Actions Speak Louder Than Fortune Cookies

46 - Respect George

Sebastian slowly awoke to a blaring noise coming from near his head. He opened his eyes blearily and saw his phone lighting up. His muscles ached and his whole body was sore, but he reached for the phone to see his 4:00 an alarm going off.

He turned it off and laid there for a moment, contemplating his options, but he decided since it took all his energy to even turn off his alarm, that he wouldn't be able to do much else today. So his next energy sapping move was to call Kevin and call off for the day.

Kevin could just hear in his voice that he was definitely feeling run down. He told him to feel better soon and keep him updated on how he was. Sebastian hung up quickly after and immediately fell back to sleep.

Sebastian didn't sleep very well through the night and early morning. His nose was all stopped up so it made it hard to breathe. And since he couldn't breathe through his nose, his mouth was open way more so now that was dried out. Sebastian just felt like a complete and utter mess.

His entire morning was a blur.

At one point Rylee came in, asking if he called Kevin. He said yes and fell back asleep.

A little later he remembered hearing the door open and something clink on the table, but he didn't have enough energy to will himself to fully wake up and see what it was.

He coughed himself awake. But barely remembered it happening. Giving way to sleep again.

His phone ringer went off but he didn't move to answer it, hearing the chime cease. And back to sleep.

The next time he woke, he looked at the bed side alarm and saw the time said 9:00. It didn't feel like 9:00. He wasn't sure if it felt like it was earlier or later. But it didn't feel like 9:00.

The next thing he knew, he was looking at the clock and it was 11:23.

What?

He hadn't realized that Rylee was the reason he was waking up right now. She was rubbing his shoulder gently and he looked up at her wearily. "Hi."

"Hey bub, how you feelin'?" Rylee questioned, placing the back of her hand on his forehead again, still a bit warm.

"Eh."

"Yeah, you look 'eh'," She chuckled, "here. Take these." She handed him two orange DayQuils and a glass of water.

He took them and popped them into his mouth, and slowly drank the entirety of the glass she handed him. He didn't realize how thirsty he was.

"I'll be right back," Rylee patted his knee and took the glass out with her.

As she left, Sebastian tried to push himself up, but only made it a short distance, half sitting up against the headboard behind him. He reached for a tissue and blew his nose hard, grossed out by his own self. He ended up needing another one.

Rylee walked back in, glass completely full with water again, setting it on the side table. Sebastian chucked his tissues into the waste basket beside him. He leaned back against the headboard, trying to breathe through his nose but to no avail.

"This might be silly but it also might help," Rylee said, holding up something else that Sebastian didn't see her bring in. It was a teeny four inch tall plastic cactus.

He looked at her with utter confusion. Am I sick and high?

Rylee laughed at the face he made, "It's a mini humidifier. It's not going to solve all the worlds problems but maybe if it's on this side table near your head, it'll help a bit." She shrugged, hitting the on switch on the bottom of it and it's little clear flower on top began to change colors, pushing out a light mist.