Perception

Chapter 9: Dean

Three weeks had passed. Three long weeks. My sister kept using every single occasion to remember me how cute Jason and I were. I have to admit she was pretty close of taking a bath in the pool outside. But she was better than me in close range battle, so I was not going to risk my life for a revenge.

Jason, on his side, kept telling me he was doing fine. But he was still incapable of eating properly and lost at least 15 pounds in a short amount of time. I kept watching him, discretely. Not like a creep, but like, making sure everything wasn't getting worse...

One night, I had just woken up from a nightmare when Jet rushed down the stairs. He jumped on me and started barking in my ears.

-Shut up! You'll wake up everyone!

It is only when he started biting me that I knew what was going on. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could, following the dog. I opened the door leading to my room and gave Jet a desperate look.

-Look, Buddy..., I whispered to the dog. He is sleeping...Not dying...

Jet barked towards Jason. That guy was always sleeping like a rock, so it was normal that he didn't wake up. The dog didn't get it this way. He jumped on the bed and started licking his owner. Jason didn't reacted. Still normal. The whole town could blow up and he'd never know. Jet barked at me.

-What do you want me to do?

The dog barked again. I sat on the bed. Jason's hair was wet with sweat.

-That's what you brought me here for? Really?

He wagged his tail. I grabbed the thermometer that has been on the night table for the last three weeks and took his temperature.

-Look, there's nothing to be scared about, I said while showing the dog the meter. It's red...Nothing to be...

I stopped myself. Jet jumped around, happy about my realisation. It shouldn't be red. I looked at it. 41.0 celsius...That was impossible...that was high as hell! I looked at Jet.

-This...this thing is...broken...., I tried to convince myself.

I touched his forehead. Yeah...He was burning up....like intensely...My mind started to fill with the list of symptoms he had had previously. The list of corresponding and possible causes appeared as I grabbed his inanimate body and brought him in the shower with me.

Abdominal pain, headaches, vomiting, fever... Gastroenteritis? Not really everything was there. Stomach perforation? No tenderness in the area...Pneumothorax? No shortness of breath....at least not in the last couple of days... I started the shower. The cold water hit us both. Gosh that was extremely cold! It had the right effect on Jason though. He woke up. Too fast...

Disoriented, he knocked me down in the tub. I got up and tried to restrain him so he wouldn't hurt himself.

-Jason, it's...

Didn't had time to finish. My head hit the heat handle. Gosh that hurt. I blinked fast to chase the black cloud that was spreading across my vision. I stopped his fist and pull him against me. He tried to get rid of my grip, but I hold on.

-Jason! It's me...Dean! I told him.

He was shaking in my arms. Unstable, we fell in the bathtub. I was now sitting in the cold water, with a person still panicking in my arms and blood rushing to the drain.

-It's gonna be okay, I whispered while closing my eyes and taking deep breaths. You are safe...It's me...

I just repeated those words in a loop until he had completely calmed down. I could feel the heat coming from him through my soaked clothes. Great, he was still feverish! At least he was awake. I opened my eyes and was surprised to see him crying.

-Jason....? I asked quietly.

-She tried to kill me...How could she....

I tightened my grip around him. I knew it was coming, I just expected it sooner. He hold it together so long. I rubbed his back like I used to do with my younger fellows on the field when they woke up at night, panicked.

And, of course, my sister had to pass in front of the open door at this exact moment. She continued her way before slowly coming back in the doorway. Her face illuminated.

-Don't you dare, I whispered when she opened her mouth to add something.

-But you...

-Shut up, I cut her quietly.

Something on the counter attracted my attention. I grabbed it. Jason's antibiotics for the wound... I looked at list of side effects. Yep, everything was there. I threw it at my sister. She understood the message. As she went to call the hospital about Jason's state, she mimed the letters OTP at me. In case you didn't know, my sister was using a fandom code to say that Jason and me were what she called a "One true pair"....I really hated her now,.....

I waited to make sure she was gone before turning the water off. Jason was sobbing quietly in my arms, mumbling stuff I didn't know. I rested my chin on his head.

-It's all gonna be okay...You'll see...I murmured.