826 A Sickly Idea

I’m noticing there’s a particular theme sprouting time and time again in this cold and chilly December month.. indeed, counting Amanda, that’s the fourth time someone I know wound up bedridden either by sickness or injury.

First, it was Ash and her needing over a week to adapt to winter.

Then Tyler was next in line to be confined, still needing more time to recover.. allegedly.

Adalia’s a given.

Now, it was Amanda’s turn to be helplessly struck down by the plague of whimsical fate.

But she was a stubborn one, a fighter, a refuser. And stubborn is as stubborn does, willing herself the strength to try and break free of her silky sarcophagus that had her entombed in her mausoleum of a couch.

“You’re guilting me,” she muttered, watching me groggily. “Stop guilting me.”

I shuffled past her, dusting away the gray bunnies from her shelves. I whizzed past again, clearing up the mess in her kitchen. Then for the final time, I rounded in front of her, picking and fluffing up the small cushions she kicked to the floor in her struggle.

She whimpered despairingly.

.....

“You’re a monster.”

“If it was me here coughing my lungs out, it’d be you here in a spring-cleaning mood,” I sprung to my defense. “That feeling you’re feeling – that’s me to you every time you do something above and beyond for me.”

historical

“I’m your girlfriend,” She blinked hazily. “That’s a given.”

“And so is this,” I said, doubling back to the kitchen briefly and returning promptly with a bowl of piping hot porridge in hand. Much to her blatant dismay and probably hidden delight. “Suffer as I have suffered.”

Having no choice but to only simmer in silence, she allowed herself to get fed.. taking and downing every bite as if she were swallowing a bunch of pricking needles.

This girl really refuses to be pampered.

“What?” I finally asked, as she pulled away from a bite a little too crankily. “Wishing you were in my place instead?”

“That. And I’m also wishing that’s a big plate of carbonara instead. Dim candles. Soft music. And I’m nibbling on a piece of pasta and you’re also nibbling on the same piece but not knowing, slowly it pulls us closer and closer to each other until..” She let out a long, breathy sigh that cooled down the spoonful of porridge I had raised to her lips. “Clock’s ticking, you know. Doesn’t have to be me on the other side of that pasta. Have fun while you still can.”

“I am,” and before she could say much more, I pushed the spoon into her mouth just as she opened them to speak. “You’ve any idea the wickedness people would do to just be in my position right now? Spoonfeeding you? Hearing you moaning softly? Looking so deliciously vulnerable right now?”

“Ugh..” she grimaced, undoubtedly having dealt her fair share with the types I’m referring to, given her reputation. “Let’s not go there.”

“Hey, you started it.”

I figured after so much and so long already, she must have drained out all the reluctance and reserves out of her system but ten minutes later I’m scraping the bottom of the bowl, lifting scoops towards still frowning lips, and it seems I’m sorely mistaken there.

“Is Irene busy tonight or something?” She asked.

“Cryptically busy, yes, as always,” I said. “Borrowed Sera for something a few days back, she’s still yet to return her.”

“What? For what?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, actually. All I know is that Ria has something to do with it.”

“Who?” She asked, clueless for a single second, before her bleary expression cleared in a burst of clarity. “Oh, that phoenix lady. Right. Sorry, I forgot she’s.. a thing.”

“Don’t blame you, not like you’ve actually met her yet.”

“Sadly,” She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. “I take it Sera isn’t exactly happy being under someone else’s roof that isn’t yours?”

“Last I checked with Ash, Irene’s been feeding her fast-food takeouts. So she’s probably doing alright, more or less.”

And at the very sound of Ash’s name, Amanda abruptly steered the conversation elsewhere.

“And what’s Ash doing?”

“Cars 3.”

‘Cars,” She blinked a fair few times. “What?”

“Yeah, she didn’t really like the second one too much.”

“O..kay,” She paused again, searching for more to say. “And what about Adalia, then? Is she – ”

“Y’know, for someone who really, really craves my attention,” I said, letting the spoon clatter against the ball. “You sure do like turning it towards everyone else when you finally do get it.”

Upon being rightfully called out on her buffoonery, Amanda instantly put her grumblings to a stop.

I raised my brows. “Hey, if you’re secret fetish is being ignored by me, then by all means – ”

“Ew, no!” She said sharply. “I’m not that much of a deviant, alright?” Her scowl flickered. “I think.”

“You think?”

“Look, just,” She roused her body once more, rattling around like a bird trapped in a cage. “I’m just dying here because I’m doing absolutely nothing. I’m not used to it, alright?”

“Used to what? Doing nothing?”

“Exactly.”

“You’ve..” I gave her a look, baffled. “You’re telling me you’ve never just done absolutely nothing before? Your whole life? Really?”

“You say that like you’re amazed – I mean, what kind of person can just do nothing for hours? for a whole day even?”

“Yeah, what kind of a person, huh?” I said, still smiling despite her words stabbing deep, scooping up another spoonful of love. “What kind of person, indeed..”

“I..” she gazed at me, and she saw the hurt, the deep hurt, the deep sting, and promptly broke. “Y-You get a pass, alright? It-it’s fine if you do it.”

Welp, heard it first thing right here, folks. I got the license to be lazy. I’m officially living the life now.

“Point is,” She said, quickly finishing the rest of the porridge. “I can’t just sit here having you feed me the whole evening. As much as I love the feeling of being nursed by you. it’ll kill me if that’s all we do. I need to do something. More importantly, I need to do something with you.”

Another loud bout of coughing took over the conversation for a couple of moments. It threw her hair everywhere, shook her all over, and had me scrambling for the nearest tissue ply before she could turn the air into more of a biohazard breach.

When her whooping fit eventually subsided, Amanda looked a hundred times more hassled than she was haggard. Rather than getting feebler, it was like her raw bitterness was powering her through her ailment. There was something in her eyes, a look, an idea, and a second later, she squirmed around for the final time, and suddenly rose to her feet – the damp blanket unraveling around her feet.

“We’re going out,” She declared.

I smelled danger. “No we are – ”

“Not on the date,” She glanced at me. “Just for a walk. A walk, alright? I can survive that much.”

“A walk?” I repeated after her, still a bit wary. “A walk where?”

“Anywhere. Out in the streets, in the cold. It’s not nothing, and that’s good enough,” She heaved a quivering breath. “More importantly, it’s not nothing with you.”

For once, that gloomy heavy cloud smothering her voice cleared away, and it was only the prospect of going outdoors, that it did. I didn’t really wanna take that from her as much as I’d rather stay here and coddle her some more. In any case, she’d know her body more than I would, right? If she thinks she’s good for a walk, then.. sure, why not?

“God, I’m so sticky..” She moaned, rubbing all around herself in disdain and disgust. “Nope – I’m showering. Definitely not leaving like this, ugh.”

I mumbled something agreeable in response, turning forward and already sinking into the sofa in wait however long I needed to. Amanda staggered a few steps forward into the hall, before whirling around backward again almost as if she had forgotten something.

Or – as I glanced at her for a clearer look – waiting for something.

“You’re coming with me, you know.”

The way said it so casually, so shamelessly, for a moment I felt like the weird one for not immediately getting it.

“I.. am..?”

“Yes,” she said, crossing her arms in a way that would even make Amelia impressed. “Or did I not hear you say that you would be taking care of me for the whole evening? Nurse me back to health and whatnot?”

“Don’t know about you, but I don’t think nurses shower with their patients,” I said. “What’s more, I already took a bath this afternoon.”

“Yes..” She leaned slightly down and forward, speaking airily. “...but what if I fall? what if I faint? I’m super sick, right? according to you. How are you gonna make sure I’m still safe if you don’t have your eyes on me all the time?”

They were such perfectly made points on her part that I honestly couldn’t find a thing to say otherwise.

“Or what?” She raised her chin up, flashing a smile, a glimpse, of the usual mischievous Amanda peeking through. “Are you saying you would rather not have your eyes on me?”

And with those last few words, she had snared my gaze onto her figure entirely.

I don’t understand. Her hair was all oily, grimy, and even sticking in places. Her eyes looked sunken in, her lips were dry, and her pale skin was musty and wet. Her clothes were also crooked, disheveled, and wrinkled in places. A far cry from the demure, charming woman that would always grace my sight with her appearance.

A total mess, in short.

So why does she look even hotter here without all that?

A slob, a sickly slob. That’s what she was.

Her hair in streaks of wild tousled blonde, Her eyes half-closed, heavy, somehow so arousing. Her lips were slightly parted, drawing in feeble breaths, letting out softer moans, and her skin was almost shimmering, glimmering.. dripping with her perspiration, her efforts that seeped into her clothes, sticking, clinging to the curves of her body.

Once again, just like with Ash before, I could sit and wonder – when did sickly ever get this sexy?

“I’ll hop in first,” Amanda said, lifting herself up again and turning back, seemingly satisfied by my complete silence. “My arms are heavy; I won’t be able to wash myself properly, so..”

“You need me to nurse you.”

“I need you to nurse me,” she affirmed, nodding once. “Like with the porridge, the tea and what else. I can’t do anything on my own – frail, sickly, woman I am, right? Mm, I might also need your help getting dressed when we’re done. And with walking too, maybe. I’ll have you carry me in your arms if I get too tired, how does that sound?”

“You’re – ! Hey..” I gaped at her. “You can’t just use your sickness to your advantage like that, the hell..”

“I can, and I will, and I did,” Amanda called back, her coughs and chuckles echoing deeper down the hall. “It’s what you signed up for, didn’t you? Taking care of all my dire needs?”

Once again, I was left with nothing to say.

.....

“Now don’t keep me waiting, okay?” She triumphantly said, hearing the empty sound of my defeat. “I’m only sick for so long, after all.”