Coming Home- Scarlett Johansson

Part 29

So Archer does not want a cold shower and she is making that known. She is still huddled against the toilet wall, although she is now just in her shorts after a rather long argument over her staying in my hoody which she had been sleeping in. "Baby, please, you have to cool down or we are going to have to go to the hospital" I try and explain, knowing that such a high temperature can become nasty real quick. She just whimpers, digging her face into my chest even more than it was, as had moved from in front of her to next to her at some point, which had led to her curling back into me. 

Realising there is no way she was going to do this willingly I slip my pyjamas off, leaving me in a sports bra and underwear, before tugging Archer's shorts off so she was just in her underwear, as I turned the shower onto cold. This is going to suck for us both. I give the shower a second, although I don't know why since it isn't exactly going to warm up, before stepping in. Archer let out a very disapproving noise before she started crying into my shoulder again as the icy water rained over us both, making me shiver despite the fact that I am holding my very own personal heater, otherwise known as Archer. 

I stay in the shower until Archer's shivering makes it physically difficult to hold her, trying my best to ignore how cold I am as I focus completely on the clearly very sick Archer in my arms, who is still whimpering although her tears have ended which is making me feel slightly better. When I can't stand the water any longer I step out of the shower, turning the water off as I wrap a fluffy towel around us both, holding another one in my hand for Archer who is still refusing to let me go. Not wanting to upset her more I just hold her close, walking back through to the bedroom.

Dropping the extra towel onto the bed I forcefully pry Archer off of me, which has the crying starting again, my heart breaking at how sick she must be to be acting like this. When I thought she was going to be tough to deal with while sick this is really not what I thought the problem was going to be. The moment I had her off of me, I wrapped her up in her own towel, moving mine so that it was surrounding me, before focusing completely on Archer. Patting her dry quickly before slipping her into a pair of shorts and one of her vests. Normally she dresses herself, but it is clear she is really not up for that right now. 

I move as quickly as humanly possible as I dress in my own pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt, putting on a dry sports bra and underwear as well. As soon as I am done I grab Archer again, who was just laying on the bed sobbing. The second she was in my arms she was clinging to me tightly again, her head in my neck as her cries became muffled against my skin. Bouncing slightly I moved back to the lounge looking for the thermometer again. It's been half an hour since I gave her Tylenol and she just had a fairly long cold shower, so I am really hoping her temperature has fallen, because if it hasn't I am going to have to take her to the hospital to get checked out.

Yet again it takes a lot of precaution to get Archer to look up from my neck so that I could check her temperature. I am oddly relieved to see it is down to a hundred, I mean that is still too warm to be normal but at least it has gone down slightly and we don't have to go to the hospital right this second. Although I will be taking her to see the set medics in the morning to check her over. Although I am starting to think this is the flu. 

Glancing over at the clock I sigh when I see it is now half-four in the morning, a wave of exhaustion passing over me as I look down at Archer, who is still mumbling unhappily into my neck, moving every now and then, showing she is clearly uncomfortable. Standing up, I reposition her slightly, trying to give her some comfort as I walk to the kitchen grabbing a bottle of water. "Archer, baby, I need you to drink this, please," I ask, struggling to unscrew the cap as I juggle holding Archer and opening the bottle, although I ultimately manage. She just shook her head, a displeased huff falling past her lips as she tried to get even closer to me, which believe me is not possible given the way she is clinging to me. "I know, but you need to say hydrated or you are going to feel even worse" I explain, knowing she is smart enough to know all this but is feeling so lousy she is just saying no to everything. "No, sick" she grumbles, clearly unpleased about everything going on. On the plus side, she must be feeling slightly more with it since they are the first words she has said since she woke up.