If I Was Your Man (BWS)

Twenty-Four

*Brad P.O.V*

"Hey mate." Con answered.

"Hey Con." I said, walking into the kitchen and putting on the kettle. "I'm going to ring Joe in a second to clarify, but I don't think I'll be coming today. Maddie woke up really ill in the middle of the night, and she's still sick now."

"Wait, is she okay? Sick, what do you mean by that?" Con asked.

"I woke up and she was sat up in bed crying, and then she went to the toilet and started throwing up. She went back to sleep but she woke up again at 5:30 and was sick again. She's asleep now, but I doubt she's going to be any better and I don't want to leave her alone." I told him.

"Oh wow, thank you so much for taking care of her." Con said. "I know you would anyway but still, thank you. Are you okay to look after her or did you want to bring her home? I could stay home with her and you could go if you wanted?" Connor offered.

"I don't mind. I'll leave her to sleep for now, and when she wakes I'll ask if she wants to go back to yours or stay here." I said.

"Alright, if she wants to come home then you're more than welcome to stay here to look after her too if that's what you both want." Connor said, and I thanked him, telling him I would let him know what she wants to do when she wakes.

I hung up to ring Joe to ask if it would be okay if I sat today out.

"Morning Brad." He said.

"Morning Joe, I was wondering if it would be okay if I didn't come today. Maddie's really not well at all and I don't want to leave her here all alone. Of course I understand if you want me to come in though." I said.

"Nope, that's totally okay, you stay and take care of her. When we need you at any point in the day we can always call you or something." Joe said.

"Awesome, thank you so much." I said.

"It's no problem! I hope Maddie gets better soon." Joe said, and I thanked him again before we said our goodbyes.

As I was making a cup of coffee, Tris entered the room.

I headed back upstairs. I put on the TV, turning the volume down low, and got back into bed being careful not to wake Maddie. I found a movie on Netflix that looked interesting and put it on.

When the movie began to end, Maddie started to move around beside me, and I turned my attention to her. She opened her eyes a bit, looked up at me, and cuddled into my side.

"Hey." I said in a low tone, so not to disturb her too much.

"Hey. What time is it?" Maddie asked.

I checked. "Nearly 12." I said.

"Wait, shouldn't you be out doing whatever you've gotta do?" Maddie asked, lifting her head and looking at me. She winced, like it hurt.

"Hey, lie your head back down." I said, guiding her head back to the pillow. "I rang Con and Joe and they agreed to let me stay here to care for you."

"Brad." She sighed. "You didn't need to."

"I wanted to, I want to be here for you. Anyway, how are you feeling?" I asked.

"Better than last night but still terrible. However I don't have an overwhelming urge to be sick so." Maddie said.

"Well that's an improvement. Hopefully it continues that way. I was wondering what it could be, like a sickness bug or food poisoning. Pregnancy." I said, joking around, and Maddie hit me lightly.

"Shut up you dick." Maddie said.

"Well, you never know." I continued to joke.

"Brad!" Maddie warned, and I chuckled.

"I'm joking, I'm joking." I said. "Could it have been something you ate or?" I moved so I was lied down beside her, face to face.

"I'm not sure. I haven't eaten anything different in the last week to you, Con or Reece though so one of you three surely would've fallen ill too if it were food poisoning. It must be a bug." Maddie said.

"Probably is." I said.

"I don't want to pass it on to you though." She said, looking worried.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. If you pass it on to me, you pass it on to me, I don't care. As long as I'm here taking care of you and making sure you're okay, I couldn't care less what happens to me." I told her, placing my hand on her cheek and kissing her forehead. "You're boiling."

"I feel freezing." Maddie said.

"Did you want me to refill your hot water bottle or get you a drink?" I offered.

"Could you refill my water bottle?" Maddie asked, handing it to me.

"Of course." I said. "Con said that if you wanted to go back to your place so you're in your own bedroom and house then you're more than welcome to, he said I could stay there too if you wanted but that's up to you. Also Tris said if there's anything you want or need from the shop, he'll stop off and grab it on the way home later tonight."

"Aww that's kind of them both. I can't think of anything for Tris, and what did you want to do about Con's?" Maddie asked.

"I don't mind, it's completely up to you." I said.

"I don't mind either, although I would prefer to just stay here for now if that's okay with you? Just because I don't want to go in the car and be sick again or something." Maddie said.

"Yeah, that's fair enough. I'll let Connor know for you." I said, getting out of bed to do her hot water bottle. As I went to walk out of the room, Maddie spoke up.

"Brad- sorry about last night." Maddie said.

"What is there to be sorry for?" I asked.

"Well, I did start throwing up in your bathroom in the middle of the night." Maddie said.

"No, don't apologise." I said, walking back over to her. "It's completely okay. I'd do anything for you." I kissed her forehead again, before leaving the room.