Angel Face

Who Gave It To You?

XXIV

Waking up with a jolt and feeling as if my skin was on fire, I throw the covers off me. With ragged breath, I looked around the dark empty room.

Where's Duncan?

I flicked the lights on but winced when the bright light hit my sensitive eyes. I leaned back on the headboard, feeling the familiar pounding headache taking its effect. The table clock showed the time to be 8 in the evening, which meant I had been asleep for quite a while although it was anything but relaxing. On the contrary, it was haunted by a series of nightmares that centred around the same brown eyed man from this morning.

Just the reminder of the earlier events, made my stomach drop with dread. But before I could dwelve too much in it, a wave of pain hit my head. I clutched my hair in my hands as the throbbing in my head intensified. My lips parted to let out a painful groan but it failed to come out owing to the dryness of my throat. I reached out for the packaged water that was usually on my bedside table, but there was none.

Just the thought of getting off the bed made me grimace. Forcing myself, I placed my feet down on the grey fuzzy rug next to my bed and pushed myself up onto my feet. But, I fell back down on the bed, the very next instance, when I felt the ground tilt and the room spin. One of my hands went up to my head in discomfort.

What is wrong with me?

I head snapped up when I heard the door open. My hert thudded in my chest as I watched with bated breath, the door slowly open. Morning's events had put me on edge as a result any slight movement made me feel jumpy. I sighed in relief as I watched Duncan enter. His eyes widened in realisation when they landed on me, before a smile appeared on his face. "Good, you're awake." He closed the door behind him before approaching the bed with a tray in his hand which had a bowl, glass of water and plates on it. "You must be hungry, you haven't had anything since this morning." He placed the tray on the side table and picked up a small rectangular box, from the tray.

"I thought we weren't supposed to cook for each other?" I jokingly whispered, eyeing the tray of food, he had brought. "Yeah, but this is an exception since you're not well." He shrugged. How did he know? "Lie down for me." He instructed distractedly, as he fiddled with the box.

"Why?" I croaked out with a frown but complied anyways. He sat down next to me with pursed lips. He dropped the box on his lap before picking up the glass of water from the tray and held it against my lips. I quickly drank the water, grateful to get rid of the dryness in my throat. Placing the now half empty glass back on the tray, he placed his palm on my forehead before retracting it. "You have fever." Well, that explains a few things. He returned his attention back to the box which I realised held the thermometer. "Since you don't have the symptoms of common cold like blocked nose, sore throat or glassy eyes. I think it's due to stress. Other than temperature and a dry throat, do you feel any other discomfort?" He asked finally taking out the thermometer.

He really took his own sweet time opening a box.

"My head hurts." I grumbled. "And the room seems to be spinning." He hummed with a thoughtful look as I opened my mouth so he could put the thermometer in. We silently stared at each other while we waited. When it was time, he pulled out the thermometer and looked at it. "It's not too high but it's still there." He mused before putting it up. "Come here." He wrapped an arm around my shoulder as he pulled me up and adjusted the pillows to support me to sit in a halfway fashion. He then took the tray and placed it on my lap. "I made you a special broth. It will help you calm down and sleep better."

"How is this broth special?" I asked blowing over the hot broth. It smells good. "My mom used to make this whenever someone was sick or when she had difficulty in sleeping." He said with a sad smile. "There were many nights when she couldn't sleep. Specially, when she was going to have my brother."