Survivor

33| When Sickness Strikes

He hesitated a moment before letting out a sigh. "Fine, but if you need me I'll be right in the cave. Seriously, don't hesitate to wake me if you need anything."

"Will do." I shot him a reassuring smile as he turned and headed for the cave.

"Damn, you've got him wrapped around your finger," Derek teased.

"Shut up, I do not," I said as a blush spread over my cheeks, "Just patch me up, will ya?"

"Okay," he chuckled, "Keep breathing. I'll try and be fast and gentle."

I squeezed my eyes shut and held onto Derek's torso as he worked. I let my thoughts drift to ease the pain. It didn't take long, and before I could complain too much Derek had already finished. He wrapped gauze around my head, tying it off in place. He also took the time to clean the wound on my arm from yesterday and replace the bandage with a dry one. I couldn't help but notice we were running low on a lot of the medical supplies and vowed to myself to be more careful.

After I was patched up, I sat down by the fire. I wasn't sure why, but after the events of the morning I was feeling dead tired. Wes sat next to me and I leaned against him as I absorbed the warmth of the fire. Some of the other guys gathered around as well and they began talking about random things. I listened for a while, but eventually let my eyes flutter shut and drifted off to sleep.

*********

"Cass." I heard my name being called but wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not. "Psst. Cassie wake  up," a male voice drifted to me.

"Shake her gently Wes. She probably shouldn't sleep that long right now anyway if she has a concussion and dinner is almost ready," Derek said. I was half awake, half still asleep as I listened to them talk. It was very difficult to actually wake up though; Part of which I thought may have been due to my head injury.

I felt a hand on my arm, gently shaking me which helped me come to, and my eyes finally fluttered open. I blushed when I realized I had fallen asleep in Wes's lap. I blinked hard and sat up slowly, looking around the fire noting all of the guys around accept for Jake and Luke. I yawned and stretched, wincing at the throbbing pain in my head.

"Hey Cass. How you feelin'?" Cam asked.

I thought about my answer carefully. I didn't want to worry anybody but they all kept on telling me to be honest with them. "I've been better. My head hurts," I replied honestly.

"Here. I know we don't have any pain killers but try and stay hydrated. It will help," Derek said, handing me some water.

"Thank you. So where are Luke and Jake?" I asked, trying to get the attention off of me.

"They're both really sick. Jake threw up a few times while you were sleeping and Luke went to take a nap complaining of body aches like Jake had," Wes explained.

"Oh no, that's not good. Do you think it's some kind of flu?" I asked. I hated that Jake and Luke were sick. Especially because part of me felt like Jake's illness was worse now that he had to jump into cold water to save me. I remembered how his body shook with the cold which was something very rare for him. He was always hot.

Derek removed a big pot of deer stew from the fire before answering. "I'm not really sure. I hope that if it is, it will only be a 24 hour bug and that nobody else gets it."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" I asked.

"Not really since we don't have any medicine out here. They will just have to stay hydrated and deal with their symptoms. Same as what I'm recommending for you," he answered.