When I woke up, it was still dark. That confused me, since I usually sleep very well, and my bladder didn't tell me to go to the bathroom either. A few seconds later though, I heard what woke me up.
Someone knocked at my door. The knocks were soft, insecure, as if not sure wether to actually wake me up or to to give up, and I knew it must be him. We've stayed at this hotel for two days already, all of us being tired and exhausted from the constant fighting and being on high alert of all the dangers outside, so this hotel was a nice change.
Another knock interrupted my thoughts, and I quickly got up to go to the door.
"What's the matter, Cass?", I asked the red haired Food Soul. Before he could even answer though, I already saw that something was wrong with him. He was bent over slightly, breathing unevenly and holding desperately onto the doorframe, before literally falling onto me.
"I... I'm sorry, I just... I don't... I don't feel so good...", he stuttered, his arms wrapping around me in a measure to not fall down completely. I took a small step back to not lose my balance, giving him as much support as he needed... which was all he could get. I basically had to carry him, there seemed to be no strenght left in him. He smelled like sweat, and I could hear his stomach rumbling loudly.
"Cass, are you sick? Oh no, let's go to the bathroom, quick!", I whispered while starting to half walk with him, half drag him down the hallway, which was luckily short. He didn't even answer, just groaned miserably, and I pushed the bathroom door open with my foot, then sinking down with him on the tiled floor.
He was breathing heavily, beads of sweat running down his face and neck, even though his skin was ice cold. Another rumble from his tummy, then he gagged.
"Come on, dear, let it out, the toilet is right next to you!", I mumbled reassuringly, trying to turn him around. He tried so too, but it was too late. With another, horrible gag that made my heart hurt, he just threw up all over my back. I felt the hot, sticky mass of fluid run all over me, collect itself around me in a puddle, but that wasn't my biggest concern right now. What was worse, was that he cried. A mixture of sobbing, gagging and muffled apologies escaped his mouth, he just couldn't calm down, whole body shaking with every new wave of it, and I wrapped my arms around him closer, stroking gently over his back.
"It's allright, Cassy... just let it all out, then you'll feel better", I whispered, keeping him as close as possible until he finally calmed down, the gagging getting rarer and rarer until it disappeared and made room for the sobbing.
His strong arms were cramped around me, which would normally hurt, but he was way too weak right now. I felt him hide his face in the crook of my neck, feeling hot tears streaming down his freezing cold skin, and couldn't help but hide my hand in his usually fluffy, fox red hair, which was now wet from sweat, and smooth over it.
"You did great... I know you feel helpless and weak now, but you got all of it out, that means, you'll get better soon!", I murmured, not stopping to caress his back and hair. "Let's get you under the shower real quick, while I get you some nice, dry clothes, and then you can sleep? I promise, you'll feel much better."
He just nodded, there was no strenght left in him to say something or disobey. I sighed, unhappily removing his arms from me because I didn't want to leave his side, and then helped him nearly crawl over the short distance to the shower, not even bothering with the clothes, as they were sweaty and dirty anyway. Before I held the shower head over him, I let it run for a bit until I got the water nicely warm, and then held it over him, while he leaned against the shower wall with his eyes closed in exhaustion. He seemed to relax a tiny bit, but I didn't leave him under the water for too long. He wasn't supposed to fall asleep here, in wet clothes on the cold floor. Quickly, I rinsed my dirty hair and back as clean as possible in the short time I took, then I helped him up.
