Chapter 20

She was barely processing anything he was saying. She needed to get him to a hospital, but she wasn't strong enough to carry him. She couldn't stop touching his head. His skin was boiling to the touch, but he was shaking as if he was freezing. Why hadn't he come to get her sooner? She could have driven him to a doctor at least. She put her hands on his face. Maybe if she hoped enough, he would just get better.

"I don't know what to do" she said as tears streamed down her face. Tell me what to do. She thought.

"Stay with me" he said. His voice was barely above a whisper. "Stay with me, Ahjumma. Please"

"I would never leave you," she said, but he had already fallen back asleep. Not in this condition, she added as an afterthought. She stayed there, kneeling on the ground with his face in her hands. What do I do when I'm sick? She thought. Dok Mi normally made herself tea, but her tastes weren't the same as his. Soup maybe? Food could probably wait; she needed to get his temperature down first. She didn't know where a thermometer was here, but his forehead was burning up. His temperature couldn't be dangerously high, could it?

She went to the fridge and found an ice pack, "This might be too cold" she told Enrique. She wasn't even sure if he could hear her, "But you need it"

She pressed the compress gently against his forehead. It made him shiver more, but he felt a little cooler. Her arm began to ache, but she needed to hold the ice pack against his head. Enrique stirred in his sleep

"Dok Mi" he said.

Dok Mi kneeled up higher so she could see his face, "Enrique?"

"You're still here?" he asked. His eyes were still closed, but he seemed more coherent than earlier.

"You asked me to stay"

"You shouldn't have" he said, "You might get sick"

"I'll be alright" she said as she brushed a bead of sweat off of his brow

"Is there anything you need?" she asked. She was so relieved that he was awake enough to tell her what to do.

"Some water" he said. Now that he mentioned it, his voice sounded really hoarse. He must have had trouble breathing all night, "and some aspirin"

"Does your head hurt?" she asked.

He nodded, "so much"

"I'll be right back," she said as quietly as she could. She returned a few minutes later with what he asked for, rummaging through his medicine cabinets, she managed to find a thermometer.

"I'm going to take your temperature again," she said as she pushed the thermometer between his lips. She looked at him until it beeped. 100. It was too high; she needed to find some way to lower it.

"Oh, Enrique" she said, she pressed the glass of water to his lips, "drink this" she said. He drank the water greedily, as if he hadn't had any in days. Within seconds, the entire glass was gone.

"Thank you, Ahjumma" he said. He sounded exhausted. He probably just wanted to go back to sleep. But what would she do about the fever? The cold compress hadn't worked? She looked at the blankets sitting on his chair. Maybe…

"You're cold right?" Dok Mi asked. Enrique nodded, "Then at least this won't be that unpleasant for you."

Dok Mi stood up and gathered all the blankets she could find in the house. She took everything from the closets to what he had on his bed. It was almost noon and the sun was shining through the windows. I guess I won't be working today, she thought and she wrapped Enrique up in the blankets as best as she could. It didn't matter that she wasn't at home. She didn't have any pressing deadlines this week and she was still exhausted from last night. Besides… Enrique needed her right now.

Enrique looked almost laughably ridiculous swaddled in the 5 or 6 blankets Dok Mi found. She probably would have found the sight hilarious if she hadn't been so worried about him. She wasn't sure what to do now but wait. What she really wanted to do was go back to sleep, but what if he woke up and needed her? No, she needed to stay awake and make sure he was cared for. She could turn on the TV, but that might disturb him. She did have a lot of her books here… she walked over to the table and picked up the first one the stack. The title looked odd and exotic, not something she normally read. Was it something from work? Maybe a gift? No, there wasn't anyone to give her a gift.

She didn't want to think about things like that. Instead, she leaned back against the couch and read.