Hello readers! I do hope that you enjoyed my last chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it and I know my friend (you know who you are) really loved editing it as I was typing it up. I know it's been a year since I've updated (hahaha LAUGH.) so; it is now my New Year's resolution to update quicker! Please review, it makes me write faster!
Summary: Ruby's sick day (days?) with Liam, Chubs, and Zu taking care of her.
Ruby knew something was off the second she woke up.
Familiar aches that had settled in her bones, crawling skin, and dizziness aided her arrive to an overall conclusion.
She was sick.
In her time in Thurmond, could remember many a day in which she or Sam or another one of girls in her bunk were sick, but those days were spent like any other, working to make shoes or clothes or whatever the hell the PSI needed. A trip to the medical Centre simply meant a round of strangers' fingers jabbing and poking and prodding.
So, Ruby decided she would simply go throughout her day and hope that the feeling that she was about to collapse would pass.
This was a horrible, terrible, no-good plan.
After barely making it down the stairs, Ruby (literally) stumbled into Liam's arms, breathing in the smell of pancakes that clung to him.
"S-sorry." Even to her own ears her voice was slurred and could scarcely make out a concerned Liam's face.
Attempting to stand on her own, vision flicking black at the edges, Ruby succeeded only in taking a couple steps away from a panicked Liam before her knees failed her and sent her tumbling to the floor.
"Ruby!" Liam's face showed a flurry of emotions, ranging from fear to confusion and settling on borderline panic. Gingerly lifting the unconscious brunette, he picked her up bridal-style and rushed her to her bed upstairs the two-story home he and Ruby shared.
After ensuring Ruby was securely tucked under the white plush covers, the southern blonde proceeded to go into a full-blown panic mode.
Ohmygod what do I do what do I do! I know! Chubs' a doctor! He'll know what to do! Whipping out a shiny cell phone, Liam punched in Chubs' number and furiously waited as the phone rang.
"Liam? Oh god, what's wrong? You didn't burn down the hou-"
"CHARLES!" he interrupted anxiously, "Ruby's really sick and I have no idea what to do!"
"What? Does she have a fever, a headache, anything like that?"
"I'm not sure, I'm not sure, she just walked down the stairs and then passed out-"
"Wait, she passed out?! I'm coming over."
Liam was left with only the dial tone as he stood in Ruby's room.
Chubs stood at the doorstep, Zu in hand. The younger of the pair doorbell once, while Chubs shifted his weight and tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the stupid idiot to answer.
Peering over his shoulder to the equally impatient girl next to him, he suddenly questioned his willingness to allow her to come along. Maybe I shouldn't have let her come. What if Ruby's really sick? Will Zu be okay? What if what if what if….
Grunting irritated, Chubs stepped forward and pressed the doorbell over and over and over.
Where is that idiot? Is he deaf? I swear to God if he does not open the door-
A disheveled Liam opening the door, wide-eyed and almost looking like a scared child succeeded in considerably slowly Chubs' train of thought.
The look of fear and poorly hidden panic that graced over Liam's features was enough to throw a tiny spear of newfound panic into his soul.
Quickly stepping into the house, (and tugging a slightly distraught Zu behind him) he followed Liam through the house and up the stairs into the dim room where Ruby lay. He was a bit surprised at how tiny Ruby looked in that bed, for she was normally so strong and leader-y. She lay there curled up and covered in sweat, looking like the little girl they had picked up in the very beginning.
Sighing, trying to feign impatience, Chubs took a breath and said, "Let's get to work."
It was strange, being sick.
Ruby was vaguely aware of hands on her forehead, a mish-mash of voices and being on fire and shivering all at once.
She could remember being hand-fed something warm, could remember blankets being placed over her, could remember cool hands on her face, but it was like she was watching through an old worn camera, with memories that weren't hers and were fraying around the edges.
Each time a hand pressed against her forehead or gripped one of her own, she would see a faint inkling of a thought, glimpses of lives taken in memories.
Zu was a bit lonely, sitting in a chair next to Ruby and holding her hand. Chubs told her and Liam that the medicine that he gave Ruby would probably keep her asleep for another day or two. Chubs himself was trying to act irritated, (something he did when upset, she noted,) and Liam was…. well she didn't know. But she didn't like to see either one of them like this.
So Zu opted to taking a bedside vigil beside Ruby, sometimes talking like she was awake or humming a song or just sitting next to her, keeping her company.
"You should wake up, y'know." Zu stated conversationally, dangling her legs as they fell a bit short of the floor. "Everyone's worried, especially Liam." She frowned as she remembered the almost lost look in Liam's eyes when he swung open the door, and decided to go back to talking.
"Even Chubs is worried, he's trying to hide it, but he's not fooling anyone." Even Chubs' demeanor had shifted, snappy comments not arising as they would have any other given day.
Gripping Ruby's pale hand, she felt a tiny, but noticeable, tickle somewhere in her head, but waved it away with a shake of the head.
Hearing her name being called somewhere in the house, she quickly whispered,
"Wake up soon."
When Ruby woke up, she was surprised at how much better she felt.
Her head felt clear, she felt comfortable in her skin and the pressure in her bones had passed. Gingerly testing her arms and legs, she found she could move them smoothly without complication. Carefully swinging her legs over her bed, she placed her feet on the floor and discovered that she could stand easily and steadily and began to cross the room to see what was going on downstairs.
Good as new then, her thoughts finally feeling not as though they were being dragged through molasses, who fixed me up…? She frowned at that thought. Who had treated her? She doubted it was Liam, and she didn't think something like that could just be slept off…
To her surprise, the kitchen her and Liam shared also housed Chubs and Zu, all three of them shocked into silence.
"You-When-How…?" Chubs tried to speak, failing.
"Wow Chubs speechless? Give me second, let get the camera." The witty comeback felt right in her mouth, after heaviness blanketed her tongue previously.
The confusion and tension in the air disappeared, like a receding fog on a sunny morning,
Zu ran over and wrapped her slender arms around Ruby's waist, smiling an "I missed you."
Liam walked over and took her hand, "You worried me there darlin'."
"How long was I out?" She asked, surprised in his change of personality.
"Three days." He whispered back. She jumped back, startled. Three days? She thought. I expected a day at most, not three days!
"Yeah, you all had us worried," Chubs half-muttered, swishing around the cereal in his bowl.
Looking over, the light of the heavens finally dawned on her. "Chubs? You were worried? Aww Vida was right, that angry grandpa soul does care."
Chubs scowled, not quite becoming one after morphing into a half-smile. As Liam and Zu and herself laughed, Ruby knew things were going to be all right.