Last Love | Book 3

Chapter 19

(Jennifer)

My coughing wakes me up again for the second time tonight and after lying there for a while coughing, I decide to get up and find some medicine. I crawl out of bed and walk downstairs, avoiding the creakiest stairs so I won't wake anyone else up. I get a glass of water and sip on it while I search the medicine cabinet for some cough medicine. I search the whole thing, but I can't find any. There's no cough drops either. I drink the rest of my water, feeling the disappointment set in. I won't be able to get any sleep for the rest of the night if I can't stop coughing. I set my empty glass in the sink and start walking back to bed. The water helped a little bit, but before I get a chance to make it back to the bedroom I'm already coughing uncontrollably again. I feel my stomach twist and I immediately run to the bathroom, kneeling next to the toilet, as my coughing fit continues. I feel like I can't even breathe I'm coughing so hard. I gag on my own spit and throw up into the toilet. I hear a thumping sound next to me and Josh's hands pull the sides of my hair away from my face, but it's too late they're already covered in spit. I finally stop coughing and wipe my face off on my sleeve. "Are you okay?" Josh asks, squinting at me in the darkness. I shake my head, my fingers automatically wrapping around my throat. It's raw and stinging from a mix of coughing and stomach acid. He wraps his arms around me and hugs me. "Do you wanna rinse your mouth out?" He looks at me, waiting for my response. I nod. "Okay. Come on." He helps me get up and turns on the sink. I rinse my mouth out while he puts my hair up with a clip.

When I wake up in the morning, it's around eight o'clock. I feel worse than I did last night. My head is throbbing and my throat feels ragged and sore. I can hear Josh talking to the kids downstairs but I can't bring myself to get out of bed yet. I turn over and bury my face into my pillow, trying to block out the light. A few minutes later I feel the bed move slightly and I peek up from my pillow. It's Josh. I didn't even hear him come in. "Are you feeling any better?" I sit up a little more and shake my head. "No." I croak, but my voice barely comes out as a whisper. "God, you sound horrible. I guess I'm gonna have to run to the store and get you some medicine." He says, reaching out and stroking my hair in a soothing way. "I'll be right back." He kisses my forehead and stands up to leave.

He returns not long after with a bag in his hand. He sits back down on the bed and pulls out a bottle of cold medicine, cough drops, and a bottle of Sprite. "I know your throat probably hurts too much to drink this now but I thought it would be good for later." He says. "Thank you." I whisper, reaching for the cold medicine. "I'll go put it up in the fridge for you." He grabs the Sprite bottle and takes it downstairs. While I wait for him to come back, I take the medicine and put a cough drop in my mouth. Josh walks back in and takes the cough medicine from me and sets it on the nightstand. "Do you need anything else?" I shake my head. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom real quick." I swing my legs over the side of the beds and start to get up. "Alright, but only to the bathroom and back, okay? From now on you're quarantined. I can't be having you getting anyone else in this house sick. If you need something I'll get it for you." I nod, it would be horrible if both the kids were to get what I have.

I nap on and off for the rest of the day until I wake up for good at around five o'clock. "Josh?" I yell his name as loud as I can manage. "Just a second!" I'm surprised he even heard me from all the way downstairs. He runs into the room exactly two seconds later. "What's up?" He asks. "I'm hungry. Have you made dinner yet?" I get another cough drop out of the bag to soothe my throat. "We actually just got done eating." He sounds guilty. "I can make you something else though. Is chicken soup okay?" I nod. "That's perfect." I answer. "I'll be right back with your soup then." He walks back downstairs, leaving me in our room alone again. As I'm waiting for my dinner, I decide to get dressed and cleaned up a little. I change into clean pajamas and brush my hair and teeth. Then I put my hair back up into a messy bun.

I get back to our room, expecting to have to wait a while longer to eat, but when I get there Josh is already sitting on the bed holding a bowl of soup. I take the bowl from him and sit down too. "Thank you." I smile at him, taking a small bite of my soup. It burns my mouth, but I don't care. I'm too hungry to wait. I cuddle up with Josh while I eat my soup, and he gently runs his finger tips along my arm, making me want to fall asleep again. I finish my soup and set the empty bowl on the nightstand. Then I lean in and give Josh a kiss first on the cheek then on the lips.

I wake up to an empty bed, then I hear the sound of coughing coming from the bathroom. I jump up and run into the bathroom and find Josh leaning over the toilet coughing just like I was not less than twelve hours ago. "Shit." I kneel down next to him and wrap my arm around him. He stops and I hand him a paper towel to wipe his face off with. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you sick." I say, feeling horrible. The one thing I was trying to do was avoid spreading my sickness and I've failed at even that. "It's fine. I guess we'll just have to take care of each other now." I smile at him. "I guess so." I lean in and rest my head on his shoulder.

A/N: Awe I ship it so much