Tetrology Of The Sea - Book 1: From The Sea 🪼✔

Thirteen

Shana pressed the cold rag against Travis' forehead as he laid in her bed, still out from the beating he had received. She felt so bad for him having to endure all the pain. Since he had also been in the rain, he had contracted a fever that seemed to refuse to break. Shana was beginning to get afraid and wanted to desperately contact the hospital about it but Aylin told her that he would be fine. It had been three days already and he was still going between hot flashes and cold spells.
Aylin walked in and sighed at his sister.
"He's still here?"
"His fever hasn't broke and he's still very weak anyway. Besides, Ruth and Josh don't come back for a couple more days and until they come back, we have to take care of him."
"We? No, you can take care of him."
Shana shot her brother a mean glance as she put the rag back in the cold water beside her. Aylin walked up to the bed and threw his hand on Travis' forehead.
"It seems to be going down a little. Did you check his temp?"
"Not yet..."
Shana grabbed the thermometer and stuck the end of it in Travis' mouth, pressing the button so it would register. A couple minutes later, it beeped and they looked at it. 101.7...
"Damn... I'm so tired of you sleeping in my bed."
"Have mercy for once in your life, you jackass." Shana snarled.
Aylin sniffed. "Am I?"
"Yes. A big one."
"Because of this idiot who got beat up in the rain?"
"Like he chose to!" Shana yelled, standing up. "Like he really said, 'You know what, I think I'd like to get beaten up today.' That's really smart, Aylin."
"Well the way he acts and dresses makes it seem that way."
"He acts and dresses the way he does because he has no friends!" Shana screamed. "If it weren't for you and your friends, he would have had a social life and would have had friends. But you... you made him see hi flaws and hurt him so bad!"
"Don't put your crushes on me! If it weren't for what you told me, I wouldn't even have done anything. Besides, he brought it upon himself by being weird and saying he could talk to fish and stuff. I mean really? Did he not see that that was pretty st-st-stupid."
"Aylin, calm down-"
"How can I calm down when you're screaming at me?"
"If you don't stop you'll start." She said softly.
Aylin looked at her. "What are you trying to say?"
"You know what I mean. Besides, what's the point in trying to defend yourself now? The damage has been done and now look what's going on. He's been beaten up enough, I think..."
"Well we can't keep him in the house. If Dad finds him here he's going to be even more mean."
"Well, he just won't come up here now will he? Besides, Ruth will keep Dad in line if anything did happen."
"If Craig finds out you had a guy in your room-"
"Screw Craig."
"No, he'll be thinking you're screwing someone else."
Shana stared at him sharply.
"I think I know not to get wet when I look at a sick guy, ya know?"
Aylin shrugged. "Whatever... Whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever..."
Aylin's eyes widened in fear and he looked at his sister as she went to him.
"Whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever..."
"Calm down, Aylin. You're making yourself do it even more. Just breathe in and breathe out."
Aylin nodded and tried to do as she said but he couldn't get his brain to focus on stopping himself. He just kept going, feeling his mouth form the word over and over. He looked over at Travis on the bed and found that he had awoken from his slumber and was looking at him. Aylin went down the stairs and sat on the couch as he tried to figure out how to stop himself from repeating the word.

Shana ran her fingers through her hair as she watched Aylin go downstairs. She turned and saw the whites of Travis' eyes and smiled.
"Hey! I'm so glad you're alright..."
Travis didn't respond but just looked at her as she felt his face.
"You're still going to be hot so... Get some rest, Travis."
He closed his eyes and before long she knew that he was asleep, peacefully.
She went downstairs to check on Aylin and found him rocking back and forth as he continued to say 'whatever'. She went to him and put her hand on his shoulders, making him look up to her.
"Think for a moment, Aylin... Think of your numbers... Can you count for me?" He shook his head no. "Don't be a baby and give up. I'll help you."
She took his hands in hers and looked at him, his mouth still spouting off 'whatevers'.
"One." She said slowly.
"Wha-wha-wh-" He closed his eyes tightly, making his brain make his tongue work. "Wh-wh-wh-one!"
"Good! Now two.
"T-t-t-two."
"Three?"
"Thr- three..."

Travis' opened his eyes and looked around. He was not in his room anymore. Hell, he didn't think he was even in his own universe. Had he really heard Aylin Gray, football captain and loved by most, had some sort of weird speech impediment? He tried to move his head around but a wave of dizziness caught him and he felt his eyes roll. He heard something shuffle and felt something touch his head.
"You awake yet?"
He felt himself mumble something but the cool of a rag to his head felt nice.
"I know you heard Aylin... Don't mention it to him or to anyone else. He's very self conscious about it and has been keeping it under wraps since he was ten. Just... don't hurt him."
Travis didn't really care as another deep wave of dizziness over took him and he went back into la-la land.