I go into the bathroom down the hall to get a washcloth and wet it with some cold water. About the same time that I return to the living room, Wes is exiting the elevator, a heavy black bag in his hands.
He places the bag at Declan’s side, and I fold the washcloth, before pressing it to Jessa’s forehead. She doesn’t even react at the contact of the cold washcloth on her heated skin. Declan checks all her vitals and takes her temperature, which ends up being a hundred and two.
“Her vitals are good right now, so all we can do at this point is let her body fight off whatever she has. We just need to make sure we don’t let her temperature rise, keep her hydrated, and she’ll be fine. I’m starting an IV now. Trey, you should try to pull her medical records and make sure she doesn’t have any genetic health issues, or pre-existing conditions”
“How could she have gone from being fine to being so sick in such a short amount of time?” I ask.
“She is stressed and dehydrated. Whatever she caught is hitting her hard because of that. She was already weak, and now with being sick, it’s all just overwhelming her body,” Declan explains. He isn’t an actual doctor, but he is pretty fucking close and certainly the best we have available right now.
∞∞∞
“It’s been two days, Declan. She isn’t getting any better.” I try not to yell but seeing her lying in bed pale and sickly for the last two days is making it hard not to. She started coughing yesterday and I can hear the rumble in her chest when she breathes. This isn’t just a cold or the flu.
“We need to take her to a doctor.” I admit, knowing fully what his answer will be.
But Jessa has barely opened her eyes, and the few times she woke up she was so weak and out of it I even had to help her to the bathroom. I’ve never taken care of anyone like this, never had anyone who depended on me aside from my brothers, and though I hate seeing her this way there is something rewarding about being her anchor, about caring for her in this way.
We’ve been trying to keep her fever down, but it keeps spiking and we don’t have any antibiotics here to give her. We all know she needs to see a doctor, but Declan is still not budging and I’m starting to get pissed.
“We can’t risk it. They’re already looking for her and us. I’m not going to let you risk your lives for hers. She’ll lead them right to us. We were going to kill her anyway, so what’s the point?”
“You talk a big ass game about killing her, but are you really willing to have her death on your conscience?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you know I’ve taken my fair share of lives. What’s another if it saves us.”
Liar!
“This is different, and you know it,” I growl, clenching my fist to stop myself from slugging him. He needs some sense knocked into him. I’m tired of it. Tired of him pretending there isn’t something deeper going on here. Yes, we kidnapped her in hopes of using her, but things have changed.
“She is nothing!” Declan screams in my face, the veins in his forehead bulge with barely restrained rage and I know I’ve struck a nerve.
I stand toe to toe with him, my eyes bleeding into his. “You keep saying that, but it’s almost like you’re trying to convince yourself, more than me or even Wes.”
“We aren’t taking her to a doctor,” he grits out through his teeth.
“You’re right. We aren’t doing shit. I’ll take her myself if you won’t.”
“I’ll break your legs before I let you walk out of here with her!”
“Assholes!” Wes comes in interrupting our screaming match. “She is breathing funny, you need to come and check on her.”
For someone who doesn’t give a shit, Declan starts moving pretty fast, hell, he’s almost running into my bedroom. I’m right on his heels of course, because unlike him I actually fucking care. I watch Declan sit down on the edge of the bed, listening to her chest with the stethoscope.
I don’t know why the fuck he bothers, I can hear her wheezing and uneven breathing from here. Something that looks like worry crosses his features.
“Let’s put some fucking clothes on her,” Declan finally says, and I damn near sigh. “We can’t take her anywhere naked.”
Thank fucking god.
Wes and I start gathering some clothes that she can wear and then we start dressing her. The sweatpants are way too big on her, but it will have to do. I wrap her up in a blanket and pick her up holding her to my chest. Her face is still, her skin pale, even though she’s burning up with a fever. If she had died a few days ago, I wouldn’t have cared one bit, but now, now I don’t even want to fucking think about such a thing happening.