Winter Queen (Roger Taylor fanfic)

27. ...to save a life

They couldn't understand she argued with them few hours ago. Josie laid on her back, her hands along her body, how they nurses laid her. Infusion dripped to the cannula in her forearm, she had oxygen nasal cannula in her nose. She was pale and breathed heavily.

"I'll stay here." Roger said and Brian looked at him.

"I suppose the ambassador will arive later." he warned him. Because of their friendship, they didn't call him by his name and always added a bit of sarcasm to his post. But really, Brian had nothing against him. Roger jerked his shoulders. Brian went home after a while and left Roger there, although he'd like to do something more.

In a very early morning, Josie woke up. She still had fever, the medication she got didn't manage to lower it. Her sight was blurry, she saw the blond-haired head sleeping on a folded arms on the edge of her bed and at first, she thought she's hallucinating. His fingers were barely an inch from hers, but she couldn't make hers to move and touch him.

"Rog?" she whispered. The head quickly raised, he smiled and grabbed her hand.

"How are you?"

"Terrible." she whispered. "Thirsty."

He got up and poured her some warmluke tea. He hold the cup at her lips.

"You should sleep." he caressed her sweaty temple, and moved few clinging strands of her hair.

"Can I... ask you?"

"Anything, but you're supposed to rest."

"Back then... at your place... with the drug. It was coming to me...for so long... that we danced." She needed a moment catch her breath. "It was so... sexy. But then... there was KGB and... wasps. I didn't know... Fuck..."

"Jo, you can tell me some other time, I'll go get a doctor."

"Was it real?"

He hold her hand.

"The firs part yes, but then it went wrong, that part wasn't real."

She nodded and closed her eyes. He thought she fell asleep, but then she spoke up again.

"And Yorkshire?"

"What?"

"Was it real?" Tears rolled from under her closed eyelids.

"Of course, why do you think it wasn't?"

"Sometimes I feel...it was too beautiful... to be true."

"It was true." He also felt tears in his eyes.

"Forgive me." she whispered.

He couldn't say anything. He was glad she fell asleep. He got up from her bed and stood by the window for a moment. He pulled himself together, lay on the couch and also fell asleep.

It was like a miracle, that her fever was gone in he morning. She looked around the room and saw Roger asleep twisted on the couch. She was exhausted after the night of fever, too weak to get up. She looked at him and thought if their night talk really happened.

"Rog."

He sat up immediately, got to his feet and sat back down to the chair by her bed.

"How are you?" he smiled.

"Much better. I'm sorry you had to pull me here."

"Don't be sorry about that."

"You spent the night here?"

He nodded.

"Thank you."

The nurse came into the room, connected the flask with antibiotics to the tubes and warned Roger the round will start soon and that he should leave.

"Go home have some rest, I'll be fine." Josie smiled.

It took Brian four days to reach Scott and explain everything to him. He was in Wales, being ambassador in a country, that consisted of four other countries, was a lot of work. Josie was well by then, she could breath easily and had no fevers.

The musicians visited her, sometimes all of them, Brian and Freddie came alone other times, they brought her something to read, better food, fruit, told her the news. Roger always came with someone and rarely said something. Once she could go home, she didn't see him anymore, he didn't come to their flat. She was sorry about it and that he left to US without saying goodbye.