Sam retreated down to the living room and grabbed a book from his suitcase to quietly read as his sick friend was resting in her room.
One hour later, he shot up from his seat on the sofa to the sound of a feminine scream coming from upstairs, "oh, Penny!", his eyes widened in shock as he ran upstairs and entered her room.
He saw the poorly woman sitting up with tears flowing out of her eyes and taking slow, deep breaths to calm her tense state.
"Are you ok, Pen?", the red haired man questioned sympathetically as he walked closer to her, "no, I had a nightmare, achoo, achoo, and I feel worse!", she replied with her scratchy throat, trying to control her stuttering.
He pulled the blonde woman's head towards his chest and rubbed her side to soothe her and reassure her that everything is going to be alright.
"Shh, shh, it's ok, it's ok, everyone gets nightmares and we all fear them, but I'm here now, so there's no need to worry!", the hero next door held her close to him.
Once the sick female had calmed down, she pulled her head away from her friends chest, even though she was enjoying his soft words and warm, strong body.
The lead firefighter could now see that his BFF'S face was looking deathly pale, so he pressed a hand against her forehead to feel her temperature, but rapidly let go after a second, which caused her to furrow her brows.
"Wow, you feel like fire and you look dreadfully pale, so I'm going to take your temperature and then I'll help you into the bath to cool you down!", Sam rambled and she nodded her head in response to rest her sore throat.
He grabbed a thermometer and told Penny to open wide to place it inside her mouth, leaving it there for a few seconds, before taking it out to read what it says.
"OMG! your cold must've turned into a fever, because your temperature is 38.9°C. Your definitely going to need a lukewarm bath now!", his eyes widened in surprise, "yeah, Helen did say, cough, cough, that it would get, achoo, achoo, worse before it gets better, cough, achoo!", she spoke hoarsely.
The hero next door then helped his sick friend get out of bed and he wrapped an arm around her back to support her as he held her hand to help her walk to the bathroom.
Once they had reached the lavatory, he helped her take her pyjamas off and he could feel his dick rapidly pulsating and strongly erecting in his tight trousers from his crushes tempting and sexy curves as she stood in her lingerie, making her blonde hair look radiant.
"Samuel! I maybe ill, but, cough, cough, I'm still aware of my, achoo, achoo, senses, so could you please leave, cough, achoo, before you see my intimate, cough, cough, cough, parts and make things feel, achoo, achoo, uncomfortable!", the blonde woman ranted, interrupting his thoughts.
"Of course, but I'll be sitting on the stairs, so don't hesitate to call me if you need anything!", the red haired man placed a hand on her cheek and filled the tub with cool water, before leaving the room to give her some privacy.
The poorly woman then took her underwear off and sat on the toilet to pee, before getting into the bath and feeling the cool water again her boiling body, making her feel relaxed and rejuvenated.
Forty-five minutes later, she climbed out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around the torso like a dress as she exited the room and sat next to her crush on the stairs.
Sam looked at the woman sitting next to him and softly smiled, "did you have a nice bath?", he questioned kindly, "it was, achoo, achoo, really good!", Penny rested her head on his shoulder and he rubbed her back.
While he was rubbing her back, he could feel something on her body, so he turned around and saw lots of deep cuts on her back that looked like they've been done a long time ago.
"Pen, what are all these cuts on your back?", the red haired man questioned in concern, "when I was twelve, I started, cough, cough, my period and my dad would cut, achoo, achoo, me all over the back, cough, cough, cough, of my body with a knife, saying that I'm a slut for pouring, achoo, achoo, achoo, blood out of my body!", the blonde woman explained about her past in a scratchy tone due to her throat.
She then got up from the stairs and turned her back to her BFF, so he couldn't see her breasts or vagina as she took her towel off, revealling all the cuts on her back, buttocks and legs, causing him to gasp in horror.
"Awww, I'm so sorry, Pen! Come here, I can't believe someone so close to you would do such a terrible thing like that, it's not your fault that you were peeing out blood, all girls do it on their period!", he opened his arms to embrace her into a cuddle once she had put her towel back on.
The poorly woman sat on the hero next doors lap and he cradled her body close to him to give her the love, warmth and security she never got after she hit puberty.
"Can we go back to, achoo, achoo, sleep? My body feels, cough, cough, exhausted and I don't want to sleep on, achoo, achoo, achoo, my own encase I have another, cough, cough, cough, nightmare!", she worried in a hoarse tone.
"Sure, I don't mind sleeping with you, but I don't think the two of us can fit on your single bed!", he estimated the size of both their bodies, "wait here, while I get dressed and then I'll show you!", she slowly got up and went into her bedroom.
Five minutes later, Penny came out of her room wearing a long, baggy nightgown with cotton panties underneath.
Sam got up to link his arm with hers as she showed him to the guest room that had a double bed with Miss Pawdry sleeping on.
"Looks like she's not the only who's tired?", he jokingly winked at his friend, earning himself a playful nudge in the stomach from her as she walked towards the bed to lift her cat into her arms, so they could both get under the blanket and sleep closely with Miss Pawdry curled up on top of them.
Three hours later, the two crushes both fluttered their eyes open, staring into each other for a few seconds, before focusing their eyes on the female cat that was still sleeping on the double bed.
"Good afternoon, how are you feeling?", Sam questioned sympathetically, "I still feel the, cough, cough, same and my muscles are, achoo, achoo, aching like I've been ripped, cough, achoo, apart!", the unwell woman described, feeling the pain in her body with every movement she took.
The hero next door opened the bedside table and gave Penny the oral pills that Helen had prescribed, with a glass of water to keep her hydrated.
Once the blonde woman had taken her pills to help make her pain more manageable, the red haired man got out of bed and lifted her up bridal style to carry her down to the living room, because every millimetre of her body was hurting too much for her to walk.
He placed her on the sofa and she slumped to the side to rest her sore, aching and unwell state, while he was in the kitchen boiling water to make a cup of tea for the both of them.
When the lead firefighter had finished making some simple, normal tea with milk and a teaspoon of sugar, just the way they liked it as they were never keen on SO Steele's fancy scented teas.
He entered the living room, handing his BFF a cup of tea and she curtly thanked him, before he sat next to her with his own cup and she rested her burning head on his shoulder as they sipped their tea in the golden silence, both discreetly blushing bright pink as they were relaxing.
When they had both finished their beverages, the hero next door washed the cups and just as he was about to sit back down, he heard a knock at the and went to open it, revealing a woman with white hair and a blue floral dress holding a basket full of vegetables.
"Hello Annie!", he greeted with a smile, "hello Sam!", she pushed her head to the side so he could see her face and he warmly welcomed her inside.
The farmer walked towards the living room and saw her cousin slouched on the sofa, looking like she had caught the plaque, "hi penny, I heard you were sick, so I brought you plenty of vegetables from my farm to help keep your vitamins up!", she spoke enthusiastically.
She placed the basket on the table to free her arms and carefully hug her poorly relative, who felt like a volcano full of lava.
When the cousins had parted from their hug, the white haired woman sat on the opposite sofa as Sam came into the room and took a seat next to his friend with their thighs touching and the rest of their bodies being pressed closely together.
"How are you feeling, cousin?", Annie questioned caringly, "I feel totally rubbish, cough, cough, and like I'm, achoo, achoo, on fire from my, cough, achoo, fever!", Penny replied with her sore throat.
"You must be really ill if your wearing your nightgown, because you would always wear pyjamas, unless you were hot and wanted to wear something cool and covering!", the farmer remembers her personality.
"That's why I'm here to take care of her and don't worry, I won't stop until she's 100% happy and healthy like before!", the red haired man spoke proudly, "well at least I know she's in great hands with doctor Jones!", the white haired woman teased his caring nature.
"Annie, please stop with the, achoo, achoo, teasing, I'm not in the mood, cough, cough, and my stomach hurts, cough, achoo, achoo, when I laugh!", the blonde woman groaned in agony, "oh, I'm so sorry for unintentionally hurting you, cousin!", she remorsefully apologised.
Sam and Annie talked for hours as Penny wasn't in the mood for talking and just sat there resting her sore and boiling body as she listened to her crush and relative getting along so well, until the hard working farmer had to leave to look after her farm, both of them waving her goodbye as she left.
Once Annie had left, they stayed close together on the sofa with not even a millimeter in between them, until their tummies growled furiously at the same time.
"Hungry?", Sam questioned with a smile and she sighed heavily, "I don't feel like, achoo, eating, but I guess I've got to keep my, cough, cough, energy up. You should make something for both of our, cough, cough, rumbling stomachs and oh, don't forget about, achoo, achoo, Miss Pawdry!", Penny rasped, watching her fury friend run down the stairs.
While the hero next door was cooking a simple meal that would be light and easy to digest, the female cat did her business in the litter tray, before making herself comfortable on her owners lap and snuggled into her as she knew that she wasn't feeling well.
Five minutes later, the red haired firefighter walked into the living room with two bowls of chicken onion soup and a dish of cat food for Miss Pawdry.
He took a seat next to the blonde woman and she gracefully thanked him in her stuffy state for going out of his way to make her something.
They shared the tray as they both drank their soup, loving the wonderful taste and the warm healing powers it had on any sick person.
Once the two firefighters and the cat had finished their food, the hero next door took the dishes into the kitchen to be washed and put away, before returning back to his sick friend.
"So what do you want to now?", he questioned curiously, "how about we, achoo, achoo, watch a movie!", she hoarsely suggested, both smiling at the movie they had in mind.
They rested their heads on top of each other as they watched a movie called love me till I'm dead with a bowl of caramel popcorn and the white and brown cat sitting on their laps.
Halfway through the movie, Penny started feeling nauseous in the pit of her tummy and Sam averted his gaze from the screen to his BFF next to him, knitting his eyebrows at her pale face turning green.
"Are you alright, Pen? Your face is looking really green?", he questioned sympathetically, but she didn't say anything and just pressed her hand against her mouth.
The red haired man knew that she was going to puke, so he grabbed a bin and placed it under her chin as she opened her mouth to empty the soup that she had just eaten.
While the blonde woman was being sick, her best friend massaged her back to ease the pain, until she had stopped vomiting and lied back on the sofa, deeply sighing.
"It's ok, Pen! We all feel pathetic and vomit when were sick!", he placed a hand on her burning cheek to reassure her from thinking too deep and being too hard on herself.
"I feel like an aching, cough, cough, mess that can't hold, achoo, achoo, anything down and I'm, cough, achoo, boiling like fire!", she complained with her hurting throat, taking her nightgown off and she was now in her undergarments.
"How about we call it a night?", the hero next door questioned kindly as he gave her a glass of water to get rid of the taste in her mouth, "that sounds like a good, cough, cough, idea, but can I get a, achoo, achoo, piggy bank, because my, cough, achoo, muscles are still feeling like crap!", the blonde woman rasped.
"Of course!", he lifted her up bridal style and walked upstairs into the guestroom and tucked her under the blanket, before lying down next to her and placing her head on his chest to comfort her as Miss Pawdry joined them on the bed as they all drifted off to sleep.