Chapter 19 Nightingale

Spring eventually came to an end and summer finally came around, it was getting warmer and warmer as rhe days went on, and everyone was moaning about the heat, the only person who was fine with it was Kook, I guess that he's used to this kind of hear. I was hoping that this was going to be a nice quiet summer with nothing to cause any trouble, but I was wrong, 3 weeks into the summer and a strange plague came into the kingdom, people were starting to die every week, and even some of us in the castle got effected.

It was another scorching hot day and again I'd struggled to get to sleep, as well as the heat, there was the though of the plague on my mind. I got out of my nest, got ready for the day and walked down to the king's quarters, everyone was there except for Kook, it's not like him to be late to the king's quarters.

"Where's Kook?" I asked.

"Don't know, he's most probably still in bed."

I sighed. "I'll go and get him."

I turned around and walked to Kook's room, this was so unlike him, I hope that he's feeling alright. It was very quiet when I got to Kook's room, very gently I knocked on the door.

"Kook, are you alright?" I asked. "Everyone's waiting for you at the king's quarters." There was no reply. "I'm coming in okay?"

After around three seconds of even more silence, I opened the door and slowly walked in, Kook was still in his nest, he didn't look that well, his skin was very pale with a slight hint of green, I knew as soon as I saw him that something wasn't right, I walked over and knelt down beside him, I placed my hand on his forehead, he was very hot, very gently I ran my hand through his hair, as I did his eyelids started to twitch.

"Kook? Kook. Wake up, everyone's waiting for you." I said gently.

As I spoke Kook's eyes slowly opened.

"Morning lazy bones." I joked. Kook closed his eyes again, gave a deep sigh and opened his eyes again. "What's wrong? You look dreadful."

"I feel dreadful too." Kook replied, his voice was very quiet and was almost a whisper. "I think that I might have the plague that's going around."

"Shall I go and tell the others that you're not going to be working today then?"

"Yeah, okay. Thanks babe."

"I'll also get the doctor to come down and see you."

"Okay."

I leant down and gave Kook a quick kiss on the cheek before I got up to go.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, I don't want you to get sick too." he said coughing.

"I don't care." I replied.

When I left the room I couldn't get my head around what had happened, Kook has the plague, I felt a great pain begin to form in my heart, it felt like one big moment in my life was coming to an end, mind you, I bet that Kook feels the same way, I really don't want to lose him. Everyone was still outside the king's quarters when I got back.

"So where's Kook?" Madeva asked.

"I think that he's got the plague." I replied. "He looked dreadful when I saw him."

"Oh my God, the plague?"

"Yeah, he's not going to be working today and we should probably get the doctor to see him."

"Good idea."

We told the king that Kook wasn't feeling well, and we got the doctor to have a look at him and see how bad his illness actually was, hopefully not so bad. I just wanted to see how he was getting on, it was so lonely being at the top of the lookout tower by myself, there wasn't anyone to talk to, and Kook wasn't there to comfort me, like he'd always do, just thinking about him started bringing tears to my eyes.

"Nightingale, are you alright?" A voice said from behind me.

At first I thought that it was Kook, but it couldn't be, it was a girls voice, I turned around and Ballista was stood behind me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied wiping away my tears. "What are you doing up here? I thought that you were defence."

"Me and Faetal have been talking and we thought that you may be a bit lonely up here on your own, so I thought that I'd come up here to keep you company."

"Aw thanks Ballista. That's really thoughtful of you."

"It was Faetal's idea."

"I'm not really that used to being up here on my own, as Kook would normally be up here with me."

As soon as I mentioned Kook's name, the tears came flooding back, this time I couldn't stop them, Ballista saw how upset I was and she wrapped her arm around my shoulders giving me a friendly comforting hug, it wasn't the same as Kook, but it was enough to settle me down.

"I don't want to lose him Ballista."

"I can see why, but you know Kook, he's a fighter, he'll be fine, just you wait and see."

I hope that she's right, but despite she attempted to get my hopes up which was kind, I was still extremely worried about Kook though, most of the people in the kingdom who get the plague would normally die within two weeks, but Ballista was right, Kook is a fighter, he'll probably be right as rain within two weeks, I hope and pray.

One week after Kook got ill and he hasn't got any better, in fact he's got worse, dark blotches were starting to appear on his arms and chest, one of the symptoms of the plague. One morning I got up extra early to go and see how Kook was doing, the doctor was just leaving Kook's room as I got there.

"How's he doing doctor?" I asked.

"He's not doing well. The plague's nearly reached that point where no amount of medication will help him, and if that's the case then..."

"He'll die?"

The doctor nodded.

"Can I see him?"

"Yes, but he's very weak at the moment, but luckily the plague isn't that contagious at this moment in time."

The doctor opened the door for me and I walked in, Kook was lying ever so still, he was paler than ever and I could see the blotches on his chest, it was slightly scary. As I walked over it was almost as if Kook knew that I was in the room, he opened his eyes and turned his head towards me, a small smile appeared when he saw me.

"Hi Kook." I said kneeling down.

"Hey babe." He replied attempting to sit up

"Don't try sitting up, you're too weak, you need to rest."

I was sat talking to Kook for around fifteen minutes before I had to go to the king's quarters.

"Well, I better go, everyone's going to be wondering where I am, I'll come and see you tomorrow."

"If I'm even here tomorrow."

"Don't say that, you're going to get better, I know it."

I hate it when people talk about death like it's going to happen the next day, I just find it depressing, why would you want to talk about death so young, you've barely even lived your life yet, at least enjoy it first.

Everyone wanted to know how Kook was doing when I got to the king's quarters.

"How's Kook doing?" Vane asked.

"He's not doing that good." I replied. "I saw the doctor before i saw him, he said that the plague's nearly reached that point where no amount of medication is going to help him, and if that happens then..."

"Then, what?"

"You know what I mean."

Everyone was startled with the news about Kook's condition, but not as much as me, if he was dying, I didn't want him to die without me being there, I want to be at least informed first so that I could get to him in time, and I'm sure that he's feeling pretty much the same way, and would maybe want to see me first.

With this on my mind, I found it very hard to get any sleep, it was possibly around midnight by the time I actually fell asleep. The next time that I opened my eyes the sunlight was flooding through my bedroom window, another red hot day, the plague had now vanished and no more people were getting affected but this still didn't help the people who were affected.

I got ready for the day ahead and left my room, I didn't have that much time to go and see Kook, but I said that I'd go and see him again today, when I left my bedroom Tinkor was walking up the corridor away from the king's quarters.

"Hey Tink, what's going on?" I asked.

"Kook not well. May be dying." He replied.

"What!"

I ran down the corridor to Kook's room, everyone was stood outside, this really isn't good, my heart started to pound against my ribcage and my palms went all sweaty.

"There you are Nightingale." said Knightriss. "You should probably go in, Kook's been asking for you."

Everyone's outside his room, Kook's been asking for me, this is much worse than I thought. I opened the door and walked in, the doctor was kneeling next to Kook mopping his brow, when he saw me, he stood up and left the room leaving me and Kook on our own, when I knelt down next to him, he slowly raised his right arm and placed his hand on my cheek.

"At least I got to see you one last time." He whispered.

"Don't say that Kook. You know that I won't be able to live without you."

"It's too late, everyone has a time when they've got to die, and I suppose that this is my time."

"No, no you can't die...I love you."

"I love you too babe."

My eyes filled up with tears as I leant down and kissed Kook on the lips, his lips were cold and dry, still at least I wasn't in danger of catching the plague anymore.

Me and Kook were talking for another thirty minutes, I didn't want to leave him, but soon Kook got very tired and eventually fell asleep, at least I hope that he's just sleeping, but he was breathing so I could relax.

I didn't even want to work today, I had far too much on my mind to focus on anything, what if Kook does die? I'd be all on my own, there'd never be another guy who could replace Kook, I had his face stuck in my mind, all I could think of was his stunning blue eyes, his soft lips and soft hair, his mischievous gin, his laugh and the way that he makes me feel daily, I was in the middle of my day dream remembering everything that me and Kook have done, and everything that's happened when I felt a hand land on my shoulder, I gasped and spun around, Faetal was stood behind me.

"You scared me." I said placing my hand on my chest.

"Sorry, I thought that you would have heard me come up here."

"No, I was slightly...distracted."

"Were you thinking about Kook again?"

"Yeah, i just don't want to let him go."

"I know that you're worried about him, but there's still a chance for him to get better."

"No, he's dying, I know it Faetal." I could feel the tears forming in my eyes again, I blinked letting them fall. "Faetal, would you do me a favour?"

"Of course."

"If you hear that Kook's getting worse and may be at deaths doors, will you let me know first, so that I could say goodbye before he goes?"

"Alright."

With all the fresh air combined with the fact that I didn't get that much sleep last night made me feel very sleepy, taking in a big breath I let out a slight yawn.

"When did you go to bed?" Faetal asked.

"10 o'clock, but I didn't fall asleep until midnight."

"No wonder you're tired. Look, you go and have a little lie down, I'll take over."

"No, you don't have to, I'm fine." I replied, yawning again.

"Nightingale, you've only had seven to eight hours of sleep, you need to rest, you don't want to make yourself ill."

"Alright, I suppose that I could do with a short nap. Thanks Faetal, I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it."

It was really kind of Faetal to take over lookout duty for me, despite I was so tired i still found it very difficult to get to sleep, what if I wake up and Kook's dead, but putting that out of my mind I soon fell asleep, while I was asleep I had the worst dream that I could have had, Kook was stood at the end of the corridor, I ran towards him bit I didn't seem to be getting any closer, I shouted his name, finally I got closer, I reached out to grab his hand, but as my fingers touched his, he disappeared into a cloud of dust, that's when I woke up again, I'd only been asleep for 45 minutes but I didn't want to go back to sleep in case I had another nightmare, slightly shaken I got up and walked back to the lookout tower, Faetal was still there.

"How are you feeling? Better?" She asked.

"Slightly, I had a nightmare though."

"What happened?"

"Kook was stood at the end of the corridor and I couldn't reach him, when I did he turned to dust."

"You need to stop worrying about this."

"But you don't know how I feel, you might not know what it's like to really love a guy."

"I have to admit, but that's true, I had a boyfriend once, but he wasn't the one for me."

Faetal stayed with me all day, now that she was talking to me I wasn't worrying as much about Kook now that I had something else on my mind.

That night I didn't really want to go to bed in case I had another nightmare, but no matter how hard I tried to stay awake, I soon fell asleep, it's highly unlikely that I'm going to have the same nightmare, I didn't but it was very similar, this time me and Kook were walking along the sea front, the tide was up so it was pretty rough, we went quite close to the edge, whenever there was a wave coming we'd back up so we didn't get wet, it was after the third wave when someone pushed Kook forward, he wobbled ferociously before toppling over the edge, I looked down and he was still hanging onto the edge, I looked behind me and Falcon's brother was standing behind us, slowly he backed away disappearing into the shadows, I turned back to Kook and he was still hanging on, he was shouting for me, I reached down with my hand to pull him back up, but I couldn't reach him, eventually he lost his grip and he went falling down into the waves, again I woke up in my safe, dry, empty-ish room, the sunlight was flooding in and it was again another hot summers day.

I was in the middle of getting ready for the day when someone started pounding on my bedroom door, it was long and continuous knocking, someone obviously wanted to talk to me urgently...oh no, if this is Faetal, it can only mean one thing, she said that she would, but it wasn't Faetal, when I opened the door Ballista was stood in front of me, she looked really happy.

"Nightingale, you have to come quick." she said.

"Why?"

"It's Kook."

"Is he alright? He's not dead is he?"

"No, you'll never believe it, but he's made a miraculous recovery."

"Really?"

"Yeah, come on, everyone's waiting for you."

Ballista waited for me to finish getting dressed, we then both ran down to Kook's room, thank the lord, I knew that he was very sick and might not survive, but I had a feeling that he was going to get better. Ballista was right, everyone was stood outside.

"How's Kook doing?" I asked.

"He's doing much better." Madeva replied. "We've all been in to talk to him."

"Is he awake?"

"Yeah, you can go and speak to him if you want."

I was rather nervous now, what if I go in there and Kook's not as well as they say, but Kook seemed like his old self again, he was now able to sit upright, the dark blotches on his skin were starting to fade and he was finally starting to get a bit of colour back in his cheeks, the doctor packed up his things and left the room giving me and Kook some privacy.

"I told you that you'd get better." I said smiling. "So how are you feeling?"

"Much better." Kook replied smiling back. "But the medication's coming back to haunt me." He pointed to a bucket to his left.

"Aw you poor love."

I reached up and ran my hand through his hair, it was all stuck up in all directions he hadn't brushed it for so long.

"I've really missed being with you." I said.

"I've missed you too." Kook replied placing his hand on my cheek.

I leant across and gave Kook a big long kiss, this is the first proper kiss that we've had in a while, when our lips finally parted we spoke for another couple of minutes before Kook's behaviour suddenly changed, he suddenly went all quiet and turned his head to look straight ahead, he placed his hand over his mouth before reaching for the bucket, it wasn't the best thing to do in front of your girlfriend, but I did my best to help him as I kept his hair out of the way and gently rubbed his back as he coughed and spluttered into the bucket, he wasn't in the best of conditions but it was good to have him back.