Matthew flinched slightly at hearing her silent voice calling his name. Her breathing fastened, and drops of sweat flew across her forehead.
«Dr. Mike!» In panic, Matthew called for his Mum and in next moment, Michaela was wide awake. Seeing the state Atlantis was in, she quickly jumped up from her chair and touched her brow.
«Her fever didn't break at all,» Michaela said, reaching for a cup on the table beside Atlantis' bed. She looked at her son and giving him the cup, she said, «Matthew, I need you to help me. Give her a bit of this tea, as much as she can take now, while I go and get some medicine.
Accepting the cup from Dr. Mike's hands, Matthew got up from the chair and sat on the edge of Atlantis bed, right beside her pillow. As he leaned against the wall, he gently picked her head up and brought the cup of willow bark tea toward Atlantis' lips. She shivered in fever and tossed her head left and right, mumbling some words that he couldn't make sense of, but he didn't want to give up. He continued on bringing the cup toward her lips until she finally took a few sips. Sobs escaped from her throat as she screamed, «NOOOOO! RUN, MATTHEW!!!!!»
Michaela turned in surprise and hurried back toward her patient. Preparing a medicine, she looked at Matthew, «Run from who?»
Matthew swallowed hard and whispered, «Not me. Her son.»
«Her son?» Dr. Mike asked in disbelief.
«He's asleep in the room next to this one,» Matthew explained, unconciously wiping the sweat from Atlantis' burning forehead.
«She named her son…after you?» whispered Michaela, catching the movement of her son's palm as it caresed Atlantis' hair that was wet from sweat.
He didn't say anything and Dr. Mike decided to leave the subject for now. Right now, the most important thing was to get Atlantis feel better. With Matthew's help, she managed to make Atlantis drink a bit of the medicine and some more tea. Atlantis' breathing appeared to settle a bit, but she was still mumbling silent words through soft whimpers.
«We should try to give her as much tea as possible. Hopefully, it will break her fever.» Exhausted, plopped back into her chair. Leaning her face in the palm of her right hand, she continued to watch the pale face of her patient. Seconds later, her gaze went to Matthew; she watched as he continued trying to get Atlantis take more tea.
Something was going on here…
But, like she thought before, now it wasn't the time for such a conversation. Still, she wanted to know something.
«Matthew?» As her son looked up at her, Dr. Mike asked, «Why did she scream for her son to run? Run from whom?»
Matthew took in a deep breath and slowly told his Ma what Atlantis' son confided to him. Michaela's eyes stopped on Atlantis' face, white as a sheet and full of bruises, and she felt tears rolling down her face. «Oh, my God,» she breathed.
«Ma, why don't you go and get some rest? I'll stay with Atlantis and will get you if she gets worse.»
As Michaela tried to protest, Matthew quickly continued, «Listen to me, please. You've been up all day and practically the entire night. If she doesn't feel better by the morning, she'll need you again. You have to get some of your strength back.»
Matthew had a point and Michaela knew it.
«All right. But, promise me that you will come to get me if she gets worse,» she said.
«I will, Ma.»
«You have fresh willow bark tea right there if you need more,» added Michaela as she got up and went toward the door.
As the door closed, Matthew took the sponge and placed it in a bucket with cold water. Gently, he started to wipe Atlantis' face. After some time, she stopped mumbling in her sleep and even drank a bit more of the willow bark tea. She seemed to drift off to a peaceful sleep. Careful, so as to not to wake her up, Matthew touched her forehead and breathed out in relief; it was less hot than before.
«You're gonna be just fine, Atlantis,» he whispered as his gaze left her face and stopped on the sky full of stars framed in the window.
~*~
Her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, her throat was sore and desperately aching for water. She felt like the last ounce of her strength had been taken away from her body. As she finally managed to open her eyes, she took in her surroundings that were barely visible in the light of dawn.
Somebody was wiping her forehead with something cold and it felt so good. She laid in a comfortable position on the pillows and her head was leaning on somebody, making her breathing more easier. She moved her dry lips and slightly winced at the soreness of her throat.
The next moment, somebody's hand brought a cup toward her lips, and she eagerly took some sips. Breathing out in relief, she blinked a few times.
«Dr. Mike?» she whispered, assuming that the doctor was taking care of her.
«She's asleep, but it's all right. Your fever has broken.»
At hearing that voice, Atlantis felt her heart skip a beat. Her eyes went wide open only to fill with tears in the next moment. Gathering every little piece of her strength that she could find in her exhausted body, Atlantis looked up – and she saw him. She finally saw those blue eyes again.
«Matthew…», she whispered, hardly able to believe that she was not dreaming again. Oh, if she only had the strength left in her hands to pinch herself and see that it's not a dream!
«Hey,» he softly smiled down at her. «So you didn't forgot your best performer, huh?» he tried to light up her mood a bit.
She weakly smiled and her eyes started to close again. «Matthew,» she whispered, drifting off to sleep.
«Sleep, Atlantis. I'm here. Everything will be all right now.» As he said that, her hand took his hand and in only a few seconds, she was fast asleep. Gently caressing her palm with his thumb, Matthew whispered, «Sleep, Atlantis. I'm not going anywhere.»