Play Nice

Sick Cats

Lucy was right, Orph was sick. Orph ate his food and sneezed with every bite. Orph cuddled with Ross and sneezed on his shirt. Ross played with Orph until it was interrupted with another coughing fit from Orph. Kitty asthma was out the window, the new theory was that Orph had kitty bronchitis. Ross scheduled an appointment with the vets and let him sleep in his bed with Lucy and himself. The next morning, Ross took Orph to the vet. Lucy stayed home.

The theory was right. After a simple checkup and an emergency X-ray, the veterinarian explained that Orph had a bit of growing bronchitis. The vet was happy that Ross had brought Orph in early, since it seemed as if it would worsen quickly. After a few more hours at the vets, Ross could take Orph home with medicine, one-a-day for a week, and Orph would be better in no time.

When Ross arrived home, he was startled to find no trace of Lucy. He set his cat free. Orph immediately rushed to find Lucy. Ross followed Orph into his room, where Lucy hadn't moved since Ross left that morning. The two boys sat on the bed, waking her up suddenly. "Morning," Ross said with a smile, "we're back."

"Oh, my lovely boys," Lucy smiled, brushing the sleep from her eyes. "How are my boys?"

"We were right," Ross said, "Orph has bronchitis, of all things."

Lucy laughed. "Oh, don't feel bad, Orph," she said, setting him in her lap. "I remember once, I caught bronchitis so bad, it developed into pneumonia."

She changed and started to make breakfast, Ross struggling to get Orph to take his medicine already, but excited for his live stream tonight. "I'm gonna update a few of the older characters so they look more like the newer ones," he said. "Do you want to be with me? It's gonna be really chill, I promise."

"Maybe, I'm not sure," Lucy said, setting the table for breakfast. "I don't think I feel very well."

"Are you okay?" Ross asked, "Do you also have bronchitis?"

Lucy laughed, "I hope not!" Then, she turned her back to Ross. He could see in the window reflection that she looked genuinely concerned. She looked as if she was about to decide who lived or died, that type of stress. She looked really worried, and Ross hadn't seen that for a while.

He finally got Orph to take the pill. He stood and hugged her from behind. "I think you're the best woman in the world," he whispered into her ear, "and if you'd let me show you off as my girlfriend I would be the luckiest man on Earth."

She laughed. "Ross, no," she said, "I love you too much. I'm not going to date you and turn you into another asshole."

Ross was understandably floored. The woman he had adored and kissed was refusing him on the grounds of not wanting him to be an asshole. They were practically dating already. They slept in the same bed divided only by air. They shared the apartment. They ate meals together. They spent time together. Ross even watched as she edited large swaths of articles and chapters of novels he's never heard of. With all of that said, and with all of the progress that she's made, she was still convinced that she was at fault for turning all of those guys into assholes. It broke Ross's heart, but he was determined. "I'm gonna make you fall in love with me," he mused, kissing her cheek, "but I won't make you sit in for the live stream if you don't want to."

"I'll think about it," she said.

And so she thought. Ross watched as she read, but the page never turned. He was on his phone, scrolling through Instagram, seeing all of the adorable fan-art of his monster girls. He posted a few on his story, careful to give credit to the creators.

Eventually, later that evening, Ross was setting up his stream. He asked one last time if she wanted to be a part of it. He walked to the living room to find her curled into a ball on the floor, Orph sitting close by. He rushed over to her to find she was awake. "Are you okay?" he asked, but she was quiet, she blinked, but didn't seem to notice he was there, or feel him shaking her.

Ross carried her down to the car and rushed her to the hospital. He texted Suzy to let her know what was happening.

He carried her in his arms to the reception desk of the hospital. They immediately sat her in a wheelchair and rushed her all around until she was eventually sitting in a bed with an oxygen mask on her face.

Suzy and Arin met up with them there.