Seventh chapter is up! Now, I'm not going to lie, I took part of this chapter from the movie Flicka, with Tim McGraw and Maria Bello. I watched it on TV the other day and one of the scenes stuck in my mind. If you've seen the movie you'll know which one I'm talking about pretty soon. Anyway, time to find out what Calpurnia is so scared about.

PS: This chapter is especially dedicated to HeadSmashedInBuffaloJump. I hope you like the update, though I'm not sure you'll enjoy the ending any more than the last one... :)

Enjoy!

"Scout!" Cal yelled, leaping to the bed. Scout's face was white, she was sweating all over and her body was shaking violently.

"So…cold…" Scout mumbled through her chattering teeth, but Cal felt her forehead and discovered she was burning up.

Calpurnia hurried to the telephone and asked for Mr. Finch's office, but was chagrined when she was told that he was out. She then dialed Dr. Reynolds' house and got his son. "What's wrong with Scout?" His son asked immediately, and Calpurnia replied,

"She's shaking something awful and her teeth are chattering and she keeps telling me that she's cold, but her forehead is hot to the touch. Please, sir, what can I do?"

"I'm on my way," Dr. Reynolds' son said shortly and hung up. Calpurnia hurried back to Scout's room and cleaned up the tray that she had dropped with trembling hands. She knew a fever when she saw one, and she also knew how dangerous they could be.

When Dr. Reynolds' son, Markus, came striding into the house, Calpurnia showed him Scout's bedroom. "Where's Mr. Finch?" Markus asked, sitting by Scout's bed and putting his hand to her forehead.

"In town but he's not at his office, I tried calling him,"

"Can you run and get him?" Markus asked, and Calpurnia nodded.

"Of course," She hurried out the front door and headed towards town. When she reached Atticus's office she ran inside. He wasn't there, but a passerby told her that he was at the diner having lunch with Uncle Jack and Jem.

Calpurnia ran to the diner and when she ran up to the window, Atticus saw her face and immediately stepped out. "What is it, Cal?"

"It's Scout, I went to take her lunch to her and she was shaking and sweating and she told me she was freezing but she was burning up, Dr. Reynolds's son is with her now," Calpurnia said quickly, and Atticus immediately went back into the diner.

"Jem, Jack," He called, and they followed him out of the diner. Atticus paid for their meal and then walked out. Calpurnia had told them of Scout's condition, and Jem had already taken off for home.

"I'll walk Calpurnia back, Atticus, go," Jack said quickly, and Atticus sent a grateful look towards his brother before he strode off in the direction that his son had taken. Jack and Calpurnia walked back a little slower with Calpurnia trying to catch her breath from running to town earlier.

"What's wrong with her, what's wrong with Scout?" Jem demanded as he ran into his sister's room. Atticus was not far behind him and stood in the doorway, catching his breath.

"Jem, out," Atticus ordered, his voice quiet but serious. Jem nodded reluctantly and slipped out as Markus Reynolds glanced at Atticus. "How is she, Markus?"

"She's running a high fever. I gave her something for it, but there's nothing else to do except wait for it to break," Markus said, and Atticus had to ask.

"What happens if it doesn't break?"

Markus didn't hear Atticus; he was too busy checking Scout's wounds. "Some of these are infected," He said quietly, and Atticus came over to the other side of the bed. Markus was right, some of the red wounds on Scout's stomach and chest had turned into nasty colors and looked infected.

"Is that where she got the fever from?"

"Yes, her body's trying to fight off the infection,"

"Can you give her something to help?" Atticus asked, and Markus sighed.

"I called my father, he's over in another town and he said he'd bring back some antibiotics to help, but he won't be back for a day or two. Until then, there's nothing I can do,"

"Is she going to be okay?" Atticus finally asked, and Markus replied,

"She's a fighter, Mr. Finch, so I'd bet that she's going to be fine. If this fever breaks soon then she'll be fine. Call me if anything changes, all right?"

"All right. Thank you, Markus," Atticus said, and Markus nodded before heading out. Uncle Jack came in as soon as Markus left and began his own person examination.

"Markus was right, she's got a fever and an infection," Uncle Jack sighed, running his hand over Scout's unconscious face. "Did he give her anything for the fever?"

"Yes, but he said there's nothing else to do but wait for it to break,"

"And he's right." Uncle Jack said, taking one of Scout's hands and holding it tightly.

"Dr. Reynolds won't be back for a few days with the antibiotic for the infection," Atticus said, sitting on the bed and tucking the covers in around Scout's still-shaking body.

"Then all we can do is wait," Uncle Jack said quietly, and Jem poked his head in the room.

"Can I come in now?" Jem asked, and Atticus nodded, saying,

"Yes, son, you can,"

Jem approached Scout's bed and took a hold of her other hand. "Is she gonna be okay, Atticus?"

"I sure hope so," Atticus said quietly, reaching up and putting a hand to her forehead, which was still burning up.

"Go back to town and close up your office, Atticus, Jem and I will stay with her," Uncle Jack said, glancing at his brother.

After a few moments of silent argument with himself, Atticus nodded. "All right. I'll be right back," He said, and briskly walked through the door.

"Mr. Finch?" Calpurnia said as she followed him to the front door. "This is my fault, sir, and I am so sorry," She started to say, and Atticus looked at her with an odd look on his face.

"How is any of this your fault, Cal?"

"When I bathed Scout last night, something must've gone wrong," Cal said anxiously, wringing her hands.

"No, Cal, nothing you did caused this. More of Scout's wounds would be infected if you hadn't cleaned them. I can't imagine that Bob Ewell's kitchen knife was clean, that's where the infection came from," Atticus assured her, and Cal nodded.

"Thank you, sir,"

"I'll be right back, I'm just headed to town to close my office for the night," Atticus said, and stepped through the door. Calpurnia went back to the kitchen and brought a cold rag to Scout's room and placed it gently on her forehead.

"Jem…run…Atticus…hurts…help…" Scout murmured, her head tossing back and forth. Jem looked at Uncle Jack, asking,

"Is she awake Uncle Jack?"

"No, Jem, she's delirious," At Jem's blank look he elaborated, "It's the fever messing with her brain, she's not really awake she's just talking to herself in her sleep,"

"Oh," Jem said, though he really didn't understand. Scout kept muttering to herself until dinnertime, which was when Atticus came back from town with his newspaper in hand.

This time everyone ate in the dining room, and Calpurnia ducked into Scout's room every now and then to dunk the rag in ice cold water and replace it on Scout's forehead, an attempt to break the fever. When dinner was over, Atticus sat in the living room and read some of the newspaper out loud to Jem, and Uncle Jack sat in and listened.

Bedtime rolled around, and Jem climbed into bed after telling Scout goodnight. Uncle Jack, knowing that Atticus was going to sit up in Scout's room all night, told his brother goodnight and then disappeared into the guest room.

Atticus brought the newspaper with him into Scout's room but set it aside after a few moments. He leaned over Scout's shivering body and tucked the covers in around her. She started mumbling again, saying, "Ham…stupid costume…Jem…screaming…don't hurt me…" Her head moved back and forth a few times, and Atticus brushed his hand over her hair.

"It's okay, baby, you're okay," He said quietly, taking the cloth and gently bathing her face before placing it in the ice bath and replacing it on her forehead.

"Don't hurt me…" She murmured, screwing her eyes closed and she became still. Atticus kept stroking the iced cloth over her forehead and bowed his head for a moment.

"I'm sorry, baby. I should have protected you, honey, and I'm so sorry I didn't. When you were a baby, Scout, I made so many promises to you, and I didn't keep many of those promises. I promised you would always have your mother and I, and that…that didn't work out," His voice broke, and he looked at his daughter's sleeping face. "Please forgive me, Scout, please. I will tell you every day how proud I am to have you as my daughter. I love you, baby, I love you more than words can say," Atticus said, a tear slipping down his cheek.

He couldn't believe that for a second time, his daughter was in danger of slipping away from him. And this time, writing a eulogy wasn't going to fix anything. It only worked once, and it had spent its life-saving power on Scout already. "Stay with me, Scout, please," Atticus begged, gathering her still body in his arms and holding her as tightly as he could, pressing his lips to her temple.

Atticus didn't leave Scout's room that night at all unless he needed to get more ice. In fact he hardly moved except to get up and pace back and forth at the foot of her bed a few times. He always ended up back in the chair next to her bed, stroking her feverish forehead with the ice cloth.

"Stay with me, baby, stay with me,"

So Scout has a raging fever…oh crap. I wasn't sure if you could actually die from having a fever so I researched it, and it turns out that you totally can. If you don't treat the fever, you keep getting hotter and hotter until your brain basically fries. Doesn't that sound like a terrible way to go? Anyways, thanks for reading and hopefully I haven't alienated you from this story with all the terrible things that have happened to Scout!