Chapter Text
Earlier this week a fuzzy head and a slight fever had easily been waved off as a cold or minor flu. Especially in the face of Edwards' overly anxious tendencies.
“I just need to sleep it off Edward. It’s a boring human cold.”
“This is normal human stuff, I can deal with it, trust me.”
“No, I do not need to be admitted to the hospital.”
However, last night, wedged between Charlie and Edward on the couch, I felt the fever inside me shift gear. Before my usual bedtime I’d excused myself and retreated to my bedroom, throwing open the window as wide as it would go, gasping into the cool night air.
I heard Edward downstairs politely wishing my father a goodnight so I took advantage of his “human act” which would force him to move a million times slower than he wished. Rushing into the shower I doused myself in freezing cold water.
Bliss.
After 10 minutes my teeth were chattering and I figured I staved off the worst this wave of fever could throw at me. Reentering my bedroom I saw Edward sat on the end of the bed pinching the bridge of his nose.
He lowered his hand and looked at me beseechingly. “Can we go to the hospital now?”
I mustered all my strength to resist shivering and firmly replied “No.”
“Bella-”
“Look, maybe this cold is a little worse than we thought. Maybe it’s more of a minor flu. It still does not warrant a trip to the hospital, especially this late at night”
“It’s barely 6pm, also may I remind you-”
“I do not have the Spanish Influenza Edward.”
Edward stared out of the open window a moment, clearly bringing together his thoughts on how best to win this fight. I shuffled over to the bed and tucked myself under the covers next to him. He casually laid himself out beside me and pressed his lips to my forehead.
“I know you think I’m being unreasonable, but both I and my father have witnessed too many cases over the years. Where people could have been saved if they had only sought appropriate medical care a little earlier.”
“You are being ridiculous.” I huffed, rolling onto my side, facing away from him. I blinked and in a moment he had rearranged us so I faced him once more. I closed my eyes tight and tucked my head under the covers petulantly.
“Would you consider at least letting Carlisle check you over first thing tomorrow morning?”
My eyes rolled behind their closed lids. I felt a moment of confusion, I didn’t normally find Edward this frustrating. I could rationally see his point of view and knew that with his additional vampiric senses he was picking up on symptoms I could easily shield Charlie from. The raised heartbeat, excessive sweat and moments of unsteadiness that had been building up in waves all week. Despite being able to see his point of view, with each wave of symptoms his usual protective nature was becoming more and more irritating.
“Fine.”
“Thank you. Good night my love. If my heart could beat, it would beat only for you.” He gathers me up into his arms, as he does every night. I subtly rest my cheek against his cold forearm as I feel the fever begin to build up once more.
“Good night.”
I woke up the same way I had for the last week. Warm.
Although I quickly realised that today was different. I wasn’t just warm. I was actually overwhelmingly hot.
My eyes fluttered open painfully, my hand reaching up to wipe the perspiration gathering on my forehead. Looking down at myself I realised I was swaddled under a mass of blankets. I sucked in a quick panicky breath and quickly knocked my legs out hoping to throw the unwanted layers off of my already sweltering form. As always luck shied away from my very presence, meaning the action only succeeded in tangling myself further.
I groaned in frustration, the heat was too much.
"Bella?" my bleary eyes flew upwards greeting the anxious golden spheres that hovered ever protectively over me. "What's wrong?" my angel asked, his eyebrows creasing together.
"I'm too hot," I huffed kicking my legs out once more in a desperate struggle "and I’m stuck." I gestured vaguely towards the pile of blankets winding around me.
He chuckled weakly then aptly unravelled me from my puzzle in a single tug. The action was lightning fast and the covers deftly flew out from under me causing me to spin quickly onto my side.
I squeezed my eyes tight shut as a surge of nausea overcame me, quickly followed by a shudder as the blast of cold air hit me. All the heat inside me seemed to burst into the surrounding air, rapidly leaving my body. I lay still for a moment trying to steady myself before slowly rocking myself onto my back. However, in my disorientation I realised - too late - I was rolling in the wrong direction.
"Bella!" A melodic voice shouted. The sound echoed in my ears, ringing loudly.
As I felt myself slip off the side of the bed, I braced myself for the impact of the hard wooden floor.
In an instant the air whistled past me and I was airborne. My brain somehow managed to recognise that firstly this wasn't humanly possible but secondly and more importantly I was moving at way too fast a speed for my stomach to handle.
I opened my eyes slowly and found myself in Edward's arms on the other side of my bedroom. I groaned again when the room around me began to spin involuntarily., Edward's faces swimming together with his anxious words vibrating and bouncing off the walls of my head. A windchime in a storm.
I closed my eyes tight shut trying to calm down, breathing in deeply through my nose, scrabbling to anchor myself in his marble-like arms.
Another bad idea.
His usually luscious scent was sickly sweet filling my nose and this, combined with my erratic movements sent my body into a rapid spiral. I felt the contents of my stomach roll around tauntingly and I moaned in despair as I proceeded to hurl over myself and, of course, over Edward.
I shuddered in embarrassment and pain. Edward stayed frozen, his eyes filled with fear, the only movement were lips as his jabbering flow of anxious worrying assaulted my throbbing skull. I frowned trying to concentrate, worried that he might be angry with me, wanting to apologise for how rude I’d been the night before, but also exhausted beyond belief at the thought of staying awake a moment longer. My whole body was drenched in sweat, and it was both a relief and a source of that grating irritation to be held in his arms.
“Bella…I told you…Bella stay awake…Bella please!”
The irritation mounted, my eyes rolled back and I welcomed unconsciousness.