Thwaites & Thompson

Oblivious

Thwaites

With my favorite tracklist playing in the background, coffee, and cigarettes, I've managed to do alot in just four hours.
So I gave myself a break, mostly to cook lunch for Tess and I.

I wondered what she spent these four hours doing...

I stopped before her room when I heard a monotonous dialogue coming from inside.
I assumed she was watching some kind of movie so I moved on and headed to the kitchen to make us the only meal I was known to specialize in; Spaghetti Bolognese...

An hour later, I head to Tess's room and knock thrice against her door but she doesn't answer.
I knock again but I get no reply, so I open the door and peek inside.

She was asleep on her side, with her head shoved into a pillow.

I walked to her side and lightly shook her shoulder.

"Tess?" I frowned down at her.

I pause the movie that she forgot on and set her laptop aside to get myself seated.

"Tess, wake up." I begin to worry.

She flinches awake and her lids weakly part.

She doesn't simply fall asleep...

I place my palm over her forehead and she flinches at my touch.

"You're feverish..." I nod expectedly.
"Can you pull yourself up?" I ask and she shuts her lids again.

"I'll just sleep..." She mumbles.

I sigh, getting to my feet.
I shut her laptop and place it on the bedside table and then I strip the bed cover off of her.

"Get up."
"You need to take a cold shower." I order.

"No..." She whispers tiredly.
"I'll be fine-I just need to sleep..." She turns over, facing away from me.

"I'll carry you and drop you into a bathtub full of ice if I have to-get up Tess..." I warn and she stiffens.

"I can't get up. My body really hurts..." Her pained tone caused my heart to jerk.

I sighed.

I went back out and dialed Nala's phone.

"Nala, what do you take when you feel feverish from a cold?"

"I'm okay-what do you take?"
"Do we have some?"

"Upper cabinet-okay-bye now..."

I fill a bowl with cold water and ice and place it on a tray with a cup of warm water, Nala's prescribed pills, and a clean handkerchief.

I walk back into Tess's room and place the tray on the bedside table.

"Tess, lay back..." I softly instruct and she fuzzes awake again.

She lays on her back and brushes her hair back.

I dampen the handkerchief in the cold water and then squeeze it dry.

Tess still had her eyes closed so I took her by surprise and placed the cold handkercheif over her sweltering forehead.

She gasps and I chuckle.

"We have to get your temperature to drop." I poke her cheek and she opens her eyes to glance at me.

"But soon, you're gonna have to get up and get some food into your body before you take some meds for this fever." I inform her and she faintly nods before she shuts her eyes again.

I go on, dampening the handkerchief every time it got warm.

My back was aching from being seated on the edge of the bed, so I turn around to rest my back to the bed's headboard.