Page 4 of Hooked On Seth

“Nope, hands off woman, I’m the doctor tonight.”

He swatted playfully at her attempt and rose from the side of her bed to see the numbers more clearly in the bathroom light. She’d begged to have her lamp off earlier because it hurt her head.

“Well, what’s the diagnosis doc?”

He went back to her bedside and tucked her in with the comforter she’d thrown off of her at some point.

“Your temp is higher than I know it should be. 101 degrees means you will be staying in bed until further notice.”

“Ugh really? I suddenly felt the need to clean my kitchen. Oh please let me do it doc.”

She was trying to play at being funny even though he knew she felt like shit. It actually was pretty funny though.

“Awe honey, I’m so sorry but I already did that for you.”

Her look of shock made him want to burst out laughing but he bit his lip.

“You cleaned? Wait, what did you do to my best friend because I want him back. You know the bachelor that never takes care of his dinner dishes or his beer bottles on the coffee table. Or wait, the guy that uses the bathroom and leaves the seat up, that one.”

“So are you saying you like it when I do that stuff? That’s nice to know.”

He laughed when she smiled and shook her head.

“Okay so I think its time for an aspirin for your fever, then you need to get some sleep.”

“I hate to take pills.”

“I know but I can’t take it for you.”

“You know what I really liked, that pink liquid the doctor used to give me when I was a little girl. Do you have any of that? It cured everything.”

“Sorry, I don’t. You have to take this aspirin. I promise it’ll make you feel better in the long run.”

She begrudgingly took the pill from his hand and took the bottle of water he’d grabbed from the nightstand.

“See that wasn’t so bad, right?”

“It was horrible.”

Her pouty face was cute but it didn’t get her anywhere any other time and this was no different.

“Okay, lights out.”

As he started to move away from the bed, she reached for his arm.

“Do you think you’d be able to lay with me for a little while?”

He didn’t know what to say. Her couch is the only place he’d ever slept or even laid down in the past and he wasn’t sure laying in her bed was conducive to their friendship.

“If it helps, I promise not to breathe on you.”

“Well if what you said was true, I’m going to get sick from just breathing the air in your apartment anyway, so I guess you breathing on me won’t make much difference.”

“So is that a yes?”

“I suppose. Where do you want me?”

He moved toward the bathroom to shut off the light and walked to the other side of her bed, standing still until she gave him direction. He wasn’t about to take advantage of the fact his best friend wanted him to sleep with her. He wouldn’t take it the wrong way in that she only wanted him tosleepnext to her. Any other way would probably be wishful thinking on his part. Not that he’d had those types of feelings before anyway. Or at least not that he would ever mention anything to her if he did.

---