The next morning I'm unable to move. My body feels like it's been hit by a train. So sore, tender, and painful.
I groan as I try to move a leg out of bed but the pain courses through my body. The excruciating pain holds me down. I try screaming but opening my mouth feels like I'm being attacked with pin needles.
I take a deep breath, but the heaviness from my chest makes me cough. I start heaving, unable to breath. I feel myself trying to gasp for air, feeling like I'm drowning in water.
I'm hoping someone comes in before I pass out. My head feels dizzy and when I see black dots I know I'm going to pass out.
I don't hear anything, but muffled voices. They start to get clearer when I start waking up.
"Oh, she's waking up." I hear Avery's voice. I groan in pain as I try opening my eyes.
"Shh, don't scare her." I hear Jospeh's voice.
I open my eyes and everyone is surrounding me.
"Where am I?" I question and they all turn to Sawyer. His worried expression is pinned on me before he notices everyone is waiting for him to answer.
He awkwardly coughs, "On a hospital bed in my clinic room. You have an IV needle in your arm, try not to move." He says as he looks at the machine I'm hooked up to.
Sawyer pulls out his stethoscope and starts listening to my heart, then my lungs. He asks me to breath a few times to which he hums.
I look at him confused.
"Your blood pressure is high. You passed out." He looks me too deeply in the eye, and I know he isn't telling everyone the whole truth.
I try nodding, but every time I move excruciating pain shoots through my body and I whimper in pain. I hold back tears as I bite down on my lips.
"I've given you pain medicine. The pain should go away." Sawyer whispers into my ear. I lie there unable to move.
"Keep me updated." Evan says before exiting the room.
"Want me to get you anything? Water, food." Jospeh asks.
"She's connected to an IV, dumb ass. She's getting hydrated." Sawyer rolls his eyes.
"No." I whisper to Jospeh and try to smile.
"I'll be here, just call me whenever you need." Avery chimes in and Jospeh nods agreeing with her words.
"She needs rest." Sawyer sternly says and they take the hint and leave.
"It hurts." I cry out, my breathing ragged.
Sawyers sitting by my side. He feels my face for a fever,
"I know." He whispers. "It's going to get worse." He mumbles and I stare at him, unable to react. He gently moves loose curls from my face. I can feel beads of sweat forming.
"What's happening?" I ask.
"Your body is shutting down." Sawyer says, almost painfully.
SAWYERS POV
Its been a few days. Opal is still in the infirmary, getting worse by the second. It's my turn to look after her. Between Evan and I it's not that hard.
I thoroughly wash my hands before heading into the room. Any more infection from outside sources can kill her. Her body is weak.
Evan exits the room and passes by me through the hall, "She's calling for you." Evan informs me, and I nod.
As soon as I enter the room I hear her inaudible whispers.
"Sawyer." She softly whispers.
"I'm here." I sit by her. She reaches out to grab my hand, and she hisses in pain as she moves. She brings my hand to her soft cheek, her cheek burns. I slide my hand to her forehead, the way my mom would whenever Jospeh and Evan were sick as kids.
I take a piece of ice and place it into her mouth. Her tongue licks along my finger and for the first time we're both the same temperature.
Suddenly, she doesn't feel like some random girl next door, but something more. I have to force myself to remember that I can not desire her. She sighs from the cold of the ice and I see her body relax back into the hospital bed.
"More." She croaks, her eyes still closed. I nod and give her more pieces of ice, her breath melting into my fingers, her body so hot and dehydrated and thirsty.
"It hurts, Sawyer." She whispers. "So so much, hurts terribly."
The urge to comfort her with my words wells up in me and I want to know what caused her to be sick. It couldn't have been me, it had to be Whit.
I press my forehead against hers, her skin hotter than mine. We stay like this until the door opens behind us and Evan walks over, his face tightening into a scowl.
There is silence before Opal speaks, "Thank you." She directs to me. Her voice causes Evans frown to soften.
Evan walks over to the bed with a tenderness I thought I'd never seen from him. He pulls the sheet down from Opals body.
"Have you seen this?" He asks. The side of her body is turning black. It's spreading and I don't know how to stop it.
"I've tested it. It's harmless." I tell him.
"It's spreading." He bites back.
"I'll handle it." I snap and be walks out of the room without a sound.
It's been a week. She doesn't have the strength to get up. Her appetite is completely gone. I've managed to make her drink a smoothie with lots of vitamins but she throws it up the moment it touches her stomach.
When I can, when I'm not busy trying to find a cure I'm by her side. I take her hands and fold them into mine and lean close to her ear and whisper to her. I tell her everything I'm doing, that I'm trying my best, that progress is being made. I tell her the stories my father would tell me about his travels. I tell her about the Northern Lights.
I know I'm in love with Opal in these moments. I can feel the way I ache to make her whole again. How if I can just take all her pain away.
I recall the fight Evan and I had.
"I know the girl is sick, but not with what you're telling us." Evan accuses.
"So this isn't about father?" I counter.
"You put him in danger. You put us all in danger." Evan shouts, banging on the desk.
"Nothing happened." I roll my eyes.
"And Opal?" He changes the subject.
"She has a virus. It's eating her." I confess.
"You can't save her." Evan commands.
"I can't just watch her die either!" I shout at Evan.
"And why not?" Evan crosses his arms.
"You won't understand." I grit my teeth.
"Try me."Evan asks. I ignore him. "Why did you go to Grant?" He shoots another question.
"I needed to know what he thought." I say bitterly.
"And did you get your answer." Evan squints his eyes, waiting for me to explode.
"Yes." I don't divulge on what but he eventually sighs.
"If she's contagious she needs to leave. I'm not going to risk losing everyone else." Evan says.
I pound my fist on the desk, the only thing protecting Evan from me.
"She's not fucking contagious."
"Why do you care so much for her? She's not part of the plan." Evan says.
"I love her." Tears threaten to spill out of my eyes.
Evan snorts at my remark, "Love her? You barely know the girl. She's Whits niece, in our book we're supposed to hate them." Evan ridicules, he laughs in my face at the thought of me loving her and I lose it.
My fist flies to his face, anger taking over.
"I didn't expect you to understand. You're a heartless bastard." I stand over him as he groans from the pain.
I don't anticipate him to recover so quickly and his fist flies to my face and I grab onto my face, stunned from the sudden punch.
"She can't die. Trust me." I tell him, tears flowing out, hoping he'll just agree and not ask questions.
He breathes in deeply, eyeing me before his eyes soften and he nods.
"Thank you." I croak, still shaking with anger. I walk out of the room, Opals the first to stand. I catch Jospeh holding her back.
Anger rises knowing there's nothing I can do to save her. I glare at her, hoping she gets that I don't want to see her.
It's been two weeks since that fight. I sit by Opal telling her more stories about the Northern Lights. She has fallen into a fevered sleep, her lips slack, but I continue to whisper into her dreams. As usual I sit beside her, monitoring her vitals. I bring my hand up to soothe back the hair from her forehead. The door opens behind me and my head falls from the interruption.
My eyes grow wide as I see whose by the door: Joesph and Avery.
"Sawyer, have you slept at all? How is she doing?" Avery flies at me with questions.
"Better." I quickly lie and she smiles.
"How is she?" Jospeh takes my place next to Opal, folding his hands into hers just like I've done. Even in her induced sleep she slightly leans her head toward his.
"Opal." He calls out to her, his voice soft. "Opal." He calls out again, this time taking his hand and slightly brushing over her forehead and she groans softly. When he trails his hand down her cheek she presses her face against his.
Watching her reaction to him makes me ache so hard I can barley stand to watch. I stop myself from pulling Jospeh away from the bed, away from Opal. I want to yell at her and tell her that he is not me and she should be responding to me that way. That I'm the one who has been caring for her since the beginning.
But I can't. Between the three of us Jospeh has always been the weaker one and I always felt the need to protect him.
"When will she wake up?" Jospeh asks, his hand still on her cheek. "She's burning up, when will she get better?"
"This is more than just a fever." Avery's accusing tone jumps in.
I ignore them as I write down the machines information.
I take some blood from Opal, when I feel Jospeh harshly turn me to face him.
"Hey, I asked you a question. I'm sick and tired of you and Evan keeping secrets from me. I'm not a little kid anymore, geez."
I stare at him, "I don't know." I think the hopelessness in my voice convinces him. His anger subsides before he nods and walks out of the room.
"It's killing him to see her that way." Avery whispers and she walks out.
For the past few days it's Jospeh by her side and Opal has slowly been getting better. The dark black patches fade each day. But she has yet to fully wake up, instead of sliding in and out of sleep, her mind is just blurred with pain.
I clutch at her and begin to sob. Angry with everything. Angry for Whit poisoning her, angry for all the failed antidotes. Angry for letting this happen. Angry that we have to go into hiding, angry that I can't protect everyone.
This is not a life. This is not the way life should be because I can't fucking fix any of it.
And then I feel a hand on my head and I look up. It's Opal, she's awake. For a moment I wonder if she's confused as to what I'm doing here instead of Jospeh.
"Hey, it's okay. It will be okay, Sawyer." She pulls my head down to her chest and wraps both her arms around me and all I can think is why can't life just stop here and now and leave us the fuck alone.
I hear a shuffle at the door and I look up and it's Evan. He has food for the both of us. He raises an eyebrow at my disheveled appearance. I get up, Opal is back asleep. Her body limp, her arms by her side. I feel as I've imagined the whole thing.
"Anything?" Evan asks, as he reads through her charts.
"What ever I gave her yesterday is slowing down the virus but her body will just get used to it after a while and the virus will be back, this time stronger." I explain.
I've tried so many antiviral medications but each one reacts differently to her blood.
"You need rest. You've been working non stop. Eat. I'll watch her." Evan says.
"I'm fine." I continue working.
"No you're not. You need to eat." Evan says.
Jospeh walks in and I grab the food and head downstairs.
I've had less and less time with her. Jospeh rarely visits her, unable to see her the way she is.
Her face pail, her lips purple, life being drained from her small body.
I've rested enough. When I can stand it no longer I creep out of bed, I slip out of my room and walk down the hallway back downstairs where Opal is. I open the door and close it quietly behind me. She is propped up on pillows and facing me, as if she's been waiting.
It takes me a moment to realize that she is awake. She holds out a hand to me, shaking ever so slightly.
"What time is it?" She asks, and I laugh at her ridiculous question.
"Almost midnight. Why?" I question.
"Just in time for a bedtime story." She tells me.
"I can't." I tell her.
"Tell me the one about the Northern Lights." She says and I laugh. She smiles and slides comfortably back down into bed and I lean in to whisper in her ear. Her hand is tight around mine and I can't help but allow my heart to beat faster.
———————————————————————
Double update! 😈🥰❤️
Don't forget to comment and vote!!!
Love you guys! 😭❤️