiling weakly at him.

"I don't want this to sound like I'm forcing you into anything, but if we completed the mating process, I could fix you." Ben said, burying his face in my hair.

"I don't want our first time to be while I'm absolutely miserable. I want to enjoy myself." I said, suddenly feeling very hot.

"And I love you, but you're going to need to let me go." I said, pushing his arm off of me and ripping my sweater off. I threw the blankets I was under to the floor and turned the ceiling fan on high. I got off the bed and laid on the floor, feeling the coolness of the fan and the cold hardwood floor.

"Do you want me to run you a cold bath?" Ben asked, peering at me from the bed. I sat up and coughed loudly, before turning to him.

"No, I think I just need to sleep." He nodded and handed me a pillow.

"I'll be back in an hour to move you." He said, leaving the room. I laid my head on the pillow and fell asleep on the cool floor.

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I woke up on the bed about an hour later, feeling better. I got out of bed and walked downstairs into the living room.

"She's alive!" Amelia yelled from Chloe's lap. I flipped her off and made my way to the kitchen.

"Charlotte? Are you feeling better?" Ben asked me, rushing to my side. The last time I was down here, I collapsed in the kitchen. Ben's been very careful about me leaving the room since then.

"I feel much better. I don't know what it is." I said, my voice sounding normal. I wasn't congested, and my stomach didn't feel like it was twisted in knots.

"That's strange." Ben said, looking perplexed by the situation.

"Maybe you can heal me." I shrugged, pouring myself some lemonade.

"Maybe." I kissed his cheek and sipped from my glass.

"I'm going to shower. Can you call the pack doctor over? I need to know if I'm healthy enough to visit Isabelle." Ben smiled and nodded. I made my way up the stairs to shower. 

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After my quick shower, I changed into a pair of light, ripped skinny jeans, a black tank top, and my flannel sweater. I applied neutral eye makeup, and some pink lip gloss. I smiled in the mirror as I braided my hair to the side. I grabbed my black Converse and tied them quickly.