Chapter 37

Mike's condition started to improve over the next couple of days, which was a big relief for Mel. Even though she knew he had only had the stomach flu, she had still been pretty worried about him. He had only thrown up a few more times after she had gotten back from the supermarket, and then after that he just slept a lot. At one point he had a fever, but she knew that all she could do was just let him sweat it out.

Luckily, the fever broke sometime around midnight, and he slept peacefully after that. Two days later he was up and moving around, although rather slowly. She kept telling him to take it easy, but he was stubborn and insisted on doing everything for himself, a trait that she sometimes adored and sometimes hated.

On the day that Mike was starting to feel like his old self, Mel woke up and discovered that she felt sick to her stomach. She was sweating pretty bad, and her head was pounding. She was about to call out to Mike, who was in the kitchen, when her stomach lurched suddenly. She rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, making it to the toilet just before she threw up. She knelt on the cold floor, her body trembling and her shirt soaked with sweat. She wanted to yell for Mike, but she was so nauseous that she knew if she opened her mouth she would throw up again. She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to quell the hammering in her skull.

"Melly?"

Mel looked up to see Mike standing in the doorway of the bathroom, staring at her with concern. He crossed the room and knelt beside her, gently brushing her hair out of her face. As soon as his hand touched her forehead, he looked at her with wide eyes. "Melly, you're burning up."

"I feel like it," she said weakly, leaning into his touch. His fingers were cool, and they felt good against her hot face.

"I think you caught what I did," he said, sounding guilty as hell. "It must be from when you were taking care of me. I'm sorry, baby."

"Not your fault..." Mel rasped, feeling extremely weak. She tried to pull herself up, but her legs were so wobbly that she nearly fell over. Mike scooped her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed, then laid her down. He felt a moment of deja vu as he pulled the blankets up around her, only this time the roles were reversed.

Mel practically melted into the bed, the soft blankets and pillows feeling so good against her aching body. Her stomach was still churning, so she looked at Mike and murmured, "I might need that pot…"

Mike's mind flashed back to the large pot she had set next to him when he had been sick, and he rushed into the kitchen and grabbed it from next to the sink, it having just been washed. He brought it into the bedroom and handed it to Mel, just in time for her to throw up into it.

He held her hair away from her face as she heaved into the pot, feeling horrible. It was his fault she was sick. If he hadn't gotten sick, she wouldn't have had to take care of him, and then she wouldn't have caught it. Even though she had told him it wasn't his fault, he couldn't shake the guilt that clung to him like a crazy ex-girlfriend.

When she was done, he took the pot and went into the kitchen, turning on the sink. It was all he could do not to throw up himself while he rinsed the pot out, but he managed to hold it back. He dried the pot and then brought it back into the bedroom, handing it to Mel again. "Can I get you anything, babe?"

"Water," Mel rasped, her voice hoarse from throwing up. There was a sheen of sweat on her skin, and she was extremely pale. She looked terrible.

"Yeah, okay, of course." Mike hurried out to the kitchen, frantically looking through the cupboards for a clean glass. He found one in the way back and filled it to the brim with cold water, then rushed back to the bedroom. He handed the glass to Mel, who drank it all down in one gulp.

After she finished the water, Mel gave the glass back to him and then leaned her head back against the pillows, shutting her eyes. She was asleep in seconds, so wiped out that not even the nausea she felt could keep her awake.

Mike blew out a puff of air and took the glass back out into the kitchen, filling it full again. He set the glass on the nightstand next to the bed and then sat down in a chair, watching Mel like a hawk. He didn't want to leave the room just in case she woke up and started throwing up again. He knew from experience that the nausea could strike at any time.

He reached out and took her hand in his, frowning when he felt how clammy her palm was. He knew it was just the flu and that he didn't need to be so worried, but he couldn't help it. He felt responsible for this. He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles lightly, then rested his head on the side of the bed. She had taken care of him, the least he could do was return the favor.

He must have dozed off at some point, because the next thing he knew someone was pounding on the door. He got up from his seat beside the bed and went over to the door, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before opening it.

"Uh, hey, Mike." Roman Reigns looked taken aback, as if he hadn't expected him to be the one to open the door.

"Hey." Mike suddenly felt extremely awkward. He didn't know what to say to Roman. Was he expected to say something? This was Mel's husband (or ex-husband), and here he was staying in the same room as Roman's wife/ex-wife. The dude could beat the shit out of him if he really wanted to. "What are you doing here?" he finally asked.

"I just swung by to see if you were feeling better," Roman replied, causing Mike to blink in surprise. "I met Mel coming back from the store a few days ago with a plastic bag packed full of cans of chicken noodle soup, and she mentioned that you weren't feeling too good."

Mike was mildly amused. He had noticed all of the cans of soup, but when he had asked Mel about it, she said that they were already in the cupboards. The fact that she had gone to the supermarket just to get him soup made him feel warm inside. "Yeah, I'm okay now," he told the Samoan Thor. "Mel caught what I had though. I think it was from being in such close proximity to me. She's pretty sick. I was watching over her when you knocked." He decided not to mention the fact that he had fallen asleep.

Roman's face filled with concern. "What? Is she okay?"

"Yeah man, she just came down with the same thing I had. It's just a stomach flu, nothing serious."

"Oh." Roman leaned to one side, trying to look past Mike and into the room. "Can I see her? Just so I can make sure she's okay."

Mike hesitated. He didn't know if Mel would want that or not. But apparently she had talked to Roman just fine a few days ago, so maybe they were back on good terms. He had no idea, and it wasn't like he could just go and ask her. "Yeah, sure," he said finally, moving to the side. "Just be quiet, she's sleeping."

Roman brushed by him without another word and headed into the bedroom, focused only on Mel. Mike trailed behind him, his hands in his pockets. He felt a little twinge of jealousy deep in his chest, but then brushed it off, telling himself that Mel wasn't his anyway. Roman was still legally her husband, so he had more right to see her than he did.

Roman stopped by the edge of the bed and looked down at Mel's slumbering face, his dark eyes softening a noticeable amount. He reached out and gently brushed her hair back off of her forehead, his touch causing her to stir a little. She didn't fully wake up though, she just rolled onto her side and slipped right back into sleep. Roman just stood and looked at her, seemingly distracted by a memory.

Mike couldn't handle it anymore, so he whispered, "Come on man, let's go out into the living room. I don't want her to wake up, it took her awhile to fall asleep."

Roman barely looked at him, but he touched Mel's hair lovingly once more before turning and walking out of the bedroom. Mike shot a glance at Mel, who was still asleep, and then followed him out, closing the door quietly behind him.

Roman was standing with his back to Mike, looking down at the kitchen counter. After a moment's silence, he asked, "Do you have feelings for her?"

The question caught Mike off guard, and he paused for a second before saying, "Yes I do."

"What about Eve and Maryse?" Roman turned slowly to face him, studying him intently with those dark eyes.

"I talked to her about it," Mike said, swallowing hard as he thought back to his conversation with the beautiful Diva a few days ago. "She said she understood, and that you can't help who you fall in love with. And Maryse and I are currently separated. We intend on divorcing soon. Irreconcilable differences."

"So you love Mel," Roman repeated, his voice flat and not giving anything away.

Mike lifted his chin a little and met Roman's hard gaze, determined not to back down. "Yes I do," he confessed. "I haven't gotten a chance to tell her yet, but I intend to soon."

Roman nodded slowly, and then he said, "I know that I was a jackass, and I know that I hurt her really bad. I told her I was sorry for both of those things, and I meant it. I don't know if she believed me or not because she ran away from me, but I'm focused on making it right. You may have feelings for her, and she may have feelings for you, but until she looks me in the eyes and tells me that she doesn't love me anymore, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to fight for her. So you better be prepared."

The huge Samoan turned on his heel and walked out the door before Mike got a chance to respond, pulling the door closed behind him.

Mike leaned up against the kitchen counter once he was gone and ran a hand through his hair, blowing out a sigh. He should have expected this. He didn't know why he ever thought that Roman would just give Mel up. He clearly still loved her.

After taking a moment to compose himself, Mike headed back into the bedroom, hoping that their conversation hadn't woken Mel. Unfortunately it had; the petite brunette Diva was sitting up in bed, looking very sleepy. She smiled warmly when she saw him come in, and she gave a huge yawn before saying, "Hey Mikey. It's weird, I could have sworn I heard Roman's voice just now."

Mike gave a weak smile and sat down on the bed beside her, pulling her gently into his arms. She leaned into him more than willingly, resting her head against his chest, one of her hands grabbing hold of his. The warmth that she emitted made him relax a little, and he stroked her hair as he inhaled her familiar vanilla scent. He didn't know what he would do without her; he had never felt this way about anyone else before.

"No love, Roman wasn't here," he murmured, his voice muffled by her hair. "It must have just been a dream."