A Tall and Small Collection | S2

Recovery and Discovery

The evening was, in a word, restless. Between coughing, tossing and turning, and Mayzie's subtle whimpers, no one slept soundly that night. Even with the medicine, it was tough.

Soren stayed close to his daughter, keeping his arm wrapped around her as she slept, even though Soren didn't get a lot of rest. He helped give Mayzie water when he was awake, and Ashlynn stepped in from time to time to make sure Mayzie stayed comfortable.

The next morning, everyone took an accidental nap while watching a cartoon on Ashlynn's laptop. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be experiencing any symptoms of being sick. She continued to provide, what she called, "bone broth" chicken barley soup and a reassuring attitude, smiling the whole time.

The next day was the same. Restless and rough. Soren coughed a few times, earning him a dose of medicine with the rest of them. They spent time watching movies and snuggling either on the bedside table or on the massive bed with Ashlynn.

Then, upon Ashlynn's insistence, they went and spent some time sitting on the windowsill in the bright sun watching the cars and people far below her apartment. She said something smart about something called vitamin D and that spending some time in the sun and not trapped in a darkened room watching movies all day.

The afternoon came and went and after another round of vapor bubble baths, the Borrower family finally showed signs of being on the mend. They repeated the same process of sitting in the sun, resting, and drinking water with Ashlynn's homemade soup and, by the afternoon of the third day since Rey came to Ashlynn with a very sick Mayzie that they were cured.

Rey's fever was gone. Dorian still had a little cough, but it was productive, and his breathing was even. Soren, thankfully, only had a little cough and got a headache. Even Mayzie's color was back, as was her smile. By that night, they were practically back to normal.

Ashlynn still insisted on everyone taking one last small dose of medicine to sleep soundly through the night. Dorian and Rey gave the biggest pushback on this suggestion from their human companion simply because of the revolting taste, but they relented and took the burning icy liquid.

Soren had a sip of some fizzing concoction Ashlynn was taking and Mayzie finally broke down her own stubbornness and took a few small sips of the odd smelling medicine.

This was their first night of peace and restful sleep, and it was amazing. The only reason Soren stirred the next morning was because he heard Ashlynn got up and called someone from the other room on her phone saying she would be working from home today.

Soren listened to her for a minute as she rummaged around in the kitchen, most likely preparing her morning coffee. Mayzie's soft coo brought his attention back to her. She nuzzled into his chest before rolling over, thumb shoved into her mouth.

Soren sat up and gazed at his daughter. Her cheeks were once again a sweet, rosy color. He pressed his cheek against hers and breathed a sigh of relief. No fever. He pushed himself back up before reaching out and brushed some of the strands of hair away from her face.

She was okay.

She was safe.

Soren leaned forward and kissed her temple before leaning back on his makeshift bed on the bedside table. He closed his eyes and breathed his first sigh of relief in days. He let his mind quiet from the spiraling he went through from the past few days.

It wasn't until he heard Ashlynn coming back that he slipped out from under the covers to stand by the end of the bedside table.

He hated to leave his daughter and his brothers, but she hadn't had a chance to talk to Ashlynn and discuss some of his questions as to why they were sick, but Ashlynn was healthy and fine.