Saturday,

May 24th, 2014

"Jade? Jade… Jade, wake up."

Tori's soft voice did little to soothe the hard pounding in her head, maybe even making it worse. Jade rolled over in her bed, groaning as she buried her face into her big fluffy pillow but the groan only made her feel worse, uncomfortably scratching at the walls of her throat. "Jade." Her bleary eyes opened at the feeling of Tori's hand rubbing up and down her back. "What's wrong?" When she didn't answer, the prospect of the possible pain that speaking would create in her throat way too risky, Jade felt the bed dip even more before Tori's warm body pressed against her side and her hand rested on the spot between her shoulder blades. "Do you need me to take you to a doctor?"

"No," she croaked defiantly, coughing. She heard Tori sigh and felt her hand move into her hair. The gently strokes in which Tori's fingers massaged her scalp seemed to soothe her hurting head immensely and she found her eyelids dropping shut again, a tear spilling from the corner of her eye by doing so. She felt horrible all week long but today she just felt extra bad. Maybe she really shouldn't have sat by Lia's grave the entire night and maybe she shouldn't have planned her and Tori's first date somewhere outside but, well… what's done is done. "Can you bring me some aspirin?"

"I don't think aspirin will help much. You have a fever."

"Then bring me something against the fever," Jade demanded weakly before a coughing fit took over her body and she buried her face deeper into the pillow. Tori's fingers left her head, much to Jade's dismay, but when she felt Tori's body completely moving away and she heard the door to the bedroom closing, she desperately hoped Tori would actually get her something against the fever. Her head was still hurting so much that she almost considered getting a sledgehammer to numb the pain. Okay… she didn't actually consider that but still. Jade hated to be sick. After a couple of minutes of lying in bed, her head exploding and eyes watering, the door finally opened and shortly after the bed dipped again. Jade shivered when two cold fingers slipped under the covers and gently danced down her bare arm. "Come on, let's fix you up. Sit up for me?"

It took her great effort as she propped herself up against the headboard, her brain rotating in her head and making her incredibly dizzy, forcing her eyes to close. Quietly, Tori reached out and used a tissue to gently wipe at her teary eyes, a concentrated look on her tan face when Jade finally found herself able to open her eyes again. She flicked her eyes to lock on hers, smiled quickly before the brunette looked at the tray she had brought with her. Jade closed her eyes again and opened her mouth almost automatically as something small and round touched her lips. She blindly reached for the glass of water Tori held out for her, took a sip and swallowed the pill before releasing a tired sigh. "I'm so sick," she admitted finally, after having denied it in front of Tori the entire week.

"Oh you don't say, Catherine Obvious."

Jade's eyebrows tugged down, Tori's words forcing her eyes to crack open again. "What did you just say?"

"I said 'you don't say, Catherine Obvious'."

Despite how crappy she felt, a corner of Jade's mouth lifted into a half-smile as Tori kept staring at her with her eyebrows raised and she realized it wasn't meant as a joke. "It's not Catherine Obvious," Jade slowly explained, trying hard to keep her laugh in, "It's Captain Obvious."

Tori's face scrunched up. "What?"

"The expression is Captain Obvious."

"It's… It's not Catherine?"

She didn't know if it was funny because of the fever or if it really was so hilarious to watch as the confusion seemed to almost overwhelm the brunette, to the point where her eyebrows were crunched together and her mouth stood agape. "Who would Catherine be?"

There was silence for a little while as Tori thought about Jade's question and man, did she think about it. Jade had to bite her lip, hard, as Tori turned away from her, the overwhelming confusion still nagging at her as she wrecked her brain for an answer. Eventually, after Tori had seemingly questioned her entire life, she turned back to Jade. "Catherine could be a Captain."

It was enough to force the laugh she so desperately tried to keep in out, her eyes watering and throat aching with the intensity in which her body shook. Her laughing eventually turned into a full blown cough but that didn't stop Jade from chuckling after she had managed to calm herself a little. An overly adorable pout – Jade thought it should have been against the law to look so sickly cute – graced Tori's face, which only fueled Jade's amusement. "You're such a dork, I swear."

Even through the tears clouding her vision Jade could see the blush on Tori's cheeks and the way she tried to keep her lips from tilting up into a small, embarrassed smile. "Whatever, I'm just… You know what, just go to sleep! You're sick." Jade rolled her eyes but laid down anyway, cringing as she watched Tori pick up the tray, only for it to almost crash down as she tried to balance it on her broken wrist, her other hand picking up the glass of orange juice and placing it on the nightstand. She smiled sheepishly down at her. "If you need something else then just-"

"Lie with me." It bubbled out of her mouth, followed by a quiet cough, before she could even think about it. But she needed her with her now, even if that was whiny and childish and stupid. She felt horrible and Tori almost always made her feel better. Let her do her magic now too. She obliged, slowly crawling into bed with her after carefully putting the tray with the still half full glass of water and medicine she gave Jade to the floor. A sigh rushed out of Jade's mouth as Tori settled under the blanket, throwing her arm around her waist. Closing her eyes, Jade turned her back to the brunette, letting her pull her close.

Before she even knew it, Jade was asleep.

…

Tori was ripped out of the blissful state between sleep and waking by something sharp painfully colliding with her ribs. She groaned quietly and rubbed her side with her healthy hand, her eyes cracking open. After blinking a couple of times, Tori realized that Jade's elbow had inflicted the pain as the sick woman tossed and turned in bed, a thin, shining layer of sweat on her face and neck. Suddenly wide awake with worry, Tori sat up and let her eyes wander over Jade's restless body. "Jade?" She didn't respond, her blue eyes staying hidden beneath heavy eyelids. "Hey," Tori quietly said, gently trying to shake Jade awake, "Jade, wake up. Come on. I really think we should go to a doctor."

"I'm just cold," Jade mumbled quietly and Tori frowned. She didn't think she'd really be awake.

"You're cold? Should I get you another blanket?"

Jade nodded but her eyes stayed screwed shut. Tori quickly scrambled herself out of bed and walked to Jade's closet where she knew was another blanket. She took it out and tucked it all around Jade before quietly telling her that she'd be back in a minute. As soon as she walked into the living room of Jade's apartment she snatched up Jade's phone and called the only person she could think of right now.

"Hey, little sister, what's up?"

Tori released a relieved sigh at hearing Aiden's voice. "Hey Aiden, it's Tori."

"Oh. Hey." There was a pause before Aiden cautiously asked "Is everything okay with Jade?"

"No," she said before quickly adding, "I mean yes. I don't know. She's sick and… with the flu and I think she has a pretty high fever but I don't know what to do so… I don't know, I thought maybe you could tell me. What to do now I mean. Should I call a doctor or take her to the hospital or-"

"Tori, hey. Calm down." She immediately grew quiet when Aiden's calming voice sounded through the line. Wow, was she overreacting? But what else should she do? She didn't know what to do in those situations and… better safe than sorry, everyone always said. "Just um… How high is her fever?"

Tori cringed in embarrassment. She didn't even think about taking Jade's temperature. "Oh, I didn't even check, I was just… worried because she- Whatever, I'm going to take her temperature now. I should do that, right?"

Aiden chuckled. "Yes, you should do that. But don't be so nervous. It's okay. Everyone gets sick once in a while."

She was already in the bathroom, raiding the cabinets in search for a thermometer. "I know, I just didn't know what to do… I'm sorry." When she finally found one she jumped back to her feet, the phone almost tumbling out of her hand, and made her way back into the bedroom.

"No, don't apologize. It's fine. Better safe than sorry, right?"

The brunette smiled at his words, but furrowed her eyebrows when her eyes fell on Jade snuggled up in her two blankets, seeming to be back in a deep sleep. "Um, I… I think she's sleeping again," Tori hushed into the phone and carefully climbed onto the bed, kneeling in front of Jade's still form. The thought that the fever might have magically disappeared arouse in her head but when she put the thermometer down, switched the phone into her hand that was wrapped in a cast and used her other hand to lie on Jade's forehead, she felt the skin underneath her palm burning up. "She's still really hot. Should I… take her temperature while she's sleeping?"

Tori felt like a small child while she asked Aiden for guidance but Jade's brother didn't seem to mind. "You could. But if she's sleeping and you don't want to wake her then you can do it later. You can't really do anything against fever. You just have to sweat it out."

"Okay." Tori nodded and bit her lip, keeping her eyes on Jade. "Then… I'm just going to wait now."

"Do you need me to come over?"

"No, I… I think I'm fine. I can handle it and if not… I'll just call you again, is that alright?"

"Yes, of course. Don't hesitate."

"Okay. Thanks Aiden."

"Not a problem."

With a long exhale she hung up the phone and placed it next to the glass of orange juice standing on the bedside table. It was just the flu. Just the flu. No need to worry so much. Tori flicked her eyes down to Jade, who still slept peacefully, the only indicator that she was sick being the sweat glistening on her skin. Tori didn't know how much time passed but she figured she must have been sitting with Jade quite a while as she stood up and looked out of the window. The sun was already setting and tinted the room in a faint orange light. Tori sighed and looked at the few cars that passed through the street, her stomach rumbling and asking for food. Deciding that Jade would be fine, the brunette slowly began to make her way out of the room.

"A-Amelia?"

Tori's feet froze on the spot when Jade's breathy voice reached her ears. She slowly turned back around to find Jade's hooded eyes resting on her. "Where are you going? Please Lia…" She held her hand out for Tori to take, "Come back here."

Did she just call her Amelia? Despite feeling a slight pang in her chest, Tori hesitantly walked back over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, taking Jade's hand. Jade shifted uncomfortably, her breathing heavy, face glistening with sweat, but even though she obviously felt really bad, she managed to smile at Tori. "I'm so glad you're here, Lia," she croaked out and squeezed Tori's hand, "I'm not feeling so good. Please will you stay with me for a little bit?"

Jade's eyes were barely managing to stay open and Tori knew that she didn't just call her by her fiancée's name. She thought she was Amelia. She was hallucinating. Her fever induced delirium reached its highest point and Tori contemplated if she should play along or should just leave the room and let her sleep it off. "Of course I'll stay with you," she eventually brought forward and was rewarded with a relieved smile.

"Good. I've missed you… so much. I'm so… I'm so happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you too, Jade."

Jade nodded, closed her eyes and ran her tongue over her dry lips. Her sweating seemed to increase, which Tori figured was a good thing since it probably meant that her fever was breaking. "It's… I really, really… miss you, Amelia. You missed out on so much." She pushed out a weak laugh. "Robbie and Cat… they got married. They… they really are husband and wife now. Can you imagine?"

Tori smiled, her thumb soothingly running over Jade's knuckles. "Yeah. It's crazy though."

When Jade merely nodded and her eyes fell completely shut, Tori made a move to get up but was stopped by Jade's voice again. "Oh, no wait." She tightly held on to Tori's hand and caused the brunette to sit down again. Jade loudly exhaled. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I… There's a woman… she's… she's Robbie's old high school friend." Tori's eyebrows shot up. She was talking about her? "Her name is Tori and she's… she's so…"

"She's what?" Tori urged her on, eyes wide open as she waited for an answer.

"I'm… I'm in love with her. I'm so… in love with her."

Was it possible for a heart to explode with happiness? This wasn't at all the way she imagined Jade to confess her feelings but to hell with that. She was in love with her. She said it. Not really to her but… whatever. Everything that counted was… Jade loved her. "Don't worry though. I still love you too. So, so much. I love you." She took a deep breath, her eyes flickering under her eyelids as sleep lulled her in. "Always."

Tori waited a little while longer until she was sure Jade was definitely asleep before she slipped her hand out of hers and quietly left the room. But as much as she tried, the smile on her face stayed.

And didn't leave until she fell asleep next to Jade.

A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long but lately I haven't been in the mood to write for this. Like I said, I get distracted very easily and every time I sat down to write something for 'Find A Light' I ended up writing something completely different. I'm really sorry.