Dark and His Queen

From bad to worse

Laura was awake before Dark was. She was still wrapped in his arms. Her throat was so sore and so dry she was having a hard time swallowing. Laura tried to speak but couldn't. She squeezed Dark's arm to get him to wake up. Dark stretched as he woke and spoke without opening his eyes. "Morning princess." Laura tried to speak again but still nothing. She tried to swallow but just ended up coughing. Dark opened his eyes and saw the look on Laura's face and instantly started to panic. "What's wrong? What do you need? What can I do?" Laura pointed at her throat trying to explain without words. Dark was so frantic he wasn't understanding what she was trying to say. Then Laura remembered the glass he had gotten for her. She reached for the glass on the nightstand but knocked it onto the floor. Tears started streaming down her face, frustration taking over. Dark realized what she wanted and snapped his fingers summoning her another glass of water. Laura guzzled the water as if she hadn't had a drink in weeks. Just then Anti appeared in their room making Laura jump and spill water down her front. "What are you doing in here?" Dark demanded. "I heard glass shatter and got worried. I didn't know you were still here. Is everything ok?" Anti asked. Dark couldn't answer he wasn't even sure. Laura finally finished the glass of water and sighed heavily. "That feels so much better. I am sorry for scaring both of you. I woke up and my throat was so dry, I couldn't swallow or talk. That was weird. Thank you both of you for your concern. I appreciate you both." "I am glad you are ok. I will be downstairs if you need anything." Anti said then glitched out of the room. Laura turned to Dark and he didn't even said anything he just pulled her into his arms. "Maybe I should stay here with you today. To make sure you are alright." Dark said. "If you are willing to take time off to spend the day in bed with me you are going to do that when I am not sick." Laura joked. Dark chuckled. "Seriously though. I am going to be ok. I will probably spend most of the day sleeping and if I need anything Anti and Die are here. I am in good hands." Dark looked at her warily. "Did you see how fast he glitched into this room when he heard the glass break? I think he hovers almost as much as you do." Laura teased. "Go, its fine. Really. I will be ok and I will call you if there is any problem I promise." Dark sighed heavily but finally agreed to go." He kissed Laura one last time before he left. Laura laid back down and went back to sleep. The next time she opened her eyes there was a full glass of water sitting on the night stand. Laura smiled to herself and mentally thanked Anti. "You're welcome. Are you hungry? I was going to make you breakfast." He mentally answered. "I think I could eat." "Coming right up." A few moments later Anti appeared in her room with a tray. He sat down on the bed with Laura and set down the tray. He removed the cover in a grand gesture. He was so proud of himself. It made Laura smile. On the tray were two slices of peanut butter toast, a banana and a tall glass of oj. "This is amazing, Anti thank you." Laura took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Are you feeling any better?" "Well I can swallow so better than this morning, but I still feel like hell. My head is still pounding, my body is still achy, I have a fever and I am exhausted." "Anything I can do to help?" "You have helped. The glass of water by my bedside and now breakfast in bed. It means the world to me. I appreciate you taking care of me. See I told Dark I was in good hands." "What do you mean?" "He was going to stay home to watch over me, but I told him that he should go. I told him that you were here if I needed anything and you were just as likely to fuss over me as much as he would and see I wasn't wrong." Laura smiled at him. Anti smiled back. "Well I will let you get some rest just let me know if you need anything else." "I will thank you again." "You're welcome." Laura slept for a few more hours. After that she decided she should try to get up and move around. Laying in bed was leaving her stiff. She found her way down stairs. Anti and Die were in the living room playing cards. They looked up when she entered the room. Anti shot to his feet. "Are you ok? What do you need?" He asked. "Calm down. I am fine. I just needed to walk around a bit. I was getting stiff just laying there." "But you need your sleep. You don't want to push yourself." "I won't push myself to much. I promi..." Laura didn't finish. She fell to the ground. Just before she hit the floor she started to levitated above the ground. Anti whipped his head to the side to see Die holding his hands towards Laura. Anti sighed heavily. He scooped Laura up in his arms. "Dark, you need to get back here now." Anti carried Laura upstairs, Die was right behind him. Anti brought her into the room while Die stayed at the door. Anti was just laying her down on the bed when Dark appeared in the room. "What did you do?" Dark yelled pulling Anti by the shirt and flinging him backwards across the room. Anti hit the wall and slid to the ground. Dark was at Laura's side stroking her hair and feeling her face. Dark turned back to Anti who was just getting to his feet. Dark charged towards him but Die stepped in his way. He put his hands on Dark's chest to keep him back. "Dark, Anti didn't do anything to her. She came down stairs and fainted. Anti just carried her upstairs." Dark looked at Die, then Anti and then at Laura. He grunted and went back to the bed. He took Laura's hand and felt for a pulse. He could feel one and she was still breathing but his panic was setting in. Why was she not waking up? Dark turned to Anti. "Call the doctor." He barked. Both Die and Anti left the room quickly. Dark was holding Laura in his arms rocking her when Anti came back with the doctor. "Schneep, go easy. He is very on edge right now. Tread lightly." The doctor approached the bed and gently placed his hand on Dark's shoulder. Dark looked up with desperation in his eyes." "Schneep, you need to help her. She said she thinks she has the flu but she won't wake up. The doctor pulled up a chair next to the bed. "Go get me a cold towel but you need to let me look at her." Dark laid her down on the bed and went to the bathroom to wet a towel. He walked back to the bed on the opposite side of the doctor and placed the wet towel against her head. "I feel she is dehydrated and her fever is very high. I am going to give her some anti biotics plus an IV with fluids and that should help lower her temperature." The doc assured Dark. Dark watched him work meticulously inserting the IV. Once he was done he pulled out some smelling salts and held it under Laura's nose. Laura woke with a start waving her hand in front of her face. Dark held the hand that had the IV in it so she wouldn't hurt herself. She looked confused. "What happened? Who are you?" Laura asked looking at the doctor. "I am Dr. Schneeplestein. It is nice to meet you." "Why do you look like Anti and Jack?" "He is another one of the egos." Dark explained. Laura rolled her eyes. "Sorry I asked. Thank you for taking care of me." "You are very welcome my dear. Call me if you need me again." Laura watched as he walked out of the room. She saw Anti standing in the door way waiting to come in. The look of worry on his face broke Laura's heart. He looked almost close to tears. Do demons cry? Die was close by as well. It was as if they were waiting for permission to enter. Laura pulled herself into a seated position. "Easy princess. Don't strain yourself." "I am ok love. I promise." Laura said cupping his face in her hand, stroking his cheek with her thumb. Laura turned to Anti. She reached her hand out. "Come here." Anti was by her side in a minute but stopped just short of the bed. He looked like he was afraid to get to close. Laura looked back and fourth between Dark and Anti. "Did I miss something?" Laura asked. "A misunderstanding." Dark stated. "Well I need to hug him so please don't kill anyone." Laura teased. She turned back to Anti and held her arms out to him. "It's alright." Anti looked at Dark. Dark nodded, Anti sat on the bed with Laura and wrapped her in his arms. He held on to her tight as if she would disappear if he let go. Laura had her arms wrapped around him rubbing circles on his back. When Anti finally pulled back from his hug he held onto Laura's arms. "You scared the shit out of me lass. Don't do that again! You are going to stay in this bed until you are better and if you need anything you will call one of us and if you need to stretch your legs you will do it in this room. Am I clear?" Anti was talking frantically. "Yes sir. I hear you. I promise. I will not venture downstairs until I am better." Anti hugged her again. Die had taken a seat in the chair that was close to the bed. Laura reached out her hand and Die took it cautiously. "You did give us a fright. I am glad you are ok." "Sorry for scaring you. I am glad you were there." "I am too because he is the one that stopped you from hitting the ground." Anti said. Laura raised and eyebrow. "Yeah when you fainted before I even had a chance to glitch to your side Die levitated you so you never hit the ground." Laura smiled at him. "Thank you." "I am glad I was there to help. Anti is the one who carried you upstairs though and put you back in bed." Die said looking towards Dark. Dark stood up. Anti and Die followed suit. "I apologize for overreacting. I was on edge because I was worried about Laura and I didn't stop to think. I just reacted." Die and Anti were looking at Dark as if they didn't know how to respond to what he was saying but they both nodded in agreement. "No worries man. We understand you are stressed." Die spoke for the both of them. Anti and Die took their leave and Dark took his spot back on the bed with Laura.

Dark stayed awake all night long watching Laura, counting her every breath. Every time she stirred in the night he held his breath until she settled back down. In the middle of the night she woke up with a coughing fit. Dark was frantic until she stopped. He gave her water and she drank it down in one gulp. He lulled her back to sleep by rubbing her back. What is happening to me? What are all these emotions? I don't feel things. However I can't deny how much Laura means to me. This is the most worried I have ever about anything. I think I am actually scared to lose her. Dark laid there examining what he was experiencing, thinking about Laura and thinking about all the things that he hadn't taken into account with her being human. Sickness was not something that affected him. Old age was not something that affected him. These are things that will happen to Laura though. Dark started to get overwhelmed with all his thoughts. He pushed them away for now and just focused on Laura. He held her tightly to him all night long. Close to the morning he noticed Laura's breathing started to change. She began to snore as she was breathing through her mouth. He paid close attention and contemplated waking her but she seemed to still be asleep and not in distress, so he let her be. She eventually woke up and smiled up at Dark. He smiled back down at her and kissed her forehead. "Did you stay awake all night and watch me sleep?" Laura asked. "Yes." Dark answered. "If I didn't know how sweet you were I would say that is creepy." Laura giggled. Dark kissed her again. "Your head is still hot. Are you feeling any better." "Not at all and now I can't breath through my nose." "I can tell from your breathing while you slept. It worried me." "Oh babe, don't worry. It is just the flu. I will be fine in a couple of days." Dark looked cautiously at her. "Wait, you don't know anything about the flu do you? You don't get sick huh?" "No. To both questions." "The flu is just a virus that is reeking havoc on my system. But my body is fighting off the infection. I should be fine soon." "Well I am going to stay here until you are." "Dark, you don't have to watch me every second. I am just going to be sleeping a lot." "I won't hear it this time. I left you yesterday and you fainted. I am going to be here in case you need me." "I always need you." Laura kissed Dark on the cheek. "But didn't I tell you I was in good hands while you were gone?" Laura added. "You did, and I am grateful that they were both here to assist you but there is no discussion to be had. I am not leaving." "Well I can see that there is no use arguing, plus I do not have the energy." "Well sleep then." Laura snuggled back up with Dark and slept. Dark finally slept as well. Dark's eyes shot open when Laura awoke with a coughing fit. He got her a glass of water but she couldn't even take a minute to drink. She was starting to have trouble catching her breath. Dark started to panic and called for the doctor. Dr. Schneeplestien appeared in the room moments later. "She can't stop coughing and now she can't breathe. Dark told the doctor, concern heavy in his voice. Schneeplestien sat down on the bed with Laura who looked back with panic in her eyes. "Laura, I need you to try to stay calm. I know it is hard to breathe but I need you to slow your breaths down and try to relax. Laura tried to inhaled deeply and tried to do as she was told but it didn't help. Her coughing fit was making her double over. When she sat up to doctor noticed blood on her hands. "I believe the infections has affected her lungs. We need to get her to a hospital. This is beyond what I can do to help her." Schneeplestien pulled a syringe out of his bag and held this up to Laura. "I am going to give you a shot now. It is going to help. Stay calm." Laura nodded her head in agreement. The doctor gave Laura the shot and laid her back on the bed. She quickly quieted down and stopped coughing. "What did you give her?" Dark asked. "It was just a sedative to help her sleep. But you need to get her to a hospital. Now." Dark picked Laura into his arms and teleported them into a hospital. It was late so it was mostly empty. He laid Laura on one of the stretchers and whispered to the nurses to notify them of her presence. Dark stayed out of site but waited until he saw them wheel Laura into a room. Then he teleported back to the house. Anti was standing there waiting for him looking sick with worry. "The doc told me what happened. Â Is she ok? When is she coming back?" Anti was firing questions at him, not letting Dark even answer. "She is being taken care of. I don't know when she will be coming back." "We can't just leave here there." "What are we supposed to do, we can't stay there with her either." "Well we have to do something." "We are doing something. I got her somewhere that can help her. I will figure the rest out. Anti looked frustrated but he couldn't argue with him. Anti glitched out of the room leaving Dark standing there by himself. Dark slumped down in the chair placing his head in his hands. She has to be ok. I can't live without her.