Chapter IX (Lenalee's POV)
I returned with cloth in hand only to find Lavi asleep. That figured, although it was a good thing, I wasn't very happy that I couldn't talk to him a bit longer. I wiped the sweat from his face and placed the cold cloth on his brow. His eye flickered as if he were dreaming and I thought I had woken him. To my relief, he stayed peaceful. He was so pale that if not for the gray(ish) colour that tinted his features, he would've matched the linen bedspread. It felt weird watching him sleep as I'd only seen him like that once before (Chapter I). There was a purple sheen beginning to form under his eye and I wondered how often he actually slept. I settled in a chair beside him and rubbed his hand. When he still didn't wake, I held it and made little circles on his palm. It was a bit rough, from fighting I suppose, but damp with sweat. I still wanted to know what his temperature was but I didn't want to wake him up.
"Lenalee?" Nii-san had walked in without my notice. "I heard he caused quite a racket earlier." I hope he saw the look I gave him.
"Shh..."I pointed at Lavi and my brother nodded. "The idiot was walking around for an hour." I whispered. "He came in to tell me...well he just wanted to say that..."I couldn't tell him that Lavi had come to say 'goodbye' had it been needed. "Have you seen Allen around?" I changed the subject. "I didn't see him in the cafeteria this morning and I found that a bit odd." He shook his head. "Oh...well if you see him, tell him I want to talk." Komui gave me a stern look and finally nodded again.
"I'll tell him." He whispered. I hoped Allen wasn't really mad at me. I still wanted him as a friend but was that being selfish? After all, I had loved him and I suppose he loved me as well, maybe he still did. There had been hurt in his eyes when he had come to talk to me. I was glad he had at least done that. "Ja." Nii-san left with a wave. I turned back to Lavi, he was awake.
"Eep!" I jumped and a faint smile worked its way to his eye. "I thought you were still asleep." He closed his eye and muttered something. "Huh?"
"Please be quiet, my head still hurts." He said without opening his eye. I gave him a look of sympathy that was wasted on account of his non-open eye. His hand peeled the cloth from his forehead.
"Hey..." He needed to keep that on. "Don't..."
"It's hot." Lavi explained. I took the cloth from him. "What did Komui want?" He was losing his voice. I shrugged and went to go wet the cloth again. When I turned back to him, he was sitting up, rubbing his temples.
"You okay?" I knew he really wasn't but I wanted an answer. He looked at me sleepily.
"No." That worried me, usually he said 'yes' even when he was lying. "I think I'm going to be sick." For some reason, I thought that was funny.
"Well don't do it all over the bed." He pulled a face and got up. "Hey! What...?" Cloth forgotten, I grabbed his arm as he swayed. He shook me off and turned into the bathroom. I heard him gag. "Whoa! Easy..." I pulled his hair from his face. "You gonna be alright?" He nodded wordlessly.
He stayed there for awhile, coughing but unable to bring anything up. A substance that could not be classified as 'vomit' and some blood were all that he spit out.
"What was the last thing you ate?" Lavi shook his head slowly.
"I don't know, it was awhile ago." Okay people, when Lavi starts forgetting things, then I know something is terribly wrong. His hands were shaking as he stood up.
"Did you even eat at all today?" His eye shied away from my face guiltily. "Yesterday is more than 'awhile ago'." I sighed and pulled him out of the small room. His face shone with sweat, he must be roasting in that jacket. "Why don't you take off your jacket?" He grinned slightly.
" 'Cause I like it." I almost smacked my forehead but settled for giving him an exasperated look. "It gets too cold if I take it off." Oh, that made sense, I think. I frowned. "Could you go find Gramps for me? He might have something to help my head pounding like this." The remark caught me off guard. He must have been miserable for him to ask me to find Bookman. Lavi sat down on the bed, he looked tired.
"Just don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." I knew they were classic words but I felt the need to say them. He nodded wearily. I turned to leave when, low and behold, Bookman came striding in. "Bookman! I was just-" He cut me off.
"I need to talk to Lavi alone." His tone was icy. "Miss Lena, if you would please excuse yourself." It wasn't like I wouldn't leave if he just asked, he didn't have to order me around. I opened my mouth to protest but Lavi mouthed the words 'just go' so I left. The door clicked shut behind me sharply. Geez what was his problem? Bookman was stretching my frayed nerves a bit too thin. I heard his muffled voice beyond the wall, he wasn't letting Lavi talk at all. Fustrated, I decided to find Allen, I still wanted to talk to him.
I know it's short but I wanted to write Lavi and Bookman's talk so I wouldn't forget. Please reiview!!!!!
