Imperfect love

Chapter twenty

My alarm woke me up. I got up and looked around, only to see that Athena was still sleeping. Who knows what time she managed to go back to sleep.

I went into the kitchen and started making us breakfast. I wanted to do something nice for her, plus I didn’t want her getting up to cook. She was sick, and she deserved to have someone to take care of her.

I made her oatmeal because I didn’t know whether she had a sore throat or not. She walked into the kitchen as I was making tea for both of us.

“Good morning.” I smiled.

“Good morning, you made breakfast?” She smiled back, her voice war raspy.

“Yes, I did, tea with honey and warm oatmeal.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” I said as I sat beside her.

“I’m so glad you made it out of the house before he got to you.”

“Thank you for taking me in even when I haven’t been anything but an asshole to you for the past month.”

“Did you think I would leave you outside to freeze?”

“No, I was almost 100 percent sure you’d take me in. I’m irresistible.”

“Oh, shut up, Alex.” she started laughing, but soon the laugh turned into a cough.

She was coughing , gasping for air, and I rubbed circles on her back. When she finally calmed down, she looked at me defeated.

“You should probably go lay down again. You need to rest.” She nodded and headed towards the bedroom.

I grabbed her keys and made my way towards a nearby pharmacy and the supermarket. I grabbed a few medicines that I knew would help. Then I made my way to the supermarket where I got a few vegetables, oranges and meat, so that I could make soup. She didn’t have anything in her fridge since she had been sick for half a week.

I paid and headed back. I got in and looked around, but Athena was nowhere to be seen, I went to her bedroom and peaked in. She was sleeping peacefully. I watched as her chest moved up and down, and I felt my heart flatter in my chest. She looked like an angel. The covers had fallen off, so I made my way towards her and pulled them over her again, she stirred a little but didn’t wake up. I carefully closed the door and went to the kitchen.

I started making the soup. It was my grandma’s recipe, and she had taught me how to make it before she passed away. It was chicken soup with rice and vegetables.

When the soup was ready, I decided to wake her up, she has been sleeping for four hours. I got into her room and stroked her arm, she stirred in the bed but didn’t open her eyes.

“Athena, you need to wake up and eat something.” She didn’t even half the oatmeal this morning.

She was in deep sleep, so I decided to let her sleep some more. Another hour and a half passed, and I knew I had to wake her up. Otherwise, she would be awake all night.

“Athena, you need to wake up.” I said, stroking her arm, I didn’t want to startle her. “Come on, you need to wake up.” I shook her a little. She hummed, and I kept stroking her arm. “Athena”. She opened her eyes a little and gave me a small smile.

“Just 5 more minutes.” She mumbled and closed her eyes again.

“Fine I’ll be back in 5 minutes, you better be awake.” She hummed in response.

I went to the kitchen and turned on the stove to heat up the soup. I started making fresh orange juice when she walked in.

“Look who’s up.” I smiled and she responded with a frown.