Save Me from the Dark (A John Gage 'Emergency!' love story Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

A few months later found Scarlett settled into her new life with Johnny. Things had been going so perfectly that he had asked her to be his girlfriend and eventually to move in with him and she of course accepted both. It was like living her wildest dreams. Nothing could be any more perfect.

As Scarlett stretched slowly in the bed her and Johnny shared, she noticed the time. It was well past noon, the clock read. Also she noted she felt like she was hit by a truck. Okay, well, maybe things could be better.

Although Scarlett hated to admit it, she knew she was sick. She couldn't recall the last time she'd been sick, maybe sometime during high school? It'd been years though. Could this get any worse?

Unfortunately, yes it definitely could. She knew Johnny would insist on taking care of her and she hated being taken care of that way. It annoyed her to have to admit to needing other's help, even if she really did. It'd be preferable if she could just rot in bed until the entire illness was over and done with. No way he'd allow it, though.

Gathering up enough strength to pull herself out of bed, Scarlett made her way to the bathroom and peered at herself in the mirror. She looked like pure hell. There was no way he wouldn't notice. Resigning herself to her fate, she slowly crept down the stairs, suddenly noticing how annoyingly cold she felt. She knew she almost certainly had a fever.

Oddly she saw no signs of Johnny being around. He didn't work today, she knew that for a fact, so where had he gone? As she walked into the kitchen she spied a note on the counter. Yawning and forcing herself to remain upright, she quickly read it and suddenly everything made sense.

One of Roy's kids had gotten hurt and they had asked him to watch the other  while they went to the hospital. Scarlett had to admit, it was sweet Johnny hadn't woken her. Also it was sweet how much he truly adored Roy's kids and vice versa. She'd even heard them referring to Johnny as their uncle, the few times they'd been invited to dinner at Roy's.

Feeling the relief of knowing Johnny wouldn't be around to paramedic her for awhile, Scarlett made the seemingly long trek back to bed. Just the walk downstairs had exhausted her and quickly she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Scarlett wasn't sure how long it'd been really, but after what seemed like only a few minutes, she felt herself being shaken and a voice asking if she was okay. Not appreciating being woken up, she simply pulled the blankets over her head, ignoring him.

"Hey now, don't do that. Don't hide from me." Johnny said as he promptly pulled the blankets back. "You're sick, aren't you?"

"No kidding. I feel like I've been hit by a bus. Except without the swift death." She mumbled back, shivering from the loss of warmth.

It didn't go unnoticed by Johnny, as she didn't expect it would. His trained eye noticed everything and it was a bit annoying. As he placed the back of his hand against her forehand, Scarlett couldn't help but notice how good it felt. Not only was he touching her but his hand also felt comfortingly warm.

"Definitely feel a bit warm. And just for your information, people don't always die after being hit by a bus."

Always the optimist.

"So how do you feel? More specific than feeling like you were hit by a bus." Johnny asked and Scarlett wanted to internally cry.

"Just really tired, hurt all over, super cold, nose is so blocked I can't breathe out of it...Yeah, this is a great time."

The corners of Johnny's mouth turned up slightly.

"Yeah, looks like it. You, my dear, have the flu. Which might I add, is going around right now."

Scarlett just sighed. Of course this was her luck.

"How's Roy's son, by the way? Did he get hurt badly?" She asked, finding herself actually concerned for the little boy's health. Roy's family was like their family, after all.

"Oh yeah, he's fine. He fell off the swing and sprained his wrist, is all. Roy and Joanne just wanted to make sure it wasn't broken."

"Oh, well that's good he wasn't hurt too badly. Of course, that's what boys do though, they get hurt." Scarlett replied, throwing a bit of a tease at him. Of course she'd heard about some of his own incidents. He didn't seem to appreciate it however.

"Hey, sometimes things happen. Things you have no control over. Like the rattlesnake, how was I supposed to know it was there? It came out of nowhere!" He lamely tried to defend himself, and Scarlett could see he was a little annoyed.

"I know, I know. I was just saying." Scarlett replied, as she grabbed the blankets and pulled them back. "I wanna go back to sleep."

"No, I'm going to get you some water and some soup and you're going to try to eat."

Scarlett snorted. "You're going to make soup? What is the world coming to?"

It was a known fact, especially to his shift mates, that Johnny wasn't exactly the best chef and unfortunately she'd found that out on several occasions herself. The thought of him cooking her anything was almost horrifying.

"I'll have you know I cook perfectly well!" He retorted. Clearly he didn't appreciate that either.

"The only thing you cook are hamburgers and hot dogs, not that there's anything with wrong that but remember the time you almost caught the kitchen on fire? Because I do."

"That was one time... "

"I know. All I'm saying is if you catch the house on fire, I don't have the energy to move and I WILL lie here and burn to death. Might be a good way to go."

"Don't say that, and you act like I wouldn't save you or anything. You'd be the only thing I'd save and you know that."

"I know. Just please don't burn the house down so you don't have to worry about saving me." Scarlett said, smiling a little despite herself. Johnny could be really sweet at times.

"I'll try not to." He returned her smile.