Eddie went into her room after school that day.
"So, you're finally in the clear, Yakker."
"I hate to say it, but I just wish I could get better and go back to school."
"Back to school? What on earth has this terrible sickness done to you?"
"Nothing." She threw her pillow at him, "I'm just sick of being sick, that's all. You may not believe it, but being in the hospital is just one heap of feeling awful and being bored."
"I see. I have to say, though, you gave me quite a scare."
"No need to be afraid, baby." She smirked at him and then coughed.
"See, you're still not fully recovered."
"Yeah, but Trudy says I can probably go back the day after tomorrow."
"Let's see." He reached down and pressed his hand to her forehead. "No, you still feel pretty hot to me."
"Don't worry about it so much."
And she hadn't lied. Trudy let her go back to school shortly after she came home even though she still had a bit of a low fever.
She had run to catch up to Eddie as he left for school. "Hey, wait up, I'm joining you today."
"You can't. You're still sick, Yakker."
"Barely, besides, I'm far from sick enough to stay home another day."
"If you say so." He said, and then he leaned down to kiss her once more. Her lips were slightly warm from her slight fever.
"Hey," Joy ran to catch up to the two, "I heard you were finally rejoining the land of the living today."
"Yup, and I was absolutely sick of being a member of the dead."
"I could see that happening."
"Luckily, I had Eddie to entertain me some of the time." She smiled up at him, "what happened to that book?"
"It put you to sleep, remember?"
"No, I don't actually. I did fall asleep, but not because the book was boring. You can't use that against me, I was sick."
"Right..." Eddie paused to kiss her again.
"Hello, you have an audience here. Save it for when you're alone!" Joy pushed Patricia away from Eddie.
"Fine, spoilsport. You need to get yourself a boyfriend so you can stop complaining at the people who already have one." She shoved Joy playfully back.
The three of them walked to school together.
Eddie was happy to have Patricia back in class beside him, although he would never admit it. When school was out of session for the day, the two of them walked back together.
"You know I really was pretty worried about you for a while." He said to her.
"I wouldn't have been. It's not like I would've died or anything, yeah?"
"Yeah, I guess not. But you really did bring the house down in your absence."
"That's because you all have more fun when I'm around."
"I have more fun when you're around." This comment was rewarded with another kiss. "Don't get sick again anytime soon, okay."
"I'll do my best."
The two of them walked back the rest of the way to the house together. As they reached the door, a thought occurred to Eddie.
"Hey Patricia," he said.
"Yeah?"
"While you were sick, there was a point when they weren't completely sure if you'd pull through. At that point something occurred to me."
"What's that?"
"I thought that if you died, I wouldn't have the chance to tell you something pretty important."
"And that would be..?"
"I love you." Eddie's eyes were sincere and gentle as he looked straight into hers.
Patricia thought for a moment. The she responded, "I love you too, Eddie."
And that's the end. Thanks to everyone who reviewed throughout this story's process and put up with the fact that I'm not very good at posting regularly. I hope you enjoyed it!
