Imagine taking care of Jared
I walk upstairs after failing to find Jared at his studio. When I enter the room all I can see is a pile of blankets over the bed.
“Jared?” I call his name, not sure if he really is in the room.
“I’m here” I hear him whisper under the blankets.
I get closer to the bed to start putting all the blankets aside. I count at least 5 blankets over him, and when I finally found him, he’s half asleep.
“Are you alright, babe?”
“I don’t know, I’m cold”
I reach my hand to his forehead just to notice how warm his skin feels against mine, his eyes look watery, and his cheeks are a bit rosy.
“Oh my, J, we need to go to the doctor”
“I’m okay”, he mutters, rolling on the bed to rest his head on my lap, “I just need to rest, that’s all”
“No way, I’m taking you to the doctor right now. Come on, get up”
After fifteen minutes trying to convince him to get up, I’m finally able to help him get dressed to go out. We get out of the apartment and reach the elevator to get to my car. During the ride to the doctor’s appointment, Jared falls asleep for a bit. His cheeks are still reddish, and his breathing has turned heavy. When I notice he’s also shaking is when I start to panic. This does not look good.
By the time we reach the doctor’s office, Jared starts coughing and I can see that his throat hurts every time he has to do it.
“Jared?”
“I’m okay” he murmurs, for what it feels like the tenth time.
We finally reach the place, and I help Jared get out of the car to the cold and showery New York afternoon. The streets look strangely empty for late December, but I appreciate it, since Jared wouldn’t like his fans seeing him this sick.
Inside the office I let Jared sit in the waiting room as I walk towards the secretary. The girl takes her eyes out of her computer screen to offer me a welcoming smile.
“Good afternoon, is there anything I can help you with?”
“Hi, yes. I have an appointment… Well, not me, my boyfriend”
“Can you tell me his name?” The girl asks, moving her eyes towards the computer screen again.
“Jared Leto”
The girl freezes for a second before looking at me surprised.
“I’m sorry, what was the name?”
“Leto” I say, trying not to get pissed at the girl who looks at me like she just found the holy grail.
“There are two more patients before Mr. Leto” She informs me, her smile even wider than before, “You can sit and wait, I’ll let you know when it’s his turn”
I come back to Jared only to find him looking at the television screen on top of a bookshelf.
“Do you want some water? I could hear you coughing while I was talking to the secretary”
“That would be nice, thank you, babe”
His face doesn’t look better, and I keep my eyes on him as I walk towards the beverages machine. When I return to sit by his side, he only takes a few sips of the bottle before leaving it on the coffee table in front of us. I can see an old lady sitting across from us, really interested in Jared and I. A smile appears in the lady’s lips when Jared rests his head on my shoulder.
“It would only be a couple of minutes before your turn” I let him know, taking his hand on mine, feeling how cold it feels to the touch, “Everything will be alright”
“I love you, you know?” He whispers, getting closer to me, “So, so much”
“I know, baby, I know”
A smile crosses my lips when I feel him get a bit more relaxed by the touch of my hand on his. I get to see a mother and her daughter get in the doctor’s office, and come back a couple of minutes later with a candy on the girl’s hand. Then, it’s the old lady’s turn, she gives us another smile before heading towards the doctor.
“You feeling okay?”
“I don’t know” he answers, sighing with a loud sound coming from his throat, “The fever has me a bit groggy, and I’m pretty sure half of my brain is fast asleep”
“You’re next, we’ll be back home in no time, you’ll see”
The lady takes more time inside the office, and once she gets out, I can see that the smile is no longer in her lips. I’m wondering if she received bad news from the doctor when the secretary calls Jared’s name. I help Jared get up and lead him to the doctor, the secretary is on her feet, and her eyes don’t leave our sight till we are already inside the office.
“Mr. Leto, right?”
Jared nods, and I can see how red his eyes have turned.
“Welcome, my name is Anthony Simms” The doctor introduces himself with a smile, “I can already see what may already be happening with you, but I need you to describe me exactly how you are feeling, ok?”
Jared lists all of his symptoms: the fever, body aches, headache, sore throat, coughs, and so on. The doctor takes note of every word before asking Jared to follow him. Jared sits in an exam table, and takes off his shirt. The doctor listens to his heart and lungs first, then uses his hands to examine him and ends up checking his tonsils. When he’s satisfied with his examination, he lets Jared put back his shirt and come back to his sit.
“Well, Jared, it is exactly what I was thinking, you have the flu”
“Dammit” Comes out of Jared’s mouth immediately.
“Oh, I hate it too. I’ll give you some medication and you’ll have to rest for a couple of days. If things don’t start to get better in at least four days, come see me again”
“When you say rest, does that mean I have to stay in bed?”
Jared’s worst fear, having to be in bed doing nothing, feeling useless.
“Of course. You can spend a couple of hours in front of the tv if you wish, but I would recommend you to stay in bed. Anyway, one of this medications will make you feel sleepy, so you’ll sleep most of the day”
I could feel Jared’s frustration and I couldn’t help but to let out a smile. The doctor gives us a list of all the medication before leaving the office.
“Well go to the pharmacy right away, we can catch something to eat while we wait for your medication to be ready”
“I’m not hungry” Jared mutters, his arms crossed on his chest, and his forehead on the window.
“You have to eat, and you will stay in bed, you hear me?”
“I’m a grown man, I can do what I want”
“Yeah, but you are sick, and the doctor said you should rest” I say trying to remain calmed, I had forgotten how childish he turned when he was sick, “I’ll take a few days off work so I can make you company”
“What? No. You don’t have to stop doing your own things because I’m sick” Now I got his attention, the arms are no longer crossed, but resting on his lap.
“It’s Christmas week anyway, I’ll just use some of my vacations days. I don’t trust you to be alone at home”
“I already told you…”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re a grown man, I know that”
He notices the smile on my face and I can feel him get angry.
When we arrive to the pharmacy, I ask him to wait for me on the car. Jared does not say a word, and only looks at me like an angry puppy. It doesn’t take more than five minutes to request the medication, and I’m already in the car.
“We have to come back in twenty minutes, let’s get some food, I’m starving”
Jared doesn’t even nod and only looks at the window. If I didn’t know him like I do, I would have started telling him how fast he would start to get better, trying to make him feel better, but after years being his friend, and now his girlfriend, I knew that it wouldn’t make him feel better. One of the worst things for him was being sick.
I drive to a vegetarian restaurant and get in the drive-thru. Jared cheers up a bit while looking at the menu and asks for a couple of things. Our food is ready in just a few minutes and we are already driving back to the pharmacy.
We eat outside the store, waiting for those 20 minutes to finally be over. Jared is still quiet, eating his food in a slow pace. I reach to kiss his cheek, still warm from the fever. Back in my seat, I see a smile cross his lips, leading his hand to hold mine.
“I’m sorry if I’m being a bit annoying”
“It’s alright” I mumble, before biting my burger.
“When we go back home, can we lay on the couch for a couple of hours and watch movies?” Jared asks, starting to kiss my knuckles, I laugh at his question, nodding like crazy.
“All the movies you want and all the hours we want to”
“Even though the doctor said I shouldn’t?” He asks with puppy eyes.
“If that keeps you away from work…”
Jared leans to my side of the vehicle to kiss my lips, leaving small kisses all over my cheeks.
“I love you” I whisper.
“I love you more” He says, leaving another trace of kisses on my face.