Burning Fever

"Why hospital walls are white?" My voice shows how tired I am as I sit up in bed at whatever time it was. It was dark outside, I knew that much.

"What?" An equally delirious Aidan asked. I didn't want to sleep and he had apparently decided to stay up with me.

"It's very much a boring color, makes obvious that you're in a hospital," I slur, not quite sure what I'm talking about but not having the energy to stop myself. Aidan hums in agreement.

"I think I know what you mean," He mumbles, resting his arms on my bed.

"Yes, if the walls were purple... green.. blue then would be much nicer," I say, staring at the blank ceiling, "Maybe not red though, I think need to be able to see blood,"

"That is very much true," He says, now resting his head on my bed.

"Why don't you sleep?" I ask.

"Because then you'll be by yourself," he says, "I'll only go to sleep if you sleep first,"

"I'm reeeeally tired," I whine.

"Then go to sleep," He says, tilting his head.

"No," I say, instantly.

"Why not?" he asks

"Because in sleep scary things happen," I say, frowning.

"You mean nightmares?"

"What is nightmares?" I ask.

"When you sleep you can have dreams, it's like a movie in your head, and nightmares are when dreams are scary," I nod.

"Mhm, I see nightmares," I say, "But when I don't sleep then I get no nightmares, so I stay awake,"

"What if I hold your hand?" He says. I turn to look at him, my face scrunched up in confusion, "When I got nightmares my dad would hold my hand while I slept, and then they would go away," he explains, "Want me to hold your hand so we can both sleep?" he asks. I nod a little and he takes my hand in his, it was nice. I smile a little.

"Now sleep," I mutter, leaning back against my pillow and closing my eyes. He nods and puts his head back on my bed. It didn't take me long to drift off.

"Livvy...Livvy the nurse says breakfast is being served," A gentle voice says, nudging me awake, I open my eyes and see Liam stood over me, Aidan and I were still in the same position as last night. My stomach hurts and I feel really really hot, "Want to eat in the cafeteria or I can bring you two something?" He asks, smiling softly. I frown a little.

"Can I eat in here today, feel sick," I ask. He nods.

"Yea, of course. Can you wake up Aidan, I'll be back in a minute," He says, leaving the room. I look down at Aidan and poke his nose.

"Aidannn," I say, laughing slightly. He turns his head over and opens his eyes, looking at me with a sleepy smile.

"Morning," He mutters.

"Your dad went to breakfast," I say. He sits up and yawns.

"Mkay. You okay, you look like you're going to be sick," He says, pressing a hand to my forehead.

"I feel very much sick," I say, "I'm all hot, feels weird,"

"Yea, I think you have a fever from the blood loss or something," He says, "I'll ask the nurse," He says, getting up, but before he can leave, Liam and nurse Sandy come back in.

"Morning you two," Nurse Sandy says, instantly checking up on me, "Hm, it's normal to have a bit of a fever when you've lost a lot of blood but if it lasts any longer than a day then you might have to come back in," She says, writing some stuff down, "I'll get you an ice pack but everything looks normal, try to eat something," She says, smiling before leaving.

"Speaking of, I brought some scrambled eggs," Liam says, placing a tray on my lap. I smile a little, I didn't feel hungry but I knew I needed to try. I force down a few forkfuls before I physically can't eat anymore.

"You okay Livvy?" Aidan asks, "If you don't like eggs it's fine, we'll get you something else,"

"No, not that. Not used to eating so much," I say, they look at me worriedly and I huff, "At mom's, didn't eat much because we just didn't have money and I been homeless for a year so not much food," I say.

"Well that's okay, just eat as much as you can," He says giving me a reassuring smile.

"By the way," Liam says, "I wanted to tell you that we have a spare room at our house, I've talked to my husband and we wanted to ask if you wanted to stay with us," My heart skips a beat.

"I... You want me to... Live with you?," I say, looking at the floor as my eyes well with tears.

"Yea,"

"No... no, don't want to be trouble," I mutter.

"No, you wouldn't be any trouble, I swear. We called around at a few hostels but they are full because it's winter and we didn't want to leave you there anyway, and there's no way we are going to leave you back on the streets," he says. I look back up and feel a few tears roll down my cheeks.

"I.. Wow... Thank you," I say. He smiles and Aidan walks over to me, hugging me.

"Okay, here you are, one nice cold ice pack," I hear nurse Sandy's voice and quickly wipe away my tears, "put it on your forehead and it'll cool you down," she says, handing me a cold bag thing. I nod and put it on my forehead as she said, "You can try and have a shower now if you want, there's a chair in there and I can help you with your clothes," She says. I nod quickly, I've felt gross for the past god knows how many years. She smiles at me in a way that tells me Liam told her I was homeless.

"I'll look after this," Liam says, taking the ice pack from me, "You go get cleaned up," I smile and take nurse Sandy's hand as she leads me away.

"Let's get you sorted,"