Strange Love Ch. 04

I was ecstatic after leaving the bookstore. Seth had actually come to see me. Not to mention all of the naughtiness that had ensued right after him showing up. Anna's mood had increased as well, despite not hearing from Nicholas. All in all, it was beginning to look like a beautiful evening.

I perked up even more when I felt a vibration in my jeans pocket while we were at dinner. I slipped my phone from my pocket and looked at the number, it was Seth's. Anna rolled her eyes and absently looked at the front of her phone, willing a phone call, as I answered. "Hello?" I tried to sound smoldering but instead sounded a little too manly.

Surprisingly, Seth didn't laugh, "Hi."

I waited for him to initiate conversation. After all, he had called me. "It's Seth."

Duh. I stifled a laugh as he had but couldn't help the smile, hearing him say his own name. "Hi."

"How are you doing?"

"Good. You?" Enough inane chit-chatter.

"Not too good." He paused. It was true; I could hear him holding his breath on the other line.

"What's the matter? Are you sick?"

"Yeah." Anna looked at me puzzled across the dinner table and I motioned that I would need a minute. I stood from the booth and began my walk out into the chilly Portland night. Outside I had much more privacy and I could hear better.

"What's wrong?"

"I think it's just a stomach thing." He paused again. When I opened my mouth to speak I heard him make a pained sound.

"Do you need some help?" Another sharp intake of breath made me concerned. It was ridiculous, I barely knew this guy and already I was playing panicky girlfriend. I closed my eyes and shook my head at my typical girlie response.

"No, I-" Another sharp intake of breath, "hold on."

I heard the phone drop and a deep retching noise in the background. My heart skipped a beat. He really was sick. More coughing emitted from the phone and suddenly I wanted to run to his aid even more. I heard a sink run some water and another fit of gagging then spitting.

"Sorry." He returned to the phone breathless.

"You really sound bad." I hoped that didn't come across wrong. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine." He lied.

I sighed very audibly so he would know I was displeased.

"Listen." His voice was, interestingly enough, smooth, despite the retching. "I wanted to call you just so you didn't think I forgot about you again. Or miss me-" I finally heard a smile to his sweet Irish voice.

I grimaced, "I wasn't going to say I missed you."

"Sure, sure." His smile was still prominent in his voice.

"You didn't have to call me." I lied. Whether he was sick or not, I was very happy to hear his voice.

"Yeah I did. I never would've heard the end of it." He actually chuckled a bit. "Hold on." More retching and gagging came from the other line and I could only imagine Seth, disheveled as always, leaning over a toilet puking his guts out. I hadn't heard the toilet flush yet which must have meant he was going at this for a while. Or nothing was coming out.

I sighed. I was so glad he had called. Despite my euphoric high from earlier, I was beginning to feel the pit of loneliness creeping up on me. Just knowing he was still there and thinking of me comforted me, even though it must've been hard for him to call. Then it hit me; maybe he wanted that same comfort. Thousands of miles away from home, a natural reaction when being sick is to want to be babied by your mommy, and he was too far from her. He could've called anyone on the cast, though, and perhaps had already. I strained my ears to see if I could hear someone else, but heard only more of his coughs.

"Sorry bout that." He was panting this time. I heard him sipping something on the other end.

"Do you want me to come over?" I held my breath for his answer. If he turned me down it would be because he wanted to be alone. Not because of me. Or maybe he didn't want me to see where he lived.

"I don't think you want to do that." He placed the answer back onto me. It wasn't going to work.

"I could bring some soup? America's remedy is chicken soup."

He chuckled lightly again, "Ireland's too." He took a deep breath, obviously contemplating the choices. "I love soup."

I smiled at his response. So matter-of-fact, and slightly misplaced. Was that an answer then? "Is that a yes?"

"Sure. But if you want to leave, I'll under-" I heard him gag then end it with another hearty cough, "got a pen? I'll give you directions?"

I nodded, even knowing he couldn't tell I was and began my ascent back into the restaurant to order some chicken noodle soup.

The drive to his apartment was quicker than I had imagined. I felt bad telling Anna I would be leaving her, and she would be forced to spend a solitary night in the hotel room. She smiled sweetly and urged me to go when I said I'd stay, with no intentions of doing so. "He's sick. He needs you. And you'd be stupid not to go."

I left her clacking away on her laptop, an episode of Spongebob Squarepants playing in the background. She waved goodbye to me as I rounded the corner and slowly shut the door.

Seth lived only five minutes off of the expressway; approximately fifteen minutes from the hotel. I thought the drive would seem tortuous, but instead it flew by as I pictured my handsome Irishman scraggly, sickly, and unbeautiful. If he could look bad, then maybe there was hope that someone like me could actually have someone like him for more than just a quick fuck.

With my purse and a bag full of chicken soup cartons, I hesitantly knocked on the door. I wasn't disappointed. Seth opened the door looking like hell had found him. He was a complete opposite from the beauty I had seen this afternoon. He looked exhausted, but stood completely straight. His skin was pale with dark circles under his eyes. He was sweating terribly, and his hair was going in every direction, and finding new directions to go.

I scanned down his body. He was wearing a pair of gray and black flannel pajama bottoms that hung on his hips, showing off his pouchie belly and his hipbones. He had no shirt on, and based on the sheen of sweat glistening off of his chest and neck, I assumed he must've been really hot. So much for the chicken soup. His lips were pouting as usual and more red than they had been after kissing me. Despite looking like a wreck, he was still gorgeous.

"Hi. Thanks for coming." His voice was still smooth. He stepped back from the door, still unsmiling, and allowed me to step in. With him dressed in barely anything, I noticed how lean he truly was. His bicep was flexed on the doorway as his other arm hung at his side limply, but those were the only muscles I saw other than his shoulder blades.

He watched me as I scanned his apartment. He told me on the phone not to expect much; it was just a loft. Indeed, it wasn't much. The room was small, maybe 30 x 30 feet. In one opposite corner of the room from the door was his bed. It was a queen size, and covered in dark blue sheets and a blanket. It looked like he had been lying in it thrashing all day before calling me. Directly in front of the door were a couch, a chair, and a television. There too, had the appearance of an afternoon of thrashing. A pillow was against the arm of the couch. The kitchen was next to the door with a small table and chairs. Next to the bed was the room I assumed was the bathroom. It couldn't be good to be a starving actor. Despite being the star of the film, renting an apartment for a partial year had to jack up the prices high, and even the lead role didn't pay good for an unknown star.

"No problem." I held up the bag when I turned to look at him again, "I brought the soup."

His eyes followed the bag from my face to the bag. His eyes were the most terrifying of all the sickly attributes. They had turned obsidian colored. They sparkled at me, and despite the darkness of them, I could still make out his pupils.

He pointed to the counter, "thanks. I'm not hungry right now though."

His stomach was heaving from labored breath. He began gagging again after he shut the door. His hand went to his stomach as he leaned over putting his whole body into the cough. I set the bag and my purse on the counter and rushed to his side. He was on his knees by the time I had gotten to him. I brushed my hand over his back and he coughed. He was freezing, and the sweat that came from his back didn't help.

He stopped heaving and sat up slowly on his knees. His head fell back towards the ceiling. His mouth hung open just the tiniest bit, and his beautiful red cheeks were flaming from the labor.

I tenderly ran my hand, which I had thought was cold from outside, over his forehead and down through his hair. The sweat from his forehead offered a slick surface to repeat the motion. "You're freezing."

He turned his head to look at me. It probably wasn't the most intelligent thing to say at the moment. After all, he had nearly just coughed out his stomach. His dark eyes smoldered into me and a chill ran down my back. He smiled weakly, "so are you."

"I meant, you look like you're burning up, but your body is ice cold." I kneeled down next to him and dropped my hand into my lap.

"Yeah. I've been like that all night." He stared beyond me and looked towards the bathroom. I stood, offering my arms out to help him up.

He looked up at me, shoulders slumped from exhaustion. Finally he held out his hand to me and struggled to get himself up.

"How do you feel?" I asked, again he looked down at me as if I had just asked an absurd question. "I mean, are you cold?"

"No I feel like my blood is on fire." I glanced around the room for some medical instruments that might indicate he was taking care of himself. There was no Pepto Bismal, no thermometer, no cough syrup, nothing.

"Fever then?" I suggested, more for information than comfort.

"95.4" Seth slowly moved his way to the couch and collapsed on the farthest side from me.

"That's awfully low. Should we take you to the hospital?" I hurried to his side and scanned the room again for the thermometer.

"It's in the bathroom in the medicine cabinet." He rolled his eyes at me. Did he really just roll his eyes for over exaggerating? "I'll be fine. It's just a bug, it'll be gone by tomorrow."

I sighed and headed for the bathroom to get the thermometer. As I opened his medicine cabinet, a rush went through my body realizing he was letting me look through his private things. Nothing was that exciting, mostly normal things, his toiletries mainly, but there was some over the counter medicine that proved he was taking care of himself- at least a little.

Then it hit me when I saw them. On the second shelf next to the thermometer was a small, unopened box of condoms. The thing was, he had never used one when we had been together the night before.

My stomach lurched a little, completely aware that I was on birth control but terrified because there were always mistakes. At the same time, I was enthralled and slightly aroused by the idea of him being smart enough to buy and use condoms, but not giving a damn if he did with me. That and if he had bought them after meeting me, he intended on it again.

Only a moment passed as I grabbed the thermometer and fought down the blush that had began to ascend up my neck. Seth was watching whatever was on television though I doubted he was paying much attention to it.

"Open." I commanded. He did as was told and patted the cushion next to him. I sat down as gracefully as possible but fell against his stone cold body from the depression of his seat. A smile slightly came to his lips but disappeared just as quickly.

I settled myself next to him and relished the fact that he wanted me so close to him. Seth heaved a sigh and began to cough again, spitting the thermometer onto the ground and wrenching his stomach with his hands.

I retrieved the thermometer from the floor and glanced at it. He hadn't kept it in long enough, it was only at 80.5. I sighed and leaned back against the couch as he continued his fit. There was nothing I could do to help him. He reached for a Kleenex and spit into it.

After gulping down a bit of water he tossed the tissue onto the table and leaned back again. "Just trust me, it's low."

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine." He guaranteed me.

I set the thermometer down on the table. Something red caught the corner of my eye. There was blood on the tissue. "Seth!" I exclaimed.

He looked over at me through half-lidded eyes.

"You're coughing up blood!"

He sat for a moment, possibly searching for an explanation. "It's just because my throat is raw."

My mouth dropped. Why was he being so nonchalant about all of this? "No. It could be Tuburculosis, Consumption, HIV, Lukemia, Cancer!" Maybe I was going off the deep end, but he was really scaring me.

"Consumption? Are we in the 18^th century?" He smiled abashedly, I opened my mouth to retort something nasty then he took a low blow, "and you'd sleep with someone who had HIV?"

"I didn't think to ask." I raised my eyebrows.

He fell back against the couch and leaned against me. He smiled and started shaking his head, "No. I don't have HIV… or AIDS… or Cancer for that matter."

"Seth, I'm worried about you." I ran my hand over his sweaty forehead and down his frozen cheek. The red was much more inflamed on his cheeks. He looked sad, tired, but utterly adorable. Damnit I hated him, but I feared I was falling for him at the same time.

"I'll be fine, Love. Trust me." His eyes closed at my touch. When he opened them again, the blackness had settled to a charcoal gray.

"You're no-"

"I tell you what." He cut me off, "Wait until the morning, and if I'm not better by then, I'll go wherever you want me to."

I contemplated his deal. There must've been something in it I wasn't hearing.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." He promised.

"But the blood…"

"Is nothing but a raw throat. Sandy," I shuddered when he said my name, "I've been hacking for nearly five hours now. My throat is killing me."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He held his arm out for me to come close to his side. "I came to take care of you." I argued my case.

He motioned for me to come to him, "I didn't ask you to come to do that. I just wanted your company."

"I can heat up your soup-"

"You can stay right here next to me." His eyebrow was raised. His accent was so soothing, it was hard to resist anything he asked. I curled my legs under me and leaned against his body. I attempted to keep the pressure of my body off of his chest, but he could sense it and pulled me down against his side. I relaxed my head in the crook of his armpit, against his cool chest.

He was so cold that his body seemed almost harder, more rock like. If he wouldn't let me take care of him, I was simply going to have to go around his back to do it. I pressed my ear against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. I tried to count, but my counts were so low I guessed I wasn't hearing him quite right. Then I concentrated on his breathing, they were low and shallow. Before long I was shuddering against his body.

"You cold, Love?" He reached over and pulled a small red and black throw over me. I was grateful for his chivalry and the nice warm blanket, but I was angry he still wouldn't let me take care of him. It had been nearly a half an hour and he had not began choking. Maybe he was right, maybe it was a bug and it would go away. It was strange.

An old episode of Frasier was playing when his phone began playing a tune. I jumped at the unexpected interruption of the quiet room. Seth looked across the table at the phone and reached for it. Before his hand made contact he was coughing.

I went for his back and began rapping against it. He reached for the Kleenex and pointed to his phone. I looked over at it. He couldn't be serious. He pointed again and then doubled over and put his head between his knees.

"Do you want me to answer it?" He nodded and started for the bathroom. When the door shut behind him I looked at the name on the front screen. Nicholas.

"Hello?" I flipped the phone over.

"Hi. I'm sorry I think I've got the wrong number." His husky voice replied on the other end.

"No, you're good. Seth's in the bathroom."

"Oh. Who's this?"

"Sandy. From the other night?" I felt I needed to add that last part in. After all, Anna had still not heard from him.

"Right, right. Hey, how you doing?" His voice dropped an octave from the lack of curiosity.

"Fine. You?" I settled myself against the chair. I could hear Seth in the other room gagging, and before long he finally had managed to get something up.

"Not so good actually. I'm kinda sick." He coughed lightly. Was this his lame excuse for not calling? Did he want me to relay that to Anna?

"So's Seth." I mumbled. I wished I were in the bathroom with him, rubbing his back. Making him feel better.

"I heard." Suddenly I heard more retching. This time it came from the other end of the phone. "Excuse me."

Simultaneously I could hear gagging from both ears. Wow, Nicholas was really sick. The bug must be going around.

"Let Rob know that Em is here with me for the night if he needs anything." Nicholas returned to the phone. Em? Short for Emily or Emma? Obviously there was some girl already there with him to watch over him. How would I break the news to Anna? Two-timing bastard.

"Sure. I have to go now. Seth needs me."

"Okay. Be careful." He replied. I snapped the phone shut in fury and listened as the toilet flushed from the other side of the door. Be Careful? What the hell kind of advice was that? I didn't care. I hoped Nicholas choked on whatever he tried to get up and then swallowed it. Haha. That'd make him think twice about karma.

The door handle turned and Seth staggered out of the bathroom looking like he had had too much to drink. "How you feeling?'

"Terrible." When he reached the couch he looked over at me. "What'd Nicholas want?"

"How'd you kn-"

"It's his ringtone. What'd he say?" Seth plopped onto the couch. I ran my hand over his forehead to wipe the sweat away. He was finally beginning to warm up a bit.

"To let you know Em was staying the night with him." I shrugged and tossed his phone back onto the coffee table.

Seth nodded and closed his eyes. After a drawn out breath he looked over at me though glazed eyes. "Mind if I lay on your lap?"

"Not at all." I scooted over to the other side of the couch and Seth stretched the length of his body out across it and settled his head on my leg. He took another deep breath and smiled. I flushed from embarrassment. I hoped he couldn't smell my private area. After all, I had gotten a little wet when I had seen the condoms.

I ran my hands through his perpetually messy hair. He let out a gratified moan. I leaned my head back against the couch and closed my eyes. The sounds of Frasier slowly disappeared with Seth's shallow breathing.