Tangled in South Park

Falling Sick

*A Couple Days Later*

I take a deep breath, trying to get my head to stop pounding and my body to stop aching. After the photo date that I had with Kenny, I've been waking up feeling a little congested, but it wasn't until this morning, the day where the boys will face their hardest competitors, that I felt my absolute worst. There is a ton of pressure in my head, my body is in pain no matter what position I'm in, and my throat feels dry regardless of how much water I drink. Still, I had to pull myself together to come to this game. I wasn't going to miss it. So I took some cold medicine to hopefully get me through the afternoon, and I intend to sleep for a long time once I get home.

"Rosa, are you sure that you're okay?" Wendy asks as she sits down next to me. "You've been pretty quiet all game, and at one point I really thought you were going to throw up. If you need to lay down somewhere, I can take you back to Kenny's truck or something."

"I'm fine," I shakily breath out. "I'm just tired from doing some drawings yesterday. I lost track of time and went to bed late."

I don't want to lie, but I've already made it through seven innings, so I might as well power through the last two. The boys are up by two, and if they keep the lead into the bottom of the ninth, it will be just a bitt shorter as they won't go up to bat. I can power through for another hour or so. I don't want to miss any game no matter what. Even if it means I get a bit sicker than if I had stayed home. It will be worth it to me.

"I can tell that you're lying," she whispers. "Even if we haven't been hanging out that much lately, I still know you better than most others. If you start to get worse, you need to tell me right away. I don't want you to pass out in the stands."

"I've made it this far, haven't I?" I let out a pained chuckle.

"You're just making yourself sicker. What do you even have? A common cold or something worse?"

"I don't know," I look out at the field to see Kenny catch a pop-fly to record the second out of the eighth inning. "I started feeling back a couple days ago, but I didn't think anything of it. Maybe allergies, but nothing like a cold, yet here I am feeling like crap."

"You haven't rested much, have you?"

"I mean, I still went to the practices, but once I got home, I would make it to dinner, and then after I ate, would head straight to bed."

"Does Kenny know that you're sick?"

"I wouldn't be here if he did." I sigh, "I said that I would come to every game no matter what, and I intend to keep that."

The cheering squad claps as the third out is recorded and the switch for us to bat will be made. It feels like everything is going slower when I am in need for it to go as quick as possible.

"They have this locked up, so if you miss one inning, I don't think that will matter," Wendy places a hand on my forehead. "You don't feel too warm. I just feel terrible not taking you to go lay down."

"What's going on?" Red asks as she sits down on the other side of me. "You two have been whispering for a long time now."

"Rosa has a cold, and instead of telling us so that she could rest today, she has been pushing her body to the limits in order to watch this game," Wendy raises her eyebrows as she looks at me.

"Well? If I told anyone that I feel like agony, you wouldn't have let me out here where I belong," I groan. "You can't make me leave now either."