Yusei has a fever
Her eyes skimmed the screen quickly. "It looks like you increased engine output by 2.5%. But it looks like handling decreased." She pointed to a blue bar.
"Yeah but it's getting tricky, whenever I try to increase engine power something else decreases." His voice sounded tired. She looked at him carefully.
"Do you want to take a break? I could make you some breakfast and then we could work on this afterward, together." His face looked pale.
"I will in a bit, I'm just so close right now." He only seemed to be halfway paying attention to her. Chloe straightens herself.
"I'll put breakfast on then." He was too preoccupied to answer.
Chloe went into the kitchen to prepare something while she cooked she kept thinking about how exhausted he looked. 'I know he's working hard for the WRGP but he's going to work himself to death at this point.' She thought while cracking some eggs. Once the eggs were cooked she prepared some toast to accompany them before returning to the garage.
Yusei was where she left him staring at the computer screen. "You should eat something Yusei, that computer isn't going anywhere." Chloe set the plate of food on his laptop to make a point.
He blinked and looked at the food. "Thank you." He told her. She watched him carefully as he stood up and wiped his hands off to eat. He leaned against the desk and ate his food quickly. Yet each bite seemed painful like he was forcing himself to eat.
"Hey! Whoa slow down or you'll choke." She warned.
He cleared his plate and took a few steps to put the plate away. "It was delicious, thank-" The plate fell from his hand and smashed on the stone floor while he fell over. Chloe managed to grab him in time so he did not suffer the same fate, rather a slow descent.
"Yusei!" She could feel the heat radiating off his body like an overheated engine. "Oh Yusei, You idiot! Why didn't you tell us?" She tried to straighten him up and only succeed him leaning him against her. He was too heavy for her to try and carry by herself without risking one of them an injury. "Crow get your ass down here! I need some help with Yusei!" She called to their other roommate.
Immediately Crow came running down the stairs to see the two of them on the floor. "What just happened?" He asked quickly.
"Yusei just collapsed from a fever. Would you please help me get him upstairs." She instructed. The two of them slung one of his arms over each of his shoulders and slowly made their way up to his room. Crow lifted him into the bed while Scarlet removed his shoes so he could be comfortable. 'Yusei…' She thought as she stared at him lying in bed.
Crow glanced over to her. "What else should we do?" He questioned.
She thought about what things Martha did for the children when they were sick. "I need you to get a glass of water for his bedside, a big one, he needs to stay hydrated, please. While I can run to the store and get a thermometer along with some medicine. But make sure he stays in bed. As Yusei is always so stubborn these sort of things" She ordered.
"Alright." Crow looked back at his sick friend. "I do hope it's not too serious is it?" He asked.
"I won't know for sure. But I'll have to check his temperature. I think he's just been overworking himself too much. Rest is probably the best thing for him right now." She assured him.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, just keep him here." She took off to the nearest store.
Crow sat down in the room to make sure Yusei stayed put. He recalled how much Yusei was working in the past week to upgrade everyone's duel runner. "I'm sorry we pushed you so hard Yusei, I didn't realize you were this exhausted." Crow apologized but was unsure if his friend could hear him.
Chloe roamed the aisles of the store to get the proper medication for Yusei. She grabbed some pills that had little sick bunnies on it called Fever-be-Gone. Tossing them into her basket she thought about what else one should do for a sick person. Chicken Noodle soup was always a good choice, but he ate ramen all the time so she doubted he would want more canned soup. She walked through the produce section and had an idea; it didn't have to be can soup.
She returned to the garage to hear arguing upstairs near Yusei's room.
"I don't see how this is my fault!" Jack argued loudly with Crow in the hallway.
"You're the one that's here all the time! How could you not notice how swamped with work he was?" Crow accused. "And you claim to be his best friend."
"I am his best friend! It's not like you helped him with much anyway." Chloe raced up the stairs to confront them. "Both of you knock it off." Her voice was low but sharp. "Yusei needs to rest and you're arguing isn't helping. If you gonna fight take it outside if you want to continue." Both of them looked embarrassed as she scolded them like children. She turned to Crow.
"And Crow Did you get him some water?" She asked.
He nodded. "He managed to drink about half before going back to sleep."
"That's good, top it off again. I'll be downstairs in the kitchen if you need me." She returned downstairs.
In the kitchen, Chloe unloaded the ingredients she purchased from the store. Tossing her gloves onto the counter she set to work. The first thing she did was begin to mix some flour in a bowl to start the bread. Her mind was completely focused on her work so she did not notice the two curious roommates.
Crow and Jack watched her cook in the kitchen. She covered the bowl and set it aside for later. Laying out the rest of her ingredients she pulled out a sharp knife and skillfully sliced them with expert precision. "Man she looks like a mad woman in there," Crow remarked while she quickly sliced through the vegetables. She tossed everything into the pot of water and set it on the stove to cook.
"Fair warning if anyone touches this Yusei won't be the only one who needs to recover." She threatened. Both guys backed away from the kitchen. Washing her hands she put her gloves back on to head back to the garage. "Now did Yusei have any orders that needed to be filled today?" She asked the others.
Crow thought about it. "He had one I think, just a computer repair. I can make the delivery." He offered.
"Let me make sure it's finished first. But that would help a lot." She inspected the older looking computer. For the most part it Yusei had already finished most of the major repair work. All that was left was a few wire replacements and checking some circuit boards. Once that was all done she gave it to Crow to deliver.
"Thank you so much, Crow."
"Not a problem, be back shortly." He promised.
She checked the clock and saw that it was almost noon. "I better check on Yusei." She proceeds upstairs. There she found Yusei attempting to get out of bed. "What are you think you're doing?" She asked as he looked around for his shoes.
"I'm feeling much better now. Besides, I have work to finish." He managed to find one shoe that she quickly confiscated. "Chloe I need my shoe."
She put her hand on his forehead to check his temperature. "No way your fever has gotten worse. You better need to stay in bed, we'll take care of everything. You took care of me when I had a fever when I first met you but now it's my turn to take care of you." She promised.
He went to argue that he needed to finish the program but he saw her expression. Her brown eyes had a mixture of worry and pain that she seldom showed anyone. She was this worried about him and he was making it worse by implying that his friends couldn't handle the work. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'll stay here." He admitted defeat.
Her expression relaxed. "I'll come back to check on you in a bit. If you need anything just call." She got to her feet. Before she left she hesitated. "Hold on a moment." She walked down the hallway leaving him alone once again. When she returned she had a damp washcloth. "Lay back." She instructed. He did as he was told. She laid the cool cloth across his forehead, gently brushing his bangs out of the way with her delicate hands.
Immediately he felt some relief from the cool cloth. His face relaxed a bit letting her know that it was helping. Within a few moments, he was asleep again. She went refilled his water glass she heard more arguing from downstairs. "Oh great, what is it this time?" She sighed.
"What do you mean Yusei's sick?" Akiza demanded from Jack.
"Will you calm down Akiza, everything's fine," Jack replied but she wouldn't hear it.
"Why haven't you done anything then? You should be calling a doctor or take him to the hospital!" She accused angrily.
"That sounds a bit excessive for just a small fever." Jack started which succeed in angering her further.
"Fine then, I'll call the doctor myself." She huffed.
"I told you we don't need a doctor."
"How would you know?"
Chloe came down just in time to see the argument escalate. "Quiet everyone! Yusei's asleep." She hushed them sharply.
"How's he doing? Is he going to be alright?" Akiza asked her.
"If everyone would let him get some sleep I'm sure he'll be fine," Chloe replied. She looked at Akiza who still was worried. "His fever is still a bit high but he's drinking plenty of fluids. I have some soup cooking on the stove and it should be done in a few hours." She assured the other woman.
"Does he need anything else? What can I help you with?" Akiza asked eagerly. "I could help cook or do laundry."
"I think you're overreacting a little," Jack commented.
Akiza turned to him. "Aren't you underreacting? Yusei needs us and you're sitting here doing nothing!" She accused.
"I checked on him!"
"Both of you quiet!" Chloe snapped. The petty arguing ceased. "Thank you for offering Akiza. There is something you can do to help." Akiza's eyes lite up. "There's an herbal tea that can help with a fever, you can probably find it in the grocery store. It's the one with a lot of ginger." Chloe explained.
Akiza nodded. "I'll go get it then!" She ran up to the door.
"Thank you Akiza." Chloe smiled. Once Akiza was gone Chloe let out a sigh of relief.
"Will that tea really help?" Jack asked.
"It'll help keep this place quiet for a few minutes so he can sleep." Chloe calmly replied. The door to the garage opened and the twins came in with their group of friends. "I spoke too soon." She sighed.
Leo was particularly excited and loud. "Where's Yusei? I want to show him this sweet combo I learned." He practically yelled. All of the kids were loud which made things worse.
"Everyone shut up!" Jack snapped. All the kids looked at him with terror in his eyes.
Chloe shook her head. "Nice Jack." She said under her breath. "Just keep your voices down. Yusei isn't feeling well right now." She saw the terror be replaced with worry. "He'll be fine but he just needs to rest. So please keep your voices down."
"Can we help?" Luna asked. The rest of the children nodded eagerly.
It was really sweet that they wanted to help so she quickly thought of something for them to do. "Why don't you all make him some get well cards? Positive support can really help a person heal." She smiled.
"Yeah! Let's do that!" Leo cheered.
"Sounds like fun." Luna agreed.
Chloe went over to the draw to get some color pencils and paper for the children to use. " There's for everyone." She passed out the supplies.
Immediately there was silence as all the children were hard at work on their cards. "Good idea," Jack told her while they watched them at work. Chloe relished the silence, as it was the first time all day. About half an hour of silence passed when Akiza returned with the tea.
"Is this the right one? I grabbed several just in case." She held up a bag filled with several boxes of tea.
"Perfect. We can make him a cup for when he wakes up." Chloe smiled.
"I can make it. I know where you keep the cups." Akiza went into the kitchen to prepare the tea.
The sound of a duel runner engine filled the air signaling the return of Crow. "What's going on here?" He looked at the group of children drawing on the floor.
"We're making cards for Yusei, to help him get better," Luna explained.
Crow smiled. "You guys are so sweet. I'm sure he'll appreciate them."
"I finished the tea." Akiza came out with a steaming hot cup.
"I'll run it up and check his temperature." Chloe took the tea from Akiza and proceed to Yusei's room.
He looked like he had been sleeping for a while; he had barely touched the water glass since she last left him. She felt his face to check his temperature, which had not decreased much. Setting the cup of tea down she looked at him carefully. It was so different to see him like this; he usually looked strong, calm, collect. But now he looked frail and defenseless. Without thinking she reached out and brushed some of his bangs out of his face. His face flinched and she immediately pulled her hand away. He did not wake, much to her relief. She replaced the cool cloth on his head before leaving.
Back in the garage, everyone was keeping quiet to allow Yusei to continue sleeping. Only the sound of color pencils drawing filled the air. Jack was enjoying a cup of coffee on the couch, Crow was reviewing his list of deliveries for tomorrow, and Akiza paced around the garage nervously. Chloe went over to Yusei's laptop and flipped the screen up. "What are you doing?" Jack asked as she flipped open the program Yusei was working on.
"I want to see what he was working so hard on." She scrolled through the program. This morning it seemed like he had hit a wall with the program, maybe a fresh pair of eyes would be able to help.
Most of his work was well thought out and balanced, just like him to think things through. However, the purpose of the program focused on converting a majority of engine output into sheer speed. She could see why he was hitting a wall on this program now. Carefully she skimmed through every digit of the code, making slight adjustments where she thought they were needed. She had complete tunnel vision on the work at hand.
Another half hour passed when Leo yelled: "Finished!" Loudly and everyone shushed him. He held up the card he made that had a colorful drawing of Yusei on his duel runner. "What do you think? Pretty cool right?" He grinned to Chloe.
She looked at the card with a smile. "It's wonderful. Yusei will definitely enjoy it." She assured him. The rest of the children handed in their cards for her to see. They all looked very proud of themselves and their work.
"Should we give them to him now?" Luna asked.
"I may have an idea." Chloe smiled.
Yusei woke up again as the sun was setting. He slowly sat up, still not used to how achy his body felt. The damp cloth fell onto his lap and when he went to recover it he noticed the large tray of food on the nightstand. There was a big bowl of hot soup, some slices of bread, a hot cup of tea, some pills, and then a homemade white chocolate cheesecake with strawberry sauce see that the children drew them for him. All of them wished for him to make a speedy recovery, which made him smile.
The soup tasted delicious, it reminded him of the soup Martha made for him as a child when he got sick. The bread was still warm with a nice fluff to it that went perfectly with the soup. He ate it slowly to enjoy the meal, also to avoid a scolding from Chloe. Finally, he drank the tea that had a lot of ginger in it and he needed to drink some water with it. Looking out the window he saw the last of the sunset.
Getting up out of bed for the first time all day he grabbed the tray to take it downstairs. He slowly made his way downstairs to an empty garage except for Chloe who was working on his laptop. "Where are Jack and Crow?" He asked.
She suddenly looked up and seemed surprised to see him. "They were arguing again so they went to settle things with a turbo duel." She stood up. "I would have taken care of that, no need for you to strain yourself." She came over and took the tray from him.
"I'm feeling a lot better now." He told her. She gave him a look. "Really, getting some sleep helped a lot." He assured her. She carried the tray back to the kitchen then turned to him and felt his forehead. Her hand felt cool against his skin, the touch felt familiar to him.
"It seems like your fever has gone down a bit, but it's still above normal. You should go back to bed." She pulled her hand away.
He looked around the garage. "Well, it looks like everything's as I left it."
"Did you expect an explosion in your absence?" She teased.
"It would not surprise me."
She laughed. "Everyone did a great job at taking care of you. Crow made the delivery, Akiza got the tea, and the twins and their friends even made your cards. Jack, well, was being Jack."
"I'll have to thank everyone tomorrow then." He replied.
"Go back to bed, then you can thank everyone when you're healthy." She told him in a playful voice.
He nodded and began to make his way back up the stairs. About halfway up he stopped. "Chloe." He called her name gently. She looked up at him. "Thank you, for everything today."
Her cheeks grew warm. "I didn't really do anything, everyone chipped in." She replied almost shyly.
He gave her a small smile. "I know Martha's recipes. It was delicious." He told her. This made her cheek grow redder.
"Hurry back to bed before you collapse again." She looked away. When he was at the top stair she called one more thing to him. "Sleep well." He smiled and made his way back to his room.
She sat in the garage alone blushing at his compliment. Why did he have to say it with that smile? She looked down at her hand and remembered when she brushed his bangs earlier. Her cheeks grew even warmer.
"What is wrong with me today?" She thought to herself. But she kept thinking about how he looked when he was sleeping. In her embarrassment to buried her face in her hands.
The door to the garage swung open loudly, terrifying her. Jack and Crow returned from their turbo duel. "The leftovers are mine!" Jack declared walking towards the kitchen.
"You're not going to share even a small bit?" Crow followed after him.
"A King was victorious, therefore he gets the King's share," Jack replied.
Crow looked over at Chloe. "Chloe! Shouldn't he share?" He asked.
She got to her feet. "You two settle it, I'm going to crash." She closed the laptop and left the two to their own devices.
"Don't eat it all Jack!"
The next morning Yusei felt much better due to plenty of sleep and a healthy meal. All of the cards were neatly arranged on his nightstand so he could have a clear view of them. He changed into a fresh pair of clothes and headed downstairs to an empty garage. He walked over and put a fresh pot of coffee on. While it boiled he went over to his laptop to check it out. The program he had been working on was still pulled up. Chloe must have been looking at it last night.
He readies through the code carefully and saw the changes that she made. The changes were minor but clever. She located most of the excess power that was escaping the engine and worked to reroute it. She didn't pour all of it back into the acceleration, rather she divided it between that and steering, it would allow the driver to handle sharp turns at the higher speed. Overall the program was more efficient, exactly what he was looking for.
Chloe yawned and came down the stairs to see him. "You're up bright and early." She commented.
"Are you feeling well enough?" She asked.
"Don't worry, I don't plan on overdoing it today." He assured her. "Do you want some tea?" He asked.
She looked a little surprised. "Sure. That would be great." She replied.
He returned with a hot cup of tea. She took a sip. "I read over your changes to the program." He told her.
"Oh? I just adjusted a few things." She took another sip.
"Well, they were clever changes. Overall engine efficiency increased by 5%." He gave her a small smile.
"You did most of the work. I just proofread it." She brushed it off.
He closed the laptop. "Then I'm probably going to need your 'proofreading' skills a little more in the future."
She nodded. "I'm glad to help." Then she let out a sneeze. "I hope I'm not getting sick now." She sighed.
"Well if you do, you know who'll take care of you." He promised. She smiled back at him. The two of them enjoyed their tea together before the other woke.