JUSTICE TOUR: THE BACKSTAGE

12: Fever occasion

"You need a shower, alright?"- Hailey said in the sweetest tone as she helped a completely delirious Justin to stand up, almost sustaining his whole-body weight with both her thin arms. He had his eyes only half open and just let his wife guide him to the bathroom as his sight was beginning to blur. Hailey hadn't checked yet, but she was sure his fever was circling 104 Fahrenheit or more.

She stripped his clothes and sat him on the toilet before reaching for the thermometer that sat next to the toothbrush, on the sink. Pressing the small button, she gently coaxed the metal tip inside his mouth, under his tongue. As they waited, Justin shivered in just his underwear and Hailey rubbed his shoulder, trying to calm his shaking down. She got the shower water running before reading his temperature:

"Jesus, Jay"- she whispered seeing the 104,5 Fº on the tiny screen- "Come on, the water will lower this fever"

"I don't wanna shower"- he slurred and rubbed his eyes as Hailey helped him stand up "I'm so cold, babe".

"I know, love. But we need to get rid of this fever and the shower will help. You'll feel much better afterward, I promise".

He nodded but started to sob once she put him into the cool water. The contrast of his boiling skin with the water made him shiver even more that even made his stomach turn.

"C-old"- his teeth shattered as he tried to get out of the water, but Hailey held him there, her heart clenching with pity but she knew that that would help him get.

"Shh, babe. Just a little bit more, okay?"- she whispered, helping him by rubbing his body with her vanilla liquid foamy soap. After washing his hair too, she finally let him get out of the shower, quickly wrapping him in a towel. Justin hugged his body and even struggled to walk as he couldn't contain the shivering.

Hailey got a navy-blue pajama set and quickly dressed him up. Justin finally laid down, pulling the covers up his chin to try and contain the cold. It took him just a minute to curl up in a ball and slowly fall back asleep, exhaustion taking a toll on his whole body.

"Hey"- Scooter whispered, peeking his head inside the room- "Is everything alright?"

"I think we need to call Laura"- she said in a low worried voice, a hand on Justin's forehead- "He's not doing okay".

Just as she finished saying and Scooter excused himself, Justin began to whine, still asleep, like he was having a nightmare. Hailey started to rub his back, but nothing seemed to help, as small painful moans kept escaping his lips.

"B-babe"- he whispered- "I'm cold"

"Sh... Laura is coming, okay?"- she said, rubbing his head and kissing his forehead.

It took Laura no more than 20 minutes to get to Justin's house after Scooter called, but for Hailey, that was worried sick, it seemed like forever. Pattie tried to enter the room multiple times to check on him, but Justin wouldn't let her in.

"Alright, superstar"- Laura said, after slipping some blue latex gloves on- "I'll make you all better, but you need to cooperate with me, alright?"

She gently coaxed the thermometer under his tongue as Justin kept on whining and shivering, completely out of it. He kept his eyes closed but his eyebrows furrowed, indicating he was in actual pain. Laura already knew he was running a nasty fever, she just wanted to check how bad it was. While the thermometer did its job, she placed a blood pressure cuff around his left arm and turned it on, rubbing his cheek to try and make him a bit more comfortable.

"It went up a little"- Laura said, checking on the thermometer and gently pulling it from Justin's mouth- "What did you say it was before? 104,5?"- Hailey nodded, pulling her hair back in worry.