She opened her eyes, the sight of snow falling outside the window the first thing she saw. The first thing she felt was his arm draped across her hip. Gently, she sat up slightly, leaning on her arms so that she could see the snow falling. The forecaster had actually been right for once. There had to have been nearly a foot of snow out there. It was to only snow for the rest of the day, then the next day, it would be cloudy. Then, the weekend would give it time to warm up and melt the ice and snow somewhat.
"Ain't that a sight?" she heard him speak.
She looked at him. "I-I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
He shook his head. "Naw. I'm a farmer, 'member? I actually slept in fer once." He sat up and put his arms around her, their bare skin touching. She let out a hum, feeling his warmth. "Ya all right?"
One of her hands went to her lower abdomen. "Slightly sore, but nothing I'm not used to on a monthly basis."
He kissed the curvature of her neck and shoulder. "I would hate to be a girl, lemme tell ya."
She giggled, then it got quiet. They continued to watch the snow, Donnel's neck on the curvature of her neck and shoulder, cradling her in his arms.
"Donny?"
"Yes'm?"
"I love you."
One of his hands found one of her hands, and he interlaced their fingers. "I love you, too."
XXXXXX
"Kellam! Kellam! Wake up!" Kellam groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over his head. Cordelia yanked the covers down. "No! Up!" He grabbed his pillow and wrapped it around his head with a whine. She grabbed her pillow and started bombarding him with blows to his body. "Kellam, get up! For real!"
"Okay, okay!" he huffed, sitting up in bed. His eyes weren't in focus yet, but he could tell where she was, so he hit her with his pillow, but accidentally a little too hard, for she fell off the bed. This woke him up. "Oh, geez!" He went to the other side- "Cori, are you-"
There she was, on the floor, naked, laughing. He starts laughing too, reaching down a hand to pull her back up. She takes it, and he easily, with one arm, pulls her back up onto the bed.
"Now, what was so important?"
"Look! Outside!"
Kellam did as Cordelia ordered. "Whoa..."
Cordelia smacks his leg. "Let's get dressed and go out on the patio!"
Before Kellam can even get out of bed, Cordelia has tossed on just a pair of shorts, a tank top, and runs out the door, leaving it open.
"Cori! H-Hey! I'm naked here! Don't leave the door open like that!"
"Don't wanna hear it!" he heard Donnel's muffled yell from the other room.
Kellam simply put on sweat pants and ran after her, immediately pelted in the face with snow and hearing Cordelia's laughter.
"Cori, are you crazy?! We're gonna catch pneumonia out here!" he fussed.
"Oh, c'mon, silly! Live a little!" she giggled. She threw another snowball at him, then they heard-
"We're comin' too!" from Donnel, him only in sweat pants as well and Maribelle in pajama bottoms and a tank top. Once they were all outside, Kellam grinned, ignoring the cold as he bent down and made a quick snowball.
"Okay, you asked for it!"
He threw the first one at Cordelia, catching her right in the shoulder. Donnel threw one at Kellam, then Maribelle threw one at Donnel. It was a free-for-all, and the cold, the snow- it didn't matter. They were having fun.
"Ouch! Donnel! You hit me in the boob!" Maribelle fussed, holding onto the affected breast.
"I'll make it feel better later, if ya want," he smoothly reciprocated.
"Oh ho ho!" Kellam cheered.
"Niiiice," Cordelia winked.
Maribelle's face turned blood red. "H-Hey! You can't just go sayin' things like that!" She gasped and covered her mouth, and they blinked, their eyes on her.
"Is... is that a southern drawl I hear?" Kellam questioned. A snowball pelted his face by Cordelia. "Oww!"
"N-No! It wasn't!" She clenched her fist and stomped her foot on the patio. "Donny, you're rubbing off on me!" She then turned redder. "Don't turn that phrase into something it's not!"
"I wasn't going to say a word," Cordelia said, fighting hard from holding back her laughter as she raised her hands in self-defense.
"Oooo! I'm gonna get all of you!" She made three snowballs quickly and threw them at each of them, but missed. "Stop laughing at me and let me hit you!"
They heard a window from a floor up open, and an older man and his wife looked down at them disapprovingly.
"Hey, you crazy kids! Don't you know it's eight in the morning?! Some of us are trying to sleep!" the man fussed. They had the giggles and couldn't fight them.
"Sorry! We'll try to keep it down!" Kellam said, trying to stop laughing.
"Keep it down? You need to go inside! Look at how you all are dressed! Catch your death, you will!" the woman chided. "Go on. Git!"
"We will, we will!" Cordelia laughed. "Thank you for your concern."
"Hmph. Crazy kids..." the man muttered as he shut the window. The four exchanged glances then at the same time blew raspberries at the window and continued. Then-
"Oh oh oh! Let's make a snowman!" Kellam suggested.
"Boring!" Cordelia stuck her tongue out at them. "Maribelle and I are gonna do something even better."
"Fine! Donny, let's make the best snowman in the world!"
Donnel winked and gave a thumbs-up. "Ya betcha!"
It was a race against time. A few times, they caught each other peaking at each other's creations, but they could never see what they were making. The guys could tell that the girls were really serious about whatever it was they were making out of snow, so they put just as much seriousness into their creation as well.
"Finished!" the girls chimed.
"Us, too!" the guys shouted. "Okay, we'll turn and look in three, two, ooooone!"
They turned around, and the girls' shoulders slumped.
"Seriously?"
"Eh? Whaddya think?" Donnel beamed.
"Out of everything, you made Kylo Ren? Are you serious?" Cordelia muttered.
"Hey! That takes skill! Look at this thing! Look at the detail!" Kellam gasped. "I can't believe you're not impressed!"
"No, we're impressed. I mean, it does look exactly like Kylo Ren," Maribelle crossed her arms, she and Cordelia nodding at each other.
"Nice Kylo Ren, dudes!" they heard to the side of them. Their neighbors had heard the commotion and looked outside, and they were around their age. Kellam gave them a thumbs-up.
"Thanks!"
"Umm, where's yer snow statue?" Donnel asked, looking around.
"Oh, it's not a statue. You have to come over here and see it," Maribelle said, Cordelia snickering the whole time. They walked over, and on the patio floor was an extremely detailed penis and testicles. Kellam and Donnel lost it.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS? YOU MADE THIS?!"
"IT'S GOT- KEL-KELLAM! IT'S EVEN GOT THE VEIN!" Donnel doubled over, holding onto his sides.
The window above them opened again.
"What did I say about- eh?!" The old man stopped. "What in the world?! Immature, I tell ya! Immature!"
"What's wrong, George?"
"Nothing, Edith, just... just stay back."
They heard the window shut, and they all laughed even harder. Cordelia ran and got her phone and put it on Facetime to Robin, who picked up, looking rather sleepy.
"Cori? What-"
"Okay, so you know it came that big snow last night, right?"
Robin was now fully awake. "I am now. Oh, hold on." She looked to the side. "Yes, nurse, thank you. Stahl, honey, wake up. Breakfast." She shook him gently a few times, and they heard him groan. "Okay, you're awake. Guess who I'm talking to?"
"The guys?"
"Yup. It snowed last night." She looked out the window. "Holy shit, did it snow..."
"Yeah. Well, okay. First, we all got in a snowball fight-"
Robin sat down beside Stahl so he could see them and they could see the both of them. "Waith, are you aw outhide wike that?" Stahl asked, mouthful of food.
"Yes. We had a snowball fight. Really wish you two could've been here. Then, we decided to make a snow sculpture, right? Well, here's Donny and Kellam's." Cordelia turned the camera and walked closer to the Kylo Ren sculpture to let Robin and Stahl see.
"Wow, that's crazy good! Take a picture and send that in to some contest or something! That's great!" Stahl praised, Robin's agape mouth showing she agreed with him.
"We'll do that," Kellam snickered.
"Why are you laughing."
"Okay, well... this is mine and Mari's," Cordelia said, getting closer to theirs and turning the camera to it. Stahl choked on his food from immediately laughing and Robin burst into a fit of hysterics.
"Oh my god!" Robin breathed, nearly falling to the floor.
"THE DE-*cough*-TAIL. OH MY GOD."
"Sir, shh," they heard a nurse warn.
"What in the world..."
"We win, by default," Cordelia beamed, hands on hips. Turned the camera to her. "We wish you could've been here, but I thought I'd- stop laughing!"
"So much detail..." Stahl was laugh-crying.
"By the way, Stahl, pretty sure our buddy Donny lost his V-card last night."
"Kellam!" Donnel blushed. He picked up a snowball and pelted him in the face.
"Lemme guess. My room?"
"If you must know, yes. And I lost mine, too," Maribelle snidely informed.
"Aww, Mari~" Cordelia beamed, giving her a nudge with her elbow. "Details later, yeah?"
"Aww, c'mon. Why couldn't it have been Kellam's?" Stahl whined.
"Because they were coming back and you weren't," Donnel stated matter-of-factly. "We didn't make a mess, we pro-"
"Eh-eh-eh," Stahl interrupted, waving his hands in front of him, "don't care, don't wanna know, but congrats to both of you."
"Stahl, eat your breakfast," Robin ordered softly.
"Sorry. Oh, how is he doing?" Kellam questioned.
"Well, when the meds wear off, he's in a lot of pain, so... they're keeping him pretty doped up for now. He says some funny stuff, lemme tell you."
"Robin, no, don't embarrass me..."
"Oh, I'm gonna. Just not right now," Robin grinned at him then kissed his forehead. Stahl, in midchew, stopped eating and leaned back into his pillow. "Oh. Okay. Lemme page the nurse."
"What? What's wrong?"
"Pain," Robin answered. "They told him it would be bad first thing in the morning."
"We'll let y'all go," Donnel spoke. "Stahl, ya hang in there, buddy."
"Th-thanks, Donny."
Cordelia shut off Facetime then- "We'd better get inside and change."
XXXXXX
Once they had changed, dried their hair, eaten breakfast, and brushed their teeth, they decided to binge on horrible movies to make fun of. The ate junk food, not really feeling like cooking, and just enjoyed each other's company. They then chose to watch a nostalgic movie, picking The Waterboy as the one. Halfway through, something strange happened. Kellam's eyes got distant, and he got up and went to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. They were all confused, looking at the spot he had been, sitting next to Cordelia.
"What was that about?"
"I don't know... maybe I should check?" Cordelia asked.
Maribelle shrugged. "He didn't say a word. Just got up and left. I would."
Cordelia rose to her feet, walked to Kellam's room, and knocked on the door. "Kel? You okay?"
No reply. She put her ear to the door and heard what she thought was gasping. She hurriedly opened the door, saw, and ran to get Donnel.
"Donny, I need you."
At this, Maribelle was confused, but Donnel understood. He jumped up and walked calmly into the bedroom with Cordelia, Maribelle following behind. She saw Kellam hyperventilating, rocking back and forth, his hands clenched on the side of the bed, his eyes closed.
"Cordelia, how many times has he done this 'round ya?" Donnel asked, getting down on his knees in front of Kellam.
"Just once. His brother, Levi, handled it. I didn't-"
"Watch me. Watch me 'n learn, 'kay?" Donnel then looked at Kellam. "Kel, it's me. It's Donny. Y'all right if I touch ya?" Kellam shook his head.
"Do I need to get some water?" Maribelle asked quietly, deeply concerned.
Donnel shook his head. "Juice. Any kind o' juice is fine. After this, his sugar'll be down."
She nodded and hurried to the kitchen.
"Ya want me to talk to ya?" Kellam nodded. "Good. Watch how ya breathe, Kellam. Yer breathin' way too fast." Then, out of nowhere, Kellam started crying.
"Donny?!" Cordelia cried out, scared.
Donnel motioned for her to come to them. "Kellam, Cori's here."
"Kellam? Why are you crying?"
"Don't ask that," Donnel whispered to her. Kellam sudden grabbed hold of Donnel's wrist, tightly, making him wince. But Donnel didn't back down. Cordelia could see him shaking. "Kellam, listen to me. Yer not dyin'. I know ya think ya are- yer heart's racin', ya can't breathe- but yer fine. We've been to doctors, and they say yer healthy 'n strong like an ox."
That was something he had left out in the details. Cordelia didn't know that he literally felt like he was dying when he had these. Cordelia ran into the bathroom and got some tissues for Kellam to wipe and blow his nose. She started to do it for him, but he smacked her arm away.
"Kellam, ya gotta breathe slowly. In through yer nose, out through yer mouth." Kellam's grip on Donnel's wrist tightened, and Cordelia was scared he was going to break it. However, Maribelle did say he was tougher than he looked. He was just scrawny, but muscular. By now Maribelle had returned with the juice and sat it on the nightstand. She stood by Cordelia's side, not knowing what else to do. "Kellam, bud, breathe with me." Donnel breathed in through his nose for what they counted seven seconds, then exhaled through his mouth for five seconds- just like Levi had done for him on Thanksgiving. But his breathing was becoming faster, and he was growing pale. He started to inch forward, but with his other arm, Donnel put his hand on his shoulder. "Naw, we ain't doin' that today. Okay? We had too good o' a mornin' for that. Now breathe for me. Breathe with me." He started breathing seven seconds in through nose, five seconds out through nose, Kellam joining him, struggling here and there. "Want Cori to breathe with us, too?" Kellam nodded, so she joined in. He struggled a bit then...
Calm.
He was breathing normally. Donnel nodded toward the orange juice, and Maribelle grabbed it and held it to Kellam, who took it with shaky hands- some spilled on the floor, so Cordelia took it and put her hand on the back of his head.
"Drink this, okay?"
She held it to his lips and tilted it, giving him just enough to where he wouldn't choke. She held the cup to Donnel, then grabbed the tissues and dried Kellam's tears and his nose. His hands started to not shake as bad, so he took the tissues from her and blew his nose, then took the cup and drank the orange juice.
"Ya good?"
Slowly, he nodded.
"What brought this'n on?"
"I dunno," Kellam hoarsely replied.
"What was it?" Maribelle asked.
"I'll tell you later," Cordelia whispered to her. "Kellam? Can you move?"
"I think so..."
"Do you want to go back into the living room? I'm sure watching something funny will help," Cordelia suggested. "We'll all three help you."
"Let me, uh... go pee first."
"Oh, right."
Cordelia raised an eyebrow as Kellam shakily got up, Maribelle steadying him, and went to the bathroom.
"After a bad attack, he has to go to the bathroom. Fight or flight, ya know? All that stuff. Like, ya know when ya get really scared, ya gotta pee afterwards? Like that," Donnel informed. "He'll take a minute or two in there to kinda regather himself, so if ya wanna tell Mari, go ahead."
Cordelia told Maribelle of Kellam's condition, and she was obviously shocked. She had a hand up to her mouth, which was slightly agape.
"That poor man... And there's not cure?"
"None that exists for now. It's still being studied," Cordelia answered. The heard the bathroom door open, so they stopped talking and started the movie from where they left off.
But within ten minutes, Cordelia felt Kellam's head plop on her shoulder. She glanced over to see he was asleep.
"That'll happen. It saps you," Donnel whispered. "It's normal. Don't ya worry one bit. He'll sleep 'bout an hour 'n be fine."
She took hold of one of his hands. Now, she knew what to do. Now, she wouldn't be useless anymore. She'd take care of him, just like he'd been taking care of her all this time.