Stroked

-Chapter 23-

-Chapter 23-

-Oliver-

"You're finally up." I say, watching as Amy's eyelids flutter open. I press a hand to her forehead and it seems to have colded down quite a bit. I think the pasta was just messing with her stomach. She moans and grabs onto my shirt again.

"I'm hungry."

I get up and pull back the covers on her.

"I'll be right back."  I hurry to the kitchen to make her some soup or something that will hopefully not make her even more sick. Something from a can would be nice. I can't exactly mess that up too much.

I poke around in my cabinents and uncover chicken and noodle soup; a classic choice. I take apart the can and squeeze the contents into a bowl and pop it in the microwave to heat up. I watch as the minutes trickle down and I walk back to Amy for a second.

"It's coo-" I stop, noticing Amy's not in bed. I walk over to the bathroom and notice her sitting on the toilet. I hope she isn't throwing up again.

"You okay?" I ask but then I see the toothbrush in her hand.

"Yeah, I just wanted to freshen up a little." She continues brushing and then spits into the sink.

"I'd like to take a shower but I'll wait till I eat something first." She looks better already. I'm just glad she's up and moving around now. My arm is starting to hurt and I'm surprised my t-shirt is ripped apart.

"Thank you for laying with me." Amanda comes up and wraps her arms around me. She is still a bit weak though.

I hold onto her and kiss her cheek.

"No problem, I just hope you like chicken noodle soup." I hear the timer going off.

"Yeah, who doesn't?" She jokes and I help her sit at the table while I bring her a steaming bowl of noodles and chicken.

"I'll be right back." I say, heading back to the bathroom to start the tub water.

It takes forever to fill and I never use it but my mother used to put me in it full of cold water when I was sick and it seemed to relax me. It's probably better than a shower. I pull out a towel to place on the bathroom counter for later use and I go to her suitcase to grab a nightgown and some underwear. I set everything down on the counter and I head back to the kitchen.

"Sorry about that. I'm setting a bath for you." I watch as Amy hungrily gulps down spoonfuls. I don't want her to rush and make herself sick but she's probably starving because she's thrown up all the food she's even had today.

"Thank you." She stops and then continues. It's almost gone now. I lean against the kitchen counter to stretch out my arms and legs from being cramped up for a few hours and I glance down at the ruined pasta meal and pots lining the sink.

That was horrible.

I promised her it would be okay but I just couldn't control myself.

I was tired of hiding and I wanted them to know that Amy shouldn't be alone and deal with this kind of stuff.

"I'm going to go take my bath, can you help me?" Amy asks, leaving the bowl behind on the table. I'll get it later.

"Yeah, honey." I grab her hand and we walk to the bathroom. I turn off the water because the tub is filling up too high now.

I pull down on the straps of Amy's dress and I help her slip it off and she does the rest. I have to grip her hand to help her into the tub but she finally manages and sighs. She starts flexing her toes.