"His fever is still high…" Itachi removes the plastic from the ear thermometer, dropping it on the garbage bin next to the bedside table as the number 102 blinks rapidly on the small screen. Itachi insists that it's a simple flu, that because Naruto is native to another region, he isn't used to the environment here, and was more susceptible to developing a strong reaction to something so normal as a common cold. I'm still not convinced, though he is a doctor, I still feel like there's something he isn't telling me.
I feel like I should have covered him more, should have wrapped a scarf around his neck so that he couldn't take it off himself, or sent more sanitizer and insisted on its constant use. Naruto just breathed rapidly, his small body shivering now and then, a look of genuine pain on his face. "Give him some more Tylenol or something!" Itachi smiles weakly though. "If I give him any more medicine, we run the chance of causing adverse reactions on his body. This is something he has to fight."
I fight back the urge to punch him, but he is a doctor….
I can't sleep knowing that Naruto isn't better. Itachi left to do a night shift, and ordered Tanaka to take Naruto's temperature regularly, a job that I took over, though I'm running out of plastic covers, given that I'm taking it at 10 min intervals. Naruto began to twitch roughly about 20 minutes ago, and though I was initially scared, I soon realized that he was dreaming, and by the looks of it, it was the same dreams that terrorized his sleep back when he had just arrived. He thrashes every now and then, his mouth gaping open in what I assume is a scream, and the only thing keeping me from climbing into bed with him and holding him in my arms is the fact that my heat might just make him more uncomfortable, and maybe even raise his temperature, so I settle with holding unto his hand everytime he screams, hoping that it will wake him up.
It's about 1 in the morning and I decide to change the damp cloth on his forehead, brushing back his hair and his eyes flutter open, but I can tell that he doesn't recognize me, as I can feel him tremble beneath my hand and inch himself away, a look of pure hatred on his gaze. He looks around the room, terrified, his cerulean eyes widening as the fails to remember where he is and turns his head towards me. He whispers something at me hoarsly, in a language that I cannot recognize and I'm paralyzed on spot. I don't know whether to be happy or not. Naruto was speaking to me, and even if I couldn't understand him, I knew that it wasn't the usual "Good Morning Sasuke" he would usually sign to me in the mornings. I just stared at him with my mouth open. Why did Itachi have to be away exactly when I actually needed him to be there?
Naruto repeated the same phrase to me, this time louder. Over and over again, each time louder and with more hatred injected into each word that he pronounced and that I couldn't translate. I just stepped back, noticing only the thump that sounded as my back hit the wall furthest from the bed. Eventually I felt Tanaka enter the room, a look of surprise on his face as he looked at Naruto, who lay with his eyes open and staring at the ceiling, having stopped screaming the moment I stepped out of his field of vision. Tanaka looked over at me and hurried to Naruto's side. I felt my face damp when Naruto immediately threw his arms around the old man that bent over him in an attempt to examine him. He uttered more words that I didn't understand, crying silently as he buried his head on our old butler's shoulder. Tanaka nodded me to leave, and I did so without hesitation. Something wasn't right here, but I was too shocked to even begin to ask, and all I felt was my heart clenching against my chest every time I remembered that look of pure hatred on Naruto's face as he screamed at me.
About an hour passed before Tanaka knocked gently on the guest room's door and entered silently, wincing around the darkness of the room trying to find me where I was huddled. "Young master," he whispered, choosing wisely not to turn on the lights, "Naruto's asleep now, his fever is lowering slowly, if you wish, I can stay with him for the remaining of the night."
"That's alright; I'll watch over him, you may go rest."
Tanaka nods silently and turns to leave but stops before closing the door behind him. "I used to live in a small town, far to the mountains of here, basically impenetrable and inaccessible," he said softly without turning around, "I moved to this city in hopes of earning enough to be able to take care of my then elderly parents. It's been decades since I was last there, but I have not forgotten my language. He called me Grandpa over and over again, and fell asleep to that memory. Don't be angry with him, he just seems to have remembered something that he wanted to forget" He closed the door softly behind him before I could even answer him. Somehow, that didn't make me feel any better, but I was glad that he didn't see my swollen eyes or the streaks on my face.
I felt a small hand ruffle my hair and run a finger run down my cheek tenderly. My back hurt as I sat up, and I could hear a crack or two as I stretched on the chair. Naruto smiled at me warmly, his eyes bright and his cheeks no longer that horrible shade of red that they had been mere hours ago. I don't recall the moment I fell asleep on his bedside, but as I glanced over at the clock on the table, I could tell it was well past 8:00 in the morning. "You're late for school brother" he signs to me playfully, at which I reply with a simple glare. "I'll go tell Tanaka to bring you breakfast" I say irritably as I stand to leave, at which he frowns slightly. "Are you mad at me?" he asks with sad eyes. I sigh then, and simply look down at the carpeted floor beneath my feet. "I didn't sleep well is all, don't worry" I force a small smile at him, which makes him instantly happy. "I'll be right back with your food."
"Did everything go well last night?" Itachi was sitting on the kitchen table when I entered, the morning news on his lap as he sipped from his coffee, his face holding two deep bags of exhaustion under his eyes. "Yes," I answer curtly as I grab the tray that Tanaka had already left on the table with Naruto's breakfast. "You don't seem like you had a good night's rest though"
"Neither do you"
"There's a slight difference between us two in that matter"
"There was a patient here too just so you know." Itachi chuckled then and put the newspaper on the table before turning his attention to me completely. "Tanaka tol-"
"Then you don't need any explanations, rather, I'm the one that should be demanding answers right now."
Itachi frowned slightly. "If I knew Sasuke, I would gladly tell you." Again, I saw a small shift in his eyes, but I no longer cared. My head felt like it was about to explode. I took the tray and left before Itachi could say another word. No amount of counseling with Dr. Yamanaka could fix my small blondie, and he only seemed to be suppressing all those memories he has in order to maintain his sanity. I've tried reading articles on childhood traumas time and time again, but I can't understand much of anything. I'm really not made for anything medical related, and as much as I try to understand what is happening to my blue eyed child, I just can't seem to arrive at any conclusion. Or at least, not one that is to my liking.
Naruto smiles as I enter the room, his small body bouncing on the bed as I leave the tray on the bedside table "You look red, like a tomato" he tells me with a wide grin. "Well, you look like a Naruto" I answer back as I sit next to him on the bed. His hand touches mine as I pass him the orange juice that Tanaka had made for him and he frowns slightly. "You're hot like a cup of noodles too," he says with genuine worry in his eyes. "That's to be expected," Itachi sighed from the doorway, "Naruto, now it's your turn to take care of Sasuke."
"I'd rather live," I grunted as Naruto's worried face broke into a big smile and he laughed silently. Naruto obviously didn't remember what happened a few hours ago when he was high with fever, and in some way, I was happy, but I didn't like the fact that despite being here, I was still so unimportant to him, and he could easily forget who I am. But he was still a child, and I try to believe that he didn't do it intentionally. That maybe, he was hallucinating, and that I really don't resemble the one that cause him so much pain.
...I'm sorry! I KNOW!
College life is hard xD