Reese could not understand what he was feeling that day. All he knows is that it has got something to do with his younger brother Malcolm. It began that very morning. It was a Saturday so they had no school and thus, were eating breakfast at a slower pace than usual. Hal had wanted to bring the boys out but Lois had protested, insisting that Reese and Malcolm stay home to help clean the house. After all, they were grounded. No one sets fire to the garage, again, and gets away with it.
In the end, only Dewey had been allowed to follow Hal out because only Dewey was smart enough to not get caught. Hal, however, had not disclosed where he was bringing Dewey, insisting that he wanted to keep it a surprise. Needless to say, Dewey was slightly less than enthusiastic about following Hal to an unknown destination.
Thus, Malcolm and Reese were doomed to stay at home with Lois, helping her clean out the fridge and do the laundry, wipe the tables clean and change the water in the vases, mow the lawn (finally) and scrub the shower. Lois had decided to take it upon herself to supervise her boys while enjoying tea and watching TV, something she claimed she had forgotten the feel of. Malcolm and Reese were only happy to oblige of course, with the prospect of prolonged grounding hanging over their heads, as well as to prevent a further decrease to their (already pitiful) allowance.
Reese remembered carrying a huge basket of dirty clothes from the boys' room and was walking towards the laundry area when he tripped over something, sending him sprawling to the floor. He realized, quickly, that the 'something' that he had tripped on was in fact 'someone' and that 'someone' was protesting rather vehemently against being squashed.
It was then that Reese pushed himself up off that 'someone' only to stare down into Malcolm's face.
He realized how blue Malcolm's eyes were. He took in the small nose and the pink lips. He took in the dark eyebrows, the short hair, the small ears. He gulped.
"Reese," Malcolm had gasped, "get off me."
Reese had frowned, startled at how husky Malcolm had sounded, different from its normal irritating tone. He wriggled a little, trying to position his legs to get up, only to realize that he was now straddling Malcolm's torso. He took in how Malcolm had seemed to blush. He realized that he was blushing too, from the heat that had crept up to his cheeks. He had not known what to think.
He had gotten up, leaving Malcolm on the floor. He had picked up the basket of dirty clothes he had been carrying. He had made his way to the kitchen. He had taken a drink of water. Still, the heat that was in his cheeks and face did not go away.
Blaming it on the hot weather, he had continued working, making a show of grumbling (about the injustice of it all) whenever he walked past the living room where Lois was comfortably surfing through the channels she had no memory of ever watching. He avoided Malcolm, which he found was not that hard considering he seem to be avoiding Reese too. He had felt hurt at the realization, only to feel uncomfortable at the thoughts he was having, at his body's reactions. It seemed that every time he thought of Malcolm, his cheeks and throat burned.
Every time he remembered the way Malcolm had sounded just now, he found it difficult to breathe. Even when he walked past Malcolm, his footsteps became heavy and his body felt strangely lightweight and weak.
It came to a point where he found it difficult to focus his vision, how it seemed to swim in front of his eyes as he walked towards his room where he knew Malcolm was, probably starting on his homework…. He blacked out.
"A fever," the doctor said.
Lois let out a breath she did not know she was holding. When Malcolm had found Reese lying out on the floor unconscious both him and Lois had first tried to nudge him, thinking that he was planning some prank. Only when they touched his skin did they realize how warm he was to the touch and had immediately called a doctor.
"Well that explains… things," Malcolm said quietly.
Lois noticed the tinge of red on his cheeks and frowned.
"Are you okay Malcolm? You seemed a little flushed."
"I'm… I'm okay Mom."
Malcolm said, eyes on Reese's red tinged face on his bad.
Malcolm: I knew he was acting weird. Turns out he was having a fever and didn't even know it. Typical Reese. And I had thought that maybe he felt… maybe he…nevermind.
Sighing, Malcolm sat on his own bed, beside Reese's as Lois showed the doctor out of the house. He felt sad and he knew why. He had hoped… but he knew otherwise.
"Get well soon Reese," he whispered.
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