PART THIRTY SEVEN
The afternoon went on much the same, with the boys taunting me and intentionally trying to get me wet. I was fuming, but at the same time, it was kind of fun. Maybe not the kind of fun I would normally sign up for, but by the end I was laughing like everyone else, my mind completely off my report.
“So we’ll all go get changed and go for a meal in the hotel restaurant?” one of the guys asked.
“Yeah sure,” Aston said, grabbing my arm and dragging me towards the elevator, “Meet up down here in an hour?”
“Yes!” Everyone chorused.
The pair of us took the elevator up to our room, a silence hovering between us as the elevator started up.
“That was fun, wasn’t it?” Aston asked me as we passed the fifth floor.
“I can’t believe you chucked me in the pool.”
“Oh Princess Jessica, learn to live a little,” he laughed.
“I’m not a Princess.”
“You could be,” he grinned.
“Stop it,” I sighed.
“Just admit it was kinda fun.”
“It was alright,” I said, as the elevator dinged open. We went our separate ways once we’d gotten to our room, off to get ready for our meal and a potential night out. I grabbed out a summery dress and laid it out on my bed as I had a quick shower. Once rinsed off from the pool, I pulled my dress on and then dried my hair, digging around for a hair band to tie it back with.
“You almost ready?” Aston called, knocking on my door.
“Yeah! Just doing my hair,” I replied, as my door swung open.
“Your hair looks fine like that,” Aston said, “Let’s go.”
“I want to put it up.”
“I like it down,” he shrugged, “Come on.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, but gave in and left my things as they were in the bathroom. To be fair, I just didn’t have the energy to argue with him. I was feeling rather exhausted at this point, having not slept the night before and then messed around in the pool all afternoon. All I really wanted to do was eat something and go to bed.
I grabbed my bag and slipped on some sandals, and then followed Aston out of the hotel room.
“You ok?” he asked me, as we waited for the elevator.
“Yeah.”
“You look pale,” he said.
“I’m just tired,” I shrugged, “I just need to eat and I’ll be ok.”
“You should have slept on the plane,” Aston scolded me, “You’re too much of a workaholic.”
“I know,” I sighed, avoiding an argument again. I was saved by the elevator as it dinged open, an older couple already standing in it. I went over and stood in the corner, leaning against the wall as we made our way downstairs. My head starting to spin slightly at the motion of going down.
I stayed quiet throughout the meal, my head feeling light as I picked at my food.
“You sure you’re ok?” Aston whispered to me at one point, his arm around the back of my chair as he whispered quietly to me.
“Yeah,” I lied. In all actuality I felt pretty horrible, and was quickly getting worse. But I wasn’t the kind of person to admit weakness; I’d never been like that. Aston seemed to read right through it though, as he shook his head at me and turned to speak to the others for a second.
“We’ll get you upstairs in a few minutes,” he said when he’d turned back to me, “I’ll just sort out the bill.”
I nodded gently, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes to regain some composure. “Make sure you’ve eaten enough,” I said quietly, looking over at his plate. He looked about half done with his food and as I stared down at my own plate I noticed that I hadn’t touched any of my food. Just looking at it made me feel sick!
“Come on,” Aston said, pushing his chair back.
“You’re not done,” I protested feebly.
“I’ll order something up.”
“No you finish that,” I said.
“Jess,” Aston sighed with exasperation. I looked up at his annoyed face and decided I best give in. He grabbed hold of my arm as I moved to stand up and then wrapped his arm tight around my back to steady me. I was definitely feeling light-headed now, and without his support I probably would have fainted to the ground.
The others chorused a good night and get better to me, and then Aston led me out of the hotel restaurant and back up to our room.
“Go and get on your comfiest pajamas,” he said as he led me into my room. I sat on my bed for a minute, thinking about it, before stumbling over to the toilet to be sick.
“Ast!” I cried out as I sat slumped on the bathroom floor, I was too weak at this point to even be able to stand up.
He came jogging into the room, tutting when he saw me there. I was sick again, and then he helped me stand up so I could clean my teeth. Instead of leaving me to get changed myself he sat me on my bed as he went through my things to pull out something for me to sleep in, helping me change as tiny tears leaked from my eyes. I felt absolutely miserable; whatever the sickness was had hit me like a truck.
“You’re so hot,” he breathed out, “Maybe we should take you to the hospital.”
“I just want to sleep,” I sighed.
“Jess…”
“Please,” I replied, “I promise I’ll tell you if it gets worse.”
“Ok,” Aston said, his eyes catching my own as he quickly wiped my tears away. “Come on then,” He said, helping me to my feet again and guiding me out of my room, his arm tight around my back.
“What?” I asked as he led me over to his big bed.
“I’m going to open the sliding door to the deck, so you can get lots of fresh air,” he said as he helped me climb into the bed. “It’ll be much better than your little room with just the window. The air con will just make it stuffy in there.”
“Thanks,” I said, laying down and closing my eyes. My head was spinning and I could hear Aston bustling around. “You should go out with everyone,” I said as he placed some water down next to me.
“I don’t think so,” he said, “We’re in a foreign country, and if you do need the hospital I’d rather be here.”
“I’m sorry,” I said sadly.
“Just get some sleep,” Aston said, “I’ll be in the main room watching TV or something if you need me.”
“Can you watch in here?” I asked after a second.
“But…”
“It’ll soothe me.”
“Sure,” Aston replied. I heard him moving about some more and then the lights flicked off and the TV switched on, the bed dipping down as he climbed in on the other side. Pretty soon I fell into a restless sleep, shivering with fever.
PART THIRTY EIGHT
I awoke a few times over the course of the night. The first time was to be sick yet again, the others were just because I was uncomfortable—either too hot or too cold. Every time I got up Aston was there to help me out, and every time he insisted that we head over to the hospital. I declined every offer, saying I just wanted to sleep.
Just as the sun was rising the next morning my fever broke and I was able to chug down two large glasses of water, instantly starting to feel better.
“Maybe you’re just dehydrated?” Aston asked me, as he sat and rubbed my back while I tried to take down a third glass, “Flying can do that to you. And we are technically in the desert.”
“Whatever it was, I never want that to happen again. I actually thought I was dying there for a few minutes.”
“Well let’s make sure you’re drinking lots of water today and I’ll order up some fruits and toast for you in a little bit. Maybe you should try and sleep some more for now though.”
I nodded my head and curled up back in his bed, my eyes falling instantly shut. I wasn’t sure if Aston had any sleep the whole night, but he seemed content to lay on the other end of the bed with the TV switched on.
By noon I was awake and starving. I climbed out of the bed and stretched out, going to refill my glass with more water. I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I clocked Aston flat out asleep on his end of the bed, his back up against the headboard and the remote still in his hand.
Leaving him to sleep I wandered out into the main part of the hotel room and grabbed up the room service menu, ordering a late breakfast for the pair of us as well as a pot of coffee and some fresh fruit.
While I waited for it I went and rinsed off in the shower, pulling on a bikini and sundress when I was done. I had heavy circles under my eyes from not sleeping much the last few days, and no matter what I did my hair was still kind of a mess even after washing it. Giving up I pulled my hair up in a high bun and ignored any makeup, heading out to the main room when I heard a knock on the door.
“What’s this?” Aston asked me as the room service was wheeled in.
“Food,” I shrugged, handing over my credit card to pay.
“But, you could have just put it on the room.”
“It’s my thanks to you,” I said quietly, “For helping me out last night.”
“You feel better now?”
I nodded my head, “I’m just tired now, I didn’t really sleep that well.”
“No,” he said, “You were tossing and turning all over the place.”
“Sorry,” I grimaced, “I hope I didn’t keep you up.”
“I would have worried if I were in the other room regardless,” he said with a light shrug, going over to inspect the food. He seemed completely honest with that statement and I couldn’t help but feel a tiny pang in my heart at his sweetness. “We should eat this on the deck,” he said.
“Ok.”
We grabbed our food and carried it outside, sitting out on the deck and enjoying the sun as we filled out stomachs. I took it easy, sticking with toast and some fruit, as I didn’t want to get sick again. I made sure to chug down lots of water, and then hazarded a cup of coffee at the end.
“Want to go to the pool?” I asked Aston.
“You up for that?” he responded, “I don’t want you to push too hard if you aren’t feeling 100%.”
“I figure I can have a nap on a sun lounger,” I replied, “It looks like a fabulous day.”
“Ok then,” he said, “I’ll text the others and see what they are up to.”
“Sure.”
We grabbed our things and headed down to the big pool, lying out in the sun on two sun loungers where I instantly fell asleep. It felt nice to lie in the sun, a light breeze blowing over my shoulders and the soft sounds of the pool lapping against the sidewalls. Aston must have fallen asleep too, because the one time I got up to drink more water he was laying with his head facing the other direction, not moving a muscle.
I woke up again awhile later to soft voices talking around me; the girls must have finally arrived from wherever they had been.
“Someone should wake Jess up and have her put on some sun cream,” one of the girls said, “She’s going to burn up.”
“Don’t wake her,” Aston said, “She didn’t sleep at all last night.”
“She was that sick?”
“Yeah,” he replied, “I’m honestly shocked she made it out of bed at all today. Think she was really badly dehydrated. To be fair we should have taken her to hospital, but she insisted on sleeping it out.”
“Well she still needs sun cream,” the girl pointed out.
“Can one of you?” Aston said.
“You’re the boyfriend,” the girls giggled, their voices drifting away.
I heard Aston mumbling to himself for a minute and then the sound of the sun cream squirting out of the bottle. I don’t know why I continued to fake being asleep, my eyes shielded by my big sunglasses, but I did, allowing Aston to slowly rub the cream onto my back and shoulders. I guess it was too nice to make him stop, especially when his hands slipped under the strap of my top and gently massaged in the cream, sending tiny shivers down my spine.
He seemed a bit hesitant to do the backs of my legs, but pretty soon I could feel his fingers softly massaging the sun cream down my calves, my body completely at ease.
Inwardly I was completely shocked with myself. This was the second time in just a few hours that I’d had actual feelings towards this guy… That wasn’t supposed to be how things were! In fact, it was completely and utterly against the rules!
Pushing this thought to the back of my mind I tried to zone back off to sleep, failing miserably when there was a big splash the sent water onto my back.
“What the?” I mumbled, pushing myself up.
I turned to see Aston hiding a smile as one of the other boys swum around in the pool. He’d obviously splashed us on purpose.
“Don’t start!” I laughed, poking Aston’s shoulder as I repositioned myself so my front was facing the sun. “Pass me the sun cream?”
“Oh… Uh…” Aston said, his cheeks going pink.
“What?”
“I put it on you a few minutes ago.”
“My front?” I asked.
“No just your back,” he said, avoiding any and all eye contact with me, “Didn’t want to wake you.”
“Well thanks,” I shrugged, trying to avoid an awkward moment. I didn’t want him to catch me out that I was in fact awake the entire time. Slowly I put some sun cream on my front half, popping my sunglasses over my eyes as I attempted to even out my tan a bit.
“You think you’ll be ok for the New Year’s Eve party?”
“Oh my god, that’s tonight, isn’t it?” I asked Aston, shocked at how time was flying.
“Yeah,” he said, “If you don’t feel well enough I don’t want to push you, just trying to plan things out.”
“I think I can handle it,” I replied, “If I get a bit of a late afternoon nap in and I avoid alcohol at all costs.”
“Cool,” he said, a soft smile on his lips as he looked over at me. That pang shot through me again and I couldn’t help but yell at myself again. What the hell was wrong with me?