2020

Chapter Twenty-Four

Floyd took the bottle of pills from his shorts, setting the bottle of water next to it. He glanced to her, seeing beams of sweat across her face, her breathing calm. She didn't bother to move or smile, nor look at him.
"How're you?" Floyd muttered to her, handing her the bottled substance and the pill capsule.
Eileen desperately downed the pills with a groan. She wiped her mouth and shakily put the bottle back. "Horrible."
"Matches your look." He winked, trying to make her smile. He moved his hands to his pockets, grabbing the rag. He picked the water bottle from the nightstand, walking to the bathroom's sink. Floyd doused the rag in water, rung it out, then went back to her, sprawling it across her forehead. 
"Thanks, Romeo." She did grin, but it was faint and faded after a few seconds. 
"If you're tired I'll leave." He said, twisting the cap back on, putting the bottle in it's place.  
"No, no, noo!" Eileen whined, reaching for his hand with a feeble grasp. 
He flinched as he felt her hands, cold. "..Eil." 
"What?" She watched him turn around, so she let go of his hand.
"You seriously aren't doing well." 
"Thanks for the observation?" She smiled again, but stopped as she saw his expression. 
Floyd just stared at her with sympathy. 
"..What?" Eileen winced as she brushed a hand through her own hair.
"I'm sorry." He finally said, hugging her lightly. 
Eileen was confused from the randomness, but soon understood he was regretting fighting with her the night before, calling her a monster, a sickling, etc. He regretted ever having her investigate with her. He wanted to apologize for running into the field with her, finding the barn, getting her shot in a way. Ever meeting her in kinder over a competition of who could sing the alphabet the fastest. 
"Don't start being like this, Floyd. Please." She whined again, frowning as he leaned off.
"I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said last night, I swear." Floyd paced around the bedside, parading his arms around above his head.
"..Stop." She muttered, arching her eyebrows. "It's okay, really. It's in the past, I wasn't even thinking about it, honestly." She sighed, closing her eyes.
"I just feel bad about the fight is all." He calmed down, sitting on the bed near her. Without thinking, he lightly punched her abdomen, Eileen suddenly jolting up with a scream. 
"..Ooh, shit." One, he was nervous the rest would come up, and two, he hurt her. "I wasn't thinking."
"Hnnnngg." She groaned with a wheeze, wrapping an arm around herself. 
Now he felt bad, great. He heard stomping outside, as well as loud knocking at the door. He slowly stood up, unlocking the door. Lara stood there, a fist prepared to knock again. "..I heard the scream." She shrugged, looking past him into the room. "What happened?" She regained eye contact. 
"Nothing, everything's fine." He lied, not wanting to let her in. He spoke through the tiniest crack and every time she tried to squeezed past him, he blocked her. Now, he would've got away with the white lie if Eileen wasn't vomiting in the background. 
"What did you do?" Lara made another effort to push past him, and finally, she broke through, filing into the bedroom with Floyd. 
Floyd sighed, putting his hands behind his head. "Want me to explain?" 
"Yes." Lara sat down on the bed, rubbing Eileen's back to calm her down. Eileen tried to push her away, but her hand was too shaky to complete it. 
"Eileen's sick. Not like, dying sick, but sick enough to be throwing up stomach acid." 
"Why?"
"Ask her, not me. I dunno." He lied again, shrugging his shoulders. 
"Is she.." Lara looked up to him, glaring at him.
"No, no, nooo..No, no." 
Lara gasped and stood up, readying her fist to punch Floyd.
"..She's not, I swear." He backed up, nearly tripping.
"If I let a damned infected near my family, so help me, Floyd!" She yelled, shaking her fist. 
"And if she is, you can kill me once you have proof." It wasn't a good deal, because he knew he'd die in that case.