Above the Clouds (On Hold Indefinitely)

11. Feverous Delusions

I wake with a sense of longing. Normally when I wake, anything that I was worried about the night before has diminished to an after thought. The exact opposite has happened this time. It feels intensified, causing a dull ache in the back of my mind that turns sharp and debilitating whenever I try to move. Perhaps I won't be getting out of bed today; not if this headache doesn't subside.

The bright light of the beckoning day starts to creep through my windows. It's almost mocking me, telling me to get up for a new day. Enticing me to go watch the sun as it crests over the peaks of the mountains. Not today, though. I pull the lavender covers over my head and turn my back to it with a groan. I'm in no mood to watch the sunrise feeling like this.

I try to find more sleep, but my body is too restless. Random aches thrash my muscles. Even though I feel freezing, a sheen layer of sweat covers my body. I curl into a ball, looking for some sort of comfort from my own body just like a baby does. It doesn't help. I wrap my arms around my legs and continue to shake.

Some kind of sickness must be running its course with me.  Wonderful. Perchance I was so sick with worry for Casten that now I'm actually sick, but this sickness doesn't feel quite right. I think that my body physically remembers what the flu feels like even though my mind can't. Not only do I feel weak, but I feel like I'm being drained. It becomes worse by the minute, the moment, the second.

The discomfort makes it impossible to find sleep. Defeated, I roll over to lie flat on my back and stare at the gray ceiling, a gray the same color as Casten's eyes. If only I could find even a breath of comfort from that thought.

I don't know how long I was staring at the ceiling before I hear the door open. Feeling like this, it seems as if it could have been hours although it was most likely only minutes. I hear a small gasp and the clash of a tray as it is hurriedly set on table beside me. "Mistress Leviten, are you okay?"

I manage to look at her with a grimace, "Please, Lise, call me Sage." Her doe-like eyes are wide with concern, her thin pink lips slightly open. Her worried look doesn't falter at my response.

"S- Sage," she manages with a stutter, as if calling me by my name is difficult for her, "are you feeling unwell?"

I know it must be a common curtesy for her to ask me this, because if I look anywhere close to as bad as I feel, she already knows the answer to her question. "I think I may have a minor case of the flu," I say hoarsely.

"I would call this anything but minor," she says sitting on the bed beside me, fearless of whatever sickness I have. She may be petite, but right now she looks like a warrior. Lise lays her hand on my forehead. "You are burning up," she comments almost immediately.

Huh, I suppose I am. I didn't really notice that till now.

Suddenly, I'm seeing a side of Lise that I've never seen before. A dominant one. A voice that demands to be heard.

"Are your muscles hurting?" I nod. "Headache?" I nod again. "Let me get you a cold towel and some herbs. I'll also send for the doctor."

"I'm sure I don't need the doctor," I croak. My last meeting with him led to me having to take a vile concoction every day. I don't need anymore medicine. I'm sure my body can fight this flu off on its own. Her eyes narrow at my request, not seeming to agree with it all. "Please, Lise."

She sighs, "Fine. No doctor for now, but I don't like it." 

She's gone before I can say another word, and then she is back almost as fast. She's swift, silent, and purposeful in her movements. In her hands are a large urn with a towel hanging off the side in one hand and a teacup in the other. She sits beside me on the bed, the cushion of it barely sinking due to her light frame, and sets the urn and teacup on the bedside table. She dunks the towel in the water, wrings it out, and places it on my forehead. The coolness of it melts onto my burning skin. Then she reaches for the teacup and brings it to my lips, "Drink this. I don't know the science behind it, but it always seemed to help me when I was sick."