Kiss Me When You're Sober (FREENBECKY)

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Ren's POV

After I put Riley to bed, I left her room and saw Marcus comfortably sitting on the couch, watching and eating popcorn.

"Marcus..."

He got startled when I called him, making the popcorn spill on the floor.

"Hi Ma'am Ren! Is everything okay na po?" he said in his high-pitched voice. "Thank you po for taking care of her."

"No worries. By the way, what happened?" I walk towards the couch to sit.

"Ang dami niya po kasing kinain na donut, she usually gets sick po kasi kapag napaparami siya. Hindi niya rin mapigilan minsan because she loves sweets." he explained.

"She lives alone?" I thought she was living with his grandpa.

"Yes Ma'am, since she was 18 po. We both grew up in the province. Nung lumipat sa Manila yung family ko for good, sumunod siya. Then she decided to live here in Manila as well, near our house po. I'm always with her. Para hindi po siya malulungkot. Except during her birthday and Christmas. She likes spending those special days alone since her parents... died." He sure talks a lot.

"Oh, I see..."

I looked at the clock and it was already 10 PM.

"It's late Marcus, are you not going home?" he straightened up his body after I asked him.

"Ma'am Ren... can I ask you a favor? Sasagarin ko na po... it's okay if you don't want to..."

That "sasagarin"... he sounds like Riley.

"I'll see, what is it?"

"Pwede po ikaw mag bantay kay Riley? Kailangan ko po talaga umuwi eh, if okay lang po?" his eyes are begging.

I don't have a lot of things to do in the clinic tomorrow and I know how hard it is to get sick especially when you're living alone.

"Yes, I can stay but please stay with her for a while. I'll just step out to buy something."

-

I went outside to buy some medicines and groceries. Earlier, I opened Riley's fridge to get some water and I saw that that was the only thing that she has in her fridge.

So I bought her some groceries. I don't know if she can cook but I'll buy them anyways.

-

When I get back to Riley's unit, Marcus is already sleeping on the couch. I woke him up and told him that he can go home.

"Keep yourself comfortable Ma'am and thank you po." Marcus said, half awake.

"By the way Marcus, I'm going to cook breakfast for Riley, is there anything that I need to know like food allergies or food that she hates?" I just want to make sure. I don't want her to feel sick again because of allergies or if she ate something that she doesn't like.

"Wala naman po Ma'am pero favorite niya po yung egg drop soup for breakfast."

Oh, that's my favorite too.

-

When Marcus left, I arranged the groceries, cleaned Riley's unit, and put the medicine in her medicine box inside the bathroom. I also put some on the side table in her room.

I finished at 11:39 PM.

I have to sleep now because I need to wake up early to prepare breakfast.

I went to Riley's room to check her temperature. She still has a fever but it went down to 37.8. When I was about to leave, she held my hand.

Riley keeps on saying that she's scared. I know it's none of my business but I wonder what happened to her and her parents.

I let go of her hand when I noticed that she was already in deep sleep. I decided to sleep on the sofa bed inside her room so that I can attend to her needs if there were any.

-

3:26 AM

I suddenly woke up from sleep when I felt someone breathing on my neck. It's Riley. She's hugging me, and her face is buried in the curve of my neck.

Why is she here? Did she sleepwalk?

I tried to remove her hands around my waist and move her face away from my neck. I don't understand why her touch seems familiar to me.

I noticed that her body is burning hot, probably because her body temp increases again.

I did my best to get away from her so that I can check her temperature and do cold water sponging to lower her body temperature. But I can't.

Her grip is too strong and if I force her to remove her hands, she might get hurt.

So, I just let her hug me and hope that her fever doesn't get worse.

I'm lying on my back but I changed to a side position and pulled Riley closer to me. I gently touch her hair and her back. Is this okay? Because I am not that close to her and yet I'm touching her as if I know her for a long time already.