Now You See Me (One Shots)

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One Shot #2 :

The One Where Henley Is Sick

***

Henley was sick. 

At first it had seemed like just a dry throat, but when she'd woken up with the burning feeling of someone stabbing her in the tonsils every time she'd simply swallowed her own saliva she knew it was much more serious. So, she suppressed her pain and took a small journey to the nearest pharmacy to buy herself some antibiotics that would have her back to normal in merely a week, and some painkillers to numb down the pain. When she'd gotten home, she'd avoided all questions and quickly chucked down a pill of the antibiotic. 

She didn't need a doctor, her tonsils have been an issue since she could remember and after they got so bad one time she needed to be hospitalized but her parents made the decision of not taking them out seeing as she got increasingly better and they'd only act up three times a year – tops. So, it was no surprise that they'd acted up again, she just hoped she would be able to make a speedy recovery before Atlas noticed because Lord only knows how much of his attitude she could tolerate in her sick state. 

At first it seemed as if the medicine had been working, despite the little stabbing feeling everyone time she merely breathed, she was able to eat, speak, and do almost about everything. Which is why, when she woke up the next day with a killer throat, and more painful than ever tonsils, she raced down and took a pill, noticing that swallowing her own saliva had become painful to which she had to resort to spitting it out. After that, she'd locked herself up in her room and binge watched Scream Queens on her bed for the full day. 

"Hey," she had managed to hear the faint voice of one of her partners in crime. Pausing the episode and taking off her earphones, she looked up at the slightly agitated and worried Jack Wilder. 

She waved at him, speaking hurting her too much, and watched as he came to sit on the edge of her bed. 

"Whatcha doin?" he asked and she motioned to her computer which lay in front of her as she wrapped herself in a salmon blanket. 

"Lunch's ready. You, uh, think you can eat?" He asked that little look of concern evident in his eyes as he rubbed her back soothingly. 

Henley shook her head in refusal, but smiled nonetheless, touched that the little Horseman cared so much for her. Truth was, her pain had been so excruciatingly awful that the mere thought of having to move her mouth in anyway appalled her. So, she didn't even think about the fact that she hadn't eaten all day, or that her stomach had been growling, or the more serious matter – the slow growing fever she was developing. 

"Right, right. So, uh, are you sure these medications are doing their job? You've only gotten worse recently and I'm – well we're all – really starting to worry about you," He concluded earning a small, and rather tired smile from the redhead. 

"Even Atlas," he added earning a little chuckle – which she noticed had hurt far too much for a chuckle – on her part. 

As much energy and toleration as well as stamina it took, she'd managed to let out a small 'Thank you.' To which he reassured her was the least they could do for her considering how much she looked after them and how they'd barely done anything to help in the situation and quite frankly, watching him ramble on was making her head dizzy, so she quickly shut him up by wrapping her arms around him in a small hug which he responded to much faster than expected. After pulling away, he smiled and kissed her forehead gingerly allowing his lips to linger there for a few seconds. 

"Get well soon, Hen." 

And with that he was out the door and Henley was alone again, she sighed and resumed the episode she was watching filling her void of time with trying to figure who the Red Devil was. 

Later that day and after some suspiciously convincing technique from Merritt, Henley had finally given in and drank some of the hot chicken noodle soup he'd cooked up for her, which she was really grateful for. Daniel and Jack even entertained her with their thousands of card tricks as well as sleight of hand, which she knew almost all the technique to and could notice with the blink of an eye, nonetheless it was still fun and they'd managed to make her smile more than once, so both of the boys had taken it as a win on their part.  

At the end of the day, and with the help and nursery of her other three horsemen and a few painkillers, Henley Reeves could proudly report that she'd begun to feel a hell lot better.