My eyes fall to Aurora curled up in the middle of her bed, an orange blanket covering her, and way too many pillows for one person.
“Hey, kiddo,” I say, crouching beside her bed and running my hand over her head to test her temperature. She’s definitely burning up. “I’ve got some medicine for you.”
A thin smile stretches her lips, but her eyes stay closed. “Hey, West.”
I look up at Maevyn, who’s chewing her thumb as she watches us. I’ve never seen her like this. “Is she okay to swallow tablets?”
Maevyn nods, so I pop two pills into my palm. There’s already a glass of water on the bedside table, next to a framed photo of what looks like a young Maevyn and baby Aurora. They’re the spitting image of each other, especially in the way they smile.
“Have you got a facecloth you can wet for her head?” I ask, recalling the way my mum would look after me whenever I was sick.
“Yeah, there’s a cloth on her back.” Maevyn steps beside me, reaching under the blankets to fish out the damp cloth.
“It’s already so warm,” she whispers, and the defeat in her voice almost breaks me.
“That’s okay. Go wet it with cold water again, and I’ll help her with these.”
Maevyn hurries out of the room while I turn back to Aurora. I sit on the side of the bed, and Patch comes over to rest a head on my leg.
“Can you sit up for me, Aurora?”
She groans, but slowly props herself up on her forearms, accepting the pills one by one. She opens her eyes when she feels Patch jump up, his front paws coming to the edge of her bed.
“Hey, Patch.” She reaches out a hand to give him a scratch under his chin, and that’s all the invitation he needs to start lifting a back leg onto the mattress. His legs aren’t long enough to reach the top, but he remains determined.
“Patch. No,” I command, and the look he gives me is the kind he knows normally has me caving.
“He can come up,” Aurora says softly.
“He’s a complete bed-hog. And he snores,” I say playfully, earning me a tired chuckle.
“I don’t mind.”
I lift Patch, putting him at the end of the bed, but he instantly moves to lie behind Aurora’s back, settling down with a huff. “Sorry about my mum. She hates when I’m sick and always freaks out.”
“It’s only cos she loves you so much.” I brush off the apology. “Sign of a good mum.”
“The best.”
“I filled a bucket with ice water so I can cool the cloth down quickly—why is your dog on my daughter’s bed?” Maevyn stops short when she re-enters the room.
“I like it, Mum.” Aurora places her hand behind her back, her fingers scratching Patch’s short hair.
Maevyn grumbles, unconvinced, but continues into the room, placing the bucket on the floor, then soaks the cloth with the cool water. She squeezes it out before running it over Aurora’s forehead and cheeks, behind her neck, and down the arm that rests over the blankets. She dips it in the water again, then folds it in a thin strip and rests it over her forehead.
Without a word, she runs out of the room, returning moments later with a drink bottle in hand. She dumps the electrolyte tablet in the water and swirls it around to help it dissolve before offering it to her daughter. Aurora takes a few big gulps before dropping her face against the pillow, completely exhausted.
Maevyn kneels beside the bed, pushing her daughter’s hair off her forehead, her face still riddled with worry.
“Has she had any other symptoms aside from the fever?”
“Said her throat was sore, but nothing else.”
“She might have picked up the same throat infection that Daisy had,” I offer.
Maevyn sighs. “We had breakfast at Sweet Escape on the weekend. The two of them sat together for a few hours.”
“I’ll give you the details of my GP if you want. She’s really good. Then you can get Aurora started on some antibiotics.”
