Chapter 2

I opened my eyes and the first thing I realized was that I felt just absolutely miserable. I moved my hand to my head to rub my burning eyes, but my attempts were thwarted when I realized that I could hardly lift my arm. The next thing to come to my attention was the fact that my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Suddenly, a wave of coolness swept over me despite my burning skin and I shiver violently. Out of nowhere, I am overcome with the feeling of wanting to throw up. It took all my strength not to roll over and vomit everywhere.

I took a couple of slow and deep breaths before thinking. Being this sick I would need help. This wasn't just something I was going to get over in a couple of hours. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't call my parents, because I didn't want them finding out about this place. I could call one of my friends, I mused.

Sluggishly, but with hope, I reached under my pillow in an attempt to find my phone. Luckily, I didn't end up pushing it off the bed while I was sleeping. My fingers brushed against the cold metal of my phone and I curled my fingers around it before pulling it to my face. Slowly, I pulled up my friend's number and proceeded to hit dial. The phone started to dial and I sat on edge just hoping that she would answer, but with each ring, I began to feel worse and worse. Eventually, I got her voicemail and I cursed under my breath.

This was no reason to panic though. If she wasn't going to answer, I could just call my friend Sage. If Sage didn't answer, that would be the time to panic. Carefully, I put in her number and hit call. I about cried out with happiness when she picked up.

My happiness dropped almost instantly though, because after picking up, she immediately said, "Sorry, I can't talk right now. I'm at my grandparent's house. I'm getting yelled at."

"Okay," I mumbled in a defeated tone and Sage hung up halfway through my reply.

I know what you're thinking. Why don't I just call my other friends? Well, I only really had two friends. I did have one other friend, but I knew he was working right now, so I couldn't bother him.

With a grumble, I rolled over to glare at the wall. Unconsciously, my eyes fell onto a piece of paper sitting on my nightstand, and a very bad idea popped into my head. No, I can't, I told myself. Shane only just gave me his number last night, I can't abuse it already. Plus, it'll look desperate if I call him now!

I decided that it would be better to use Shane's number as a last resort, so instead of calling him, I tried getting out of bed, but I tumbled to the ground right away. Surprisingly, well, surprising to me, my legs felt like jelly as soon as I tried putting any weight on them. Internally, I started cussing and defiantly tried many times to stand.

After minutes of trying to stand, I came the conclusion that I probably wasn't going to succeed any time soon. Reluctantly, I reached for the paper and entered the number into my phone. Then, after taking a deep breath, I pressed call and held my breath. It rang a few times, and then he answered both to my relief and horror.

"Hello," Shane answered. His tone was a little strained.

"Shane," I managed to say. I hoped that my voice came out strong, but I don't think it did.

"Hey, sorry, I can't talk right now. I'll call you back later." Shane sounded rushed, so I felt guilty about bothering him.

"Uhh sure," I mumbled and then he hung up.

Well, I was positively screwed, I decided with a sigh. As quick as I could, I pulled the blankets off my bed since I was certain that I couldn't pull myself back onto the bed. As soon as my eyes were shut, I was asleep once again.

OoOoOoOoOo

There was a loud noise that roused my quite reluctantly out of my sleep. Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted and I almost panicked. As I was plopped down on the soft mattress, I opened my eyes to try and figure out who was in the house, but the person had escaped the room in only a matter of seconds.

In the distance, I could hear a loud noise in the kitchen and a lot of heavy, quick footsteps. There was the sound of running water and the beep of a microwave. I listened intently over the sound of my heartbeat for any clues as to who it was. Then, after what seemed like forever, a person suddenly reentered the room and I felt my jaw literally drop.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Shane as he approached me with a bowl in his hands.

Shane scowled at my accusing tone. "Is that anyway to talk to someone who made you food?" he replied in a jesting tone. "I said that I'd call you back and I did… repeatedly actually. When you didn't answer, I stopped by the house, but no one came to the door, so I more or less broke in."

"A police officer breaking into a lady's house, how bad of you," I managed to tease despite my very fevered state.

"I came here as a concerned citizen, not a police officer," he said to me and his tone was laced with genuine concern. "Now, you need to eat this."

Using as much strength as I could muster, I managed to sit up in bed and put the pillows under my back. Shane handed me the soup and I took a huge gulp right away. Thankfully, it wasn't very hot, otherwise that could have been very bad on my part for just swallowing it.

"You shouldn't chug it," Shane scolded me in a playful tone. I sent a childish, but well meaning glare his way and continued to drink the soup. Shane chuckled at me as I continued to down the soup. Once I couldn't drink anymore, I set it down.

"Shane, can you help me with something?" A blush crept onto my face as I uttered the words. This was about to get embarrassing and awkward, but I had to ask.

"Sure, what do you need help with?" Shane asked in a confident tone that was similar to the voice he used while on duty, but it was considerably softer. He took a step closer to the bed and waited for me to give a command.

"I need help getting up." Shane stared at me for two seconds, with no emotion on his face before he finally nodded and put his hands out for me to take.

Reluctantly, I place my hands in his and grab onto them with as tightly as I can manage. Slowly, with Shane's help, I get out of bed. At first I am shaky on my feet, but Shane managed to steady me.

"Thanks," I mumbled embarrassedly as I pushed off of him and stumbled out of the room. With great determination, I managed to make my way to the bathroom without incident.

When I returned, Shane was sitting on the edge of the bed with a face that could be called emotionless. He was just staring at the ground. He didn't even notice that I had walked into the room, so on impulse, I walked forward and proceeded to ruffle his hair. Shane jumped slightly at my touch. He slowly looked up at me with a small smile gracing his lips.

"Thanks for helping me out today," I told him and I smiled brightly at him. He didn't know how much I appreciated that he came and helped me.

Shane rubbed the back of his head and said, "No problem. You better get back to bed though. You need to get rested up by tomorrow, so you can go home." I nodded and crawled back into bed. Being told what to do made me feel like a child, but I don't think Shane meant it that way. "I'm going to leave now, but just call me if you need anything."

"Thanks," I mumbled as I closed my eyes. Almost instantly I felt myself being pulled into a sleep. I guess I was a little more tired than I thought I was. As I was pulled into the abyss of sleep, I faintly felt a hand on my cheek and I remember snuggling into its warmth.

OoOoOoOoOo

POV Change

Shane answered his phone with a simple, "Hello." It wasn't really a good time to be getting a phone call. He was in the middle of a lunch date with his lady friend, or rather his sex friend. She never did take kindly to anyone interrupting their 'dates'. It was something he hated about her, but it sure as hell did pay off later.

"Shane," was the reply he got. He should have known that it was Claire. The phone number hadn't been one that had been in his contacts and he didn't know anyone else that would be bold enough to call him around noon on a Sunday.

"Hey, sorry I can't talk right now. I'll call you back later," Shane mumbled as an excuse. The rest of the day was going to be hell if he pissed off his lady friend. In response to his words, Shane's date cocked an eyebrow at him curiously.

"Uhh sure," Claire replied weakly and Shane frowned. He hung up, but didn't feel good about it. There was something about Claire's voice that set him on the edge. Normally Claire sounded strong and sassy, but just then she had sounded weak and drained of life. The gears in Shane's head began turning in places he didn't want to even entertain.

"Who was that?" his date asked in an annoyed tone. It wasn't like she was annoyed by the fact that Shane had answered his phone on their date. No, she was jealous of the expression whoever had called him was currently causing.

"Just a friend," Shane replied quicker than he should have. Now it made him seem jumpy and like something was wrong, which wasn't necessarily false.

His date decided that she wasn't going to push the subject and that she better just focus on their date. She was afraid that if Shane didn't take his mind off whatever it was, she would end up dateless for the rest of the day.

After lunch, they were supposed to go back to Shane's place for a little fun, but on the drive there, Shane was restless. Claire's voice just kept replaying in his head and the more it did, the more on edge he became. Finally, Shane took a left and parked the car.

"This isn't your house," she commented as he parked in the driveway.

"I know, it's yours," he explained. "I'm sorry. I have something to do today, so I can't have fun with you. At least you got a free meal out of it."

Really, she should have been offended, or at least that's what she figured anyone else would be, but she knew Shane. Even if she wanted him, getting angry over something like this definitely wouldn't help her achieve that. Plus, she could just find someone else to occupy the rest of her night.

As soon as she was out of his car, Shane sped away to head to Claire. As he went a little over the speed limit, Shane pulled out his cell phone on the way and hastily dialed her number. When there was no answer he grew incredibly frustrated. With worry, Shane repeatedly dialed Claire's phone every minute hoping that maybe she was in the shower and couldn't hear her phone ringing. After getting back to town, he tried her phone again. It had been thirty minutes. If she was showering, Claire would definitely be out by now. There was still no answer.

When Shane got to the house, he practically jumped out of his car. With haste, he got to the door and began to ring the doorbell. When there was no answer, his hands immediately went to the door knobs. With a deep breath, he slowly turned the knob praying that is was open and at the same time hoping Claire had remembered to lock her door.

Much to Shane's surprise, the door was unlocked and he found himself opening the door. Without thinking, he rushed inside. His eyes raced around the room. When he noticed that Claire's coat was hanging next to the door, he became more and more worried.

"Claire!" he shouted as he took the stairway three steps at a time. Shane reached the top of the stairs and glanced to his left and to his right debating which way to check first. He decided to go with instinct and ran left to an open door. As he entered the room, he noticed the outline of a female frame amongst a pile of blankets. "God damn it," he mumbled as he tried to find her head in the heap of fabric. His hand brushed a piece of her skin and he said, "You're burning up." Shane finally found Claire within the mess of fabric and pulled her into his arms. Carefully, he lifted her off the ground and set her on the bed gently.

Shane hurried out of the room and started down the stairs. He decided that he had to find Claire something to eat. Judging by her condition, she probably hadn't eaten at all. As he ran down the stairs, he mumbled to himself, "Why?"