Fever from the Walking Death 8-29-2011 (Open for all)

After a restless sleep Dominique awoke from another nightmare. Memories of last night and older ones where merching together leaving her unsure of what memories of the attack where real and what where made up. Every time she had woken up from a nightmare she had felt worse.
At first she thought that it was because of the lack of actual sleep caused by the nightmare, but now she wasn't so sure anymore. Sweat was beading off most of her body and yet she was so cold that she was desperately trying to remember where she had put her spare blanket. Seeing only blurry outlines, lacking her glasses, she took a deep breath to stumble her way out of the warmed of her bed. Snatching the blanket she had been looking for from one of the chairs.
It was on her way back that she noticed the small note that was by her door, picking it up she took it with her back to bed. Snuggling under both blankets, still shiffering from the cold though, she put on her glasses to read it. The note did trigger some real memories of last night but she would apalogise to Keoki later about not coming, feeling to sick to leave her room. Closing her eyes again she hoped that she could get some actual sleep but despite how exhausted she still felt sleep refused to come back. Leaving her with nothing better to do then wonder why she was so sick all of the sudden and what had really happened last night.

Fully aware he wasn't supopse to strain himself in his condition, Axel decided to be stubborn and ignore his own good advice. He hadn't been able to sleep in the least, every breath he took sending a new sensation of pain through his chest and the couple of aspirine he had left in his room not even close to sufficient to blocking it out.
So he went looking for some distraction.
He slowly picked up his cell phone and sent to Dominique:

"HEY THERE:-) HOPE I DIDNT WAKE YOU. HOW R U FEELING? IM NOT THAT GOOD. DO YOU FEEL LIKE KEEPING ME COMPANY UNTIL I GO TO THE HOSPITAL? AXEL"

Opening her eyes at the ring of her cellphone telling her she had a text. Reading the text Dominique smiled a little, wishing that she could do as she asked her but too sick for that. So instead she texted back:
"HEY AXEL, WISH I COULD BUT I'M NOT DOING ALL TOO WELL MYSELF. SORRY, GOOD LUCK AT THE HOSPITAL."

Eager to read Dominique's reply Axel'd kept the cell phone in his hand as he waited for it. When he felt his cell phone vibrate he immediatly checked the text he'd just received, but as he read it his happy and hopeful smile disappeared; "sh- she can't come?" he muttered (having consumed so many painkillers by now he was somewhere very near stoned).

He lay there like that for a moment, sad, lonely, stoned and in pain... then he decided to get up - slowly and carefully and combined with lots of pained groans and grunts - and make his way over to Dominique's room. As he was on his way, this being quite some time as he was out of breath just after reaching his own door, he contempleted the truth in the statement that doctors often ignore medical advice when it concerns their own well-being.

By the time he reached Dominique's door he was leaned against the wall just to hold himself up. He knocked; "D-Domin...nique?"

Feeling even more miserable now that she couldn't go to support Axel Dominique put her cell phone back on her nightstand closing her eyes again. Sleep was starting to drift in holding not the promise of rest but of more nightmares. But before she could really go under she heard the knock on the door and then Axel's voice coming through it stuttering her name. Opening her eyes again she looked at the door confused, had she just imagined that or was it real?
"It's open," she called out, her body not wanting to get out of bed again especially because it could be for nothing.

His hand on the doorknob already, partially because he expected to be let in but also because he just needed to have a sit-down and didn't feel much like doing it in the hallway.
"Hey it's me," he said with a weak smile as he entered Dominique's room, frowning to find her in bed under 2 blankets and looking fairly awful.
"Are you ok? What's wrong?" he asked as he closed the door and leaned back to it, slowly sliding to the floor with a tired and pained groan.

A look of surprise came to Dominique's expression when the door actually opened and Axel come in. The way he was moving refreshing her memory of him getting injured and that he shouldn't be walking at all at the moment. Sitting up, making sure both blankets still covered her whilst doing so, she was wearing a payjama but she needed the warmth.
"Axel you shouldn't be walking around so much you could've broken something," she said initially only worried about him until she remembered his questions, "I'm just feeling sick, like I have a fever from hell out of nowhere... but have you already spoken to Jack about that ride to the hospital?"

"I know," Axel sighed, a weak smile on his face, "don't you mind me."
He looked at her with a concerned frown noticing she was sweaty, though the blankets implied she was cold and she also looked a little shaky and pale. Of course he didn't know much about it but he couldn't rule out the zimbo's had something to do with it.
"Maybe you should have Lugh check if it's something... spooky?" he suggested, unsure how to make the supernatural sound a little less serious.
"And no, I haven't seen Jack yet." That reminded him; "I should've probably put a note up my door saying I'm here or something..."

Dominique still looked worried at Axel when he said he knew he shouldn't be moving around too much but not to worry about him. At the mentioning of Lugh she nodded, it was a good idea but she doubted she could really walk around long enough to try and find him. But she wasn't going to say that because Axel might get the idea of finding Lugh for her and move even more. She frowned a little when he said that he hadn't contacted Jack yet about the ride, wishing she could help him with that.
"If you want to walk you should find Jack," she said with a worried smile, "not that I don't appreciate you coming making the effort of visiting me or that I don't want you around it's just... you should get those Xrays..."

"I'll go find him in a minute," Axel replied, the idea of moving even more bringing a little bitter smile to his face, "but I hope you don't mind me catching my breath before I do that?"
Seeing Dominique's worried face made him realise how stupid it really was for him to come over here, something the slightly too large amount of painkillers had kept him from doing before. Now that he thought about it, it probably hadn't been the best idea to take this many but... with the pain he felt that was a good advice he could do without.

"So..." he sighed, "except the physical misfortune... how are you?" he asked, referring to she shock she'd been in last night and how she felt about all the unbelievable things they'd learned.

Smiling a little relieved that Axel would go and find Jack once he had caught his breath Dominique relaxed a little. It was when he asked her how she was doing other then physically she was silent for a while, trying to seperate the memories of last night from the onces of some rougher times of her youth. Opening her mouth and closing it again without saying anything a few times she ended up with a sigh and a confused shake of her head.
"I don't know," she answered, "I can't seperate the memories of last night from my nightmares. And I'm pretty sure that whatever it was that had happened last night wasn't taking place in a hospital... right?"

Confused by her story, Axel wasn't sure how to reply at first. "A hospital?" he replied slowly, then groaning as he sat up a little out of automatism as he felt he sat a little slumped, forgetting the state he was in. After a moment of gritting his teeth the pain faded and he went on: "no we weren't in a hospital," in a worried tone, "did- did you have nightmares about hospitals?"

Looking worried again when she saw Axel grinting his teeth Dominique wished she could help him, but she didn't really know anything. At his question if she had had nightmares about hospitals she nodded a small wry smile on her face.
"Yeah, partially," she answered, "memories of last night and of earlier events got combined... at least that what I think and sort of hoped that has happened. I know it all sounds confusing but I just am confused."

Tilting his head a little - regretting it not long after, as that put a strain on his spine, therefor his ribs as well - Axel asked: "what's it about hospitals then?"
He usually wasn't this blunt about matters like these but what with prescripted pain medication and all....

Should she tell him? Dominique wasn't sure, she really didn't like talking about that period of her life, but they where more or less together. And besides how else was she going to explain to Axel that she had enough memories of hospitals to get interwind with last nights memories in her nightmares.
Deciding that he should know she took a deep breath; "I spend quite some time in and out of hospitals when I was younger..."
At first she wanted to also add the reason but ended up chickening out and she wouldn't mention it unless he asked, which was very likely but still.

Much like Dominique expected Axel was going to to do, he asked. But despite being a little high on medication, he wasn't blunt about this; as a third year student, having two years of disease-related sensitivity training crammed in his subconciousness, being a little careful on matters like this came automatically.
"I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but..." he started, "can I ask what you were in the hospital for?"

As much as Dominique had expected the question it was still hard to answer it. It wasn't so much that it was a difficult question to answer, it was more the responses she usually got that made her unwilling to say it. So far it had been ranged from people suddenly threating her like she was made out of china to someone actually not wanting to touch any food or drinks that she had touched. Even though she was fine now and it had never been contagious.
"When I was younger I..." taking a deep breath and letting it out again she looked with a little pleading for understanding eyes, "I had leukimia... I got a transplant so now the changes of it coming back are very minul, but there is still a change... Which is a reason why I don't like talking about it and haven't mentioned it before."

Suddenly Axel felt a bit guilty for asking, but mainly just surprised like hell. After quite a bit of silence he replied: "that's quite a story..." in a soft voice. He wasn't sure what else to say as Dominique made it clear she didn't like talking about it.
Just at that moment the door to her room opened, hitting Axel in the back. He opened his mouth, as if to let out a scream, but no sound came but a small whimper.
"What th-" a voice that could belong to no other than Aemilio's exclaimed annoyed, upon noticing the door was blocked.

Giving Axel a wry smile in responce Dominique sighed again, remembering her years she had spend in hospitals and all the other children that she had met there, a lot hadn't made it. Taking a deep breath again to try and keep her emotions somewhat level she looked over to her window, the curtains still open. She looked back to Axel though when she saw the door being opened from the corner of her eye, her eyes going big as she saw it hit him in the back.
"Carefull!" she called out at whoever was at the other end of the door, "Axel is leaning against the door!"

"Axel, you're the doctor here," Aemilio's voice came , "should I really be the one to tell you it's stupid for someone with bruised ribs to sit leaned back against a closed door that opens to the inside?!"

Axel didn't reply other than letting out a groan as he moved away from the door with a pained face - just in case Aemilio was going to make another attempt to enter - sitting down next to the head of the bed. "What do you want?" he then snapped at his stepbrother on the other side of the door in an annoyed tone.

The door opened and Aemilio invited himself inside. "Hello there my little perforación de bolas*," he greeted Axel with a cheery, carefree smile that was hardly appropriate, then nodded at Dominique with the same expression: "señorita perforación de bolas." He studied her for a brief moment, then added: "you look like hell."
Axel was just about to tell him to shut up when Aemilio went on: "apologies for bursting in like this but I figured I'd come in - you know, I can hear you so much better then just now, with my ear against the door." He grinned at that last, curious to see how Dominique would react to him knowing of her leukemia. All hail eavesdropping.


* perforación de bolas = punching ball

Dominique wasn't all too pleased with Aemilio subtleness either putting a, warm and clammy, hand on Axel's shoulder when he sat down on next her bed. Raising a brow when Aemilio called them both something in Spanish and then added that she looked like hell.
"So do you," she answered clearly annoyed, at the mentioning of him having eavesdropped on their conversation her eyes narrowed to a glare but that was all. She didn't care that he knew she had had leukemia, it just meant that she would have to tell. The only reason she had kept it quiet was because she didn't like talking about it.
"What do you want," she said wanting him to leave, having very little patienced at the moment.

After smiling at Dominique as she put her sweaty hand on his shoulder, Axel found himself relieved she didn't care about Aemilio finding out. He was a little scared of his stepbrother saying more on Dominique's leukemia story but to his surrpise no such thing happened.

"I wanted to see if there's anything I can do for Axel," Aemilio replied with a smile, not in the least moved by Dominique's dislike towards his pressence in her room.
Axel blinked at him confused; "excuse me what?" he asked, staring at his brother as if he saw water burning.
"M'yeah," Aemilio said with a shrug, "well you're hurt and I had something to do with it and... I'm feeling generous - take advantage of it before I get back to my senses."
Axel continued to blink at him, his expression a look of suspicion and disbelief. "I'm fine thanks," he said, still clueless on what Aemilio was upto but thinking this might be a good way to get rid of him.
"I'll go see if I can find Jack," Aemilio said, still smiling cheerfully, "see if he's ready to take you to the hospital."
And with that he left again.

Axel stared at the door for a moment, then turned to Dominique with an uncertain face: "Dominique... I have had one painkiller too many so be brutally honest with me alright? Am I hallucinating or did that just really happen?"

Dominique's glare turned into a confused look as Aemilio said he was in her room to see if Axel needed anything. Staring at the door a little while after he had left saying to look for Jack so that Axel could go to the hospital, not looking away until a shiver made her dive under her blankets again. Leaving only her head and the hand that she still had on Axel's shoulder, looking at him horizontally now.
"I'm high on fever for as far as I know," she answered, "but I doubt we could have the same hallucination at the exact same moment without both of us having been slipped something. So I think it was real... but I'm not sure..."

Axel looked at her for a moment, very tempted to lie next to her but clear in the head enough to realise it would be very unfortunate if she did turn out to have a bad case of the sniffles and was contagious; bruised/broken ribs and heavy sneezing and coughing attacks were a very poor combination.
So instead he rested his head on the side of her bed, away from the pillow end carefully and sighed.
"Anyway... about the nightmares... do you think it might help to talk about them?"

Dominique did liked it when Axel rested his head close to hers on the bed, even though she did notice that he kept some distance, but she could understand that. At the mentioning of her nightmares she made a face again, shaking her head.
"I've tried that before and it never helped, besides I don't fully remember the nightmares or yesterday evening for that manner," she answered, "I remember everything fine until the end of the preformances, after that it's bits and pieces..."