Opposites Attract

Illness

Mick got sick the day after they got home, throwing up everything he ate and burning with fever. His mother had to work in the forges, leaving Molly and Jax to take care of him. Sammy tried to help, but his extreme Emetophobia got in the way, leaving him a quivering mess whenever his brother threw up, to the point where the other two had to send him outside during the day and put him in Jax's room at night.

Sammy got sick two days later, waking up in the middle of the night and throwing up so violently that his nose started bleeding, then crying until he made himself sick again. Molly and Jax stayed up with him all night, letting him lie on their laps and moving his hair from his forehead. At some point in the night, Jax fell asleep, and Molly let him rest on her shoulder.

Molly caught it three days later, and her case was ten times more severe than the twins' had been. She threw up all day for the first day she had it, and from then on her fever was so high that she spent the next week hallucinating, hardly able to move, hardly able to form words. Jax moved her hammock into the twins' room (it was actually really simple to hang up) and set up a chair so he could watch over them all.

Her nightmares didn't stop, but it wasn't until the last day that she started screaming.

---

Jax was just starting to doze when screams interrupted his nap. One moment he was nodding off, and the next moment his head snapped up.

Molly was thrashing around in her hammock, dangerously close to falling out. Her fingers were gripping the rope, and she seemed to be fighting to get away from something.

Her screaming woke Mick and Sammy, who were still recovering, and they watched in stony silence as Jax tried to wake her up.

"Hey, Molly. Mol, you have to wake up now. It's alright."

She dug her fingernails into the hands holding her wrists, and Jax recoiled, dropping her wrists for a moment to examine his hands. They were bleeding.

"Molly," he tried again, "C'mon Mol. Wake up."

She stopped struggling for a moment like his voice had gotten through to her, and he kept talking.

"C'mon Mol. You're scaring Mick and Sammy."

The twins in question were not scared, but the statement had the intended effect. Molly's eyes snapped open.

She's been practically comatose for days, but now she seemed alert.

"Jax," she managed, then, "Jax," again.

Her bottom lip was quivering.

"Did I hurt you?"

"Nothing too bad."

"Show me," she said, voice breaking. Not knowing what else to do, he showed her his hands.

She went white, taking in the blood. Her mouth worked in silence for a bit, and then she sobbed, whispering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," over and over again.

He blinked at her, managing a stunned, "It's fine."

"No it's not," she answered, squeezing her eyes shut, "It's not, I'm sorry."

He cupped her face with his other hand.

"I'm okay. You're okay. It's okay."

"It's not, I'm so sorry."

He frowned, lifting her chin and making her look at him.

"Molly. It's okay. I'm okay. You're overreacting, alright? Try and go back to sleep."

"M'scared," she muttered, already falling back asleep. 

"We're all right here. It's fine."

Her eyes closed, and a moment later she was asleep. Jax sighed with relief and went to Mick and Sammy to tuck them back in.