brave//5SOS

6

Calum

Ashton and Emily had been sleeping for hours. Neither of them were going to wake up by themselves soon but if they didn't wake up then they wouldn't sleep tonight.

Luke went to wake up Ashton with the dogs while I woke up Emily. I was really, really worried for her because she wasn't being looked after as she should be.

And she had been so alone.

"Are you gonna wake up now?" I said softly, rubbing her shoulders. She hit my hand away and pulled a face- the same face she pulled whenever she was in pain. I knew it too well.

"What's hurting? Just point to it,"

She pointed to her throat, ears, head and stomach. She had a fever and unlike before, she had red cheeks.

"What if we get up and get you some food, it might perk you up a little,"

She shook her head and closed her eyes again; I brought the duvet round her tightly, and rubbed her back.

"Michael, can you come here?" I called- everyone was awake anyway. He quickly came through, raising his eyebrow when he saw Emily.

"Can you tell me what you think... her stomach, head, throat and ears hurt,"

"Everything aches and hurts," she groaned.

He sat next to me and looked down at her sympathetically.

"Sounds like the flu to me, I might have to run down to the hospital and get stronger medicine for you hun," he said.

She slipped her hand out the duvet and held my own, starting to cry quietly. I felt so guilty, even though I couldn't have helped this. The girl hadn't had a break.

"It's ok, you're ok... it's ok," I reassured.

Michael left to go to hospital rather quickly, but Luke and Ashton came in. Though we'd had other patients, Emily had been out main focus pretty much since we got the job. It was like seeing family in pain whenever she was.

I gently moved her onto my chest so the other two could fit on the bed and ran my fingers through her short hair. Ashton came behind me, resting his head on my shoulder and looking at Emily, whereas Luke laid the other side of her.

Her breathing was jagged. Her body was heavy. She now looked paler.

Luke wrapped his arm round her then Ashton did the same leaving us all in one massive hug. A small smile peeked onto her face and she nuzzled properly into my chest.

"Has Michael gone to get medicine?" Ashton asked, clearly still tired.

"Yeah, you're a bit sick aren't you," I said to Emily. She nodded and coughed a little before trying to shuffle out my grip.

"Everything hurts, my ears really hurts and I'm cold," she grumbled. I let her turn towards Luke, who hugged her gently, then pulled the cover over us all.

"I know everything hurts, Michael will be back soon. We won't give you anything big but you need to eat and drink. Maybe we could go downstairs and cuddle in the sofa ay?" Ashton replied.

She shrugged and looked up at Luke glumly. He sulked back teasingly- both of them never took each other too seriously. She often got sick of our faces in hospital, so seeing him was always refreshing.

"Come on, there's plenty of cuddles and we can all actually fit on the sofa," Luke laughed. He gently picked her up, letting her head settle for a moment before taking her downstairs. Ashton and I followed them, the walk steady to save her getting hurt. She was pretty tall, but not heavy at all.

Michael texted to say he was five minutes away and had picked her up some food. I wasn't sure if she could keep it down to be honest, but it was worth a try. I was actually very worried about her because I knew her body would struggle to fight it.

"You have a dog... two dogs!" I heard Emily squeal, followed by Luke's laugh. I could see her stroking Petunia gently but jumping away when Duke leapt onto the sofa.

It was definitely an act, I'd heard her come downstairs earlier, but I let her have it.

"Duke, down," I said. He came over to me and ran round excitedly - I don't think I could love anyone more than Duke to be honest.

I knelt next to him and cuddled him; Ashton pushed me over and I ended up laying on the floor with both dogs on top of me. Emily giggled and watched as I was licked in the face.

"I bring medicine and food!" Michael announced as he opened the door. Duke sprinted away and over to Michael but Petunia just plodded over to Luke again.

I got up while Emily took her medicine and cuddled up in a massive duvet. Luke put Frozen on and sat down along with Ashton and Michael. Quickly, I washed my face and the joined everyone in the living room.

By the end of our second film, Duke had taken a liking to Emily and they both quietly sat together. She was lightly stroking him while he just rested on her legs. Both of them looked tired.

As soon as we could give her more medicine, we did because she'd perked up a little.

"Can I go to bed now? Is there any way I could sleep alone though so I can stretch out though? Sorry...," she asked.

"You can have my bed," I offered, " I'll crash with Michael for the night,"

"Thankyou,"

"If you need anything, just wake us up,"

She went to bed as soon as I said that, wishing us goodnight. Duke followed her upstairs, abandoning me.

"Looks like he's got a new favourite, sorry Cal," Michael chuckled. I glared at him and flipped him off.

"Just saying," he shrugged.

"Somehow, she's everyone's favourite. There's just something so admirable about her but I don't know what it is,"