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He stares at it as if it personally offends him, so I just nudge it against his bottom lip.
“Drink, Theo.”
His eyes flash up to mine, and he parts his lips. I tilt the cup a little as he takes small, measured sips.
I know when he’s done because he stares angrily at me, his lips clasped shut. I set the water down on the floor and press the back of my hand to his face. He wrenches his head away, but I do it again anyway, feeling his feverish, clammy skin against mine.
“You have a fever.”
He coughs a little. “No shit.”
“I have Tylenol,” I say, moving to the bag and rustling through it, pulling out an unopened bottle. I shake two out and hand them to him.
He stares at them warily, and I just shove my hand closer to his face so he’s forced to grab them from me.
He places them in his mouth and swallows them dry. Impressive. I’ve always wondered how people did that without choking. I tried it once and the pill got lodged in my throat and just dissolved there, creating a putrid, burning sensation until I vomited. My pill-swallowing skills are obviously not up to par with my dick-swallowing skills.
“I have cough drops if you want some and Vicks Vapor Rub. Oh, and some NyQuil.”
“Jesus,” he says as he flops back on the bed and curls into himself. “You need to leave.”
“I’ll go after the fever breaks. This could be serious. That smart brain of yours could turn to soup.”
And I need a reason to not go see my brother. I’d rather be here.
That makes me a bad person, huh?
Shit.
“Don’t want you here,” he grunts as he closes his eyes. “Want you gone.”
“Too bad,” I mutter and lower myself onto the other side of the lumpy bed, crossing my ankles and pulling up a movie on my phone.
He looks over his shoulder at me, his eyes looking tired and almost sad, and he sighs heavily.
“Fine, you can stay, but I’m deducting this from what you owe me.”
I ignore him, putting my earbuds in.
Asshole.
I could give two fucks about that. This is me being a semi-decent person, but if it makes him feel better, we can consider this a transaction.
When I look over at him a little while later, he’s asleep, his chest rising and falling with even breaths.
I let myself sink further into his mattress and roll onto my side, propping the phone on the mattress between us. It plays some true crime documentary. It will probably give me nightmares, but still, it distracts me enough, so I stop staring at Theo.
I watch the horror unfold on my screen until my eyes close in sleep.
* * *
I wake up with Theo pressed against me, his body trembling slightly. It’s raining outside, and I can hear it pattering against the windowpane.
“Hey,” I mutter softly, and he presses his nose against my side.
“Why the fuck you still here?” he grumbles, his words coming out slurred.
I press my hand against his cheek and can tell he’s still burning up. For a moment, I debate calling a doctor and then discard it. There’s no way he’d let me cart him around anywhere, and I don’t even know if this guy has insurance.
