Page 48 of Past

“Sure, I'll. Err . . . be back soon.” Gage leaves as quickly as he came.

I grab my phone from my leather jacket.

Me: Izzy, Allie, and Blake are ill and I could use some help looking after them. Elliot.

I text this to Blake's mum, Summer, who is a nurse, and I know she will want to help.I’m really fucking lucky I have her number because of a joke with Blake years ago when I threatened to ask his mum on a date. I wasn’t serious, but it was fucking funny at the time.

Blake's mum: Be there soon. Keep them in bed.

I put my phone away before going to empty the bowl by Izzy’s bed and finding a new one for Blake, who is in bed. They are both fast asleep, but Izzy wakes up when I'm checking her forehead.

"Elliot?"

"I'm here. I've got a doctor coming soon, and Summer is on her way. One of you should have called." I sigh.

"I was fine this morning, but then I suddenly wasn't. God, I feel like shit," she mutters, making me smile.

"You look it," I say plainly.

"Your bedside manner isn't good, bro," Izzy says with a small smile.

"Get some rest," I say, wiping her sweaty hair from her face.

The doctor comes not long after and says they all have the stomach flu and that they just need fluids and paracetamol for the high temperature. I pay him a fortune, and then I find paracetamol in their medicine box. Summer turns up not long after and helps me sort out Izzy and Blake.After a few failed attempts, we get them all awake to have a drink of water and some tablets before they go back to sleep.

A few hours later, Allie wakes up looking out of it.

"Angel, it’s only me," I say, stroking her hair.

"Elliot," she whispers.

I hand her the meds she needs and some water, and then I wait for her to finish them.

"Do you want a bath? Or food, or, well, anything," I ask quickly. Fuck, I feel useless, and I want nothing more than to take away her pain.

Allie’s blue eyes look up at me in shock before she answers, "Yes to the bath, and no to the rest."

"Okay, stay here. I will be right back." I walk off before she speaks, and I start running her a bath.

"It's ready. Here, let me," I say when she tries to get out of the bed. I lift her up and I worry more because my Allie would fight me and say she can walk.

I sit her on the edge of the bathtub and start pulling off her nightgown and then her pants. I feel nothing other than concern when I lift her, putting her into the bath as she sighs in pleasure.

"God, that feels nice," she says, smiling a little at me. She is still very pale and looks like she has a fever. "Thank you for staying," she says after a while of me watching her as I sit next to the tub.

"There isn't any place I would want to be. Fuck, there's nowhere I can be because I couldn't leave you if I tried."

"I like you a lot, Elliot." She sighs, looking away from me. I want to say ‘I love you a lot,’ but I don't. She isn’t well enough for that right now.

"I like you a lot more, my Allie," I whisper before standing and clearing my throat, which now feels tight.

"Will you be all right for a bit? I need to go and change the bed sheets before you get back into them. I'll put yours in the wash with some of the other things," I say,thinking about how much I love Google. It will tell me how to use the washing machine.

"Sure, you don't have to," she says, a slight frown appearing on her beautiful face.

"I do," I say before kissing her gently.

I change Allie’s sheets before helping her back into clean PJs and then into her bed. She is so tired that she falls straight to sleep when her head hits the pillow.

---