How We Work 7
I'm slightly bleary eyed and hunched over the bar. This was meant to be a vacation but I think I'm getting sick. Take a break once and look what it gets you.
'Honey you don't look so good.' Cyrene's hand is on my forehead. 'You're burning up. Where's Xena?' I shrug my shoulders, barely. I can't even lift my head to look up at her. 'I am going to give her a piece of my mind. Come on, let's get you up to bed.' She wraps one of my arms around her shoulder.
'I'm fine, really.' My voice sounds funny from my stuffed nose.
'You are far from fine. Come on, we'll get you into bed and I'll get you some soup.' I can barely keep my eyes open. I think I'm in a sauna, my eyelids feel hot.
I'm in bed and stripped to my chemise before I know it. Cyrene is talking to me but the echoing of her voice is a little distracting. The walls look like they're moving too.
My eyes close and when I open them again the room is dark and there's a little purple man waving at me, so naturally I wave back. A head appears over my shoulder. I guess Xena has been sitting next to me in the bed.
'Where'd you come from, you weren't here a second ago.'
'Gabrielle, you've been asleep all day.' Her hands are feeling my forehead, my cheeks, my neck.
'No, I just closed my eyes for a second.' She must be delirious. 'Why are we in a sauna?' I can feel myself being lifted up, the floor is moving by below me. 'Xena, am I flying?' There's a little chuckle as I manage to turn finding her body. Her arms are hooked securely under me, and despite her warmth, it feels good. She begins whispering to me.
'I'm going to put you in a cold bath.' I can hear someone else talking to her and she responds, but it sounds so far away. 'You might not like this, but we need to get your fever down.' I'm being lowered down, clothes and all into a tub, this I know. The shock of the cold water against my burning skin wakes me immediately. I gasp and flail a little but strong hands hold me down. I see Cyrene now, at one side holding me while Xena is on the other. My body is shaking uncontrollably as I'm stuck between states of hot and cold.
'Xena, what's happening?' My teeth are chattering, but some sanity is coming back to me.
'You're sick sweetheart.' I smile a little at that little word, sweetheart. 'Half the village is sick. A trader came through half dead and passed whatever he had on to everyone in Amphipolis.' Damn traders.
'Shouldn't you go help them?' I know she has healing skills, she can help.
'Gabrielle, they have a healer here, they don't need me but you do.' I watch as Cyrene leaves. 'Hey look at me.' She gently guides my chin towards her. 'I'm not going anywhere till you feel better.' I smile as best as I can with teeth that are chattering and a body that is shaking.
'Was there a little purple man in our room?' She laughs.
'No, I think that was your fever.'
'Oh,ok.' I didn't really believe he was there, I was just making sure. My eyes close as my head falls against the edge of the tub. The shivering of my body is causing water to splash everywhere but Xena stays close, not bothered by the cold.
'Mother's going to get you something to wear, and we're going to see if you can eat something.' Her voice is gentle and soothing.
'I'm not hungry.' Though at some point I was dreaming of eating a whole pig, maybe that's why I'm not hungry now. She just mumbles something at me while pouring water over my head. 'How long do I have to sit in here?'
'Until you stop feeling like you've been sitting in the middle of a campfire.' Cyrene walks back in and they go off into a conversation that I can't follow for the life of me. I swear that little purple man is in the corner looking at. With the combined effort of Xena and her mother, I'm dried, changed, and deposited back into my bed. I can't keep my eyes open, they feel so heavy, like something is tugging them down. Someone's fingers are on my forehead, sweeping away my bangs, then I drift off into fevered dreams once more.
Somehow I manage to force my eyes open. I don't know how long I've been asleep, but it's dark and quiet, aside from the occasional dog baying at the moon. Xena is fast asleep on her side facing me, an arm draped across my stomach. I don't feel quite as hot, but my body aches as if I've just been through a battle; even my ears hurt, not sure how that's possible though.
Xena's hand comes up, touching my forehead then my neck. 'Temperature's gone down.' She stirs, sitting up looking at me with concern. 'How do you feel?'
'Well I haven't seen that purple guy.' I manage a small smile as she chuckles.
'You need to eat something.' She grabs a bowl of the table next to me. 'It's cold, but you have to get something down.' Xena lifts a spoon up to my lips and I feel a cool broth slide down my parched throat. My stomach responds with growls and grumbles, but they are happy sounds as its been empty for too long.
She feeds me a little at a time till it's all gone, then deposits the bowl back on the table. Sitting up against the headboard, she shifts me, putting my head in her lap. I can feel her fingers drift through my hair as my eyes drift closed.
'Should we tell my parents? Or I mean should I?' I feel her chest rise and fall as she sighs.
'That's up to you. We already know what they think of me. Do you want to make it more difficult?'
'I want them to accept, like your mother.' I hear her sigh.
'Our families come from different backgrounds. They believe different things. You might have to accept that it's hard for some people to change.' She's right, she's always right. 'Give it time, there's no rush to tell them.'
I can't keep my eyes open, I'm so weary and exhausted that I'm asleep soon after she speaks. My dreams are plagued with nightmares, most I don't remember, a few I do. Some are of my parents and Lilla, treating me as if I was the plague itself. A feeling of sadness overwhelms each dream, and in my sleep I cry silent tears.
