"Alex" Alex steadied herself, breathing in deeply and slowly, straining her burning eyes to hit the speeding tennis ball correctly. River was glaring at her from the other side of the gym, but he knew she wouldn't stop playing at his orders.
"Alex, careful" Stam called from across the gym as she almost lost her footing as she hit the ball across the net. She merely nodded and held her hand up to Stam, bending over and setting her hands on her knees. Alex closed her eyes, shivering from another flash of coolness and breathed deeper, less steady this time.
"Okay." She said quietly, straining up and preparing herself for the speeding ball again. She could not be getting sick.now, when they were going to tourney in a just a few days!
"Alex, you need to stop." River was behind her now and she closed her eyes forcefully, shooting the ball across the room again. Her head had been spinning all afternoon and she had been asked if she was all right at least a hundred times. "It's just a practice, you can miss it."
"No I can't." Alex said forcefully, hitting the ball again. "Not when the tourney is so near." River held a hand up to Stam and she stopped, nodding her head. River rested his hands on Alex's shoulders and turned her around, staring at her with hard eyes. She stared back with equally tired and frustrated eyes. They hadn't spoken since the kissing incident, and she found the reason now awkward.
"Do you honestly think, that a player as good as you needs to practice" River asked, his voice full of cold, hard, forwardness. Alex looked away from him, sighing. She would never be able to accept she was good enough, no matter how hard she tried to. "You're ill. You need to rest Alex.your health is more crucial to the tourney then your readiness."
"No, you're wrong. I'm not ill and I do need to be ready. This tourney matters.to everyone." Alex said, before turning and nodding at Stam, holding up her racket. River sighed in frustration, standing close to her. He was breathing down her neck about this and she hated it with a passion. Almost as much as she hated loosing this fight against her own body. She knew she was ill.but she would not face reality.
"Alex, listen to me, practice makes perfect, but sometimes that's wrong. Sometimes, it just over works the player, and it's doing that to you." He tried to stop her, but she pushed him out of the way. "I want you to stop practicing and rest." She watched Stam hold her hand up and walk towards the water bottles set out for the Roscoe Cougar Tennis Team.
"River" She turned to face him angrily, the dizziness and sharp pain rising to a whole new level. Alex tried to keep her feet steady, but they kept swaying.
"Alex, you're hurting yourself. You need to." Alex sent him a helpless look before the world turned black before her eyes and she became limp.
River leaned forward and caught Alex swiftly before she hit the ground.
"Alex? Alex" River shook her gently, not expecting the worry for this girl to invade his body like it did. He felt sick to his stomach, having known that she was pulling practicing into over drive and hurting herself. He should've stopped her from staying behind to practice a bit longer, should've told someone else about it. Several team members ran towards him, crowding him.
"River, what happened" Cynthia Ellis's voice was filled with worry as she stared at the limp Alex in River's arms. River shifted Alex to one arm so he could feel her forehead gently. It was scalding.
"She's got a fever, I need to take her home. Chase" River looked over to co-captain Chase Sanse, sending him a straightforward look. "Take over practice and fill in for Alex with Stam. Brett and Adria can stop playing mixed doubles for now and play singles against each other."
"Got it boss." Chase said, whistling and sending everyone back to their spots as he cast a worried glance at Alex. "Take care of her River."
"I will. Don't worry." River said, escalating Alex into his arms and proceeding to carry her out of the gym. He looked around for someone who could carry Alex's things to his car for him and found the tall guy with midnight blue hair and glasses the perfect person. "Nick! I need you to carry some stuff out of here with me."
Robbie leaned against the doorframe of the Cougar Radio Station and watched as Kim wrapped up the show for the day. He'd once again skipped RFR to do some talking to people and was grateful that his friends were covering up for Question Mark with the fever. It seemed to have been going around lately, making it a varied excuse for absence.
"Robbie, hey." Kim said, sliding off her headphones and switching off the equipment. "I didn't expect you to be here."
"Well, I am." Robbie said, crossing his arms. "And we need to talk."
"About the cruise." Kim offered and he nodded, sending her into a nervous state. She began to bite her lip and fumble with her hands, shifting from foot to foot. "I don't know really what to say Robbie. My parents just told me about it, and I couldn't really say"No I'm not going." To them, now could I? I mean, it is Christmas after all."
"Yeah, I suppose." Robbie said stiffly. As much as he loved Kim, he was actually relieved that she was leaving for Christmas. That way, he could sort things out with Alex.
"So, you aren't upset with me anymore" she asked, a tint of hopefulness in her voice. He sighed, not knowing if he should spend an hour explaining everything to her.
"Yes." He said, choosing the simpler answer. "So, you and the Pierces" His smirk made her slight smile dip down.
"Don't start." she paused, her gaze drifting to outside the Radio Station. He looked at her oddly, turning around to look.
"What" he asked, looking around and stopping at what he saw. River was holding an unconscious Alex in his arm, Nick Stelletoe following them with Alex's bag. She was still wearing her tennis practice outfit and so were the guys accompanying her. But Robbie was worried about the fact that she had fainted at practice.something that a brutal fever could easily do.
"Isn't that Alex" Kim asked, puzzlement defined in her voice. Robbie nodded, running out into the hall quickly, stopping at River abruptly. Kim had followed him, not running but walking quickly.
"River, Nick, what happened" Robbie asked, his voice harsh. River looked at him with a is-it-really-any-of-your-business look and sighed, shifting Alex around in his arms. Her face was ghostly white and it looked serious. At the state she'd been in at lunch, it could've gotten ten times worse since then.
"She was over doing herself. She wouldn't listen to me when I told her to stop practicing and go home to rest. But she had to of course, be difficult and protest. So she fainted when she just got to too much." River said, looking at Robbie, then to Kim.
"I'll take her home." Robbie said, walking over to Nick and taking her stuff that he offered her. "Travis would want me to be with her." River nodded, but he seemingly tightened his grip on Alex.
"I'll drive you guys home." River said, not removing his glance from Robbie. "You can't carry her all the way there." Robbie looked like he was about to protest, but Kim intervened.
"Great idea River. You can drive me home on the way." She said, sending Robbie a warning look. He just scowled at her and clenched Alex's beloved, small, shoulder canvas bag. It was obvious that River felt something towards Alex. What it was, Robbie didn't know.
"Fine." River said, walking past Robbie. "My car's parked near the school, so we won't have to walk to far."
"Here's the stop." Robbie was eager to get out of the car. The whole way there, he and River had had a question war, plummeting each other with question after question. Kim had been the only one that remained silent, not wanting to interfere with their bickering.
"Okay." River said and Kim grasped Alex's bags, getting out of the car and walking up to the door. Robbie followed, carefully taking Alex out of the car with him.
"Thanks River." Robbie said stiffly and River nodded towards him.
"Tell her to call me when she wakes up." River said before Robbie nodded and shut the door. Kim was waiting impatiently at the door and Robbie called out to her.
"Look in the biggest pocket in the front of Alex's canvas bag. The house keys are there." He said and she titled it backward, digging into the pocket and pulling out the key. When she did, she opened the door and carefully put Alex's stuff just out of the way of the doorway.
"There you go." Kim said to him when he reached the doorway. He smiled at her. "I hope she feels better."
"Thanks Kim." Robbie said. "It will take a lot of persuading to keep Alex in bed when she wakes up." Kim laughed almost dryly, but Robbie heard the humor in it.
"Well, call me if you need help." She offered and he nodded, smiling. Kim leaned in to kiss him, but stopped when she realized that River was still waiting for her in the car. "I better go. Call you later"
"Yeah." Robbie said, smiling. "See you. Thanks for your help."
"No problem." Kim said, turning and walking down the snowy drive and climbing into River's car. Robbie sighed, walking into the empty Strong house and kicking off his shoes. He needed to get Alex into bed and get prepared to deal with Alex waking up.