In this chapter: Kate is sick, and Darry takes care of her.

I was hugging the porcelain throne, heaving, shivering, and feeling so awful that I wished I would just pass out.

It all started in the middle of the night when I woke up sweaty and being short of breath. I thought going back to sleep would help, but by the time I had to wake up on Friday morning to get ready for work, it was obvious my condition was only getting worse. After calling in sick, I tried to make it back to bed, but my stomach had other plans. I rushed into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet in time before my dinner from the night before reappeared in front of me.

I spent all day either in the bathroom or in the kitchen. I mainly just drank water throughout the day, but I forced myself to eat some toast too, which quickly came back up, leaving me shaking and feeling lightheaded. At some point, I had even fallen asleep on the cold, hard bathroom floor tiles. It wasn't a restful sleep, but at least it was a temporary relief from the suffering I was doing while I was awake.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door to my apartment. "Kate?"

I knew that voice anywhere. Darry. I wondered if I could even speak loud enough for him to hear me, but I decided not to reply. Maybe he'll think I'm just sleeping or something. I didn't want him to see me in such a pathetic state, and honestly, I wasn't sure if I was up for having any visitors while I was barely staying conscious and the only thing supporting me was the toilet.

Unfortunately for me, Darry wasn't deterred by my lack of response. I heard a key move around in the lock on my door, and once the door opened, Darry's voice was louder and clearer. "Kate? You home?"

Luck was not on my side, because at that moment, my stomach rolled, causing me to retch into the toilet for the hundredth time. I didn't even have any food left in my system, so I felt the acid burning my throat on its way out. I felt a hand rubbing circles on my back as I resting my forehead on the toilet seat, letting the coolness seep into my skin.

"Let it out, darling," Darry soothed.

"There's nothing left," I mumbled. I tried to take a few deep breaths, but the awful smell made me gag again. This time, nothing came out, so I flushed the toilet and prayed the smell would go away.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" Darry asked worriedly.

I turned my head so I was looking at him and my cheek rested against the porcelain. "Last night, but it's getting worse."

Darry felt my forehead with the back of his hand, then the back of my neck. His cool skin felt nice against mine, so when he retracted his hand, I couldn't help but whine a little. "You have a fever, babe. Did you take anything for it?"

I shook my head. "Nothing stays down anyway."

He gave me a sad smile. "You should still take something."

As Darry rummaged through my medicine cabinet, I moved so I was lying face-down on the tiles again to alleviate the warmth that was radiating from me. My actions seemed to worry Darry, because he set the bottle of aspirin on the vanity and knelt in front of me. "Kate, I need you to stay awake long enough to take some aspirin, drink water, and get something in your stomach."

I groaned in reply. "I just want to sleep."

He gently moved some of my hair behind my ear. "I know sweetheart, but you need to do a couple things before going back to bed."

"I want to sleep here," I stressed. My bed was going to be too warm for me to get any rest, but the bathroom floor was blissfully frigid.

He let out a sigh. "You can't sleep on the floor, Kate."

I smirked at him from my spot on the floor. "You wanna bet?"

Darry laughed a little at that. "Okay, you shouldn't sleep on the floor."

"It feels good though," I reasoned, although my voice still sounded like a whiny little kid.

Darry sat on the floor next to me, looking like he was thinking hard about something. He'd never seen me sick with something besides a minor cold, so I had a gut feeling he was getting more concerned as time went on.

"Can you take some aspirin with water at least?" Darry offered, his voice sounding more worried than before. "I bet you're dehydrated if you've been getting sick all day."

I nodded, the movement requiring more energy than it should have. "Probably."

Darry filled a glass with water and handed me a few aspirins. I usually only take one or two aspirin tablets at a time, but I must have looked pretty awful for him to give me so many. I put the aspirin in my mouth and forced myself to drink water. When the liquid hit my stomach, I immediately felt like I was going to be sick, so I crawled over to the toilet and wrapped my arms around it.

Darry rubbed circles on my shivering back as I dry heaved. "Let it out if you need to, Kate."

"You… you told me to… drink water," I stammered between dry heaves. "Need to keep… water in."

"Yeah, but don't hold it in if you're going to get sick," Darry said softly.

Make up your mind Darry. Can I vomit, or not?

As time passed, the circles Darry was rubbing on my back started to feel soothing, making me almost comfortable enough to fall asleep. As I focused on Darry's touch, I realized that he felt warm instead of cold like he had been before. Did Darry change temperature, or me?

"Kate, you're shivering," Darry answered my silent question. "You should get to bed and warm up before you get too cold."

It sounded like a good plan, but all of my energy had leaked out of my body along with my body heat. "Can't move," I muttered.

Wordlessly, Darry positioned himself to pick me up like he's done before, and I wrapped my arms limply around his neck. As he stood up with me in his arms, the sudden change in elevation made me feel sick, but I refused to throw up again, so I squeezed me eyes shut and leaned against Darry's chest.

"I got you, baby," he cooed.

He brought me into my room and placed me on the bed, where I immediately wrapped myself up with the sheets. While I was trying to get warm and comfortable, Darry grabbed the blanket from the living room and covered me with it. Even though I was cocooned in fabric, I was shivering like it was twenty degrees in my apartment.

The bed shifted, and I realized Darry laid down next to me and pulled me close to him.

"You should go," I said, my teeth chattering as I spoke. The hurt and confused look he gave me hurt my heart, so I knew I had to explain myself. "I don't want you getting sick because of me."

Darry seemed to realize his wellbeing was my only concern because he gave me a small grin. "Don't worry about me, alright? I want to make sure you're okay."

I wanted to argue, but even more than that, I wanted to fall asleep. Hopefully when I wake up, I'll feel better.

I was sick for a total of three days, and Darry took care of me the whole time. I was thankful for him, especially since he spent the whole weekend with his sick girlfriend who did nothing but vomit, complain, and sleep, but I wished he didn't have to miss a shift of work because of me. When I told him so, he looked at me like I was crazy.

"Kate, I needed to stay with you, and more than that, I wanted to," he assured me. It was Sunday night, and we were sitting at my kitchen table, eating the soup he made. Both of us had to work the next day, so I was soaking up the last bit of time I had with Darry before he went home for the night. "Besides, how else would you have eaten anything or even get to the bathroom? You couldn't hardly walk until this morning."

He spoke the truth, but I was stubborn and didn't like to admit I would've been at a loss without him. "I could've crawled."

Darry gave me an incredulous look, then he laughed. He wrapped an arm around me. pulled me against him, and kissed the top of my head. "You're so cute when you're being ridiculous."

I pulled away from him and gave him a glare. "Excuse me?"

He gave me a big smile. "And even more beautiful when you're being feisty," he said before pulling me into a kiss.

I reciprocated the kiss, knowing that I couldn't actually be mad at him. He did take care of me all weekend, after all.