Chapter 41
Evan
“Ariana? Ariana!”
She doesn’t stir. Her forehead is burning up against the back of my hand, the hair I brushed away from it damp with sweat. Pulling my hand back, I smack it into the closest person, making Nico sit up with a startle.
“What’s wrong?” He grumbles.
“Wake up,” I call to the group loudly. “Ariana’s sick.”
Seb’s eyes snap open as Jace reaches to the nightstand for his glasses. It’s still dark outside. I’d woken up to use the washroom and was going to give Ariana a kiss before going. Her skin had been so hot I’d pulled back alarmed.
Jace frowns, pressing the back of a finger to the omega’s cheek. “That has to be a fever. She’s burning up.”
The three men are out of the nest in seconds, sleep forgotten. Seb’s commanding presence fills the room as he calls the shots.
“Nico, get the thermometer. Jason, find her some meds. Ev, stay here.”
The other two are moving before he tells them to, disappearing into the hallway. I sink to my knees beside the bed, like I did the morning she came here. Seb joins me on the floor, putting a hand on her forehead.
“How long has she been like this?”
Guilt twists in my chest. “I don’t know, I just woke up. I should have noticed sooner.”
I feel Seb’s eyes on the side of my face, but I don’t turn away from Ariana. He seems like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t.
Stroking her brown hair softly, I sink my chin onto the bed. I’ve taken care of my baby siblings through a hundred fevers. None of their fevers made me so afraid.
“We just admitted we love each other.” I whisper miserably. Now her scent’s turned feeble and she won’t wake up.
Out of the corner of my vision, I see Seb’s mouth open. The sound of footsteps approaching cuts off his words. Nico returns with the thermometer and a glass of water, leaning over the other side of the bed.
He gently slips it between her lips. Ariana murmurs and furrows her eyebrows briefly, but doesn’t wake. We all hold our breaths as Nico pulls the thermometer back.
His jaw clenches reading the number. “A hundred and two.”
“That’s high,” I lift my face off the mattress in alarm.
“Not dangerously so.” Jace hands me a damp washcloth and I press it to her forehead. “But it’s not good either.” He shakes two pills out of the bottle he’s clutching, face grave.
“Ariana?” Nico looks at her worriedly. “We need you to wake up for a minute. Can you do that for us?”
The omega continues sleeping. Even with only the light from the hallway shining on her, I can tell her cheeks are flushed with fever.
Nico’s face turns anguished when he faces me and Seb. I can tell he’s barely keeping himself together.
He’s a moment away from running around like a headless chicken again when she lets out a whimper. Her big brown eyes open a sliver, dazed and unfocused.
“Hi,” she turns in the direction of my voice, looking past me at the wall over my shoulder. “You’re sick, Ariana. You need to take some medicine, okay?”
She blinks slowly, as if my words aren’t processing. “What?” Her voice comes out in a hushed croak.
“You have a fever,” Jace explains, his tone steadier than he looks. “We’re going to take care of you, but you need to take this first.”
I lift her head carefully as Nico picks up the glass of water. Despite my fingers helping, she raises her head sluggishly, like it’s heavy. She swallows the pills Jace extends to her obediently, but squeezes her eyes shut at the glass Nico presses to her lips.
“Come on, bunny,” Seb coaxes. “Just a couple sips.”
It takes a couple tries to convince her, but she manages to take a couple small sips. When she’s done, she slumps back against the pillows.
I’m halfway through moving the damp cloth back to her forehead when she whines, long and distressed. “It hurts,” she moans, wincing.
“Where does it hurt?” Nico asks her, breathing heavily. We’re all shaken, alpha instinct rapt with attention hearing her whine.
Her bottom lip juts out. “Chest,” she murmurs, eyes fluttering shut again. Falling back into troubled sleep, the omega goes quiet.
The four of us exchange glances, my own unease reflected in each of their faces. My heart aches, seeing her so weak. I press the cloth back against her forehead as Nico jumps up.
“I’m going to get started on some soup,” he runs out of the room, speeding into the kitchen. I should offer to help him, but I can’t bear the idea of leaving her side.
Jason rests a hand on his lower stomach where his scars lie. “I’ll get her a Gatorade, something with electrolytes.”
I don’t look at him as I speak. “There’s a bag of LiquidIVs in my room.”
Sebastian follows after him out of the room, muttering something about calling a doctor. The size of the nesting room makes it obvious just how small and frail Ariana is, dwarfed by the scale of her nest.
Stroking her damp hair, I try to calm my racing heart. She was fine last night, this illness is sudden. If it happened when she first arrived, I wouldn’t have been as shocked. It’s been weeks since she was caught in the rain, though.
My hand roams down to cup her face, brushing my thumb over her cheek. The sleeping omega leans into the touch, eyebrows smoothing for a second before furrowing again.
“You’re gonna be okay,” I tell her from the floor, pressing a kiss to her sweat soaked skin. “We’ve got you.”
Ariana doesn’t respond.
* * *
Wringing the cloth above the bowl next to my legs, I watch as Nico and Jace grow paler.
“How long did the doctor say she would be?” I ask Seb unhappily.
There’s purple bags under his green eyes. “Not long. She has to finish at the clinic first.”
Between the four of us, we managed to coax Ariana into having a couple of sips of soup earlier. Nico’s lunchtime attempt hasn’t gone much better. He’s on his second batch, as if the soup was the problem.
Jace’s Gatorade doesn’t fare well either. Most of it dribbles down her chin. I wipe it off with the back of my hand, pressing the cloth back on her forehead.
Her temperature hasn’t gotten any lower, despite our attempts. Nico sets the mug of broth to the side, leaving the room. Faintly, I can hear the sound of pots and pans clanging.
“He’s making another batch,” Jace points out.
Seb lifts his face out of his hands. “Let him.”
Eventually, Jace takes over putting the cloth on her forehead. Unable to sit with my hands empty, they find their way to her hair again. I gather it away from the front, just to keep the strands away from her face.
Of their own volition, my fingers attempt to make a braid. Dampened with sweat, the hair keeps slipping out of my hands. I try again, crossing the pieces over each other, only for them to escape from my grip.
Clenching the brown strands again, I pause. There’s a tremor in my hands, seeing Ariana so weak. I manage to finish the tiny braid and fish a small hair band from somewhere on the nightstand, but it’s poor comfort.
Nico’s on his fourth soup by the time the doctor arrives. She’s an omega specialist, according to Seb. According to her face, she doesn’t look too happy.