a bout of something

Josie just couldn't quite shake this cold she was having. It might have been the flu. Lately, there weren't enough hours in the day for sleep. She was always tired. Perhaps, it was all the phone calls and texts with Topher. It seemed endless, yet amazing and somewhat foolish, as well. But she didn't care. Didn't care about homework, friends, eating. Just her boyfriend. And he was.

Derrick seemed pretty OK with that. Evidently, things were pretty good for him, too. She could see he was having fun with Henry. They looked adorable together. Yes, everything was like a Starburst candy commercial now. It seemed destined. Somehow.

But she felt a little woozy now. Well, after all, she was in Topher's arms. Not that they'd consummated their relationship at this point, but it was bound to happen. Not that she was rushing into anything. She wasn't. No, it was time to bask in beauty of actually having a real boyfriend. One that would pick you up late at night, where you spent hours talking about nothing, in his car, at the diner. It could be the peacefulness of holding hands while listening to your favorite free iTune you'd just downloaded with him. Or spending the afternoon looking at books at a used bookstore, of old Russian writers she couldn't even pronounce. Even yet... finding with Topher, the most amazing vinyl record she'd never heard of. She still needed to Google Patti Smith.

"Are you OK?" Topher said now as she was about to drop on the gym dance floor.

"Yeah, of course." But seriously, she wondered how long would this last. Could it last? "Maybe just a breath of fresh air." So they went out into the cold and the chill hit her hard. She swore she tasted poison on her tongue. She was sick.

"I-I think I'm coming down with something." They had to hurry. And they did. She didn't even kiss him good-bye. She was ill. "I might be contagious." She managed to say. Her throat was raw, though she might spill her guts on him. She was afraid now.

Finally she made it to the bathroom. She tried to throw up, but gagged instead. Yet there were tummy troubles. She didn't come out of the bathroom for some time. Finally she washed up. And disinfected her surrounding, to make her feel sick, all over again. She opened the bathroom. To her surprise, Topher was waiting for her.

"What are you doing here?" She was all headachy.

"I--I thought..well, you might need me." Topher didn't seem to be going anywhere even if she knew how awful she looked.

"But..but..I might be contagious." She wanted him to go.

"I'll make you some hot tea." He told her to get ready for bed. He'd stay until she went to sleep.