A thousand nights

XXXI

Getting a cold in the middle of freaking July wasn't my plan for the summer.

However, me being me, I ended up with none other than Bronchitis - yes, a condition that sounded more like an exotic food than what it actually was -  to keep me occupied in the hottest month of the year.

After being confined to the four beige walls of my bedroom for two weeks, even the feeble rays of sun shining gently with the intent of warming up nature, or better the distant echo of nature in a smog filled metropolis like London seemed more appealing than my good old bed.

'Kill me already' I groaned blowing my nose. If people thought that mosquitoes were nasty beasts, viruses were some type of undefeatable hell crawling third party. My brain throbbed and the skin around my nose had become so flaky and irritated that each attempt at blowing my nose seemed to kill each of those epithelial cells. I felt like I had something stuck in my airways  that made breathing, coughing, laughing extremely painful. The silver lining of all this was that I was able to say goodbye to school and responsibilities in the meantime.

'Here's your tea' Luke opened my bedroom's door with his back, he placed the mug on my bedside table, with a pack of tissues. I sat upright, my hand reaching for the white mug.

'You've not been this fast in a while, I think you're finally getting better' he smiled. Luke was in charge of taking care of me, again. 

Dad was off to Morocco this time, the company had sent their employees to a rural area near Casablanca, where they were meant to help the inhabitants who lived under the minimum national wage and raise some money for a small medical clinic. When dad informed me of this I immediately thought of Luke. He was the most suited for this job, and apparently I wasn't the only one who had thought so. The company did want to send Luke, but they concluded that he would rather have the time for his kids.

'To which Luke didn't argue' Dad had informed. Luke was more than happy to take care of me once again, oddly enough he seemed to enjoy my company.

'What are we doing today?' I asked taking a gulp of the beverage in the mug.

'We could watch some movies, we could rent a couple of action-'

'Have you ever heard of a thing called the internet and, I don't know, HD streaming?' I cut him off incredulous, we were not going to rent a film.

'I have Park, but that doesn't mean that I'll let you download movies illegally ' he concluded crossing his arm in front of his chest.

'Oh come on, what is this, the eighties?' I rolled my eyes 'plus do I have to mention that two of your kids have gotten drunk, and they are under eighteen?'I regarded his eyes forming into two slits as I sipped the hot drink.

'Are you calling me a hypocrite?' Luke asked.

'I never said that' I put down the mug ' I'm pretty sure you've done something illegal in your life, we all have' He didn't say anything at that, he just rolled his eyes.

'Good now, pass me my laptop, let's find this movie, shall we?' I smiled 'do you have anything in mind?'

'Avengers' Luke smirked.

'Ow yeah' I breathed, I stopped as the realization finally hit me 'and you know that I've got the DVD for that' I rolled my eyes. Pirating was that big of a deal for him.

'Yep, now, finish your tea and get downstairs I've already prepared the snacks' he commanded getting off my bed. I shook my head smiling.

'Luke?' I called.

'Mhm?'

I didn't stop smiling 'Thank you'

'No way in a thousand years I would like Loki' Luke gasped as the credits rolled on the TV screen.