OffSpring | ✎

iii

Chapter Three | Symptoms
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          "KAITLYN. . ."

A voice slips through the holes of my consciousness, pouring over the remnants of my dream as a groan passes through my lips as I drift further from the throes of my dreamland. Something makes contact with my forehead, warmth spreading from the spot before moving to grip my forearm, shaking my body awake.

"Bebé," a soft voice gathers my conscious. "You need to get up."

Again, my body shook, further shaking away my slumber as I struggle to peel open my eyes. Once I do, everything was nothing but a blur of things as if I had opened my eyes underwater, my body aches as I twist my head slightly; slightly feverish even. A palm suddenly comes into view, gliding past my view and resting on my cheek, grabbing my attention. Drifting my gaze to the side, blinking a few times to rid my sights of the blurry haze, soon connecting with bright green eyes.

"Maddie?" I call out hoarsely as I shift to face her correctly, the rustling of my bed covers heard.

She hummed, her blonde curls framing her face as she leaned over from the side of the bed, "Come on. You need to get up."

She grabs ahold of my elbow, pulling back the seats, my tank top and shorts exposed to the atmosphere as she begins to pull me up. A bit disoriented, I allow her to sit me up, my mind fuzzy with events flickering to attention, my gaze flitting around the room. The layout of my room appears, my dresser lined up against the wall ahead of me, beside the entrance to my bathroom.

Sunlight streams from the parted curtains, coating my bedroom floor with its glow and illuminating the rest of the room. My brows crease, confusion settling in as I continue to shake off my sleep.

"What time is it?" I ask, swinging my feet to hover over the carpeted floor.

Maddie steps back and pulls me to my feet by my wrist with a frown on her face. My hand finding my sockets and rubbing away the crust of sleep from the corner of my eyes.

"It's three thirty-two in the afternoon," she tells me.

"Oh," I mumble, stepping back and stretching my arms over my head, twisting my back afterwards.

My spine cracks, a groan spluttering from the seams of my lips as satisfaction rolls through me. Maddie steps toward me again, her hand raising to press the back of it to my forehead.

"A little feverish. . ." she mumbles to herself while holding her palm to my forehead a second longer before pulling back. "You feeling okay?" she asks.

I nod, confused by her action. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You've been sleeping all day, and that's usually not like you."

My shoulders lift into a shrug, my hand reaching around to scratch the back of my head. "I actually don't remember falling asleep," I tell her, my mind still fuzzy from sleep all while the sudden urge to pee hammers at my bladder.

She sighs before flipping her eyes to gaze into my own, "Never mind, head to the bathroom and freshen up. I'll whip up us some lunch, all right?"

"All right," I say, immediately heading to the bathroom to empty my bladder.

• • •

The minute I stride out of the bathroom, the smell of chicken cooking fills my nose and my stomach rumbles in response. The scent of it sizzling within seasoning and the mingling aroma of yellow rice with vegetables causes my mouth to water, hurriedly, I dry off damp skin from the short shower I took and quickly head to the bedroom to pick out an array of matching clothes to cover my body before officially making my way out the room in a green over the shoulder top and grey shorts.