Andre was woken up by the feeling of something hot and shivering in his arms. He hurriedly sat on the bed when he could finally think straight and he realized that it was Laura that was shivering in his arms. He knelt down on the bed and patted her cheek while calling out to her in a panicked tone, she was hot to touch.
"Laura....Laura?" She was not answering but she was shivering so much. He started shaking her while calling out to her again " Laura?"
He hurriedly got off the bed and picked up his trousers and searched the pockets.
"Sh*t" He cursed when he realized that he didn't bring his phone along with him last night. He hurriedly put on his trousers and shirt, he covered Laura properly and rushed out of the cottage to the main house.
He had only reached the garden when he spotted Aarna and Ishani taking a walk and chatting not far from where he was. He ran to meet them. Ishani was the first to see him, the smile on her face faltered when she noticed the panicked expression on his face as he approached them. They both rushed to meet him midway.
"Cousin what's wrong?" She asked.
"Laura, I don't know... she's not answering... In the cottage.... Come check on her." He said, muddling his words as his mind was in a mess.
"What happened to Laura?" Ishani asked in a an alarmed tone. Aarna cut her words short as she led the way to the cottage and they both trailed after her. She went to Laura's side of the bed when she entered the room. Funny that Andre forgot to wear clothes for Laura before he went out in a panic, it was a good thing that she was covered by the duvet.
Aarna felt Laura's forehead with the back of her palm and she tucked her in the bed.
"Is there a small towel around here?" she asked Andre.
"There should be..."
"If there is, pleased dip it in water and bring it over"
"But what is wrong with her?" Andre asked, he was really anxious to know what was wrong with his wife.
'Did I do it too much or something?' he thought.
"She's running a high fever... Please get the wet towel." Andre rushed to get the towel at Aarna's command. Aarna faced Ishani and gave her a task as well.
"Ishani, please call Prem and tell him to bring the car over. Tell him that I said he should go to Naina and tell her to give him one if Laura's simple clothes. Call the doctor as well."
"Okay..." and she went outside to do as she was told.
Andre returned not long after with the wet towel which was placed on Laura's head and Ishani also came back inside. The towel was changed a couple of times and Prem arrived not up to fifteen minutes later with the car and Laura's clothes. Andre didn't allow Prem to come in as she was only covered by the duvet and she wasn't wearing anything, the condition of the room was no better and he knew Laura would be too embarrassed when she woke up so he only allowed the ladies in.
"Uhhm.... Andre, can you please step out for a while?" Aarna said when she noticed Andre wasn't going to move an inch from where he was, she was about to wear Laura's clothes for her.
"What?.... Isn't she my wife?" Andre asked, surprised that he was going to get kicked out.
"Please..." Ishani pleaded with him. He sighed and went outside. Aarna and Ishani were dumbfounded when they were about to wear clothes for Laura, Hickeys!!... All over her body. They both looked into each other's eyes and couldn't help but stiffle a laugh.
A few minutes later, they were done wearing her clothes for her and they called Andre to come carry her inside the car. When they got to the main house, the doctor had not arrived yet and everyone kept asking what was wrong with Laura as Andre carried her inside the house. He brought her I side their room and didn't allow anyone to enter apart from Ishani and Aarna. The doctor came not long after and she came to check on her.
"It's nothing that severe, she's actually running a high fever and she's been exposed to the cold too much. I've prescribed some medicines for her and I'll give her some injections now, just make sure she gets enough bedrest, she'll wake up in a few hours."
Andre sighed in relief internally after hearing what the doctor had to say. He was really worried about what was wrong with his wife but now he was finally at rest since it was not that serious.He sat beside Laura what was lying on the bed, the two of them alone in the room. He would take a picture of her pale face, rub their palms together, tuck her in bed very well, the only time he left her side was when he went to go take a bath.
Around three hours later, she woke up.
"No no, just lie down." Andre told her when she attempted to sit on the bed. He left her side to help her get a glass of water and Laura slightly smiled at his thoughtfulness, she was about to ask for water but he had beat her to it by getting it for her before she asked... Well this was her Avi. He helped her raise her body up and gave her the water.
"How are you feeling now?" He asked after tucking her in the bed.
"A little lightheaded... But much better..." and she gave him a small smile. He touched her forehead to check her temperature.
"Your temperature is back to normal... so I'll believe you." His expression suddenly turned serious. "Do you know how worried I was?.... Why didn't you talk about how you were feeling with me?.."
"I'm sorry.... I was just scared of going to the hospital so I thought if I took the medicines, I would be okay."
"So that's why you decided not to tell me anything?, the doctor clearly said to inform him if the symptoms persisted. What if it was something worse than a cold and fever."
"I'm sorry, but after what happened to my mum... I've always hated hospitals and I know that if I told you that I was still unwell, you would want to make me go to the hospital." Truth was that Laura's mum spent her last days in the hospital and she died right in front of Laura's eyes. It was very traumatic for Laura as she was still very young and ever since then, she had never wanted to step foot in an hospital.
Andre sighed and brought his hand to pat her head. She was looking like a lost puppy and this was enough to melt all of Andre's anger. Her cuteness was too much to handle.
"Don't ever do that again okay?, tell me how you're feeling and I'll request for the doctor to come and treat you at home and I can accompany you to the hospital too." She smiled at him.
"I'll tell Aarna to make you something, but you must have your bath first. I'll help you." She blushed hard and shot him a glare "Hey, I'm not thinking any perverted thoughts.... I won't do anything while you're still ill you know...."
He helped her take a bath and food was brought for her after she returned to the room and dressed up. He was starting to feed her when she asked him a question.
"Have you eaten?"
"Not yet"
"Then we'll eat together...."
They were in the middle of eating when Andre brought something up.
"You know.... I actually thought something else was wrong with you" He said as he tried to feed her one more spoon
"What's that?" She asked him as she ate the food on the spoon.
"I.... I actually thought I overdid it last night...." he said, his voice a little lower than normal and Laura choked on her food.
"cough cough cough"...