Quarantine - {Kaylor}

Thirteen

A/N: I keep my promises, so worry not.

***

I'm pulled from slumber by a shift on the bed. Taylor is usually a peaceful sleeper, so the motions catch my attention and I slowly open my eyes and try to adapt them to the darkness of my bedroom. It's warmer than the usual under the covers and I sneak my arms out looking at the window.

My curtains are open, creating a show out of the heavy rain pouring outside, followed by distant silver lines of lightnings in the sky of New York. I enjoyed rainy nights like this, it always gave me a sense of cleansing and comfort from the safety of my home, and the fact that I wasn't alone made everything feel even better. The soothing sound of droplets against the glass is cut short when I feel the same shift on the bed and turn around to meet Taylor sitting up.

I stare at her in silence, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes in confusion. She runs a hand through her hair and at that exact moment we both flinch to a loud thunder outside.

"You alright?" I rub her back up and down earning a tired sigh from the woman.

"Yeah, just thirsty," she lets out in a deep and hoarse voice, "sore throat."

Not waiting for a response, she quietly leaves the room and walks to the kitchen in slow steps. I look at the nightstand at her side of the bed and spot her water bottle completely emptied.

Another thunder startles me, making me sit up and reach for my phone to check the time. It's still three in the morning and Joe Joe sleeps peacefully in his little bed, not bored by the storm outside.

Knowing I was already too woke to go back to sleep now, I grab the nearest hoodie and go after my best friend. She's standing in front of the counter with a glass in her hands and tired eyes looking down. Internally, I was trying my hardest to shut up all the voices in my head that insisted to ask 'what if this is...'

"Hey," I approach her and carefully take the empty glass from her hands, "Tell me what you're feeling."

Taylor looks up at me and the beads of sweat on her forehead make me gulp in fear.

"I think it's laryngitis again," she sighs and makes a face when meeting my piercing eyes staring at her, "Karlie, it really hurts to talk right now."

"Ok, sit down."

Something in my voice makes her instantly comply. She takes a seat at the table and I try to quickly prepare a homemade medicine drink my mother always made me when I had a sore throat. 

"Dink it," I say placing a cup in front of her.

She eyes it suspiciously, but takes the cup anyway and gulps down the mixture with no hassle. I stare at her wide eyed, earning a confused look.

"What?"

"That had vinegar in it. It smells and tastes like shit, but you didn't flinch," her silence is enough of an answer. "We should call your doctor."

"No, that's really not necessary-"

"Taylor, don't argue with me on this okay? You're showing some serious symptoms and I think we should get tested."

"Tested!? Babe, it's just a flu."

"You've barely eaten all day, you've completely lost your senses of taste and smell, not to mention your headaches and," I place a hand on her forehead just to prove my next point, "Jesus, you're burning right now."

"Stop that!" She swats my hand away and gets up from her seat, "Don't be paranoid. I'm going back to sleep."

Taylor makes her way around the table and I watch as she climbs down the steps out of my kitchen. Her walk is cut short when she pauses and places a hand on the wall for balance as she looks to the floor.