🔥 A FEVERISH DREAM 001. ┋ → @ofpxtestatem
( ᵖᵒˢᵗ⁻ʰᵒᵍʷᵃʳᵗˢ / ᵛᵉʳˢᵉ )
SCARLET BROKE HER VOW. she broke it, because she couldn’t stop the tears that slowly glistened down her cheeks. perhaps she was just deliriously exhausted, or maybe she couldn’t do this ─────── couldn’t soothe him, couldn’t help him. thomas’ little torso lay bare, his feverish skin clinging to hers as he wailed and wailed, an endless torment that had been going on for hours. her mother had checked him an hour earlier, for the millionth time that day. she would be back again after her shift, but even though he likely had a bug of sorts, he didn’t need further medical attention.
IT SOUNDED LIKE A LIE TO HER, as she rocked him incessantly. ‘ tommy, please. . . ’ she begged him, trying and failing to control her emotions. she was making it worse. turning him around in her arms, resting him on her less tired arm, she tried whispering sweetly- ‘ what do you need? ’ she rocked more, but wails only momentarily soften before turning into full-blown sobs. that made her cry more, too. scarlet had heard explosions, bones cracking; she had heard dragons the size of houses roaring with deadly anger ─────── she’d heard screams of fear and terror. BUT THIS?
IT WAS INHUMANE TO HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT. ‘ what do you need? please tell me. ’ a plea he could not answer, yet she needed to ask. cold lips pressed a kiss to his head, warmed and comforted by it if only for a moment. ‘ shh, shh, shh- ’ she patted his bottom in rhythm with the rocking, but it felt useless. the tiny wisps of AUBURN hair he had grown in the short three months since his birth were humid as she combed them back, desperation urging her to claw her own heart out to make the crying cease. ‘ mama’s here. . . i’m here. ’ . . .did that make it better?
SHE WAS LOSING THE FUCKING PLOT. her crying turned into silent sobs as she got her phone. the screen was hard to see; vision blurred as her own disarrayed hair covered her eyes. words were hard to comprehend too, thoughts refusing to form as she remained attuned to the sound of his crying. she felt fucking overwhelmed. CHARLIE’S NAME showed up first, followed by ERIN’S, then JAMIE’S ─────── it would be easier if she called them. but they had their own problems. . . and this wasn’t about HER. not right now. not when he was crying like this.
BUT THAT JUST MADE HER CRY MORE. lips trembled as she typed whatever came to mind, emotions tethered to the edge of hysteria as she pressed send to multiple messages. she probably sounded absolutely insane and desperate. it felt like utter DEFEAT having to contact HIM, but that didn’t matter when she stared at tommy’s tormented little face. nothing else really did. ‘ daddy will be here soon, okay? ’ that had to help. she needed it to. sniffing and biting her lip to control the crying, even if just for a moment longer, she sang a song nonsensically───────
. . .TILL THERE WAS A KNOCK. scarlet rushed to open the door, sobbing at the sight of him. ‘ i’m sorry. i- i didn’t know what else to do- ’













