Feverish Night
He gently stroked her hair, successfully calming her down as he continued to pour sweet
words into her ear. “It’s fine, it’s just a feverish dream, Fifi.”
Theo slowly folded the blanket over, uncovering Sophie’s disgruntled expression with her
brows slightly furrowed together. Strands of hair stuck to her sweating face, she breathed
through her mouth heavily, her chest heaving up and down.
With the small portion of moonlight that seeped through window curtains, illuminating
Sophie’s face, Theo could make out her frantic eyes moving behind closed eyelids.
A loud, scratching sound resounded throughout the silent room as Theo dragged the
basin filled with water from the bedside table.
Weirdly enough, the scratching sound meshed perfectly with the sounds of droplets from
what Sophie could only make out as Theo squeezing a towel into the basin, she slowly
blinked herself back into sleep accompanied with the calming sounds, echoing endlessly
on her mind.
He gently placed his hand over her moistened forehead, recoiling it back almost
immediately the moment their skin made contact.
She could feel herself succumbing into a peaceful sleep, no feverish thoughts over how
many pillows and beds would fill their room, when suddenly, like a flicker of a light bulb
“Shit, you’re burning up again.”
He gently tried to scoop her up in a better position, seeing how uncomfortable she was
curled up into a ball, latching onto a pillow, with the towel on her forehead leaving a wet
switching on, her skin made in contact with an unimaginably, piercing cold.
She jumped from her place, pulling herself out of what could have been a dreamless sleep.
She recoiled her arm that made in contact with the freezing towel Theo held in his hands.
spot on the same pillow she was clutching.
“It’s alright, it’s just me,” He whispered calmly, returning to what he was previously
Her constant squirming the past hour did not go unnoticed by him, he made sure to check
doing, and smothering her with that damned towel, sending goosebumps down her arms.
up on her every few minutes, regularly taking her temperature and changing the wet
towel folded over her forehead.
He tried to wake her up, only to receive incoherent noises coming from her.
He continued to wipe her fevered skin, despite numerous whines and cries from her.
“Theo, I feel fine. Just stop, it’s cold,” She said in a raspy voice as courtesy from all the
persistent coughing that had had her exhausted all day.
“The beds, we need twelve beds,” She mumbled lowly but seeing how inaudibly she had
said it made Theo second-guess what he had heard.
“You’re not fine, you can barely talk,” He frowned. “And I told you not to put the blankets
over your head.”
“We’ll buy them tomorrow,” He coaxed her, pulling her up into a seating position.
“It was cold.”
“No, we need them now,” She pulled herself up drowsily, holding Theo’s arm to support
herself, and leaning her head against the headboard, her eyes still half-closed.
He grabbed the thermometer beside him and pushed it into her mouth, not even waiting
more than a minute when it dinged loudly.
“One-Oh-Four, Eighteen. I feel fine, my ass,” He dipped the towel back into the freezing
She held her arms out inaudibly telling him to carry her. He does so and lifts her up
water, wiping her body, starting with her face, then her neck, and chest.
without a hassle.
She looked at his focused impression, how gentle and kind he was being with her. With a
They headed for the kitchen, with Sophie carrying the basin over her and leaning her
flat look, Sophie didn’t want him getting ideas. “Hey Theo, remember that time-”
head on his chest.
He groaned, irritated as if he’d encountered that start of the sentence one too many times.
“Were still not done talking about my toy car.” She mumbled quietly.
“Yes, I remember that time when I didn’t finish our school project that happened over
“I think we are,” He said, trying to dodge another argument about that stupid toy car.
seven years ago.” He said dryly, slightly narrowing his eyes, resembling somewhat of a
glare.
“Good. Even though you’re being nice to me, I still don’t forgive you for that,”
“Just so you know,” She added with a smile.
“I want one on our wedding. I won’t marry you without one,” She blinked innocently up
at him.
He sighed, “I don’t get why you’re still not over this. I tried to pay you.”
“You paid me seven years late! My dad berated me every day to get you to pay your part of
“I tried to pay you for that,” He grumbled.
the project.”
“You were seven years late. All you had to do was assemble a toy car, how hard could it
“I am this close to letting go of you right now if you talk about that damned car one more
be?” She huffed a breath. “And that way you wouldn’t have needed to pay.”
time, my arms are the only ones keeping you from falling,” He loosened his hold on me,
She plopped the wet towel over her face, pressing it to her face with her hands as it slowly
making me tighten my hold on his neck.
grew warm. She knitted her eyebrows together at the sudden loss of Theo’s touch.
“You won’t do that,” I snuggled closer to him, brushing my cheek across his chest.
“Why’d you stop?”
She kept her face under the wet towel, flipping it over to take advantage of the other
side’s coolth. Her body slowly grew warm and uncomfortable.
“The water’s warm, I’ll get cold water,”
“No,” She lengthened the words out, wiping her sweat-infused face with the towel.
“You love me too much.”
“I mean how can you not?” She said haughtily, “I’m basically the sugar, the spice, and
everything nice that’s happened in your life.”
“You got spice right,” He narrowed his eyes at her, “You were a little shit.”
She giggled as a memory of a young, red, and crying Theo resurfaced. She remembered
He sighed, “Do you want me to get you an Advil?”
that day vividly, she had tricked Theo into eating a chili pepper, as long as she ate one as
“Yes please,” She barely uttered out, suddenly feeling drowsy.
well, except she faked eating it leading to horrifying puddles of Theo’s vomit.
“You were the little shit,” She giggled more, “I was taller than you were.”
“I really hate you sometimes,” He had a frown imminent on his face, but Sophie smiled
She couldn’t believe that this was the same guy that used to steal her food, rummage
and shook her head. She placed herself in between the crook of his neck, her breathing
through her bags, and talk so loud that she could’ve sworn her eardrums had burst.
making the little hairs on his nape stand up. “Still better than hating me all the time.”
You would think that Sophie’s cousins or relatives would be the last people she would
“But you still love me, right?” He asked her worriedly.
ever wed with. But no, she couldn’t believe that this man before her was the same man she
“Mhm,” She buried her nose in his hair, resulting in more goosebumps coming from him
vowed to never love, let alone speak with.
as her hot skin came in contact with his.
“Stop staring,” He told her as he wiped her face with the glacial towel he held, but she
“You’re turning hot.”
couldn’t care less, all she felt were Theo’s warm fingers grasping her cheeks.
She didn’t respond and laid quietly in his arms, eyes closed, taking comfort from the
She gave him a sweet, saccharine smile and kissed his jaw.
sounds of his footsteps creaking against the hardwood floor. Unexpectedly, he comes into
He grumbled, not looking pleased. “I told you not to get yourself sick.”
an abrupt halt, followed by a switch clicking. She groaned at the sudden brightness
She smiled at him with one thought lingering on her mind; ‘I was definitely sickly in love’.
overtaking her senses, her eyes blinked furiously before getting used to the light and
opening her eyes.
He set her down on a chair, opening several cabinets looking for an Advil, whilst he waits
for the basin to fill. She gaped at Theo, amazed with how patient and gentle he was with
her. His shirt was wet with several spots fully clinging to his skin, his shorts slowly
slipping from his hips, and his eyes were filled with dark bags underneath from staying up
taking care of Sophie.
He peeled a banana, placing it in a plate and cutting it into seven equal pieces, before
embedding an Advil into one of them. He threw the towel into the basin and carried the
plate with one hand and the basin on his left.
He placed the plate in front of her, squeezing again into the towel he held for her forehead
to cool down. Sophie was slack jawed, the man she was staring at before her, was nothing
like the boy she’d met years ago.