roommate simon riley pt. 4 !!
You felt like you were freezing, shivers wreaking through your body and making your knees feel weak. You had felt sick the night before but ignored it the best you could, making it through the rest of the night of work. By the time you got home, you were so exhausted that you fell asleep in your clothes and on top of your made bed. There was no ignoring it now however, you felt the fever radiate through your whole body.
You still had 30 minutes before you had to leave for work; you could quickly take a shower in that time, right? Maybe a warm shower would help warm you up and make the fever go down?
Boy, could you have been more wrong...
Ignoring the aching, you hauled yourself into the bathroom, peeling off your clothes piece by piece, trying to be careful because every time you brushed your skin, it hurt so incredibly bad. The shower water felt like pins stabbing into your skin, but you pushed through every ounce of discomfort. You had to make it to work today, it was too late to call in now.
The light made your head pound and your eyes hurt more. Tears threatened to pool over as you climbed out of the shower, grabbing a towel to wrap around your body. "As if this morning couldn't get any better," you thought to yourself.
You glanced at yourself in the fogged up mirror. Your cheeks were pink, but the rest of you was pale and sick looking. Your vision was even blurring, making it hard to focus on one thing.
Your legs felt weak. Everything was spinning. You were definitely late for work, and you kept stumbling over your own feet. By the time you made it halfway down the hall, you slowly sank to the ground, towel loosely wrapped around your body. You let out a defeated and frustrated sob. Tears ran down your hot face and dropped onto the floor in front of you.
You were completely overheated, and you knew your fever was worse than before. You should have taken meds or maybe stayed in bed. Called in for work at the least. And now here you were, slumped over in the hallway with a fever you could only imagine was bad, now worse because of the hot shower. You leaned your head against the wall, tears streaming down your face. You couldn't will yourself to get up or even move, your body too weak.
The soft click of the door opening was heard from a distance, and when you opened your eyes, Simon was standing above you. Gray sweatpants hanging low on his waist, exposing his hips, his shirt off, and mask probably somewhere tucked away in a drawer behind his now closed bedroom door. You could tell he was tired, the bags under his eyes gave that away. He was probably about to go to bed, considering he just got home from a long night shift at work.
His chest was broad and covered in scars, just like his face. Some were raised and white; some were a deep purple color and stretched across his olive freckled skin. He looked concerned as he crouched down next to you, his coarse hand reaching out to brush your forehead. The movement was soft, something Simon Riley never really was to anyone else. He felt your forehead gently with the back of his hand, and after a moment, his hand dropped down to your cheek. He gently cupped your face as his thumb slowly wiped away the tears that had slipped down your cheeks.
"Oh lovie.." He mumbled, "You're burnin' up." You let out a small whine, attempting to move from your position on the floor but failing, ultimately leaning into his touch instead. "..'m callin' you in. You're not goin' to work like tha,'" He said bluntly "Can ya stand up f'me sweetheart?"
You attempted but failed. Frustrated, you let more tears slip from your eyes. "..m sorry..I don't know what's going on..I just..can't," The last part came out choked. You'd completely pushed yourself to the limit. The long days at work, late nights at home doing paperwork, not taking care of yourself when you needed it most. It's like your body just decided to give up.
"Shh...Shh don't cry..It's okay, I got ya." Simon tucked your towel under your legs, making sure it didn't slip off or fall when he picked you up. He slid his arms as gently as he could under your legs and lower back, picking you up bridal style. He noted that you were extremely warm to the touch, radiating heat like a personal heater, which confirmed his theory that you had a raging fever.
You couldn't help but lean into his warm chest as he carried you down the hall the rest of the way and into your small bedroom; it was comforting in a way only contact like this could bring. His chest hummed softly when he spoke, and even though you weren't listening, it still made you relax. He said something about you needing to take better care of yourself, but all you could think about was how nice it felt to be held. You'd forgotten the feeling. The last time you'd been held was when you were a small child, and the world still seemed like a good place.
He gently sat you down on the bed and adjusted your towel, making sure it covered you fully before standing up and moving to your dresser. He looked back at you and paused for a moment. As if he was wondering if this was too far, but when he saw how tired and miserable you looked, he pushed that thought aside and gently tugged open your dresser drawer.
You sat and watched him across the room, blinking the tears out of your eyes in an attempt to see better. He moved quickly and quietly, grabbing you a big t-shirt and some soft pajama pants, making sure not to spend too much time looking around. Your arms came up and wrapped around your body, hugging yourself, as if you were trying to become smaller, if that were even possible. You just wanted everything to stop. For your head to stop pounding, your eyes to stop crying, your body to stop aching.
Simon walked back over and set the clothes down next to you.
"Think you can get yourself into this while I go grab you some meds n' water?" He said quietly. You had never heard him speak that softly before, let alone have him be this close to you. He was so close that you could feel the heat radiating off his body and smell the lingering cologne from his day at work.
You nodded your head weakly, reaching out to pull the neatly folded clothes toward you. Once he was out of the room, you painfully got yourself dressed; every brush of your skin hurt, making you wince in pain or whine softly. When you were finished, you crawled into bed, lying on top of all your blankets, curling up into a small ball. Your eyes closed, and it was peaceful, but when they opened again, Simon was standing above you. He held out his hand, two tablets resting on his callused palm and a glass of water in the other hand.
"hey sweet girl…" he mumbled, "sit up f' me?" but when you made no effort to, he sighed sweetly and spoke again. "Open up," he tapped the bottom of your chin with his finger and waited till you opened your mouth for him. When you did, he dropped the pills into your mouth, then helped you drink the water without choking.
"Careful love.." he mumbled softly. He watched you through his blond eyelashes as you sipped the water, a look of sympathy playing on his face.
"That should help doll...get some rest f' me, yeah?" At that, your eyes were closed, and you were already asleep, letting yourself drift off finally. It felt safe..for the first time in a long time.
You swore you felt his lips against your forehead, but you didn't have the energy to open your eyes or ask about it.
When you woke up, you could tell that your fever had broken and the sun seemed to have made its way across the sky.
You reached over and checked your phone, looking at the time. The clock read 3:52 pm. With a sigh you sat up and stretched. You still felt like shit, but less than before.
When you glanced over at the bedside again, you noticed something. A piece of paper folded neatly and placed next to a full glass of water and more meds. Inside was messy handwriting in black ink. It read: Wake me if you need anything. I sleep light. Food is in the fridge if you're hungry. Feel better.
It was short but sweet, and you couldn't help but smile.
A quickie because I'm sick and wanted comfort <3 I hope you guys like it!!
