I've been at the bookstore for a few hours now and I'm beginning to get restless. Jay has been radio silent; no matter how many times I check my phone it's void of messages or calls from him.
The store has quieted down and I'm scrolling on my phone when Emerson interrupts me. "Ben, how many of those cookies are you going to eat?" I pause with a cookie halfway to my mouth and glance down at the bag. Oops. Well, I can't put this one back now.
She sighs and shakes her head, giving me a knowing look. "You're stress eating." She points out.
I set the cookie down with a sigh and grumble under my breath at her.
A tingle runs down my spine and a bad feeling spreads through me. I frown and check my phone again, but there's still nothing. I tap my fingers on the counter anxiously for a while before shooting him another text.
My brain is screaming that something is wrong. I bite my lip and set my phone down, trying to take my mind off him. I quickly realize it's nearly impossible to do so.
I drum my fingers on the table, awaiting some sort of response, but even twenty minutes later, nothing has come. The feeling that something is wrong is still there, settled in my gut, and I can't help but feel restless. I'm nearly trembling in anxiety at this point.
"Ben, the store has calmed down. I should be fine for the rest of the evening. Just go home and check on him."
I'm already off my stool and crutching away by the time she's finished her sentence. I say a rushed goodbye and move as fast as I can down the street, hoping that the premonition is just a fluke.
Jay's P. O. V.
I wake up with a start, now feeling much worse than before. My throat is absolutely killing me with how sore it is. My head is still pounding, and the nausea is incredibly strong.
As I sit up a lightheaded feeling washes over me, and I have to draw in a few shaky breaths. My stomach turns and I race down the hall, barely making it over the toilet.
If I thought my throat hurt before it's nothing compared to this. By the time I've finished emptying the contents of my stomach, it hurts so bad I'm not even sure I can speak.
Not to mention, the dizziness has only gotten worse. There's black spots swimming in the picture of the spinning room, but somewhere through my confused haze I remember that I promised to call Ben. I just need to make it back to the bedroom.
I rise on shaky legs and start my way out of the bathroom but everything is spinning too much. I try to lower myself to the ground but I can't even tell up from down anymore and everything goes black.
Ben's P.O.V
I finally make it to my apartment and try to shove the keys into the lock hurriedly. For some reason I just can't get it open the first couple times and I find myself cursing under my breath.
It eventually opens with a click and I rush in, haphazardly throwing my keys and the cookies on the counter.
I turn to start down the hall, only to momentarily freeze in shock at the sight of Jay's unconscious body on the floor.
I shake myself out of the initial shock and hurry over, lowering myself onto the floor by him. I shouldn't have left him alone.
I bite my lip and frantically scan him over for apparent injuries, but luckily there don't seem to be any.
I gently shake his shoulder, trying to wake him up. "Jay." I repeat a few times, until his eyes finally begin to flicker open. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.
He tries to sit up, but sways dangerously. "Lay back down." I say, gripping his shoulders to steady him.
He complies and blinks up at me for a few moments before speaking. "You're supposed to be working."
I huff at him. "Yeah, well, I got worried about you. Apparently for good reason you idiot." His cheeks slightly pinken and he mumbles a quiet sorry.
My expression softens. "Are you okay? What were you trying to do?" "I woke up and had to puke. Then I tried to make it back to the bedroom to call you, but as you can see that didn't exactly go well." His face flushes again and he avoids my gaze.
I sigh. "No; this is my fault. I shouldn't have left you alone."
He shakes his head but winces and abruptly stops. "Emerson needed your help. It's not your fault I'm sick and stupid."
"You're not stupid. I should've tried to figure something else out." He tries to sit up again and this time I help him, propping him against the wall.
"Ben, I don't blame you for any of this. Neither of us could help what we had to do, and either way there's nothing we can do about it now." "Okay."
"Besides," He continues, "I'm fine now." He winces and I squint suspiciously. "We both know that's a lie. I'm going to get you some water."
I reach for my crutches but he grabs my wrist. "No, it'll just come back up again." He groans.
"We've got to at least try to hydrate you. I'd be good for you to eat too; when was the last time you ate?" I ask. He avoids my gaze.
"I'll be right back." I promise. His fingers weakly detach from my wrist and I go off to the kitchen.
After digging around a bit I find some crackers to go along with his water. I crutch back down the hall to where he's sitting on the floor and scoot next to him.
"Here." I say, handing him the water. His nose crinkles up in complaint but I give him a look and he shakily raises the glass to his lips. His hands quiver but he manages to take a few sips before shoving it back at me.
Jay rests his head back against the wall and closes his eyes.
"Tell me what's wrong." I say, tracing patterns on his arm and earning a ghost of a smile.
"Throat, head," He interrupts himself with a string of coughs and finishes with a pained expression, hand on his throat. "Coughing, nauseous."
He closes his eyes again, leaning over to rest against my shoulder.
"If we can get you to the bedroom you could at least lay down. I can't carry you with my bum ankle though and I really don't want you fainting again." I chew on my lip thoughtfully and dig out my phone.
I scroll through until I hit Emerson's contact and dial. "Hello?" "Hey, could you come over for a bit?" I ask.
"Did something happen?" She asks, immediately concerned. "Well, Jay was passed out on the floor when I got here." I say, grimacing.
"Shit. This is my fault. I shouldn't have even asked you to come down." "No, no. That's not what I'm calling about. I just need help getting him back to the bedroom; it's kind of hard with my crutches."
"Well, I still feel bad so if this makes it up to you then so be it. I'll be over in a bit. Hang tight." She hangs up and I glance down at Jay who is half asleep.
I gently place a hand against his forehead and make a mental note to check his temperature later. He stirs in his sleep but doesn't wake.
Just as I start to feel my own eyes droop, my phone pings with a text from Emerson letting me know she's at the door.
I slowly shuffle sideways and lean Jay's sleeping figure against the wall as I pull my crutches over and go to unlock the door.
I open it and greet her with a soft "Hey." She nods at me and whispers, "Is he sleeping?"
"He fell asleep in the hall. I just want to get him to the bedroom so he's more comfortable." She nods and follows me to where he's slumped against the wall.
I slowly drop to the ground and rub his shoulder, saying his name softly. His eyes sleepily blink a few times. He hums in response.
"I want you in bed so you're more comfortable. Do you think you can make it there if Emerson helps you?" I ask. He blinks a few more times, trying to register my words. "Yeah, give me a second." He croaks, and I grimace at how bad his voice has gotten.
He closes his eyes for a moment and inhales a shaky breath before slowly rising. Emerson props him against her side as they shuffle down the hall and I can't help but smile at the sight.
Emerson has never been very tall, but she has more than enough strength to make up for it. Jay's muscular form seems to be the weak one instead by the way his feet trod along slowly.
He stumbles the last few steps to the bed before plopping down with a deep sigh.
Emerson quietly closes the door and joins me in the hall, where we walk to the living room together. I drop onto the couch and set my crutches down on the floor.
"Something is different about you." Emerson comments from a side chair. I shrug. "Sprained ankle?"
She shakes her head. "No, your behavior." She squints at me for a few moments.
Her eyes widen. "You don't seem as tired. I can tell when you've had too much coffee but this is different." She remarks.
I scrunch my eyebrows and contemplate her remark. She's... Right? Holy cow. She's right. My eyes widen in disbelief.
"Oh my gosh you're right." I whisper. "Now the question is, which medications did I take earlier?" I sigh, envisioning the cluster of bottles that are residents of the side table.
"I've been napping with Jay quite a bit, maybe he'll know. I'll ask him when he wakes up."
She raises an eyebrow at me. "Napping with him huh?" I nod and then catch her suggestive grin and groan. "It's not like that."
"You keep telling yourself that." She says, rising from her chair. "I'm going to go back to the shop for a few hours and then I'll close up. Call me if you need anything." I nod and she exits with a slight wave.
I head back down the hall to Jay. He's fast asleep with not a care in the world. I quietly climb into the other side of the bed and start looking through my medications.
Figuring out which one actually helped would be a lot easier if I hadn't been trying so many different ones.
I let out a deep sigh and shift my vision back to Jay. His face is a mask of calm, and he looks less in pain than I've seen him in days.
His face suddenly twists and he shoots off the bed, dashing down the hall. I stumble out of bed and manage to grab my crutches to follow him.
He's back over the toilet again, heaving. At this point nothing is coming up and his arms are shaking from the exertion of holding up his weak frame.
I rush over and sit down behind him, locking my arms around his chest so he doesn't have to hold himself up.
Eventually the heaves slow and then stop altogether. He collapses against me and I look down in shock. He's passed out again. Something's wrong.
I quickly fish my phone out of my pocket and dial emergency services this time. "I need an ambulance."