Friend Of The Dead

Tears Out Of A Doll's Eyes

"Did you cough? Should I get you more soup?" I sighed.

To be honest the last few days weren't all that great—or healthy. Apparently, my defense system is not strong enough to fight off the sickness that comes with standing in the rain in the middle of the night. After we came back from visiting Jacob and his friends a fever spread through my body, and soon my throat hurt and my voice became scratchy, and I couldn't breathe in through my nose for the life of me. Of course, Bella wouldn't question how I became this sick in the matter of a day, but Charlie had many questions.

He watched my shivering form on the bed and Bella's concerned one standing on the side with suspicion. At some point I started to shiver from a source of coldness only I could feel, and they refused to let me pile more blankets on myself because apparently, my fever was out of the roof.

"You really have no idea what could have made you this sick, Bub?" Dad was concerned, he knew that I wouldn't drop like this if it wasn't because maybe I'd stayed out at the cemetery till late at night or if I'd gone diving into a lake or something. He knew we were hiding something, but his concern thwarted his need for the truth.

"Maybe it was---I don't know some classmate of yours or something you caught this bug from?" I shook my head, grinding my teeth together to stop them from chattering. Bella didn't say anything to him either, pretending to be reading the prescription bottles. When it came to people lying to his face, Charlie was like a lie detector. I've learned to bypass this skill of his; Bella, on the other hand, is still a student.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?" In his hand, he held a flyer, and I only caught a glimpse of it as he waved his hand to emphasize, the face of a young man was printed on the paper.

"Dad, don't worry I'll take care of her. You should just go down to the station so you don't make them wait on you."

He sighed but nodded as he tiredly rubbed his hand against his face. Charlie looked years older than he should; all this stress down at the police station was not good for him. Maybe I could help him out once I have enough strength to leave the bed without falling down.

"If anything happens you call me immediately," He pointed a serious finger at Bella and waited for her to nod her agreement. He sent a concerned look towards me before leaving the room. Soon we heard the sound of his police cruiser backing out of the driveway.

I turned to Bella.

"You need me to get you more soup?" I shook my head repeatedly until it felt like my brain was sloshing in my skull.

Bella's solution for any sickness was soup. Chicken soup, noodle soup, tomato soup. Any beverage with soup attached to it at the end was cooked. In the last few days, I haven't consumed any solid food. And somehow we never ran out.

I was so sick of soup.

"I just wanna sleep; I don't know why this cold hit me so hard,"

"That tends to happen when you stand in the rain in the middle of the night," Bella replied as she moved to inspect some of the drawings taped to my wall.

"When will you let that go?" My voice was rough and scratchy and it hurt to even open my mouth, I felt like every part of my body was rotting.

"When you tell me what you were doing," She mumbled as she moved around my room, observing the numerous sketches. Bella rarely gets to look at my drawings or paintings, so this was an opportunity for her.

"I told you I don't know," I turned on my side and coughed.

"Hmm," Was all she said.

"Edward is coming over by the way," She said casually and I froze.