AN: A little look behind the scenes: I'm actually already writing chapter 16. I have been so excited to keep writing I forget to revise and upload. Sorry about that! Also: I am thinking of sharing some outtakes/rewrites in the future. Perhaps as bonus chapters after the story concludes. If interested, feel free to let me know! I am also considering maybe illustrating some of this story.

Without further ado, let's get this chapter going. I hope you enjoy. Stay safe and take care!

Sarah was lounging on her bed.

Well, lounging was a generous way to put it.

She lay curled up, shivering, with a box of tissues next to her bed as well as a designated bucket that was empty. For now.

As a distraction she was doodling nonsensical things. Unicorns, soda cans, bees, silly faces and cartoon-like doodles of the Goblin King to try and cheer her up. It did very little to keep her mind off of feeling miserable but it was something. She felt like she was only half conscious.

On occasion she grabbed the bottle of honey from her nightstand and squirted some into her mouth, trying to ease her sore throat. It was one of the few things she could keep down anyway.

"Should I be concerned?"

The woman gasped, reflexively hurling the notebook away from her. It wasn't until then that she realized she had been drawing in the notebook she shared with the Goblin King. That did explain why she had been drawing a while but didn't remember ever turning a page. With a clouded mind she tried to remember what exactly she'd drawn.

Groaning, she rolled onto her stomach and ducked her head under the pillow, pulling it down onto the back of her head.

"By Gods, Sarah. It's two in the afternoon. Why are you still in bed?"

Even though the pillow muffled her hearing she could definitely hear that. Peeking from under the pillow she spotted Jareth lounging against the wall. Covering her eyes with the pillow again, she mumbled. "Sorry, I didn't notice I was using our notebook."

Jareth frowned at her rough voice and pushed himself away from the wall, walking over to her bedside. He then noticed the various things on and next to her nightstand.

The woman felt the mattress sink next to her and she peeked out again.

"Are you unwell, Sarah?"

"You could call it that. I feel like I'm a hop, skip and a jump removed from either coughing up my esophagus or puking my guts out." Jareth pulled a face, clearly not enamored with that idea.

Sarah crawled from under her pillow and sat up, her hair standing in nearly all possible directions as she gulped down her water.

"You look like a mess," he stated.

"Thanks. I love you too."

Jareth took her water bottle from her and walked out of the room. Shortly after he came back in with it refilled. She thanked him quietly as he put it on her night stand and sat back by her side. He looked at her as she shivered violently, repeatedly. Her coughs were so rough just hearing them made his throat feel sore. As she let herself fall back on her bed he conjured up a damp cloth and quietly caressed her face with it. Mouthing what looked to be lyrics to a song she leaned into it blissfully. "Is there anything I can do for you? I am a bit worried," Jareth muttered as he saw her wince and shiver.

"It's just a bad flu," she whispered, sparing her voice as much as she could.

"Have you eaten?"

"Yesterday morning. I can't keep anything down."

He frowned and dismissed the cloth. "I can help lessen those shivers and maybe have you keep some food down. But it will require a decent amount of physical contact."

"Anything that will help…" she trailed off.

Jareth got up after removing his shoes. He tugged her in an upright position and put her pillow aside. Sitting down by her headboard he guided her back against him. "Pervert," she muttered softly. He chuckled. She didn't seem to care though because she followed his instruction to sit in between his legs without hesitation.

As she settled back against him he could feel her tremble with another shiver. Tugging off his gloves and pulling up his sleeves he took a deep breath. Wrapping around her frame, he enveloped her in his warmth.

Sarah enjoyed the warmth with closed eyes. He muttered something in a foreign language. As she listened she could recognize it was repeating. The low baritone mantra in her ear was oddly calming. Another shiver scattered across her skin.

After what could have been minutes or hours she slowly started to feel his warmth increase. Jareth was still chanting. What she felt next she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was almost like every muscle in her body vibrated, tingled pleasantly. It felt like a frequency drowning out the shivers.

Which seemed to be exactly what it did because for the first time in two days her body was still. Minutes passed and no more shivers wrecked through her body. All throughout Jareth kept chanting. Opening her eyes, she looked down at his arms around her. The unusually ghostly pale skin of his arms was a stark contrast with her somewhat tanned arms. Sarah was pretty sure he wasn't this pale normally.

Her ears rang slightly as his chanting stopped. The warmth increased even more, the alien sensation presisting. She then noticed his hands were becoming sweaty. She could even see a thin sheen of sweat appear on his arms. Sarah grew a little alarmed, especially when she could feel his breath starting to get labored.

As she carefully turned her head to try and look at him Jareth was looking ahead, his eyes those haunting black pits she had seen before. His brows were furrowed in what she assumed to be concentration. A single droplet of sweat trickled down his brow.

She whispered his name but he didn't respond. Not feeling comfortable with him seemingly needing to put in this much effort to ease her sickness the woman gently moved her shoulders. His arms broke away from her like he had been straining them, falling limp by his sides. Slipping his eyes closed he took a few calming breaths, slumping back against her headboard.

As he opened his eyes again they were back to his usual conflicting blue and brown. He looked at her, still a little bit out of breath. He blew a strand of blonde hair away from his eyes, letting his head rock back against the ledge of the headboard.

"Jareth…"

He sighed. "I'm fine. It was just some healing magic." The Goblin King lifted his head and rubbed his face. Sarah definitely remembered Jareth mentioning that while he could relieve stress, healing was a different thing entirely. "Yes, I know. A very rare skill in the Underground," he said with a wave of his hand. "I might have invested in some tutoring for it. It is still challenging, but this is good practice." Carefully he slipped from the bed and arranged her pillow for her.

Sarah felt her body drain from energy, her eyes growing incredibly heavy and she slumped back to the mattress, her head lolling to the side.

Jareth chuckled and sat down next to her. "Rest, Sarah. Take good care of yourself. I will try to visit again tomorrow." He collected her notebook and put it on her night stand. "Feel free to keep doodling, it is rather amusing. Even though a lesser king would've had your head for some of the doodles you have sent me." Putting it down on the nightstand Sarah seemed just about ready to pass out.

"I love magic," the woman breathed as her head limply rocked onto the other side.

The man chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to her temple. Getting up he pulled the covers over her and stepped back. She had already dozed off. "Get well soon, precious thing."