Fever Pitch
A/N- One-shots take three- and action!!! I'm working at this, Everyone, I really am. Hope you've enjoyed my first two one-shots and after this one more are to come.
Best,
-Don =)
Unbelievable. That's what this was. Here Nita was, on Winter Break, and I had… yup, you guessed it, a cold. Or at least it was a cold until Nita let her excitement of break take precedence over her attention to her health.
"Ah-" Nita tried to stifle her sneeze but it had gotten the better of her, "Phooey." The stifling ended up making her sneeze sound extremely weird.
"Nita?" Her father came in, "Are you feeling any better?" He came over and felt her forehead then pulled out the thermometer. "Hmmm, 101, you're staying here, Nita."
"I'b fibe, dank you," She said as clearly as possible through her congestion. She sneezed again, this time into a Kleenex which was now as a result soaked. "Ewb."
Nita had noticed, not without irritation, that with her cold, all her letters turned into some variation of the letter "b."
"I'll get you another box of Kleenex," Her father said and then went out. Nita flopped back onto her pillows. It was, in Nita's opinion, the ultimate form of punishment. When her father said "you're staying here" he had of course been referring to the ski trip her family always took every year over Winter Break. That meant Nita had to stay at home, probably with a neighbor or friend. There was no doubt that Mr. Callahan would likely have tried to convince Dairine from going while Nita was sick, but it was futile.
In the end Mr. Callahan had agreed to see if Nita's fever would go down before their decided departing date to Colorado but since it was only a few days away and Nita was still running a high fever, he'd told Nita that he'd ask someone to watch her while they went skiing. Which to Nita was torture, not only was she missing out on skiing, she was missing out on her Winter Break too. She sighed.
The designated date of departure for Mr. Callahan and Dairine crept up on Nita and on the day of, Nita's fever had gone up and down at random intervals. It was driving Nita absolutely crazy. Finally it had settled at around 99, which wasn't so bad, but it still made Nita's head throb like there was no tomorrow.
"Nita?" Mr. Callahan poked his head into Nita's room, "We're leaving, one of the neighbors should be by soon to check on you." He came over and despite Nita's grumpy state, kissed her on her forehead. "We'll be back soon, I'm not too happy about this either," He gave a hopeless gesture towards Dairine's room.
"I neeb my vabation toob," Nita said, still cursing her inability to speak past her congestion.
"I know, Sweetie," Mr. Callahan said with a sigh, "We'll be back in a few days. I'm cutting it short, but it's just long enough for Dairine to be happy." Mr. Callahan muttered the last part under his breath so only Nita could hear. She laughed.
"There's my girl," He said and ruffled her hair. "You get some rest while we're gone, okay?"
"No problem," Nita said with a weak mock-salute with her hand, thankful that something she'd said had come through clearly. Mr. Callahan waved and then was gone. Nita heard the door close downstairs and then she heaved her biggest sigh yet.
After a few minutes she drifted off to sleep and then when she woke up she heard clattering downstairs. Apparently the neighbor was already downstairs. Nita groaned. It was probably Mrs. Henderson, the old lady from down the street who never listened to anything except elevator type music and fell asleep every five seconds. Every time Nita or Dairine had gotten sick and her father had to be at work or something Mrs. Henderson was the one who came to take care of the two girls.
She was a nice old woman, she told good stories, at least as far as Nita could remember, and she made good soup. It wasn't too bad but Nita really wanted someone a little more… well, relatable.
Nita's eyes started to close and she fell asleep again and they snapped open when she smelled something. It wasn't soup, something was burning. Nita jumped out of bed faster than one could say 'Dai Stiho' and that resulted in a pounding headache but Nita wasn't about to let Mrs. Henderson burn the house down. Had she gotten so careless that she burned something? Nita highly doubted it, but anything was possible. Mrs. Henderson was seventy -something and wasn't exactly getting any younger.
Nita caught her breath as she reached the stairs and then made her way down to the kitchen as she entered she immediately noticed that not only was there no elevator music playing but the radio was on "The Drive" and the pot that Nita had to guess contained soup was smoking.
That was when she noticed the back of a white t-shirt, a back she wouldn't miss anywhere.
"Kit?" Nita said, almost not believing it as she said that.
"Nita!" He nearly leapt out of his skin, "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"
"Not when you're going to burn my house down," She said wryly, but a smile crept across her lips. She then felt her headache return and held her face in her hand.
"Neets?" Kit questioned, as he came over to see if she was okay.
"I'm okay, I just have an earsplitting headache," She grimaced, event that was an understatement. She then went over to the pot to see what Kit was making, or at least attempting to make. She saw the soup container on the counter.
"Kit, do you even know how to make soup?" She asked. The thought that Kit couldn't even heat soup up without burning it was so sad it was funny.
"I think what you should be saying is 'thank you,'" he said with a raised eyebrow. He frowned at her but ended up cracking up. He laughed along with Nita who started coughing.
"You should go back upstairs," He said. "I've got another can."
Nita chuckled, "Try reading the instructions next time and put it on medium-low."
Kit blinked, "Is that why it started burning?" He checked the flame only to see the dial was set on "high." Nita shook her head as she made her way back upstairs.
Nita picked up her book and was finished with the next chapter by the time Kit came upstairs with the soup on a tray he'd found on the counter.
"Here," He placed the tray on her bed. He let out a sigh of relief. Nita grinned at him.
"So how come you came over, did my dad ask you to?" She asked, noting that Kit had also put a glass of orange juice and a cup of tea on the tray too.
"Well, actually, Mrs. Henderson asked my mom to take care of you for tonight since she had a last minute family thing to take care of. But my mom wasn't able to do it either, so I volunteered," He regarded her, "Did you want Mrs. Henderson instead?"
Nita shook her head with a laugh, "No, I'm happy it's you and not her that's here. Not that she's a bad person," Nita began again. Kit nodded.
"Not good for conversation?" He guessed.
"Yeah," She said with a nod and then began to eat the soup. He'd made it a good temperature this time without burning it. After a few minutes Nita turned to look over at Kit. He seemed to be spacing out and as a result was looking sideways at Nita.
"What?" Nita questioned.
"Nothing, just thinking," Kit said calmly, more calmly than Nita was used to with Kit because his voice had an unusual amount of contentment in it.
"About what, Kit?" She insisted, arching her brow. He returned the look.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Would I have asked if I didn't?"
"Point. I'm still asking, do you?" He met her gray eyes with his brown.
"Just tell me, will you?" She groaned. He could be so difficult sometimes.
"I lied before," He admitted. Nita blinked.
"About what?" She asked.
"When Mrs. Henderson called, it was just me at home," He looked down at his feet, "I thought I'd surprise you by making you soup."
"I think I was, you were burning a hole in my kitchen," Nita mused. Kit lifted his head and to Nita's surprise he wasn't smiling or laughing at her joke like he normally would. His eyes bore into her with a strong but gentle intensity.
"Kit?" Nita asked. He groaned and slumped over.
"Never mind."
Now Nita was more thoroughly confused than before. "Um, Kit?" He wouldn't look up. "Kit?" After a few moments of silence Kit looked up to see Nita had slumped over.
"Neets?" He called, and then moved over to feel her forehead.
"Jeez, your fever just went up," He said under his breath. Kit got up and went to the bathroom to get a towel and wet it. Then he came back and placed it on Nita's forehead. He desperately tried to remember everything he had learned in his required First Aid class in P.E. about fevers.
Kit ran around Nita's house finding all the medicine, which thankfully was marked and placed in the kitchen, but by the time he'd checked there, Nita was awake again.
"Kit," She called, her eyes barely open. Kit came in and gave her the medicine, a cup of liquid. Nita sat up and drank it before sinking back into the pillows. "Thanks." She gave him a small smile before falling asleep. He sighed in relief when he felt her forehead and it was starting to cool down.
Kit leaned back in the chair near her bed and then decided to go downstairs and clean up the mess he'd made in the kitchen. Which only took fifteen minutes because Kit knew his way around Nita's house, having been there so many times, and not only that he'd learned how to clean fast from his experiences with his own home. His mother was a stickler for cleanliness.
Kit then made his way upstairs, and slumped into the chair by Nita's beside. He was wiped out. But it had been worth it.
"Feel better, Neets," He said quietly, so as to not wake her.
Nita woke up a few hours later to see that Kit was still in the chair, his head leaning back against the wall, and was sleeping. But as soon as she shifted his eyes came open and he walked over.
"How do you feel?" He asked. Nita grinned.
"Better," She glanced over at the chair. "How come you didn't go home after I'd fallen asleep?"
"What, and leave you here?" He asked dubiously, "You're still sick, Nita, I can't just go home."
"Kit, it's almost twelve," Nita pointed out. Kit blinked.
"Really?" He checked his watch. He sighed. His mother wouldn't be too happy, even though he did leave a note on the refrigerator. Nita punched his shoulder.
"I'll be okay, go home," She insisted.
Kit looked adamant, "No." He then picked up his cell and dialed his home number. Nita could hear his mother on the other end, on the verge of yelling. Kit tried his best to explain what was going on, and then she heard something from Kit's mother then Kit hung up.
"She said she'll be over in a bit," Kit said. "She said there should be an adult over here," He shook his head at the thought. "Not a kid."
Nita laughed, "You're hardly a kid anymore."
Kit's surprise was evident because he didn't have an immediate response. "I thought you thought I was a kid."
Nita arched her brow, "What gave you that idea?"
"I don't know, maybe that we're a year apart," He suggested, "I always figured you didn't want to be around someone younger than you. Everyone at school always says that it's weird."
Nita sighed, "What's gotten into you, Kit?" She looked into his eyes, "Listen, I've never thought that, and I never will. I don't care about how old you are. I mean, what's that got to do with being friends anyways?"
Kit stared at her, "Everything, Neets. You'll always be one step ahead of me."
She gave him a comforting smile, "You'll catch up, I know you will," She sighed, "Besides, there's nothing to look forward to about being older."
Kit laughed, "Why's that?"
"Nobody looks at you the same way," Nita said. "Teachers, students," She ticked off the people on her fingers.
"What do you mean?"
Especially boys.
"Boys? Is that what you meant?" Kit had obviously overheard that that thought. Nita groaned.
"Yes, and how come you were eavesdropping on my thoughts?" Her grey eyes stared at him sharply. He averted his gaze.
"I wasn't, I just heard it," He raised his head a fraction, "That was an unintentional mind talk, wasn't it?" Nita nodded mutely. "So, why wouldn't they look at you the same way?"
"Kit, do we really need to have this conversation?" Nita asked exasperatedly.
"Well, I just don't get what you mean!" He exclaimed. Nita grunted.
"I mean that boys stop seeing girls as people and start seeing them as objects," Nita said with annoyance.
Kit looked at Nita, "Does anyone look at you that way now?"
Nita shrugged, "I don't know."
"Well," Kit said slowly, "For the record I don't and will never see you that way," Nita noticed how he had said it in the speech too. "You'll always be the beautiful girl I met three years ago." The words were out of Kit's mouth before he could control them then he blushed fervently.
Nita turned red too, to the point where her embarrassment and fever were indecipherable from one another. "Wow, Kit…" Nita managed, "Thanks."
He grinned at her then without warning touched his lips to Nita's causing her to blush even more and then as Kit went back to his chair to sit down, Kit's mother came in.
"Oh, my," She said, "Your face is bright red, this is some serious fever." She then put her bag down, "I'll make some tea."
Fever? Kit commented mentally to Nita.
Very funny, She replied sarcastically through their mind talk, but starting laughing out loud. It wasn't long before Kit joined her.
A/N- Fin, what do you think? This is my third one-shot so far, so I'm looking for feeback here I'm working on an idea for another one-shot too. Woo! =)
