Nora finished eating her breakfast slowly but surely. The reason it had taken her so long to eat was because she had no appetite at all, she wanted to tell Zuph that, but here he was, looking so happy that she was finally eating, so she did not have the heart to tell him that the food was not appetizing to her.
To be honest, she could not even taste it, she just forced herself to because she did not want to let Zuph down. He had come out of his way to help her and be here for her, and she did not want it to seem like she did not acknowledge his efforts.
"I am so proud of you. You finished it all." he said as he took away the dirty dishes and placed them back in the basket, he would return them to the kitchen soon.
Nora just nodded, feeling happy that he was happy over something so simple. But right now she was starting to feel terrible, as if forcing herself to eat all of it was coming back to haunt her.
She felt the strong urge to vomit out everything she had just eaten, she tried her very best to keep it down.
"How do you feel now?" he asked her as she tried to shake away her queasy feeling.
"Stronger than when I had not eaten anything." she replied as he smiled.
"I am glad that you do." he said as he smiled and she nodded.
She instantly regretted that single, simple motion as she felt her head spinning and her nauseousness increased tenfold.
Without warning she turned her head to the side away from her bed and emptied out everything she had eaten in the past hour and more.
"Nora." called Zuph in worry as he rushed to her side and helped her hold her hair back as she vomited violently.
"Do you feel better now?" he asked after she was done as she nodded and wiped her mouth feeling terrible, looking at the mess that she had just made. She felt so bad, she did not even have the strength to move and clean it.
"That's good. Do not worry about this mess at all, I will clean it right now." said Zuph as he took off his coat and used it to cover the vomit and clean it as Nora gasped and looked at him shocked.
"What? Do not worry about it, as long as the mess is cleaned up." said Zuph.
"But... but... your coat... you used your coat to clean up my mess... my very dirty mess." said Nora as her voice sounded as if she was on the verge of tears.
"It does not matter Nora. Like you said it is my coat, and I can do whatever I want with it. Besides, it is not a big deal, I will have it washed as soon as possible." he replied with a smile as he used his finger to wipe away a lone tear that had slipped from her eye.
"I do not... I do not deserve all your kindness really... what did I do to deserve your friendship?" she asked as he smiled.
"You have done a lot Nora, and you still do a lot. You take care of other people diligently, now it is the time for someone to take care of you." he replied as he smiled.
"Thank you so much Zuph... thank you." she said as she held onto his arm tightly.
"You do not have to thank me at all, it is the least that I can do." he said as he smiled.
"Now, you just vomited all that you have eaten, would you like some tea to calm down your tummy?" he asked as she shook her head.
"I am really sorry... I guess that I forced myself to eat more than I could handle." she said with a sigh.
"That is perfectly alright, so do you want to go to sleep now?" he asked her, he could tell that she was tired.
"No... no... I..." she said as she paused.
"You have spent far too long here Zuph... are you sure that you will not get in trouble for being here." said Nora in worry as Zuph just smiled.
"Not at all. I will not get in trouble for anything, actually yesterday as soon as I left you I asked for some days off and I was granted my request." said Zuph.
"You asked for some days off your duties?" she asked in shock as he nodded.
"But why??" she asked confused.
"So I could take care of you without having to worry about anything." said Zuph as Nora gasped.
"But why?? You... should not have done that Zuph." said Nora as she looked down feeling ashamed that he felt the need to forsake everything, including his duties just to stay here with her.
"Oh but I wanted to. You do not have to feel ashamed that I am here to take care of you. I was already due for some well deserved leave, and instead of waste it on something unimportant like returning back to Wyverdale, I would rather spend the time here with you." said Zuph sincerely as Nora honestly did not know what to say at all.
"You do not need to say anything, just accept and acknowledge that I am here and please do not try to push me away okay?" asked Zuph as Nora nodded and looked away.
"I feel really sleep right now Zuph so I..." she said as she took a pause.
"It is alright, I understand, you should get some rest, you need it." he said as Nora nodded and rested her head on her pillow, closing her eyes as she really, truly wanted to go to sleep and get rid of this nervous feeling that she had.
"Please rest well." he said.
Zuph just smiled seeing her rest, he really wanted her to get through this soon, but he also know that it was best not to rush her healing process.
Zuph bent down and picked up his vomit filled coat not at all disgusted by it. He walked to the table and carried the basket in his free hand, he would be back soon, right now Nora needed some rest and he did not want to disturb her or make her uncomfortable.
Now was the time that he had to settle anything else he needed to before he returned back here.
...
Wura sighed as she was in her office trying to fool herself that she was working but that was far from true, she had found herself unable to concentrate on the task at hand, she kept on thinking of Nora and she just had to see her, she could not take the uncertainty of knowing if she was okay or not any longer.
What sort of friend was she if she was not there for her friend in her time of need the most. Nora needed support right now and she needed to be there with her right now.
"That is it, I cannot take it any more." said Wura in frustration as she stood up, she was going to see Nora right now, she just had to see her and know if she was doing better, if she had eaten, if she felt better yet.
Wura knew that she had to do this, it was only right because she also knew that if it was her that was going through such problems Nora would be there for her.
Wura walked to the entrance of her tent deep in her thoughts when she suddenly hit what felt like a brick wall causing her to hurt her nose as she whimpered out in a bit of pain as she took a step back.
"Ouch." she said as she opened her eyes only to be shocked by who was standing right in front of her.
"Mero??!" she called out in a mix of shock and surprise as she did not know why he was here.
"Wura..." he called as his eyes lingered on her face.
"Mero... what are you doing here?" asked Wura as she took another step back, she had not expected to see him again, neither had she expected to see him so soon, just yesterday things unfolded hurting the most important person in both their lives, she honestly did not want to see him.
"I know... I know... that I should not be here and that I should give you some space but I... I just could not bare it any longer I... I missed you... and I need you." he said, his voice sounding pained as Wura took one look at his face and it told her that he too had been suffering.
She just stood there weak and unmoving and before she knew it he had walked into her tent and held her in a strong, warm embrace that seemed like he needed more than she did.