Reader X Bill Skarsgard Sickfic: A little too selfless
It’s your 21st birthday! You wake up, shaking with excitement. Your roommate bursts into your room, wearing a party hat, singing happy birthday and holding a mountain of presents. You didn’t expect so many gifts from your friend, but you were more than flattered. As you read the birthday cards, you can tell who wrote which, just by the writing and the words used. Films, CDs, makeup, sweets (Candy), jewellery, your friend know you well.
Once you’ve opened the majority of the presents, you notice a single unopened card, lying on your bed. You reach for it and it is obviously addressed to you. As you opened the card, you realise something that makes your smile widen. Everything is written in Swedish. You aren’t from Sweden; however, you’re are fluent in the language. Your best friend taught you the language, since he is from Sweden. You read through the card, unable to keep yourself from smiling. You’re near the bottom of that card when it ends with the simple word “Wardrobe” (Obviously in Swedish).
You look up and see a red ribbon hanging out from inside your wardrobe. Excited, you jump out of bed and rush towards it. You pull the closet door open and see a large bag, hanging from a coat hanger. You grab it, lay it on your bed and begin to unzip it. Your eyes light up when you see a gorgeous burgundy gown, with added black jewellery. A large white tag is tied to the dress, you pull it off and this is what it reads:
I’ve seen you admiring this outfits for a while
You begin to tear up, you have been admiring this outfit since your first saw in a store window. Now you have it. You gently remove the dress from its packaging and hold it out in front of you. Your roommate looks at the dress, then at you.
“Let me guess, Bill got you that?” She asks.
You nodded, smiling with excitement.
“Y/N, he spoils you.” Your roommate says.
This just makes you smile more, “It’s a shame I don’t have anywhere to wear it.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Your roommate says, “Just wait.”
For the rest of the day, you watched the films and listened to the music you were gifted. You wondered what your roommate meant when she said, “Just wait.” The sun was setting and you were preparing for a long night of movie watching, when your roommate suddenly comes rushing into the living room, holding your knew dress.
“Try it on!” She exclaimed, excitedly.
You didn’t think anything suspicious about this because you were really excited to try it on anyway. Your roommate was smart for asking you to do this, because whenever you try on a dress, you have a compulsion to put makeup on to make yourself feel even more like a princess. You go upstairs and try on the dress and all the jewellery. You fall in love with the dress even more when you have it on. You look through your new makeup, thinking about what makeup look you should do.
After 20 minutes of applying your makeup, you are finally done. You stare at your reflection, is awe of how amazing you look. You hear your roommate calling you from downstairs, asking if your ready. The walk down the stairs, feeling like royalty, when suddenly your friends jump out on you, screaming happy Birthday!
You are startled at first, but then you begin to jump up and down with excitement. Your roommate then explains that your going to a fancy restaurant, which only makes you more excited. You all enter your roommate’s car and begin to drive to the restaurant. You are listening to your favourite songs, with headphones. When you suddenly hear your friends talking. Not wanting them to know you’re listening, you only pause the music and keep the headphones in.
“I can’t believe he didn’t turn up.” One friend says, “After he organised all this.”
“Give him a break.” My roommate says, “He just finished filming Battlecreek, he’s probably exhausted.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Your friend says, “He should have at least shown up for the surprise.”
“Maybe he’ll be at the restaurant.” My roommate suggests.
“He’d better be.” Your friend says, “Or I swear to god, I’ll kill him.”
You know exactly who they were talking about, since you only have one male friend. You’re not mad at Bill at all for not showing up, he’s been really busy with filming and the premiere of Battlecreek. He already bought you the amazing burgundy dress, and organised this surprise birthday dinner, that is enough to satisfy you. You arrive at a classy restaurant and you and your friends walk in. Your roommate tells the waiter your name, and he leads you and the group into large room, which was decorated with red and black balloons.
The waiter was about to leave, when he asked your roommate whether or not we where expecting anymore people.
“We’re expecting one other person.” Your roommate answers
“Do you want us to wait for them to arrive before serving the food?” The waiter asks
Your roommate was about to answer, when a second waiter appeared. He whispered something to the first waiter, which then caused him to call your roommate away. You watch as you roommate walk, with the waiter, back towards the entrance. You’re having a conversation with your friend (The one you overheard in the car), when she suddenly walks off. You turn around to where she had gone and smile.
Your roommate had returned, with Bill. You see that your friend is scolding him for showing up late and you’re not happy with that. You walk over, pushing your angry friend aside. You catch eyes with Bill and he smiles.
“You look stunning.” He says, stepping closer to you.
You blush, “Thank you. For the complement and for the dress.”
“Sorry for being late.” Bill says, guiltily
“You’re here now,” You say, “I’m happy with that.”
You smile again, Bill tried to smile but suddenly starts coughing. He turns away from you and coughs into his elbow. Your friend and roommate lean away from him, acting like germophobes. While you step closer to him.
“Are you okay?” You ask, placing your hand on his shoulder.
“I’m fine.” Bill answers, turning to face you.
Now you’re close to him, you notice he looks a little flushed. You’re becoming a little concerned for him, but you don’t have time to question, because the food that your roommate had ordered arrives. She’d ordered it before we arrived at the restaurant, so we wouldn’t have to wait. You sit down at a large dinning table, placed in the centre of the decorated room. You sit beside your roommate and Bill sits opposite you. You’re severed an array of food, so you can pick what you want. Your favourite drinks are also being served, as well as unlimited cups of water.
You’re laughing with your friends, while eating your favourite foods. They are all asking you what you thought about the presents they gave you. While your talking with your roommate you glance over at Bill and you can’t help your expression changing to worry. It had been half an hour since the food had arrived, but Bill hadn’t eaten anything. He was shivering, despite him still having his jacket on.
Your roommate continued to talk, so your pretended to be listening, but you still glancing over at Bill. You’re taking mental notes on everything he does. Everything he swallows, he grimaces and rubs his throat. Every 5 minutes he’d have another coughing fit, then takes a sip of water to stop the fit. His face was becoming more and more flushed and his skin was covered in a sheen of sweat.
The food was finished and you had to wat about 20 minutes for desert to be served. While the waiter’s cleaned the tables, you’re talking with your roommate and friends. You glance behind you and see Bill standing in the corner, leaning against the wall and rubbing his forehead.
“I’ll be back.” You say, stepping away.
Your friends aren’t bothered with you going and they don’t even notice where you’re going. You walk towards Bill when he suddenly burst out in another coughing fit. You quickly grab a cup of water from the table and rush back to Bill. He looks up at you, his eyes watering from coughing so hard, you hand him the cup and he gently sips it. The coughing ceased and Bill tried to catch his breath. He catches eyes with you and he could see you’re worried.
“I’m fine.” He says, not giving you a chance to talk.
“I want to believe you, Bill.” You say, “But I can’t. I’ve been watching you all night; something is clearly wrong.”
Bill just smiles, “I’m fine, you shouldn’t be worrying about me. It’s your birthday, go and have fun.”
You try not to smile, but you just can’t help it. You’re still worried about him, but he was doing something he knew would make you smile. You’d gone to the premiere of Battlecreek and you really liked his character Henry Pearl. So, since you saw the film, Bill sometimes acts like Henry Pearl, just to make you smile. When Bill goes this, you’re both annoyed and giggly.
“You’re sure everything is okay?” You ask.
Bill was about to answer when the waiters called for us to sit back down. You turn around and your eyes light up again. The table was again covered in some of your favourite foods, but this time it was all sweet foods. You gasp with excitement and rush to your seat. You don’t wait for everyone else to sit down, you already have your plate full of food. As you begin to eat your food, you can’t help glancing over at Bill.
Again, he wasn’t eating, and he wouldn’t even look at the food. You sigh, being certain that Bill was lying when he said he was fine. Something was obviously wrong, he was flushed, not eating, shivering, and clearly had a bad cough. You’re trying to think what to do, knowing Bill won’t admit he wasn’t well, you didn’t was to call him out for lying and you didn’t want him to get any worse.
You’ve finished your food and you just sneakily monitor Bill when another coughing fit began. This fit was much worse than the prior ones, so more people noticed. He stood up and sped walked out of the room, the coughs becoming harsher.
You and your roommate jump up and run after Bill, you walk faster to get a head of her. Bill had rushed out the restaurant and was standing in the unoccupied outside seating area, still coughing violently. Before you run out to him, a waiter approaches you and asks you if everything is ok. You ask the waiter for some water. The waiter glances outside, sees Bill and immediately rushes away to obey your request. Because the waiter was as worried as you, he rushes back, with a large glass of water.
You gladly take the cup and you rush outside, your roommate following shortly behind you. You feel your heart fill with panic, Bill is on his knees, fighting for breath as the coughs became sharper. You kneel beside him, trying to hide your panic. Bill catches eyes with you, trying to stop himself from coughing so hard. You hand him the cup of water and force him to take a sip. Your method to stop the coughs worked, however Bill was still breathing rapidly. Your panic increases when you see the colour draining from his face.
“Don’t you pass out on me!” You exclaim, panickily.
Bill doesn’t answer, his eyes begin to shut and he starts passing out. You talk to him, asking him basic questions, to try and keep him awake. Unfortunately, Bill doesn’t respond, his eyes fully close and he loses consciousness. You shake his shoulder to try and wake him, no response. You the gently tap his face for the same reason and that’s when you feel it, the heat radiating from Bill’s skin. Your suspicions have been confirmed, as if there were any doubt to begin with, Bill is sick.
You cuss under your breath, “Why didn’t he just tell me?” You think, “I wouldn’t have been mad if he missed this celebration because he was poorly.”
A waiter comes rushing out, gasping when he sees Bill, unconscious.
“Do you want me to call an ambulance?” The waiter asks.
You look down at Bill’s pale face, then back up at the waiter.
“No, an ambulance isn’t needed.” You say, “Just bring me some paper towels and more water, please.”
The waiter nodded and rushed back into the restaurant. Your roommate gives you an odd look.
“Why did you say no?” She asked, “Doesn’t he need a hospital, didn’t he choke?”
You shake your head, “He didn’t choke, he’s sick. He’s been coughing all night and he’s really feverish.”
Your roommate leans over Bill and gently placed her hand on his forehead. She cusses and looks back at you.
“Why didn’t he tell us?” She asks, “Why did he even show up if he’s unwell.”
“He didn’t want to disappoint me.” You say, “Even though, he’s already done so much, he didn’t want to miss this celebration.”
The waiter returns with a roll of paper towels and a large pitcher of water, he hands it to you, then stands back.
“Anything else I can do to help?” He asks.
“No, that is all.” You say, “Thanks you for your assistance.”
The waiter smiles and walks back into the restaurant You rip off a foot of paper towel, fold it up, dip it in the water filled pitcher and gently begin pressing it on Bill’s forehead and cheeks. You’re hoping this will cool him down and make him wake up. After a minute of you doing this, Bill’s eyes slowly open.
You breathe a sigh of relief and glance over at your roommate, “He’s waking up.”
Your roommate also sighs in relief. You look back at Bill, who finally has colour returning to his cheeks. He looks around, in confusion, then looks up at you.
“What happened?” He asks, his voice shallow and raspy.
“You passed out.” You answer, “You were coughing so hard, you made yourself faint.”
Bill looked away, either blushing from embarrassment or from his fever. You sigh and are about to speak when another coughing fit begins. You gently help Bill into an upright position, before handing him the cup of water. He gladly takes it and sips the water. Luckily, you stopped this coughing fit before it started to become dangerous, so Bill wasn’t breathing rapidly when the fit ceased.
When Bill held the cup in his hands, you could see the water rippling, meaning his hands were shaking. You gently place your hand on his shoulder and you can feel him shaking, despite him wearing a jacket.
You turn to face your roommate, “Could you do me a favour. Go back into the room and grab all of my belongs and bring them out here, please?”
“Sure.” Your roommate says, “But why?”
“I’m going to call a taxi and take Bill home.” You answer.
“No, you don’t have to!” Bill says, tapping your shoulder.
Your face becomes stern, “You can’t tell me you’re fine, when you just passed out, you’re burning up and your shivering, despite the fact you’re wearing a jacket. You’re sick, Bill. I’m taking you home.”
Bill wanted to argue, but knew you were right. He wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to tell you in case you got upset. He gives in and gently nods, agreeing with you. Your roommate returns with your purse, which contained your phone, makeup and emergency money (Which you now needed to use). Your roommate also snuck a small plastic bag, filled with sweets (Candy) from the table, when you find it, she smiles at you.
“Enjoy.” She whispers before, walking back into the restaurant.
You sit, with Bill, in the outside seating area. You pull out your phone and call for an Uber. While you’re waiting, you can tell Bill is purposely not talking to you.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re sick?” You ask.
Bill turns to face you, “I didn’t want to ruin your birthday.”
“You should be more concerned about your health, than my birthday.” You answer, “What would have ruined my birthday, is if you ended up in hospital.”
Bill sighed, “I still feel I ruined your birthday.”
You smile, “Alright Henry, you didn’t ruin anything.”
Bill smiled, realising he was acting like Henry Pearl.
“As I said, you haven’t ruined anything.” You say, “I mean, look what you’ve done. Bought me a stunning dress, that I’m sure was expensive. Arranged a birthday dinner without me even knowing. You somehow were able to come, despite you being really unwell. You’ve already done so much for me and I’m more than satisfied.”
Your thankfulness just made Bill’s smile widen. He shudders and starts rubbing his arm with his other hand, trying to warm himself up.
“Do you want to go back inside until the Uber arrives?” You ask, “Its probably not good for you to be out in the cold.”
“No, its fine.” Bill answers.
You wait another minute and notice Bill is beginning to sniffle. You suspect he’s getting a runny nose from being in the cold. You grab Bill’s arm and gently pull him along with you and you walk back into the restaurant.
“I was fine out there.” Bill says, when you turn back to face him.
“You’ve got the sniffles from standing out in the cold.” You say, “There is no harm in just waiting inside for the Uber.”
“I guess you’re right.” Bill answers, “Again.”
Bill sniffles again, he blows his nose on the tissue, which was followed by a cough. He throws the tissue into a small metal bin, placed in front of the counter, then turns to face the road.
The Uber took another 20 minutes to arrive. By the time it did arrive, Bill had gotten rid of his sniffles, by constantly blowing his nose and occasionally sneezing. All this had caused his nose to turn red and you can’t help giggling about it.
A black car pulled up outside the restaurant, a man rolled down the window and called your name. You grab Bill’s arm and walk towards the car. You greet the driver with a polite smile, before opening the car door and entering. Bill entered through the opposite door and sat in the seat beside you.
“Where to?” The driver asks.
You tell the driver Bill’s house address and he starts driving. About 10 minutes into the drive, Bill has another coughing fit, luckily the waiter (Who gave you the pitcher) gave you a bottle of water before you left. You open the plastic bottle and hand it to Bill. He gently takes it from your hand and sips it.
“You a little under the weather?” The driver asks, looking at Bill in his rear-view mirror.
“A little.” Bill answers, earning an unsatisfied look from you.
The driver falls silent for a minute, before asking Bill a question.
“I’m sorry, but I have to ask.” The driver says, “You’re not Bill Skarsgard, are you? The guy who played Henry Pearl in Battlecreek?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” Bill answers.
“I went to watch that film with my wife.” The driver said, “Really enjoyed it, I’m impressed with the accent you had in the film, compared to your regular voice.”
“Thanks.” Bill said, smiling.
“My wife loved the film, and really liked your character.” The driver continues, “She wants to meet you and normally I’d ask you to sign something for her. But since you don’t seem very well, I won’t bother you.”
“I appreciate that.” Bill says, followed by a few sharp coughs.
The rest of the journey, the driver didn’t speak. You talked with Bill, until he started to lose his voice. With all the coughing fits he’d had throughout the night; you’re not surprised by this. Bill still tries to talk with you, until his voice is almost completely gone.
“You’re losing your voice.” You say, “Stop talking before you lose it completely.”
Bill smiles and stops speaking. You sit in silence, for the remainder of the drive (Which was only another 10 minute) The driver stops outside Bill’s house, he turns to face you and asks you if this is the right address.
You glance out the car window, “Yes, thank you.”
You open your purse and pull out your emergency money, you have just enough to pay for the ride. You hand the money to the driver, open the car door and exit the car. You walk around to the other side of the car, where you meet Bill, as he exists the car. The driver rolls down the window and looks out at you and Bill.
“Hope you feel better soon, Mr Skarsgard.” The driver says, kindly.
Bill smiles and driver smiles back, he rolls the window back up and drives off. Bill looks back at you and the two of you walk up him driveway. When you reach the front door, Bill reached into his pocket and pulls out his house keys. But he drops the keys and suddenly starts swaying.
“Bill, what’s wrong?” You ask, worrying he might faint again.
“I feel dizzy.” Bill mumbles, his voice so quiet you could barely hear it.
Your brain immediately becomes panicked, you don’t want a repeat of what happened at the restaurant. You swiftly bend down, grab the keys and unlock the door. You wrap your arm around Bill’s shoulder and gently lead him into his house. Since you’ve been in Bill’s house before, you knew your way around. At first you think to take him to his bedroom, but looking at Bill’s flushed and exhausted face, you know he’ll probably pass out before he makes it up the stairs. So, you just lead him into the living room and gently sit him down on the sofa.
“How do you feel?” You ask, sitting beside him, “Has the dizziness stopped?”
“Yeah.” Bill answers, “I’m good.”
You sigh, “Don’t scare me like that. I was panicking enough when you fainted at the restaurant, I don’t know what I would do if you fainted again.”
“I’m sorry.” Bill says, guiltily.
“Well, you’re home now.” You say, “Lets just focus on getting you feeling better.”
Bill smiles weakly, clearly drained.
“You need some rest.” You say, “You look exhausted.”
Bill nods, “You’re right, I am exhausted.”
“Well, first off, give me your jacket and I’ll hang it up for you.” You say, reaching out your hand.
Bill takes off his jacket and hands it to you. You take it and when you look back at him, you see his shirt is drenched in sweat. His fever was making him sweat profusely, in an attempt to lower his body temperature.
You sigh, “You need to get changed, your shirt is drenched in sweat. Give me a minute and I’ll get you some clean clothes.”
“I can get them.” Bill says.
“I don’t want to risk you passing out.” You say, “Just stay on the couch and I’ll get you some clothes.”
Again, Bill knows you’re right. He just sits back, leaning his head on a large pillow. You rush upstairs and into his bedroom. You hang the jacket up in his wardrobe, grab some clean clothes and rush back downstairs. Bill is sitting on the couch, shivering and grimacing. You can see the sweat dripping down his face and his cheeks turning a darker red.
You place the clothes on the coffee table and sit beside him. You gently place your hand on Bill’s forehead, checking his fever.
“Your fever’s getting worse.” You say, a little panicked, “We need to bring it down.”
You jump up and rush towards the kitchen. You grab a tea towel from off the counter and run it under cold water. You wring out the excess water and run back to the living room. You sit back beside Bill and gently hold the damp cloth on his burning forehead.
“Thank you.” He mumbles, catching eyes with you.
“If your fever doesn’t go down, I might have to call a doctor.” You say, worried.
You sit with Bill, pressing the tea towel of his fevered face, for about 10 minutes and his fever just wouldn’t go down. You realise that you needed to cool down his entire body, not just his face. You cuss and Bill hears you.
“What is it?” he mumbles.
“Your fever isn’t going down.” You say, hiding your panic.
You sit beside Bill, silently panicking to yourself, when you finally have an idea.
“I think I might know what to do.” You say, hesitantly, “But I don’t think you’ll be comfortable with doing it.”
“If you can prevent me from going into hospital, I’ll do anything.” Bill mutters.
Before you go ahead with your plan, you feel Bill’s forehead, to know whether or not your plan works. Bill’s fever is getting to such a high temperature, he could start becoming delirious. You stand up and run into the bathroom, grabbing a large towel. You turn on the cold tap and let the bath fill about an inch deep. You then submerge the towel in the cold water, before wringing it out.
You hang it over your shoulder and rush back to Bill, who is extremely flushed and close to losing consciousness. You sit down beside him and gently place your hands on his shoulders.
“I need to remove your shirt,” You say.
Bill looks at you, confused.
“Where am I? Who are you?” He asks.
You cuss, he’s delirious. You grab the rim of his shirt and begin to pull it up and over his head. You lay the soaking wet shirt on the sofa next to you, then you gently wrap the damp, cold towel around Bill. The towel is large enough to complete wrap around Bill, covering both sides of his torso.
Because you submerged your hands in the cold water as well, your hands are icy cold. You gently place your palms against Bill’s cheeks, both cooling him and monitoring his fever. The two of you sit in silence, you focus on if Bill’s fever drops and Bill to exhausted to even talk. You sit in this position for about 15 minutes, until you finally feel Bill’s fever dropping.
“Thank God.” You sigh, feeling relived.
“Y/N, is that you?” Bill mumbles, his delirium finally ceasing.
“I’m here.” You say, feeling the panic washing away.
Bill looks down and sees that he’s shirtless and has a damp towel wrapped around him.
“Your fever was getting dangerously high and it was making you delirious.” You explain, “I needed to cool you down, before you ended up needing an ambulance.”
Bill could hear the panic in your voice, he knew that he must have scared you. You see Bill’s guilty expression, which makes you sigh.
“I think it would be best if you just get some sleep.” You suggest, “But just sleep on the couch for now, I don’t want to risk anything else happening.”
You stand up and walk upstairs, you first pull the covers off his bed, then take the two pillows as well. You also grab a T-shirt from the wardrobe, not wanting to make Bill be shirtless while he slept. Carrying all the items you’d taken; you walk back downstairs. You let out a sigh of relief when you see Bill in the exact same condition as when you left him. He was shivering a little, but you weren’t worried, he was still shirtless.
“Here, put this on.” You say, handing Bill the T-shirt.
“Thank, Y/N.” Bill says, taking the shirt from your hand.
While Bill puts the shirt on, you gently place the pillows on the couch behind him. He lies down, gently placing his head on the soft pillows. You lay the covers over him, making sure his body is fully covered.
“Do you mind if I sleep in the guest bedroom?” You ask.
“Be my guest.” Bill answers, glancing up at you.
“Call me if you need anything.” You say, turning away.
“Thanks for this, Y/N.” Bill says, shutting his eyes.
You smile and walk towards the downstairs guest bedroom. You grab your purse and take out your phone. You dial your roommate’s number, to update her on the situation. She answers immediately.
“Hey, Y/N.” Your roommate says, “How’s everything going?”
You sigh, “Its been a rough night, but everything is fine now”
“What happened?” Your roommate asks.
“I almost ended up calling an ambulance because Bill’s fever was getting dangerously high.” You explain, “But everything is fine now.”
“Good God!” Your roommate exclaims, “How’s Bill now?”
“I finally got him to sleep.” You explain, “But I’m going to stay with Bill until he’s feeling better, so do you mind bringing me some clothes over?”
“Sure.” Your roommate, “See you in 10.”
My roommate hung up, I placed my phone on the bed and snuck out of the guest bedroom. You tiptoe past Bill, who was fast asleep on the couch. You briefly smile, before continuing your way to the front door. You wait at the front door for exactly 10 minutes, before your roommate arrives. You open the door, hug your roommate and take the bag of clothes she brought.
“Here.” She suddenly says, handing you a small plastic bag.
“Once the rest of our friend found out Bill was sick, they insisted on me giving you those.” Your roommate explains, “Its home remedy ingredient, medicines and other items they believe can help Bill.”
You open the bag and inside is cough medicine, ibuprofen, aspirin, fever patches, a home remedy recipe and a few ingredients and cans of soup, all supplied by your friends.
You smile, “Tell them all I’m very grateful, and I’m sure Bill would be grateful as well.”
Your roommate smiles back, “We’re glad we can help. Now, I’ve got to go, I’m tired. But feel free to call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks again.” You say, “Bye now.”
Your roommate turns and walks away, you shut the door and walk back inside. You walk into the kitchen and carefully lay all the items on the counter, before heading back into the guest bedroom. You change into some pyjamas that your roommate brought and you settle down to sleep. It takes you a while to drift off because you’re still worrying about Bill, but you assure yourself he’s fine.
You wake up at around 8 am. When you open your eyes, a brief feeling of confusion crosses your mind because you don’t recognise your surroundings, but soon remember where you are. You sit up and suddenly remember why you’re here. You jump up and walk out into the living room, finding Bill still asleep on the couch. You smile and head towards the kitchen. All the items you were given last night are laid out on the counter. You decide to make the home remedy your friend supplied you with.
You’re sure it works, because you have used it before. It consists of ginger and Coke, which is an odd combination, but it works. You follow your friend’s recipe, using the ingredients they supplied and soon enough, the weird remedy is done. You pour it into a large cup and gently carry it into the living room, being careful not to burn your fingers. You sit on the edge of the couch, place your hand in Bill’s shoulder and gently shake him awake. He groans and slowly opens his eyes, making eye contact with you,
“Morning.” You say, “How do you feel?”
“A little better.” Bill answers, smiling.
You hold the cup in one hand and gently place the back of your other hand on Bill’s forehead.
“You’re still feverish.” You say, “But you’ve cooled down a little from last night.”
“What’s in the cup?” Bill asks.
“Well, my roommate came by last night, to give me some clothes.” You explain, “Once my friends found out you’re sick, they wanted to help, so gave me a bag of things they believe will help you get better. This is a home remedy my roommate uses to help with fevers, she gave me the recipe and the ingredients to give to you.”
You gently hand the cup to Bill and he gladly takes it. He drinks from the cup, before leaning over and placing it on the coffee table. He was about to speak, when several sharpe coughs interrupted him.
“Your cough has come back.” You sigh, “I’ll be right back.”
You stand up and walk back into the kitchen, you grab the bottle of cough medicine of the counter and head back into the living room. You sit down in the same place, before reading the instructions on the medicine bottle.
“Is that cough medicine?” Bill asks.
You nod, “Another thing my roommate gave me.”
You open the bottle and find a small plastic spoon inside the lid, it measured the correct doses of the medicine, without the need of a syringe. It says on the back of the bottle, an adult male should take two spoon fulls of the medicine. You say this information aloud and obviously Bill hears you.
“I can measure the dose.” He says, gently taking the bottle from your hand.
“Good.” You say, “Just take the same dosage twice a day and your cough should get better.”
“Thanks, Y/N” Bill says, pouring the thick cough medicine onto the spoon.
“My friends also got you a few painkillers,” You explain, “As well as a pack of fever patches and a few cans of soup.”
You were explaining this to Bill because, although he deeply appreciates your help, he is still embarrassed about you taking care of him for several days until he gets better. So, you’re telling him this, so he knows what to do when you’re gone.
Once Bill had taken the dosage of medicine, he places the bottle on the coffee table and looks back at you.
“I don’t want to keep you here,” Bill says, “I can take care of myself from here, thanks Y/N.”
“You sure?” You question.
Bill nods, “I’ll be fine.”
“Alright, but call me if you need anything, okay?” You say.
“I will,” Bill answers, “But I’ll be fine.”
You smile, stand up and head to gather your things. As you walk towards the door, you leave something on the dining room table. The bag of sweets your roommate gave you last night. You were giving them to Bill, as both, a way to say thank you for all he did for your Birthday and as a get well soon gift. You check on Bill one last time, he had turned on the Television and was drinking the ginger/coke mixture you gave him.
“Get better soon.” You say, gently placing your hand on Bill’s shoulder.
“Thanks, Y/N” Bill answers, smiling.
You walk towards the door and leave the house, you call and Uber which takes you to your apartment. You roommate is surprised to see you, to which you explain that Bill can take care of himself and didn’t need you to look after him for several days.
Bill was unwell for a week an a half, texting you every day to sure you he was fine. Once Bill was completely healthy again, you find out about a new role he is about to audition for. Pennywise, the dancing Clown from the It. You wish Bill luck as he goes for his first audition and you wonder if he’ll get the role.
