where the water meets the moon | e.d.

fifty-five

addy

i wake up in a sweat in my bed, feeling achy and weak. it confuses me, since just a couple hours ago ethan was leading me sleepily to my room where i fell sleep quickly.

i reach a hand up to my forehead and groan when i feel it's hotter than normal, but no desire to get out of bed washes over me. today was supposed to be a fun day too, where we do a test run of the diving gear so we can start it tomorrow.

"evan," i call out, hearing my voice sound scratchy and strangled. who i really want right now is ethan, but if i call evan then ethan will know something is up and come in anyway.

"what's up?" he appears at my door moments later, coffee mug in hand and still in his pajamas.

when he sees me laying there, his eyes get wide. "woah, what happened to you?"

i cover my face with my hands and say, "i don't know. i was just fine last night and—"

"what's going on?" ethan's head pops in my doorway and i see concern shift into his eyes when he sees that i'm not up.

i don't answer, which causes him to step into my room fully and walk over to put a hand on my forehead. "here, sit up."

i do, but immediately want to lay back down due to the heaviness in my bones.

"you're burning up, ad."

"i was totally fine yesterday!" i exclaim hoarsely, holding my hands out in confusion.

"it's probably just a 24 hour fever, but we should still probably follow up on it," he mumbles and almost reaches to swipe the stray hair from my eyes, but stops his hand.

"hey, what's wrong?" kendall now pops in, looking genuinely concerned at my sick state.

"fever. you should all probably go," i suggest. "i don't want to get anyone else sick. can someone just give me some advil cold and flu, and then i'll be okay?"

"e, where's the first aid kit?" evan asks.

ethan furrows his eyebrows. "not sure. how about you guys go start breakfast, tell avery, and then i'll find the kit."

surprisingly, kendall nods and leaves it at that, not even questioning her boyfriend's concern for another living, breathing human being... like she usually would.

ethan lets evan and kendall leave before him, and before he slips out the door he looks back to me and gives me an expression that i'm too tired to decipher. it seemed sweet, though.

i let myself fall back onto the mattress and inhale deeply, feeling my sinuses backed up with phlegm and other insanely gross things.

when i was younger, overnight fevers were a common occurrence, and usually they only lasted a day or two.

when i open my heavy eyes again, ethan is looming over me with an orange capsule in one hand, and a cup of orange liquid in the other.

"liquid or pill?" he asks, weighing the two of them.

i sigh. "neither."

"i suggest pill."

"you're right," i sit up. "i always puke it back up with the liquid stuff."

he laughs a little and drops it into my hand, then grabs a cold water bottle he must've placed on my nightstand before i woke up.

i place the capsule on my tongue and wash it down with the water all while ethan looks at me with his head tilted to the side, face concerned.

"i get these all the time," i snort my stuffy nose again. "it's fine."

"yeah, i guess so," he sighs. "drink that water before i come back."

"you're coming back?" i question.

he gives me a look like i'm stupid. "yes."

"what about—"

"and what about her?" he interjects, already knowing what i was going to say.

i fail to hide a smile and begin to sip on the cold water like he instructed. before leaving, he pats my head gently and motions to the other things he brought for me, including some saltine crackers and sprite, along with some nasal spray.

it makes me wonder if he would've done this for me before we realized we have feelings for each other, and i find myself saying yes. he's just great like that.

after eating some crackers and drinking tiny sips of the soda, and big gulps of the water, i lay back down and try to wipe the sweat thats beading on my forehead from my temperature.

my blankets got kicked down to the bottom of my bed for a couple minutes, but then i get the chills and bring them back up again.

avery knocks on my door and opens it a crack, asking if i need anything from him— but he also warned me that he has no experience with getting sick at sea because he has a monster immune system.

"no," i laugh weakly. "thank you, though. it should be gone by tomorrow."

i can tell when everyone else is done eating breakfast by the way it quiets down, and the only noise that can be heard is the clinking of plates and running water from the sink.

usually ethan does the dishes, which makes me think if he's finally found his "thing" on the boat. we all contribute some way of another, and i'll have to bring it up to him to see what he thinks.

"addy," evan slips into my room at around 9:15. "we're starting research and testing the gear. i'll write down some important notes for you so you're not totally in the dark tomorrow."

"thank you," i say gratefully. "means a lot."

he nods, and leaves again. i blow my nose for the millionth time of the morning, and throw the tissue into the trash can beside my bed.

so i have to listen to them have fun today while i do absolutely nothing besides sleep, read, and take advil. great.

right as i'm about to lay back down on my pillow, my door opens again, but this time no one peeks in. instead, a small slip of paper sails into my blankets in the form of a crumpled up ball.

confused, i reach out for it.

if you being sick has anything to do with the late nights, i'm sorry. my fault. either that or your immune system sucks, but let's not point fingers.
(jk, by the way. i'll miss you today)

laughing, i re-crumple the note and toss it in the waste bin along with the rest of my tissues.