The Destitute Queen || h.s. au

7. Milena

           

^^^Ben

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December 11th, 1559

I wake up to the sound of harsh coughing, and my eyes quickly open. I look out the window to see that it's still dark, and I sigh. I reluctantly get out of bed and grab the glass of water on my dresser, heading into the room next to mine. There, I see Alec comforting Ben, who's been sick for a week now. I notice that Alec has lit two candles on the nightstand separating his bed and Ben's. I walk over to them and Ben sits up, his coughing subsides. I sit on the bed beside him and Alec, giving him the glass of water. Ben immediately takes it and gulps down every last drop.

"Slow down," I chuckle. "You don't want to feel all that water sloshing around in your stomach, do you?"

"Oh, oops," he sheepishly grins. "I'm sorry I woke you guys. I just couldn't help it."

"Don't worry about it," Alec assures him.

"Yeah," I agree. "I'm glad you woke me, in fact. You saved me from a bad dream."

His smile brightens. "Really? Well then, you're welcome."

"How are you feeling?" I ask. Normally whenever one of us gets sick, it's over within a couple of days, but this is different somehow. He's been sick for a week and he's not showing any signs of getting any better.

He shrugs. "Not that good, my head is pounding and I can't get rid of this stupid cough. Oh, but I don't feel nauseous anymore!"

"That's good!" Alec fakes excitement. I don't want to tell Ben that not feeling nauseous is a very bad thing, Alec and I both know that. It means whatever's making him sick isn't leaving his body.

"Are you feeling cold? I can get you another blanket," I offer.

"Actually, yeah," he replies. "I feel really warm but I'm also shivering, so I should probably have another blanket."

I warmly smile. "I'll be right back," I kiss his burning forehead and stand up. We don't have any extra blankets, so I take the one that's on my bed. I rush back to the room that Alec and Ben share, and I notice that Ben has laid back down. I get closer to them and Alec turns to me, shushing me. I realize that Ben has fallen asleep in the few moments I was gone. I gently place the blanket over him and tuck him in, careful not to wake him. Poor Ben, a twelve-year-old boy shouldn't have to go through this. He shouldn't be bedridden, he should be able to go outside and do whatever a normal boy his age does. I look at his face and grab the wet cloth by the bed, dabbing it onto his skin so his temperature doesn't rise.

"Do you think he's going to get better?" Alec whispers, the light from one of the candles reflecting off his sky blue eyes.

I shrug. "I don't know, but I'm worried about him. It's been a week and he hasn't even gotten a little better," I fight back tears.

"Can you go see the apothecary tomorrow?" Alec asks me. "Maybe there's something he can do to help, like make a potion or something."

"You know how expensive that's going to be, right?" I respond. "I don't think there will be anything that can help Ben that's under twenty gold coins."

"We already have ten saved up," Alec points out. "We can work a little extra, we'll probably have twenty in a few weeks. We might be able to pay the apothecary ten for now and pay the rest later."

I sigh. "Alright, I'll go tomorrow when I have my break," I say, and Alec smiles.

"Thank you," he says. "I'd offer to go but, ever since Rose said she's too old to work anymore, there's no one else to run the bakery."