Side Story – Sick Maya, Nurse Josh

Maya laid in her room trying to not feel guilty over pulling out of her summer plans with Riley, she felt guilty but she wanted to stay in the city because her mother needed help but mostly because Josh was working at his internship and she wanted them to have a summer to remember before she went off to college and he started grad school. They were going to go to the same school but she knew that she would be busy with class and he would too. They still hadn't talked about where he was going to live when they got to Pennbrook but that didn't matter because for the first time they would be going to the same school.

She should be happy but the guilt over not telling Riley the truth was eating at her every single day that passed. Josh had told her to be truthful with her best friend but she couldn't do it because of everything she had put Riley through the year before. She wanted for Riley and Lucas to have on drama free summer where they would be together. It was the best she could do for the girl who had put her own happiness on the line for her best friend.

She fell asleep at night wondering if she had done the right thing, but after a week of sleepless nights thinking about the way she bailed on her best friend Maya woke up sick.

"Maya time for breakfast," her mother yelled but Maya burrowed her head deeper into her sheets. "Maya come on cranky pants," her mother poked her but all Maya could do was groan. Her throat was sore and her nose felt as though a dam had broken and released everything that was inside.

"Momma, I don't feel too good," she said but her voice had been muffled by the pillow.

"What was that baby girl?" her mother said pulling away the pillows and blanket.

"I don't feel good," she said her voice was hoarse and cracked as she spoke.

"Aww my poor baby, I would take care of you but the doctor said to stay away from sick people," her mother said slowly stepping out of the room. "Damn and Shawn's not here right now he had that damned assignment."

"Call Josh, he doesn't work today," she said knowing that her boyfriend would be at home sleeping but she wanted him there to help her.

"Okay, I'll call him get some sleep okay," she said before walking out of the room and shutting the door.


Josh was sitting in his brother's living room trying to figure out where to take Maya for a date when his phone lit up with a picture of his smiling girlfriend. The photo was from prom, he had taken it when they were dancing and she had smiled at him like he was her whole world. He loved her smile the most because it lit up her eyes and made her look like an angel.

"Yes my angel," he answered.

"Oh well this is awkward," Maya's mother answered.

"Oh, Mrs. Hunter, um… I'm sorry I thought it was Maya… Wait this is her number, is she okay? Is something wrong?" Josh said worrying about whether something bad had happened.

"No Josh nothing bad happened, it's just that Maya is sick right now and I can't really take care of her because the doctor wants to make sure I don't get sick right now, but Shawn isn't here and I was wondering if you could take care of her, I have to be at Topanga's soon to start my shift."

"Yeah that would be okay, I'll be there as soon as possible," he said thinking about how cute Maya would be when she was sick. He hung up the phone thinking about what to take with him to keep her happy.


Maya felt her body go cold even though she was covered from head to toe in her blanket, her body was shaking. She wanted her mother and some soup to tell her that everything was going to be okay. She thought about a dream she had where she was sick and she told her mother to call Josh.

"Was that real?" she asked herself but thought it couldn't have happened because Shawn wouldn't leave her alone in a room with Josh, especially her bedroom. He had become really protective over her as though she was his biological daughter which made her laugh every time thought about it. Instead of dwelling on it she got up and slowly walked towards her closet to get one of Josh's sweaters that she had stolen because it smelled like him but it would also keep her warm. She had just gotten the sweater on when the door to her room swung open and Josh stood in the doorway with a tray of soup and applesauce. Maya stepped back and almost screamed when she tripped on her own foot and fell on the floor.

"Oh my god Maya I didn't mean to scare you," he said setting the tray down on her dresser before walking towards her and scoping her up off the floor.

"Josh what are you doing here?" she said but it came out a whisper.

"Your mom called me, she needed someone to take care of you. She told me that you said to call me, don't you want me here?" he said looking down at her.

"That was real?" she whispered. "I thought that was a dream."

"It was real, and Nurse Josh is here to help you get better," he said while striking a hero pose which made her smile.

"You're so cute," she said before a coughing fit took over.

"Go to the bathroom and wash up and then come back and eat this, you can rest afterward. I'll take care of you."

She nodded and walked towards the hallway bathroom to wash up, as she walked back she wondered whether her mother had told Shawn about this but ignored the thought when she saw that Josh had changed her bed while she was gone.

"You didn't have to do that," she said.

"It's what my mom always did when I was sick, she used to say that it would make me feel better if I had clean sheets on my bed."

Maya smiled at him because it was the sweetest thing she had ever heard, she thought about him doing the same for their kids when they were sick. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind she pushed it away, what was she thinking kids and a family? She was still a kid, yeah Riley and Lucas were already engaged but she didn't know if she was ready for that step. Her first thought was that being sick was making her think of all kinds of crazy things.

"Come on time for soup, after you finish I can bring my laptop over and we can watch a movie," he said smiling at her.

The smile made her think about a little boy with her hair and his smile, "What am I thinking?" she said.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing I'm just hungry," she told him trying to cover the fact that she was thinking about them having a family.

"Maya, can I ask you something?" he said after she was finished with her food. She nodded to tell him to go ahead because her throat was hurting her. "You go sick because you felt guilty didn't you?"

She looked at him surprised, "How did you know?" she whispered.

"You started sending me messages in the middle of the night the last couple of days, I figured you felt guilty for bailing on Riley for the councilor job. I talked to her today and she said that she was worried that you were stressing yourself out and she didn't want you to feel bad about anything."

"Oh Riles," she said. "Yeah I felt guilty but it's because I wanted to spend the summer with you… um I used my mother as a cover story that's why I felt guilty," she blushed after admitting that he was the reason why. When she looked at him his head was down, "Josh?"

"Sorry, it's just that it's so cute," he said smiling at her. "I almost didn't take the internship because I wanted to spend the summer with you at that camp."

"Oh," she said.

The two of them sat there in silence, when Josh reached out and took her hand she felt her heart jump into her throat.

"Come on, let's get you to bed, I need you to get better so that we can go on a date this week," he said trying to tuck her into the bed. "I would kiss you but we can't both be sick because how would we take care of each other."

She smiled at his words, it was cute but it was also Josh and she knew that he was always trying to be the practical person. He was the opposite of her but it was also what made her feel safe and loved. They filled in the parts of each other.

The rest of the day they watched movies as she nodded in and out of sleep by the time her mother and Shawn had come home Josh had fallen asleep on the floor next to her bed holding her hand. It made Maya feel safe and she slept along with him.