Strangers

Chapter 18: Nasally Rabbit

Two days later, my resolve was strong.  But my body fucking wasn’t. I felt like absolute shit. Death warmed up, and then cooled down, and then warmed up again. My temperature had spiked, my whole head throbbed, my nose was tossing up between running constantly and being so blocked my whole voice had changed the way it sounded. As if that wasn’t enough, I had earache, a sore throat that may as well be someone cutting into my neck with a knife every time I spoke. On top of all of that, which pretty much ruled out the use of 4 out of 5 senses, I had my period and the world’s worse case of cramps. I swear to god if there was a competition, I would take the first three prizes because everything hurt. If I’d known I was going to have the bloody flu, courtesy of Alice, I would’ve skipped my period, just to make life a little bit easier. But I probably skip it too much as is. So I will endure it this time, along with all my other ailments and hopefully come out the other side healthy.

My muscles ached with exhaustion, which is ironic because since I first felt sick yesterday I haven’t left my bed. Alice had made a speedy recovery and now I was being mocked the same way I had mocked her. I wish I had a strong immune system, but my body is effed enough from being iron deficient so I don’t have the energy to ward off this flu.

The best thing, about all of this, really was the fact that I have an exam tomorrow. I mean, it’s perfect timing. I can’t finish a sentence without getting confused, purely because the flu has overtaken my brain and made me constantly stupid/tired. Fuck my life.

“I hate you so much for doing this to me.” I croak, rolling over and crumpling the notes I had been attempting to study but were now beneath my stomach on this cramped bed.

“I’m sorry! I feel so bad, you look worse than I did.” Alice frowns sympathetically, handing me a bottle of water and the decongestants she had been taking the past couple of days.

“I want my mummy.” I whine, both joking and fully serious. I hate being sick with no one to take care of me.

“Did you get much sleep last night?” Alice asks, sitting down on her bed with her usual bounce of energy. Fuck off. My head spins from watching her small movements.

“No, I caaaan’t breathe properly.” My voice is so pathetically strained constantly, and ridiculously nasal.

“Ah shit. Have you texted Harry back yet?”

“No. I’m too tired to deal with that.” Everything is an effort when you’re sick.

I push the covers off of me, suddenly sweating. That’s the worst part, the constant change in body temperature, it’s starting to get really fucking cold in this country but my body randomly decides that it’s summer and no covers are needed whatsoever. Ten minutes later I bet I will be pulling them back up and shivering. Fuck this.

“I have to go to uni, are you going to be okay? Do you want me to call a doctor so you can get antibiotics?”

“Doctors are corrupt.” I hiss, but I don’t sound very mean or intimidating, I sound kind of like a rabbit. I don’t know if that would make sense to someone without a head cold but in my mind I sound like a nasally rabbit.

“Yeah whatever, text me if you need me to get you anything while I’m out and about.” She says with a smile, texting away on her phone as she leaves the room. Leaves me in complete silence to deal with my slow death.

Am I being dramatic?

Yes.

Do I care?

No.

I’m going to fail my fucking exam. God knows I did no study on the weekend for it, and my brain is not absorbing any information in it’s present state. Fuck this.