It's Just A Fever...

"Zed," Addison whispered softly as she pressed her lips to his forehead. "Zed..."

Zed's eyes fluttered open. "Hey, Gorgeous," he said quietly.

"It's getting late and I need to head home," She ran her fingers through his hair before resting her palm against his cheek.

Zed leaned into her hand and looked up to her. "Thank you for taking care of me."

Addison smiled. "Anytime, Handsome. It's just a fever. Get some more sleep."

"If you insist."

"I do. I love you, Z."

"I love you too, Addie."

Addison kissed his forehead once more and stood up from her position on the edge of his bed. Before she had made it to the bedroom door, Zed was already asleep again. She made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen where Zevon and Zoey were sitting.

"How's he doing up there?" Zevon asked as Addison walked into the room.

"Sleeping again."

Zoey laughed and shook her head. "That's so much better than being awake and whining."

"Is he still running a fever?"

"I took his temperature about ten minutes ago. It's still holding at 90. I put another cool washcloth on his neck."

"Thank you for taking care of him all evening. You didn't have to do that, Addison."

Addison smiled sadly. "I'd do anything for him. I just hope he gets better soon. Besides, It's just a fever."

Zevon stood up and gave her a hug. "Let me tuck Zoey in and then I'll drive you home."

"You don't have to do that, Pops."

"It's the least I can do. We don't need you getting sick as well...Come on Zoey, bedtime."

"Wait a second! You mean you're leaving me home with Sick-Zed?" Zoey rushed out.

"Zo, he's sleeping. It'll be fine."

"But what if he wakes up, Daddy?" she whined.

Zevon laughed and hugged her tight.

"I'm serious, Daddy! It's my birthday! I don't want to have to deal with him!"

Addison looked between Zoey and Zevon. "Is he really that bad?"

Zevon placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's just say it's a good thing he's been asleep this evening."

"He's the worst!" Zoey added. "He's the biggest baby ever. I love my brother more than anything, but Sick- Zed is horrible! Soooo much whining…."

Zevon laughed. "Alright, let's not scare Addie too much. Bedtime."

Zoey pouted. "Fine. Night Addie!" she said hugging her.

"Goodnight, Peanut. Happy Birthday."

"Thanks!" Zoey smiled before skipping out of the room and up the stairs.

"I'll be right back," Zevon told her before following Zoey up the stairs.

Addison walked into the den and sat down on the sofa while she waited. She took her phone out of her pocket and sent Bree a text.

A- 8:50 pm: Hey! Z's still running a fever. Would you mind running practice after school tomorrow? I don't want to cancel, but I want to be here for Zed.
Seen 8:50 pm

B- 8:51 pm: Poor Zed! Girl, I got you covered for practice. See you tomorrow morning!

A- 8:52 pm: THANK YOU! Coffee's on me! See you in the AM
Seen 8:53 pm

Addison smiled and set her alarm earlier so she would have time to go to Dream Bean before school. Ten minutes later, Zevon walked back down the stairs and grabbed his car keys.

"Zoey's all tucked in, and Zed is still asleep. Ready to go?"

Addison stood up and stretched. "Sure am."

A- 9:20 pm: I'm home. Miss you already! Get some rest and feel better soon!

A- 10:00 pm: Going to sleep. I love you, Z. I hope you feel better soon. XOXO Goodnight

A- 6:30 am: Good morning! I'm sure you're still asleep, but I was thinking about you and wanted to check on you. I hope you're feeling better. I love you.

A- 7:30 am: Just got to school. Shoot me a text when you wake up. I love you.

A- 8:45 am: Everyone keeps asking about you. I'm not the only one missing you this morning.

A- 9:45 am: Hey sleepy head. Just thinking about you. I love you.

A- 10:50 am: Starting to get a little worried.

A- 11:45 am: Zed Milo Necrodopolus! I am freaking out. If I don't hear back from you by the end of lunch I'm coming over!

A- 12:20 pm: In the cafeteria now...you're officially on the clock buster. (I love you. Just worried about you!)

"How's Zed doing? Ready to kill him yet?" Eliza asked as she sat down at their table in the cafeteria. Bonzo laughed and high-fived her over Bree's head.

Addison put her phone down. "I don't know. He hasn't texted me back or answered when I've called... I haven't heard from him since I left his house last night. I'm starting to get really worried."

Eliza rolled her eyes, "He's probably just being dramatic. I swear he gets the worst case of 'Man-flu' I have ever witnessed. The last time he was sick, and I kid you not, he called me over so he could dictate his last will and testament...all he had was a head cold."

"Everyone keeps saying that he's a complete drama queen when he's sick, but yesterday evening when I was at the house with him, he wasn't like that at all. All he did was sleep."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"What was his temperature?"

"Um, when I left it was 99."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

Eliza looked over to Bonzo, "Did they call your Mom?"

"Gruzga?"

"Well can you ask?!"

Bonzo quickly pulled out his cell phone. After a few brief texts, he looked back at Eliza. "Zog grood," he said, handing the phone to her.

Addison quickly stood up, "What do you mean, 'Not good,' Bonzo?"

Bonzo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, motioning for Eliza to pass his phone to Addison.

Eliza hesitantly handed her the phone.

Addison quickly read through the messages, occasionally asking for translation assistance for a word she didn't recognize or that had multiple meanings. When she finished, she handed the phone back to Bonzo and grabbed her phone and backpack.

"Where are you going?" Bree called out as Addison took off for the cafeteria doors. "Can someone fill me in here?" she asked looking back to Bonzo and Eliza.

Eliza took a deep breath. "As I'm sure you've noticed, Zombies run a bit cooler than your average human. Generally around 76.6 versus 98.6. Addison said that Zed's fever last night was 90."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Imagine what would happen if a human was running a 112-degree fever? You guys freak out at anything over 100. Thankfully Zombies are a bit more durable. We can usually handle a fever. 90 is on the high side, but still manageable."

"So what does Mrs. Zuri have to do with all this? And why did Addie just run out of here?"

"Aunt Zuri was the closest we had to a neighborhood doctor for a long time. She's been with him all morning... Zed's fever is 104 and they can't get it to come down."

Addison ran out of the front doors of the school, ignoring the shouts from the school's secretary. She grabbed her phone out of her jacket pocket and called her father.

"Dad!" she cried out when he finally answered.

"Addison? What's wrong sweetheart?"

"I'm on my way over to Zeds. He's still running a high fever."

"Wait...you left school?"

"Not the time for a lecture, Dad! Zed was running a fever when I left last night. I just found out that it's now 104."

Dale was silent for a moment. "Where are you?"

"About a block away from school."

"Head to your mother's office."

"Dad! I'm going to go see Zed!"

"Addison! Please, just do what I'm asking you to do. I promise you, you can see Zed. But he needs to get to the hospital as soon as possible. I'm already paging Dr. Anderson and an emergency patrol unit to go get him. As soon as I get off the phone with you, I'm calling Zevon. So, please, Addison, please, just go to the office."

She stopped walking as her tears started to stream down her face. "Okay."

"I know you're scared, sweetheart. I promise to call you as soon as I know more."

Addison wiped her nose on the cuff of her shirt. "Thank you, Daddy." She hung up the phone and sat down on the cold pavement, pulling her knees to her chest.

"Deep breaths, Addison. He's going to be fine. Breath in, breath out. He's going to be fine...It's just a fever...He's going to be fine...but what if he's not? What if his fever keeps climbing? What if they can't get it to come down? What if..."

Addison's heart started to race. She got to her feet as quickly as she could and started to run towards Zombietown once again.

Zed's head was pounding. He could hear his name being called but he couldn't bring himself to answer. He felt a hand rest against his forehead.

"Grag zong za ezer?!" Zuri asked, turning back to look at Zevon.

"Addison noticed it while we were at Zoey's party. So, around 3 pm yesterday afternoon."

"Za groo guz zagriz?!"

"I know, I know! I should have called you sooner. But, Zuri...it was just a fever. I didn't think it would get this far out of control."

Addison's lungs burned from the cold air.

"He's going to be fine….It's just a fever...One more block...he's going to be fine."

The muscles in her legs screamed in protest as she pushed herself to run even faster. When she reached Zed's house, she didn't stop. She ran up the porch steps and opened the door, sprinting up the stairs and into his room. The sight before her finally got her to stop.

"Addison? I just got off the phone with your father? What are you doing here? He said you were on your way to the Mayor's office?" Zevon rushed out.

"Pops..." Addison said quietly, not trusting her voice to go beyond a whisper. "Why does Zed have dark hair and pink cheeks?" The sound of an emergency vehicle was becoming louder. Addison's vision blurred before everything went dark.

"ADDISON!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: ….Sorry for the evil cliffy! Part 2 is already finished and will be posted Thursday. Obviously, I know jack about Zombie biology, so let's just go with the flow and suspend reality on this one! I promise lighter fluff and mature content will be returning soon (as in next week). Drop me a message and let me know what you thought of the update!

Go Team #WITLO (and yes, I will be obsessively rooting for them!)

SMILE video later this week! Can't wait!