Brahms woke up and realized he was sleeping inside his own normal room instead of his room within the walls. It didn't take long for him to remember that the house had another occupant.
Adalyn. What a pretty name.
However, his happiness quickly faded away when he caught sight of the tiny clock on the bedside table.
It was 8:30.
8:30?! Adalyn was supposed to wake him up at 7:00. It was a rule. She had done a great job of following the rules yesterday. Why had she stopped? Did she think that just because it was another day, she didn't have to follow the rules anymore?
He'd have to punish her for the lapse. She had to learn that she had to follow the rules.
Brahms quickly stood up from the bed and opened the bedroom door to find Adalyn, but all thoughts of punishment fled his mind as he froze.
Adalyn lay sprawled on the floor halfway out of the bedroom across the hall.
He frantically rushed over to her and turned her over. Her entire body was shaking which couldn't be good but at least it told him she was still alive. He quickly but very gently took her into his arms and lifted her up. She felt really hot, but if that was the case, then why was she shivering?
Brahms knew that he was much bigger than her, but holding her like this made him truly realize how small she was. She felt so easily breakable, like she would completely shatter just like the porcelain doll downstairs if he was even just a little too rough with her, and he didn't want to do that yet.
He very carefully laid her back down onto the large bed in the room and pulled the covers overtop of her. Still unconscious, she continued to shiver and let out a deep chest-aching cough that made Brahms hurt just hearing it.
So that was it. She was sick.
Okay, no schedule today. He knew what to do for sick people. He'd watched his mother and father take care of each other when they got sick, and he'd been sick a few times himself. He could figure this out.
Sleep was most important. Adalyn needed to sleep, so he would make sure she didn't leave the bed.
What else should he do?
Food, she'd need food.
He went to the refrigerator in his room and pulled out one of the containers of soup from the freezer. Adalyn had already thrown out everything that had gone bad last night, so he didn't have to worry if it was too old for her to eat.
He went down to the kitchen and heated up the soup in the microwave, then carefully poured it into a bowl and set the bowl down onto a tray. After adding a glass of water, a spoon, and a napkin, he picked up the tray and walked up the stairs to the master bedroom.
Brahms set the tray down onto the dresser then walked over to Adalyn's side. "Adalyn?" he said quietly as he lightly touched her shoulder. "Wake up." He knelt down next to the bed. "Adalyn?"
Adalyn's eyes fluttered open and she softly gasped when she saw the masked face so close to her own. It seemed to take her a moment to recall where she was and how she'd gotten here.
She then let out another harsh cough. "I'm so sorry," she said hoarsely. "I-I was supposed to wake you up, right? I-I tried, but…"
Brahms lightly ran his finger across her arm, hoping it would show her that he didn't mind.
She coughed again. "I guess I was in those wet clothes for too long yesterday."
Brahms stood and picked up the tray from the dresser.
Adalyn slowly sat up. "Did you make that for me?"
He nodded and set the tray down onto her lap.
"Thank you."
Adalyn sipped the soup he had prepared for her (chicken noodle of all things) and downed the glass of water which soothed her sore throat. She felt so crummy that she didn't even care about Brahms's usual intense stare as she ate. When she'd eaten as much as she could, Brahms took the tray from her lap and set it onto the dresser again. Then he lightly pushed on her shoulders which she took as a sign to lay back down and she obliged. After she'd rested her head onto the pillow, Brahms lifted the blanket up over her again.
He put a hand onto her forehead and her skin felt really hot underneath his palm.
"Rest," he said quietly.
"Thank you," she answered, already half-asleep.
Brahms took the tray from the dresser and went down to the kitchen to clean the dishes. He passed the reading room and noticed the teddy bear he'd given Adalyn yesterday as a way to show her that he didn't want to hurt her sitting near the telephone. After setting down the tray, he picked up the teddy bear then went back up to the bedroom, opened the door, and gently set the teddy bear next to Adalyn. In her sleep, Adalyn wrapped her hands around the stuffed animal and pulled it close to her.
Brahms tilted his head and smiled a little under the mask.
For the remainder of the day, Brahms tried to do his usual activities quietly so that he didn't disturb Adalyn sleeping upstairs. He checked on her periodically, and each time he did, she was always still asleep. At one point, he could hear the shower in the bathroom upstairs running, but that seemed to be the only time she did anything. He didn't really like that someone was in his house, and a pretty girl at that, and he couldn't play with her. But he supposed she couldn't help it if she was sick. The faster she got better, the faster she'd be able to play with him again.
Brahms liked Adalyn. She wouldn't hurt him like Greta had. She wouldn't leave like Greta had. She'd stay with him forever. And soon, he would make her his.
He turned when he heard light footsteps and saw Adalyn standing at the entrance to the reading room with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
"I just wanted to see if I could get a book," she said tiredly. "Read a little before I pass out again."
After a short pause, Brahms moved to one of the bookshelves and opened the glass doors.
Adalyn slowly walked over to the shelf and scanned the titles. "All old stuff, I see. You should update your collection to include some stuff from this century." She covered her mouth with the blanket and harshly coughed into it. "Sorry."
Brahms didn't know what she was sorry for. Getting sick? Coughing? That was hardly her fault.
Adalyn slid one of the books off the shelf. "Thanks. This should keep me occupied for a little bit. I'm just gonna head back up to bed."
She started to walk out of the reading room, but she wavered a little and Brahms had to quickly put his arms on her to keep her from falling. Not wanting her to be out of bed any longer than she needed to be and not trusting her to get there on her own, Brahms once again swept her up into his arms.
This time, she didn't protest even a little bit and instead let her head fall against his shoulder. Brahms hoped she would always be like this. Not sick, but compliant.
He entered the bedroom and again carefully set her down into the bed.
"It's so cold," she shivered as she pulled the thick blanket up. "I wish you could turn the heat up in this house." She picked up the book again. "Thanks for helping me."
Brahms knew he was supposed to leave now, but he didn't want to. He'd already spent so much time away from her.
But, he reminded himself, if he was patient and let her get better, then she'd have plenty of time to be with him later. Reluctantly, he slowly walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
Later that night, Brahms readied himself for bed as much as he was able, planning to sleep in his old room so he'd be close by if Adalyn needed him. He decided to check on her one more time before he went to sleep.
He quietly opened the door to the bedroom and walked up to the sleeping young woman. She was shivering again even though she had two blankets on. He remembered her saying that she wished he could turn the heat up, but the only way to do that was to light the fireplace, and it went without saying that he wasn't a huge fan of fire.
Brahms walked around the bed, lifted up the blanket, and got in on the other side. Then he moved closer to Adalyn and wrapped his arms around her.
Adalyn opened her eyes and her breath hitched a little when she realized the position she was now in. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had gotten into bed with her. She knew she should be scared and angry and freaked out at the huge invasion of her personal space, not to mention the fact that his dirty clothes still hadn't been washed like she'd planned, but dang it, he was so warm.
She blamed her feverish mind and her freezing body for liking it.