AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He touches the back of his hand to my cheek. “You’re on fire. Fuck, Holland. This is crazy.”
Eli jumps up from the bed, and I groan. The suddenness of the movement makes my head spin.
“What time is it?” I manage.
“It’s a little after 6:00. I’ll be back soon, okay? I’m going to run back to my place. Don’t move.”
“Yeah, that’s not a problem. I can’t even stand.”
“For fuck’s sake,” he mutters. “Okay, see you in a bit.”
Eli returns twenty minutes later, his arms full of bags. The knapsack on his back is so crammed full of stuff it can’t zip all of the way closed.
He uncaps a cold bottle of water and hands it to me, and I nearly weep with happiness. I struggle to sit up against the pillows, then drink greedily.
“Thank you,” I gasp, then take another gulp. “I was dying of thirst.”
“You should have texted me,” he says sternly. “Why didn’t you?”
“How can I text you if I don’t have your number?”
“I’m fixing that right now,” he says, pulling out his phone. “Give me your digits.”
I close my eyes and rattle off my number. Now that I’m a bit more hydrated, my mouth doesn’t feel all sticky and gross. Though I’m sure my breath is frightening.
“Where’s Mandi?” he asks, taking a seat on her bed.
I glance over at him, and even in my miserable state, I can’t help but laugh at the ten pink stuffed bunnies lined up behind him.
He raises his eyebrows. “What?”
“The bunnies,” I rasp, giggling and waving my arm. “It looks so funny.”
He glances behind him at the stuffies. “Is she coming back tonight?”
“No, she beat it out of here when she found out I was sick. She’s staying at Johanna’s for a few days.”
“Good.” Eli takes his arm and clotheslines the bunnies to the floor. “There. Much better.”
I break into hysterical laughter again. “That’s bunnycide! What did they ever do to you, Eli? How mean.”
“Shut up, or I’ll line them up on your bed so they can stare at you,” he says, grinning. “They can keep you company.”
“No,” I protest, then laugh again until I cough. I take another sip of the water before I start hacking everywhere.
Eli dumps out his knapsack and unpacks all of the bags he’s brought. “Mandi could have asked you if you needed anything before she ran out of here. That was pretty rude.”
“True. But you know how oblivious she is.”
“Yeah, for sure. Now, Tylenol.” He holds up a bottle, then uncaps it and hands me two pills. “You didn’t take any yet, did you?”
I shake my head, then pop the pills into my mouth and chase them with water. It hurts going down, but hopefully they will start to work soon enough.
“You’ve got a microwave in here, right?”
Brushing my damp hair away from my face, I nod and point to the floor between my desk and dresser. “Over there.”
“Good. I brought some soup and stuff to make tea.”
