Born For This

Sick Day

Star City

November 11, 09:25 EST

"You're staying in bed, young lady," mom says, after feeling my forehead.

"But mom!" I exclaim with a scratchy throat. "Today's Wally's birthday." 

I begin my coughing fit once more and quickly cover my mouth with a fist.

"Hon, you have a cold. I'm not going to let you get everyone else on the team sick," she states, silently ending the argument.

I groan and bury myself under my pillow. Why did I have to get sick? Today is my boyfriend's birthday and I and the team had a surprise celebration back at the Cave. It was going to be awesome. M'gann had made two cakes, and Conner, Dick, Kyle, and Kaldur put up decorations. Artemis, Zatanna, and I wrapped up his presents. It was supposed to be perfect, but I guess perfect comes at a price.

The creak of my door startles me, but I calm down when I realize it's just Dakota. "Whatcha doin' in bed, Ember?"

"Dying internally," I reply sarcastically.

"Ya know you're grumpy when you're sick," the small brunette folds her arms with a pout.

"Am not," I argue, folding my own arms.

"Are too!" Dakota says louder.

"Am not!" I shout at her before throwing one of my pillows at her, causing her to scream and leave my room. I huff and pull the covers just under my chin, muttering, "I am not grumpy."

My phone rings out in the next second, distracting me from my mood. 

Picking up, I croak out, "Hello?"

"Where's the banner at?" Robin answers in a rushed manner. 

"I'm fine by the way," I roll my eyes with a scoff. 

He sighs out, "Sorry. Just need to know where the banner is." 

"It's in the vent above the stove," I tell him, "Does he suspect anything?"

"It's Wally, Em, he knows he's getting a 'surprise party'. It's not like he hasn't been saying anything about it for months."

Tilting my head slightly, I agree,"Point. But did you get everything?"

"Stop worrying. We got it under control. You should be resting, not worrying."

"Richard John Grayson, never tell a woman to not worry."

"Ember Jean Lance-Phillips," he responds smugly, "I'm telling you there's nothing for you to worry about. Now please get sleep."

When the time on my alarm clock says 10:30, I decide to call Wally. Picking up my iPhone, I type in my passcode and click on Wally's number in my contacts. I hold the phone close to my ear, waiting for him to pick up. He doesn't and it goes directly to voicemail, causing a disappointed look to appear on my face.

"Hey, this is the Wall-Man. Leave your name and number, and I'll be as quick as possible to get back to ya. Alright then..." Wally's pre-recorded voice says on the other end.

"At the tone, please record your message," the automated voice states.

Once it beeps, I begin, "Hey handsome, just wanted to wish you a spectacular sixteenth. I'm sorry I can't be there, I'm a little preoccupied with being sick. I'm so sorry, anyway-"

Before I can finish, he begins calling me. "Oh, and you're calling me...okay then." I hang up and press on his phone number again.

"Hey!" he exclaims, obviously excited to hear from me.

"Hey," I answer before I start coughing again.

He asks, concerned, "Babe, you okay?"

"Just a cough, Wally. Don't worry about it. Happy 16th," I wave it off.

"Thanks. Are you sure you're okay? That cough sounds bad."

Instead of replying to his question, I distract him, "How was your morning? Did your mom cook breakfast again?"

Distracted, he responds, "Definitely. She made eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes!"

"Wow," I say as excitedly as I can.

"Yeah, and it's snowing! And there's no school!"

"That's awesome, Wally. I'm so glad you're having a good morning," I answer, holding back a cough so he won't ask if I'm okay again.

"You know what would make it better?" he questions, though I already know the answer.

"Wally, if you say a surprise birthday party, I'm staying home for Thanksgiving," I reply, rolling my eyes. He's been dropping large hints that he wants a "surprise birthday party" for his birthday for months now. The thing is, he already knows he's getting a surprise party, so I still don't see the need to keep telling me he wants a party. I swear, that boy sometimes.

"Hey Walls, I gotta go. Have a wonderful birthday. Bye." I hang up as he quickly speaks, "Bye!" before putting my phone back on my bedside table and curling up into the covers. 

~ 8 ~

I wake up to my phone buzzing so much that it's on the very edge of the bedside table. Groaning internally, I turn my body to grab it and read the caller ID before answering.

"Y'know, the point of my surprise birthday party was for you to be here, gorgeous. You do know that, right?" Wally asked, seemingly hurt.

Oh dangit! I forgot to tell him I couldn't come!

"Um, yeah..." I say, groggily. "About that...mom said I couldn't go, because I could get everyone sick, and I agree."

"But bbaabbee!" he whines.

"Wally, I'm not going to get you sick! And that's final," I chuckle.

"Okay, but you owe me."

"Owe you what?"

"Well...um...uh-"

"Use your words, Wallace," I smile.

"I'm not sure yet...I'll think of something," he begins talking normally again.

"You do that, and meanwhile, I'm going back to bed to sleep this off."

"Alright, and thanks for the party, Em," he says.

"No prob, night," I yawn before hanging up and going back to sleep.

Or maybe I should say trying to go back to sleep...

You see the thing about having younger siblings is...you never know what's gonna happen next. So they're basically unpredictable, and that's a bad thing for me. Especially since I'm sick. A couple of doors down the hallway, I can hear Dakota shouting at Toby to give her Barbie doll back. So let's just say, it takes about an hour before I actually get back to my peaceful state.