Nightspell || Michael Clifford

Chapter 24

A deep, satisfied sigh left my mouth as I opened my eyes.
I smiled, finding Michael asleep on the blanket on the floor.
Sitting up, I grabbed my legbrace and strapped it on my leg.
It squeaked as I stood up and walking with it was more difficult than yesterday, I'd have to ask Michael if he could put some more coconut oil on it later.
I quietly walked passed Michael and out of the cabin to find myself a new hole to pee in.
Looking up to the sky, I frowned.
The sun was pretty high up in the sky already.
Why did we sleep in? That was a little unusual wasn't it?
I shook it off and sat down in the sand to dig a hole, still wondering if maybe something was wrong.
We always get up pretty early, what makes today any different?
I pulled my underwear down and sat down over the hole to pee before getting back up. I moved a little bit of sand inside the hole, just enough to cover my pee and walked back to the cabin.
It'd probably be best if I woke Michael up. Maybe he just overslept. It's easy to do that when you don't have a way to check the time.
Walking back into the cabin, Michael was still fast asleep.
I debated for a minute if I really should wake him up but eventually decided it was probably the best idea.
Something felt off and I didn't like it.
Carefully, I sat down on the floor and shook Michael's shoulder.
No reaction.
I shook his shoulder again, a little harder this time and he groaned as he turned his face away from me.
'Michael? Wake up.' I whispered.
He hummed quietly but didn't wake up.
'Michael. You need to wake up, we've slept away our entire morning.' I said, louder this time.
Michael sighed and lifted his head up.
'What?' he asked looking out the door to see it for himself.
'I'm not an expert when it comes to checking the time by looking at the sun but it's definitely higher than it was all the other mornings I've spent here.'
Michael sat up and rubbed his eyes before groaning and putting his hand on his head.
'I have the worst headache.' he sighed as he stood up and got dressed. 'Have you had breakfast yet?'
I shook my head and leaned against the wall to stand back up.
'I just went to pee, realized it was late and came back to wake you up.' I replied.
Michael nodded, rolling back his shoulders and grimacing a little.
'Are you okay?' I asked.
Michael pulled his shoes over his feet and shook his head. 'Not really, but I can't stay in bed all day so let's just quickly go do what we need to do and head back.'
'Are you sure?'
Michael looked at me, smiled and nodded. 'Absolutely. Come on, let's get this over with.'
He took my hand and dragged me to the back of the cabin where we ate some breakfast.
'Do you have more coconut oil somewhere?' I asked as I put a strawberry in my mouth.
Michael shook his head as he forced himself to eat a banana. 'No, but we can make some later. Is your leg brace being annoying again?' he asked.
I nodded. 'I can still walk with it but it's protesting a little.'
Michael sighed and threw away the last few bites of his banana, his hand resting on his stomach. 'I'll fix it for you later.' He smiled, trying to hide away the fact that he didn't feel well but I could see right through his lies.
'Are you sure you feel good enough to do this? I can try it on my own?' I suggested.
Michael shook his head and took my hand in his again. 'I'm good, it's probably just something I ate.'
I shook my head, not believing a word of what he was saying but I left it alone anyway.
We walked to the top of the island to set the fishtrap and by the time we got there Michael was sweating as if he had just ran a marathon.
'Michael?' I said as I watched him struggle to put the rocks into place. He looked at me shortly before he focused back on the rocks.
'I think you need to go back to the cabin. You're clearly not feeling well.' I continued, knowing he'd hear me.
Michael walked back onto the beach and shook his head stubbornly.
'We have too many things to do, I can't afford to spend the day sleeping.'
I put my hand on his forehead and frowned 'You have a fever. You need to go back and get some rest.'
A short silence fell between us, he seemed to be struggling with something but he snapped out of it a few seconds later.
'Where do you want to go next? Teartrees or berry bushes?' Michael asked, completely changing the subject.
I shook my head and was about to repeat that we had to get back to the cabin when he interrupted me.
'Teartrees it is.' He said. He lifted his hand to grab mine but decided against it and started walking.
I sighed but followed after him.
The short walk to the teartrees was silent. The only thing we could hear was the singing of a few birds but he didn't pay attention to it.
He seemed to be set on one single goal, getting to the teartrees as quickly as possible.
I was out of breathe and sweating a little myself when we reached the teartrees and stood still beside Michael.
He wiped some sweat of his forehead and looked at the trees in front of us.
His breathing had gone a little irregular and it wasn't until he looked at me that I became truly worried.
I couldn't really put my finger on what it was but he looked sick.
'Bailey,' Michael said as his breathing quickened. 'Step back.' He put out his hand as if that would actually stop me.
'Don't be ridiculous, you need to get back to the cabin. I'm not going to stand around and watch you push yourself like this.'
'No, stay the-.' He started, but before he could finish his sentence he threw up.
'Stay there.' Michael mumbled as he put his shaky hand on the floor to stabilize himself.
I stayed where I was and turned my head as he threw up two more times.
When I looked back at him, he was sitting up, his breathing heavy and fast and his mouth still hanging open.
He was trying to cover up the vomit with dirt and leaves and I walked up to him.
He looked at me and sighed. 'Make sure you don't touch the vomit. Whatever it is that's bugging me, I don't want to infect you with it as well.' He mumbled.
I nodded and helped him get up.
'Let's go back to the cabin now. I think you've done enough for the day.'
Michael didn't reply but we did start walking towards the cabin.
Once we got to the cabin Michael went to lay down on the floor and I shook my head.
'Michael, it's the middle of the day. I'm not going to sleep any time soon. Get in the hammock.'
He looked at me and sighed, before getting in the hammock and closing his eyes tiredly.
'You have to stay here though.' Michael mumbled. 'I don't want you going into the woods on your own. If something happens I won't know and I can't help you.'
'Here drink some water.' I said, ignoring everything he just said.
Michael did as I said, but was more alert than I had hoped he'd be.
'Promise me you'll stay here. I'm not going to sleep unless I know you're not going to get yourself in trouble.' He said.
'Alright, I promise. Now get some sleep.' I replied, feeling his forehead once more to find it was burning hot.
'Maybe we should get you to a doctor.'
Michael opened his eyes immediately and shook his head. 'I think it's just a fever. It'll pass.'
I sighed and walked to the threshold of the cabin.
'Alright, sleep tight then.'
Michael watched me as I grabbed one of the books and sat down.
'Goodnight.' He mumbled and turned around to go to sleep.