ricky and nini's realizations

chapter 15

nini's pov

the next morning, i wake up as early as 6am. totally normal for me because i'm such a morning person. i don't remember driving home after getting food with ricky. more importantly i don't remember going to bed last night. that thought immediately removes itself from my mind when a wave of nausea comes over me. i sit for a moment thinking that'll it'll pass, but the moment i feel my stomach turn i sprint into my bathroom. i kneel in front of the toilet and puke for more than a few minutes. my stomach already feels better with the pressure relieved from it, but my body is aching. i immediately hop into the shower to cool myself off and get rid of this gross feeling. then i use my mouth wash to rinse out the awful taste that was left behind before heading back to bed. i feel absolutely terrible. i fall back asleep until i hear my phone ringing. i wake up for the second time today, but feeling much worse. i just let my phone ring because i'm too weak and tired to answer it. it rings again and i let it go to voicemail. then i hear my text notification. i reach out for my phone and see a text from ricky that reads, "i know you aren't asleep this late on a saturday. call me.🤪" i don't wanna talk on the phone right now so i shoot him a text, "don't feel good. see you at school monday." i then lay my phone beside my pillow and fall back asleep in a matter of seconds out of my body's pure exhaustion.

general pov

after reading nini's text, ricky heads over to her house. he skates over to her house with the fall breeze blowing in his face. he approaches her house to see that both of her moms' cars are gone. he goes up to her front porch to prop his skateboard up and knocks on the door. after a few moments nini doesn't come to the door, so he goes to her garage. he types in the four digit code to open the garage. he's had it memorized since they were little kids running around outside playing after school. once the garage is fully open he walks in cautiously because nini doesn't know he's there. he opens the door that connects to the kitchen that is always unlocked. ricky takes a look around the living room in hopes of spotting nini. when he doesn't see her he makes his way up the stairs to her bedroom.

ricky's pov

i'm walking up the stairs to nini's room. i feel bad coming to her house unannounced, but i'm worried about her. i reach her closed bedroom door and lightly knock, "nini?" i don't get an answer, so i slowly push her door open. i see her laying in bed fully submerged by tons of blankets and pillows, her hair wet, and laying on her stomach with her face buried into her pillows. i notice the trash can placed at the side of her bed. i sit down on the edge of her bed and rub her back to wake her up. i'm hesitant to wake her at first though because nobody wants woken up when they don't feel good. she's still not waking up. i'm slowly rubbing her back, "nins, wake up," and i shake her lightly. she starts to move in her sleep, but this girl is just knocked out. i feel her forehead and it's as if her body is literally burning. i go to her bathroom for a washcloth and wet it with cold water. she's laying with her face burrowed into her pillows, so i know have to wake her up in order to place the cold cloth on her forehead. i rub her back again saying, "nini wake up... niniii." she slowly opens her eyes, but doesn't move at all. she's curled up into a ball clenching her comforter. "hey nins, how do you feel?" i know that question seems kind of redundant, but i want to know what's wrong. in her sleepy voice she says, "i puked a lot when i woke up this morning and i just feel really weak and my body hurts." i hate that she doesn't feel good. she seriously looks miserable. "i think you have a fever nins," she just lets out a sigh and pulls the blankets closer to her which i didn't think was possible. i get her to lay on her back and i place the washcloth across her forehead. she just curls back into a ball again. "do you need anything? i can get you food or whatever you might need me to do." she looks too tired to even talk. after a short pause, with her eyes closed, she says, "i'll probably just puke up anything i eat. thanks though. i don't need anything." i don't say anything because i don't really know what to do that could make her feel any better. then she speaks again, "what are you doing here ricky?" i laugh, "oh i kinda broke into your house." she gives a small smile, "why?" she sounds more tired with each word. i wonder if she has the flu. "you said you didn't feel good, so i wanted to check on you. i saw that no one was home and you weren't exactly answering the door." "oh," and with that she lets out a tiny laugh.

nini's pov

i've never felt so tired in my life or felt this sick. when i woke up the first time i thought i ate something bad, but now i think i'm gonna be sick for a few days. and whatever this is i just need to let my body fight it on it's own. i'm so weak that i can feel the energy being zapped out of me when i try to talk. "i don't wanna get you sick, so you should head home," i tell him. i roll onto my side with what little energy i do have. i've kept my eyes closed and snuggled into my bed, so i don't know what his face looks like right now. given that he hasn't said anything yet. i feel my body start to fall asleep again. ricky doesn't respond to me. instead i feel the blanket being lifted up, then ricky's body engulfing me gently. he wraps his left arm above my head to comfortably hold the washcloth against my head, so gravity doesn't pull it off of my hot forehead. his right arm stays behind me as he rubs my back slowly. it relaxes me, but i don't enjoy it for long. i'm asleep in a matter of a couple short minutes once again.

ricky's pov

nini's breathing evens out soon after i lay down with her. i don't care if i get sick. i'm not gonna let her be home alone and this sick. i continue to rub her back although she is asleep. i end up falling asleep after a while from laying there doing nothing. i don't know how long i've been asleep, but i start to wake up as i feel her body shifting. i lift my arms to allow her to move how she wants to. instead of getting more comfortable in her sleep like i thought she was, she starts to wake up. she sits up quickly, "i'm gonna puke." i instinctively lean over the bed as fast as i can my bring the trash can i saw when i came in, in front of her. she begins to puke exactly like she said she would. i see her hair start to fall into her face, so i pull all of it behind her into my hand until she's done. "i'm so sorry you're sick nins." she just pukes some more. which is crazy because her system must be empty by now from all of her puking this morning alone. the puking eventually stops and she just sits for a moment with her head in her hands. i take care of the trash situation and come back with a new liner in the trash can. she's already laid back down. i sit next to her again, "do you wanna try eating some dry food? or is there anything you might need right now?" i ask as i put a washcloth on her forehead. she just shakes her head no. i spend the rest of my saturday with nini as she sleeps on and off. there wasn't much i could do for her, but i wasn't comfortable leaving her at home by herself when she felt like this.