Maggie - Hallucinations
Maggie – Hallucinations
My luck ran out later that night.
I was trying to focus on the new Vampire and Were romance book that Penny recommended, but with each sentence I read, my head started feeling more and more wobbly. Within the next three chapters or so, I lost my ability to focus, and the room started spinning on me. My body trembled with the chills despite the fact that I was wearing a hoodie and had two blankets on.
I tried to sit up to locate my water bottle, but that had me bolting out of bed… Because, unfortunately, it was happening.
I stumbled my way to the bathroom and made it to the toilet just in time to fall to my knees on the tile and puke up everything I ate today.
“Maggie?” Ben’s voice came from down the hall.
I was too weak to get up and close the door. I propped my elbow on the toilet seat and held my head in misery. “Oh God,” I whimpered. Everything was spinning again.
The next time my body heaved, strong hands were grabbing up my hair and rubbing my back.
“It’ll be over soon,” he said soothingly in my ear.
“I m-m-missed the lice and got the stomach flu.” I shivered. “Just my luck.”
“It’s not luck, it’s the fact that Tilly was sick and you were holding onto her like someone was gonna steal her away.”
“She was s-s-so cute,” I whined. “Ben.” I paused. “The room is spinning. Make it stop,” I cried, clutching the toilet for some semblance of sturdiness.
He kept his hands on me sides, anchoring me. “Shh. You’re okay.”
A second later, I barfed again.
When my body calmed down, I tore off my hoodie and laid my forehead on the cool bathroom floor.
“What are you doing?” he asked incredulously.
“Only way the spinning stops,” I said with my eyes clenched shut.
A second later, I felt the outside of his thigh brush against mine, and then he was seated beside me on the floor, rubbing soothing circles on my back.
After a few minutes, his hands stopped and I wanted to cry out.
“You’re burning up, Maggie,” he said in a shaky voice.
“No, you said I’m okay,” I whispered. But a little voice in my head whispered that if he was worried, then I really was in a bad way. I couldn’t really grasp that though, because my eyes were starting to feel extremely heavy, and the temptation of slipping into sleep was becoming too strong to resist.
A second later, strong arms were lifting me in the air. I rested my head against his chest and sighed, hoping that he was taking me to bed.
But no such luck.
Instead of bed, he deposited me right into freezing cold water in the bathtub, pjs and all.
“Ben!” I screamed up at him, grappling for the side of the tub.
His eyes widened. “You were burning up and passing out! I panicked.”
“This is freezing.” My shoulders shook and tears threatened to spring to my eyes. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“Did–?” His hands went to his head. “I’m trying to help.”
“It’s cold,” I whimpered.
“It’s lukewarm, Maggie,” he said gently, staring at me like I lost my mind.
“Ugh, just get out of here.” I waved him away. “I’m not taking a bath with clothes on.”
“No way am I leaving you like this.” He looked angry. “You could pass out in the tub.”
I caught sight of myself in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. The way my face was sheet white and my hair was plastered to my head– it wasn’t a good look. “This is mortifying,” I said, shivering uncontrollably. “I look like a drowned cat.” I glowered at him.
He fought the corner of his mouth from curving up. Asshole . “No you don’t. You couldn’t even if you tried.”
“Yeah, right,” I sarcastically quipped. I hugged my knees and rested my chin against them before closing my eyes. I was just so weak and tired, and now extra freezing.
“You’re beautiful, Maggie,” he whispered.
The shivering seemed to stop for a brief second as his words washed over me. I popped one eye open. “When?” I dared to ask. Not right now.
His throat bobbed with a swallow. “Always.”
But I couldn’t even appreciate his compliment or say anything about mutual appreciation, because the next thing out of my mouth was: “Uh-oh.”
He looked pained as he shut his eyes. “I know, I shouldn’t have said– ”
I tried to scramble out of the tub, but slipped back down to my butt. “I’m gonna–” I blanched and smacked a hand over my mouth.
“Oh, shit.” Awareness seemed to dawn on him and he easily picked me up under the arms and deposited me in front of the toilet for another mortifying puke fest.
After another hour or so, the room finally stopped spinning and I finally started feeling human again.
Ben helped me stand on my shaky legs and guided me to bed. He left briefly, then came back with an empty kitchen pot along with a gatorade and a water bottle.
“How ya feeling, Jinx?”
“Like my body’s been through a war,” I mumbled, curling up into a ball under the covers. Then I closed my eyes and chastised myself. He literally went through a war, Maggie . “Sorry, that was insensitive.”
He chuckled as he padded across the room to shut the lights, then rounded the bed and kicked off his shoes. The bed dipped down and then his hands were on me, giving me a massage.
My body stiffened. “W-what are you doing?”
“Shh. Trying to make you feel better.”
It took me another minute to actually slow down my brain and enjoy the way his hands kneaded my muscles, starting with my shoulders and working his way all the way down to my calves. I knew I should’ve stopped him. I should’ve been more concerned with him catching this stomach flu from me, but it felt heavenly, and I selfishly never wanted him to stop.
When his hands went back to my shoulders to repeat the whole massage, I finally choked out, “you don’t have to.”
“I want to,” came his gravelly reply. “I’ve been wanting to since your first day back at work. You’re on your feet all day long, and you paint in a crouched position for way too long. It’s not good for you.”
His hands continued to move and I practically moaned. “If I’m dying, at least I’ll be going out feeling amazing,” I said in a breathy voice that I knew I probably should’ve been embarrassed about.
His deep chuckle filled my head as his hands worked my thighs under the blankets. “You’re not dying.”
“Are you sure?” My eyes were threatening to close, but I wanted to stay awake. I wanted to commit every detail of this to memory.
“Yes, Mags.” His chest rumbled with his light laugh.
His muscular body was right behind me. Right up against me. Holding me.
I blinked at the wall in front of me, and then it occurred to me. “Wait, am I hallucinating? Like maybe I am actually still on the bathroom floor and my mind is feeding me delicious fantasies?”
“What? No?” He laughed, then his hands paused. “Wait, this is a delicious fantasy to you?”
Shit. Shit. Shit. I squeezed my eyes shut and thanked the Lord that the lights were off and he was behind me so he couldn’t see the way my face was flaming red.
“What? Who said that?” I squeaked out, trying to change the subject.
“Maggie.” His voice was stern.
“Okay, go ahead and make fun of me. You’re due for it, ya Sour Patch Kid.”
His hands thankfully resumed massaging me. I could hear the smirk in his words when he said, “I’ll give you a pass because you’re not feeling well. Why do you call me that?”
I turned in his arms and my hand and eyes went to his hard chest. “Because you flip between sour and sweet, and you’ll be gone soon.”
He jerked back like someone slapped him.
He forgot he was gonna be gone soon, too. I could feel it. Because it felt so natural for us to be together.
I immediately regretted saying anything about it because I wanted his hands to keep going. I wanted him to just stay with me.
But the words were already out. We were already rolling down this hill, so I needed to say it now or never.
“Ben…” I swallowed hard, but my mouth felt bone dry from the nerves coursing through my body. “We were pretending today, right?”
He stared down at me with those dark eyes of his, unblinking. “Yeah.”
I nodded, feeling my heart sink. “It just… It didn’t feel like it,” I whispered into the dark.