Never giving up on you - Completed.

41.

[This chapter has become so much longer than intended, sorry not sorry I guess. Enjoy!]

Caity

Stanford, California

August 2010

I felt really bad when I woke up, and after I had dragged myself out of bed way too early just to get to work in time, I decided to temp myself just to be sure I hadn't a fever burning. The thermometer quickly told me I had though, and I grunted and slumped down on the couch, getting my phone out of the pocket of my bathrobes and calling the ward's general number.

'Stanford University Medical Centre's Cardiology Ward, how can I help you?,' I heard a voice that I recognized as Amanda's say.

'Hey Amanda, it's Caity... I am calling in sick today.'

'Oh hey Cait... That sucks, I'm sorry. What's the matter?'

'I don't know, I think I am dealing with some flu or something. I am running a fever and I feel like shit.' I heard her chuckle a little at my choice of words.

'Go back to bed, Cait. We'll manage without you. Call in tomorrow to see if you feel better, okay?'

'Okay... Thanks.'

'Get better soon!' She hung up and I let my arm fall down while closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep right at the spot.

When I woke up several hours later I grabbed my phone to look at the time; it was only nine thirty AM, but yet I had two missed calls and a text from Austin half an hour ago. Austin?

Austin: 'Hey, I figured you'd be at work, so call me whenever you read this.' I frowned and put my phone at my ear while calling him. It took a long moment for him to pick up, but he sounded happy when he did.

'Hey! I called you two times this morning! How are you doing?' I couldn't help but smile from hearing his voice, and his happiness was infectious in an instant.

'I'm ill... I called in sick at work this morning and then I passed out on the couch and I just woke up but I still feel like crap...'

'Oh...' His happy voice wore off a little. 'I'm sorry... I was just wondering if you could hang out tomorrow, since I have a check-up scheduled at the hospital and I thought we'd might get some lunch and catch up... It's been a few weeks since I've seen you.' My heart fluttered at his words and I smiled despite feeling like death itself.

'Yeah, well... Maybe another time, alright? I think I'm stuck with the flu and I don't want to get you ill also.'

'Shame,' he muttered. 'Anyway, I have to hang, I'll talk to you later, okay?'

'Okay...'

'See you soon, Cait.'

'Sure...' He hung up and I sighed, rubbing my face. I was disappointed in not being able to meet him tomorrow; I loved hanging out with him, even though we had only done so three times before. He was funny and always had good stories to tell, and he made me laugh a lot. If it wasn't for him being married, I might have dared to say that I really liked him.

I grunted as I pulled myself up from the couch, walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to search for some food. There wasn't much in there, and whatever there was I didn't feel like eating. My stomach churned at the thought of having yoghurt or cereals, so I stumbled back to the couch with only a cup of tea and plopped down again. I put on the tv and watched some brainless tv-shows for a while before falling back to sleep without even taking a sip of my tea.