Chapter 4 pneumonia

That night things took a turn for the worst for our little hero. After supper he was complaining about being short of breath, increased heart and breathing rate and a fever. Thanks to advanced medical training as a plumber, Max was able to preform some tests on Ben such as blood pressure test and listening to his breathing and heart using a stethoscope. His findings raised a high suspicion for pneumonia but he had to take X rays to be sure. Thankfully he had plumber gear that could do just that. And so it was that Max placed the protective vest over Ben's chest and was about to start scanning.

"Now I need you try and stay still Ben..." He said gently

Ben was breathing heavily and painfully but managed to say

"I'll try..."

Max nodded as he started scanning Ben's chest as Gwen looked at its screen over her grandfather's shoulder. When he was done, he turned off the strange device and had a stern look on his face.

"What does he have Grandpa?" asked Gwen

Max sighed and said

"I'm afraid Ben has pneumonia..."

"Pneumonia?" both cousins said at the same time as Max nodded

"I'm afraid so. This means your'e gonna need a lot of rest Ben and you will have take a lot of antibiotics"

"Great..." Ben sighed in frustraition

"Hey look on the bright side. At least you get to lie in bed a lot" said Gwen in an attempt to cheer him up

Ben simply smiled warmly at her as he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep

"That must have been a serious ice spell. I've never seen Ben so miserable" said Max

"Yeah... when I see Charm Caster again I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind. Ben is my only cousin and no one hurts him like this except me..."

"He'll be fine Gwen don't worry. Let's try to get some rest. Hopefully he'll be feeling better tomorrow morning"

"Right..." said Gwen as she got ready for bed and within ten minutes, everyone was in bed.

Max and Ben were in la, la land but Gwen lay on her back in bed gazing at the RV's ceiling; deep in thought.

"I never knew i cared about Ben so much... how could I?... he's so cocky and annoying... but under that he's a very kind and carring person.. he's funny and he always cheers me up when I'm sad... Am I starting to develop feelings for me cousin? How could I? He's my cousin. And yet I feel happy when I'm around him. I feel like I can be myself and don't have to prove anything because I love him..."

And that's when realization has finally dawned upon her. The curtain of denail has been lifted

"I can't bielieve this happened... I'm a very straight thinking person. How could I fall in love with my goofy cousin? it's wrong and yet it feels so right..."

Gwen sighed and deccided it's no use fighting it.

"I might as well come to terms with it and leave it be. Despite it being wrong, me being in love with Ben makes me happy. I just hope he loves me back..."

Gwen thought peacfully as she turned her back in bed and fell into a peacefull sleep...

The next morning, Gwen woke up and decided to try to be nicer to Ben from now on, now that she realized her feelings towards him... she got out of bed and went to brush her teeth. A few minutes later she got dressed and went to eat some breakfest. While eating she heard Ben moan in pain and she rushed to his side

"Ben are okay?" she asked worridly

"Water..." he moaned

"Water..." he repeated

"Water" muttered Gwen as she hurried to the kitchen and filled a pitcher of water for Ben.

She gave him a glass of water and helped him drink it. Once done she put the glass down and Ben smiled weakly at her

"Thanks..." He said softly

"No problem. Anything for my only cousin" said Gwen and smiled as Ben smiled too.

After an eerie silence Ben said

"Your'e looking very pretty today"

Gwen's face was a beat shade of red

"You really think so?"

"Yeah..."

Gwen simply smiled and realized Ben would never say something like that if he were thinking straight.

"It's the fever talking isn't it?"

"No I'm serious. You do look pretty"

"I think the fever has gone to your head. Come on Ben. Try to get some rest" said Gwen as she tucked him in and gave him a kiss on the forehead as he fell back to sleep...

To be continued...

Well? What do you think? Pretty touching huh? Did you like it? Did you dislike it? Did you like it even more?

Please tell me what you think on your reviews on your way out...

Thank you...