Paranoia and Lance go together…

 

Disclaimer/Notes: Please see an earlier chapter

Phantomness: I love cliffhangers.

Lance: *Glare* So, what is that all about, author? Why am I suddenly having a bad feeling?
Shoyko: Why am I your darkfic muse? I’m a light type?

Phantomness: *Shrugs* I like being different. And besides, not all my work is fluff.

Emerald: As always. *Flaps wings and antennae* Kairo isn’t here, this isn’t humor… it’s serious!
Kairo: *Walks by eating a lollipop*

Phantomness: *Ahem* On with the fic!

Chapter 7: In sickness and in health

 

            Ash put Lance to bed and sat by the side waiting anxiously for her to wake up. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. * Exactly what is going on here? Is she sick? Is she mad at me? I didn’t mean to blow up at her like that, but… well, when she wakes up I’ll apologize. What if she is really sick and dies?! Then it’ll all be my fault! Oh no… what am I going to do? Help! * Rambles filled the cranium.

            He finally realized that perhaps calling a female for help would be fine, so he paged Lorelei.

            Lorelei burst into the room exactly 4.6 seconds later. “What’s wrong?!”

            Ash sniffled. “I got sort of mad at Lance, and then I yelled at her, and the next thing I knew she fainted!”

            Lorelei frowned as she placed a hand on the Dragon Master’s forehead. A few seconds later, she paused.

            “I think its just stress coupled with the flu. Ash, could you run out and buy some Tylenol?”

            “Tylenol?”

            “Just go to the drugstore and ask the pharmacist.” Lorelei said, pushing him out the door.

            Ash nodded and sprinted off.

 

            As soon as he was gone, Lorelei sighed. “This job is so stressful…”

            Lance slept on, fitfully. Ash returned in five minutes with a bottle of Tylenol, a thermometer, and some warm apple cider.

            “Good work.”

            “Actually, Charlotte got everything else.” Ash said as Lorelei stuck a thermometer under Lance’s arm and waited for the temperature to register.

            “Well, we have to work together as a team.” Lorelei said. “Okay, we’ll have to wake her up so she can take the Tylenol.” She peered at the thermometer. “Not good. One oh three point three.”

            “Then she’ll have to take the medicine.” Ash said.

            “Yes.’

            Charlotte came in and helped support Lance while Ash fed her the Tylenol, washing each of the four foul-tasting pills down with a swig of apple cider, and Lorelei placed wet cloths on her forehead to try and bring the fever down.

            Lance managed to get some water down before she fell asleep again.

            Ash worriedly sat by her bedside as he held her hand and waited for the fever to break. Charlotte was in the kitchen fixing up some weak chicken broth, in hopes of getting more nutrients into the trainer, while Lorelei was using the air currents wafting around the room to lower the temperature a bit, and hopefully induce a reaction.

            “Lance?” Ash whispered. “Please wake up.”

 

            The clock ticked by slowly. Four hours into waiting, Charlotte shooed Ash off to bed with a firm order to rest if he didn’t’ want to get sick himself, and set up vigil. The next morning, Lorelei and Ash once again took their places silently while she headed off to get a rest of her own.

            “She didn’t’ wake up at all, and her pulse is a bit fluttery. It could just be a more virulent strain of flu, or it could be something worse.’ The trainer said. “I did manage to get some soup into her, but… I’m not sure how it will turn out.”

            Lorelei nodded. “We understand.’

            Ash wanted to cry out that he didn’t, that it was unfair, that she shouldn’t be sick at this time, but he bit back a bubble of angry words and shook his head. First, she would have to get better.

            Then, they could talk.

            He checked her pulse again. Still beating weakly.

            At least it had not stopped.

 

            She woke up that afternoon, bleary-eyed. He helped her walk to the restroom as she leaned on him. Lorelei changed the sheets and replaced them, hoping that maybe the influenza germs could be removed.

            Lance made two more trips to the restroom, but still was glassy-eyed and quiet. Ash wasn’t sure if that was a good sign.

            Charlotte frowned as she began coughing. “You know, Ash. If this keeps up it could turn out to be bacterial pneumonia.”

            Ash paled. “So…”

            “So, we have to keep her from getting dehydrated. The Tylenol itself isn’t bringing the fever down, so I’m giving her Robitussin.”

            “Is that working?”

            “I don’t know. I gave her two of the pills an hour ago, but no signs yet.”

            Lance was once again asleep. Lorelei had coaxed some lemonade into her earlier, but it was still bad.

 

            “I can’t believe this.” Ash muttered. “A master falling to the common cold.”

            “Not cold, the flu. This one’s a viral infection. No antibiotics. Her body will have to mount its own defenses. But since she’s been so stressed, her immune system is lagging.”

            Ash frowned. “What can we do?”

            “Keep her warm and hydrated. I know she’s getting the sudden chills and coughing now. If it hurts to swallow, she may have difficulty getting the liquids down. That’s why I bought Soda Pop.’

            Ash nodded as Lance coughed fitfully in her sleep.

            “And the fever has gone down point five degrees. Still, it may be dangerous. Try to get some more fluids into her, all right?”

            Ash nodded as Charlotte left to take a short nap before her next shift.

           

            He tried to help her as shivers wracked her form and she coughed up the water he gave her, but it was getting hard not to worry.

            What if she did die from this?

            Ash managed to coax a few sips of Soda Pop into her at regular intervals, but he knew it wasn’t enough. There had to be a solution.

            She had to get better.

 

End Chapter!
Yes, instead of the lovey-dovey sickness cliché, I have tried to make it a bit more realistic. Of course, having gotten the flu several times already makes it more fun to write about.