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It all started with a nightmare. One filled with war, hunger, and a dead sun. People getting into trouble to go to prison, where they'd have something to eat. People resorting to atrocities for a piece of meat, Children dying, the world running out of animals because people would eat anything that moved. A cold world.
And she was up above, watching everything with indifference. As if she didn't care. Feasting. Eating meat, exotic fruits, sweets, her hands were covered in slippery grease. Her face was smeared with cake. Covered in the finest sacks. Without spending a single cold day.
She woke up trembling
Something was wrong. Her pajamas were completely soaked, and she was cold. Very cold. She was freezing. Had the calculations been wrong, and had the world already frozen over? She didn't understand why it was so cold… But she needed more warmth immediately; she felt she would turn into an ice cube if she didn't receive more warmth right then and there.
She jumped up to find more blankets. More clothes, something to soothe the cold that froze her bones. But as soon as she stood up, her world went black and she wobbled on her own two feet. Okay, she needed to lie down again…
Her stomach was now churning, her world blurred.
She snuggled back into bed, gathering all the blankets around her, trying to absorb as much warmth as possible. She would feel better in the morning. She has to.
It was her inability to breathe through her nose that woke her the next time. Not even an hour later. He eyes felt swollen, her face hot, but she was cold, so cold…
She felt like shit.
She couldn't feel like shit.
She had work to do.
She glanced at her watch, four in the morning. Okay, her day would start early.
She dragged herself from the bed straight to the bathroom; a hot shower had to make her feel better, or at least relieve the constant flow coming from her nose. It didn't work at all; her nose was still running and she was just as dizzy as before. To make matters worse, the cold she felt after getting out of the shower gave her a terrible cough.
She dressed as warmly as she couldThe shower had made things worse; now she was much colder, her hair wasn't completely dry and the dampness was soaking her clothes. It seemed as if the cold was finding every possible way to seep into her bones. But she still had to work.
Some makeup, a good pair of trousers, a long-sleeved shirt, and the thickest wool sweater she owned after (because she wasn't in the mood for doing something to her hair) she was dragging herself out of her booth, heading straight for her office. She would get some paperwork done before heading to the labs to see what Grace was up to.
Oh, but there were so many papers, and her nose kept running; she could already feel the redness forming around it. She signed papers for a few hours, until the exhaustion from not having slept well in the night kicked in and her head began to droop more and more. Perhaps a short nap wouldn't hurt, just a few minutes so she could recover. It was still early enough that it wouldn't affect any of her work.
So she let herself be, resting her arms on the desk after moving the stack of papers and resting her head on her arms, allowing the hum of the machines around her to lull her to sleep. It would only be a minute.
That's how Ryland found her three hours later.
The first thing he thought was how uncomfortable that desk must be. Then he heard the soft snores she was making and thought they were actually quite adorable. Then he realized that something must be wrong for her to be in that situation. Should he wake her up? It was, in fact, quite a busy day for both of them; he knew she would go crazy if she realized the time she was losing.
He looked at her more closely, examining her, trying to decide whether to let her rest (God knows she needs it) or do her a favor and warn her about the hours that have passed in which she hasn't shown up to the lab as she said she would.
And then he noticed it, a drop sliding down her forehead, and yes it was warm, but not warm enough to sweat... But she was wearing a sweater that looked very thick and underneath it peeked out a t-shirt that looked like a thermal shirt. He approached slowly, not wanting to wake her or make her think he was a weirdo who liked watching her sleep.
Her nose was red, her eyes slightly swollen, and her hair was plastered to her skin with sweat. She was definitely sick.
He didn't know how to wake her. He was afraid to wake her. She looked very peaceful sleeping there, but she would kill him if she found out he had seen her and hadn't woken her up…So slowly he left his office, took a deep breath, and knocked three times, loud enough to wake her up (he hoped).
“Stratt? Are you here?” He waited a few seconds while he heard movement inside; he wanted to give her enough time to get ready, so as not to make her feel uncomfortable. “I just wanted to check if you were okay since I didn't see you in our daily morning lab check…”
“I'm sorry. I was really busy with too much paperwork…” She spoke while arranging papers, her voice deeper than usual “We can go now” A loud cough interrupted her; he didn't know what to do. He saw her eyes fill with tears, and he automatically gave her a handkerchief he had in his pocket—he always carried everything in his pockets. She whispered a soft "Thank you" and stood up, heading straight for the door. "We have work to do, Dr Grace, let's go.”
“Are you sure? You...um...don't look very well..." Shit, why was he saying that to her? Maybe it was his teacher's soul, unable to let anything slide. “You seem like you could get some rest…”
‘“I've already had it" she said curtly, giving him a look that told him to be quiet and follow her. She looked sick, probably, no, she was definitely sick, and he should send her to the doctor, but she had told him to follow her and he was a fool for her.
So he did.
He followed her for hours, meeting after meeting, occasionally offering her tissues. He couldn't say that she ever started to look better; her nose was really red by midday, her eyes looked noticeably droopy with exhaustion, and her hair clung slightly to her face. She was also still wearing a fleece sweater,when it was twenty-three degrees Celsius. He didn't dare say anything to her, not until lunchtime, when, walking towards the cafeteria, she began to cough very badly,And he had no choice but to rub her back and run for a glass of water.
"Hey, you really should go to the doctor's office, maybe…”
“No. I’m fine.”
“You’re sweating.”
“I can take off my sweater and I’ll be fine.” And she proceeded to take it off, struggling slightly with the tight sleeves.Underneath she wore a long-sleeved black t-shirt, which appeared to be soaked with sweat. "See? Perfectly fine." She continued walking. They headed to the opposite side of the cafeteria; lunch was canceled.
They went to two more meetings until he decided that was enough.
“Okay. You need to stop before you faint in front of everyone.”
“Excuse me, Dr. Grace?”
"You heard me. I understand you don't want to take a day off because you have to work on saving the world and all that, but you look terrible and it'll only make things worse if you don't slow down. Really. You need to get some rest. Cancel your meetings... or I'll cancel them, it doesn't matter. The world can take a day off, because if you don't, then tomorrow you'll be worse off, or today you might faint at any moment from a fever or dehydration. So we'll go to your room right now and you'll take a very hot bath; the steam will help with your cough and mucus. Then I'll make you something to drink and you can rest. Understood?”
She was too shocked to speak, so she simply nodded. Thank goodness, he thought. If she hadn't felt so bad, she probably would have sent him to his death right then and there for speaking to her like that.
Together they walked down the hallways to her room. He went straight to her bathroom and turned on the shower, making sure it was at the right temperature."Okay, you can come in now. I'll go to the cafeteria to get a few things and I'll be right back." She nodded and headed to the bathroom, while he ran towards the kitchens in search of his secret ingredients.
When he had everything, he hurried back to her room, breathing heavily from his run, put the kettle on, and began to cut the ginger into small pieces, While mixing it with some tea herbs in a filter, he put honey in the cup he chose; it was the one he had given to Stratt when he discovered that her birthday had passed and no one had said anything (Then later they told him that she hated her birthday and didn't let anyone say anything to her), but he couldn't be like the others, and he left her a mug with the inscription "best leader in the world, of the world” Wrapped in shiny paper on her desk, and he never said another word. He thought she'd thrown it away, but his heart warmed when he realized he was wrong.
When the water was hot enough, he poured it through the filter into the cup, letting it sit for a few minutes to allow the flavors to meld. When it was ready (just as he heard the shower turn off) He put a few drops of lemon juice in the cup.
"The tea is ready. It's not very delicious... but it will make you feel better."
He handed her the cup, embarrassed, as if he had just realized that she was his boss, and the most powerful person in the world, and he was there giving her orders to take a bath and relax… But when she looked at him, her nose still red, his embarrassment at taking care of her vanished, and he was glad to be there.
Probably if her nose hadn't been blocked she would have wrinkled it from the strong smell, but she couldn't smell it, so she simply appreciated the warmth emanating from the cup, and took a careful sip. It definitely wasn't good; the ginger made it spicy, and the lemon gave it a flavor she didn't really appreciate. At least the honey made it sweet.
“I’m sorry… it tastes really bad, doesn’t it…”
“It’s okay…” She whispered softly, looking so small sitting on the edge of her bed, Her hair was still damp, and her cheeks were still pink from the heat of the shower. He probably shouldn't feel this way about her, but a tenderness enveloped his chest; she was beautiful... Her hair, which he still couldn't describe as red or blonde, her eyes—ah, he loved her eyes—they weren't huge and didn't resemble a deer's at all, but they were... beautiful…So beautiful. He was enchanted by her and would endure being called anything they wanted just to spend all his time by her side, of being the one who could take care of him. He was enjoying taking care of her more than he should have. He felt special, and that filled his heart and made him feel like he was flying.
“You should lie down, let the light go down, you need to sleep as much as you can, your body needs rest…”
He felt uneasy; he didn't want to be intrusive, but he didn't want to leave either. He began cleaning up his mess while she settled in and placed the cup on her nightstand.He gathered tissues, an aspirin he had in his pocket, and a glass of water, and left them on the nightstand. He had run out of things to do, so he headed towards the door, slowly, counting each step he took, trying to lengthen each step so as not to miss the moment.
“Ryland?”
“Yes?” He turned around like lightning, immediately ashamed of having so easily revealed his need for her.
“Don’t go.” Had he died and was he in heaven? Was she asking him to stay there with her?He would fill his feet with cement to stay in that same place if she asked him to.
“Sure… I can sit here and be here for whatever you need.” He couldn’t finish speaking because she started having a coughing fit.His feet moved on their own like lightning, and he found himself sitting beside her, stroking her back and hair. He felt a little guilty for enjoying it so much, she was sick, feeling terrible, and he was like a blushing teenager looking for every possible excuse to be near her.
After her coughing fit, she lay back on the bed, trembling. And he simply stayed there, stroking her hair. He had longed to touch her hair, always imagining how soft it would be. If the slight waves that formed on it were to dissipate when he ran his fingers through, nothing he had imagined would resemble what he was feeling at that moment.
She leaned towards his touch, and he was going crazy.
“Come,” she encouraged him to come closer, and bless him, he would never say no to that, so he lay down next to her, allowing her to lie partially on his chest;If someone had warned him that challenging Eva Stratt and telling her she needed to rest would lead to him lying in bed with her and cuddling her, he would have laughed in their face.
She fell asleep first, but he soon followed her.
The next morning, they met in a warm embrace. He thought she would throw him away right then and there, but she looked him in the eyes and gave him the most fantastic smile he had ever seen in his life.
“Thank you for staying, Ryland.” She gently got out of bed, going straight to the bathroom.
He got up nervously, unsure whether to flee before she left the bathroom, wait for her with another cup of tea ready, or simply stay put and not move a muscle until she told him to.
He got lost in his thoughts for too long, because by the time he realized it, she had already come out of the bathroom, wearing a completely different set of clothes, and was staring at him intently.
“You should go take a shower.”
“I… yeah, sure… sorry.” She smiled at him as he stumbled toward the exit.
It was when he was reaching his room that he started coughing.
Shit.
Perhaps Eva would take care of him too?