Fever
By Alasse Fefalas
"Colonel, are you okay?" Cassandra asked worriedly.
Eve tried to keep her face straight. "I'm fine," she hissed out. That was a straight out lie. She wasn't fine. Her head was throbbing, her muscles ached, her throat was starting to hurt and she could feel the first tendrils of a shiver creeping through her body.
"You're swaying. There's no way you're fine, mate," Jones pointed out.
Cassandra rushed over to Eve and placed her hand on her forehead, which was quickly swatted away. "Your cheeks are flushed, your lips are really red and you're running a fever," noted Cassandra.
"I'm fine. It's just a cold," Eve insisted. She rarely got sick. It simply hindered her in her work.
"Probably from falling into the ice lake yesterday. You were running around in wet clothes," Stone said. "You need to rest."
"I don't -" started Eve but she was cut off by a strong bout of dry cough.
Jones patted her lightly on the shoulder and grinned. "Don't worry, mate. We'll get the scroll. You can trust us."
"Hey, you're not going anywhere without me!"
"I'm afraid Jones is right, Colonel Baird. If you follow them, you'll just be a hindrance," Jenkins said as he prepped the back door. The door glowed slightly and he opened the door.
"See, even Jenkins agrees!" Jones said happily.
Eve sighed and wrapped her jacket closer around her body, trying to gain heat. "Fine. Stone, take care of them. Cassandra, be careful, and Jones, try not to steal anything."
"Only if I have to," Jones promised as he went through the door.
Cassandra waved as she followed behind Jones. "Take care, Colonel!"
Stone turned to Eve and nodded solemnly. "I'll make sure they come back safe."
"Thank you."
Eve watched as Stone went through the door. With a final hesitant wave, she closed the door. "What have I done?" she whispered to herself.
"They'll be fine," assured Jenkins. He opened a drawer and threw a small white packet to Eve. "Take one of these and rest."
Eve fished out a small brown, round tablet from the packet. "What's this?"
"Medicine. You should take it in your room. It knocks you out fast."
Shrugging, Eve shuffled back to her room. Exhaustion had completely taken over her and she was half-glad they had forced her to stay behind. She didn't like it but she knew it was for the best.
She sat down on her bed and eyed the brown tablet suspiciously. She had never seen anything like it in any drug store. It was the size of a pea and looked like hard candy. Deciding it was better not to know, she popped one into her mouth and downed it with half a bottle of water. The bitter taste of the tablet ran down her throat and she finished off the other half of the bottle to get rid of the taste. Within seconds, she could feel her eyelids getting heavier and before she could even register it, she fell onto her bed, asleep.
The sound of feet shuffling about her room slowly entered her senses. There was someone in her room, she thought. Somewhere, something deep inside her told her to do something about it but she couldn't for the life of her remember what she was supposed to do.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, and she felt like someone had repeatedly hit her on her head. Cold swept through her body and she could feel her muscles aching. Groaning, she tried to sit up but was stopped by a pair of hands on her shoulders.
"Whoah! Eve! What are you doing?" A voice asked in alarm. "You shouldn't be sitting up!"
"Flynn?" she asked, puzzled at his presence. What was he doing here? In her room of all places? "How did - what did - how," she stuttered. Stopping, she took a deep breath and tried again. "What... what... you... doing here?"
"I came back to reference a book. That's when Jenkins told me you were sick. I came by and saw you shivering on your bed - I couldn't just leave," Flynn said as he gently pushed her back onto the bed and pulled a blanket over her. "Your fever's still climbing and you've been shivering non-stop ever since I came."
Eve nodded and pulled the blanket closer to her, feeling like she was still in the ice lake from the day before. "Jen... Jenkins. Medicine," she rasped out.
Flynn took the white packet from her table and took out one tablet, sniffing it. He pulled a face and threw it back into its original bag. "I know this thing. Judson gave me one when I caught the flu. It's an ancient Chinese medicine," Flynn explained as he sat down on the side of her bed. "Good thing is that it makes you kind of immune to everything else after. Bad thing is that it makes you feel worse before you actually recover."
"Yeah," Eve grumbled. "Can tell."
Flynn took out a wet cloth from a bowl on her bedside table and wrung it before he placed it on her forehead. "I'm surprised you're actually lucid. I was totally out of it. It was really hard to string sentences together much less an actual thought." Flynn chuckled. "I remember my most coherent thought was whether Judson had poisoned me. I wanted to kill him for a moment there."
"Getting... there," Eve said. Flynn took the damp cloth from her forehead and dabbed it around her face and neck, trying to draw the heat out but whenever he touched the cloth to her skin, her shivers worsened. "Stop... it," she said grumpily, trying to swat his hand away from her face. "Cold."
"I know, but you're still running a fever," Flynn said. He realised the cloth had warmed up so he dunked it in the water again. "This helps."
Eve winced when he placed the cloth on her forehead again, the cold hitting her hard. "Cold," she complained again.
"Sorry," Flynn apologised as he wiped her face again. He dropped the towel into the bowl after he was done. "Wait, let me get you something to drink," Flynn said, suddenly standing up.
Before she could protest, he was already out the door. Sighing, she pulled the blanket closer and curled up, trying to gain heat. She didn't know how long he had disappeared for but it felt like forever until he knocked twice and came in carrying a mug, closing the door behind him. Gently, he sat down and placed the mug beside the water bowl. Helping her up into a sitting position, he handed it to her. The heat eminating from the mug was inviting and she wrapped her hands around it, trying to get as much heat as possible.
"What's it?" she asked, coming out more like a slur.
"Tea," Flynn answered. He put his hand under the mug and gave it a nudge upwards. "Drink, it'll help."
Obediently, she took a gulp and felt the warm liquid slide down her sore throat, soothing it. She couldn't taste the tea - only felt the sensations it gave her. Her body started to feel slightly warmer and her shivers lessened. She emptied the mug quickly and handed it back to Flynn who started to stand up.
"Flynn," she said as he grabbed his hand. "Stay."
He looked at her and nodded, placing the mug back onto the table. "Okay."
Eve smiled and laid back down on her side. She watched in curiosity as Flynn took off his jacket and vest, hanging them both on hooks by the door. He then walked back and crawled under the blanket beside her.
"I'll infect you!" Eve said in alarm, her most coherent sentence yet.
Flynn placed a cold hand on her cheek to calm her down. "Hey, it's okay. Ancient Chinese drug, remember? I can't get infected."
Eve calmed down and relaxed. Unconsciously, she leaned into his hand, drawing his heat. Flynn scooted closer to her, using his lower body temperature to draw out her fever. He turned to face her and placed a light kiss on her forehead.
"Sleep," he said softly. "I'm not going anywhere."
Eve nodded and closed her eyes. She could feel his hand on her back, slowly running it up and down, warming her up. She went deeper into his embrace and let herself drift away to sleep.
The first thing Eve saw when she woke up was Flynn's sleeping face, quietly snoring beside her. His arm was still around her, holding her tight to him. He was right, she was feeling much better than before - no more aches, shivers, fevers or coughs. "More like a magic pill," she chuckled quietly.
Eve smiled and gave him a soft kiss on his lips. "Thank you, Librarian." Snuggling closer to him, she closed her eyes and continued to sleep.
Fin.
A/N: This was fun to write! It was hard to imagine Eve sick at first but once I started to write, it just came out. Tell me what you think about it! I hope you enjoyed it!