Mira

My laugh turns into a coughing fit. My lungs protest with every breath. Elise brings me a glass of cold water before leaving for the restaurant.

I send Tessa an email apologizing. She replies within minutes to wish me a speedy recovery and tell me not to worry too much about them.

Then I open my chat with Elliot. Ever since our last night in New York, he's been acting strange. I don't know if it's because of work stress or if maybe he needs some distance after spending so much time with me… I really hope it isn't the latter.

Me: I think I'm getting sick.

Elliot: I told you Central Park wasn't a good idea.

I grimace. Even if it definitely wasn't the wisest decision, the memories I have of it were totally worth it.

Me: But it was so much fun!

Elliot: Drugs are fun too. That doesn't mean we should take them.

Me: How would you know?

Elliot: …

Me: I'm sure you're the fun kind of high.

Elliot: No comment.

Me: Or the creative kind?

Elliot: Enough, Mira.

What a killjoy!

Elliot: Do you need medicine?

Me: I think I know the cure.

Elliot: A dose of cough syrup strong enough to knock out an elephant?

Me: Close, but no. Watching the next episode of that documentary we started this weekend.

Elliot: My place. Tonight. Six o'clock.

Me: You're leaving the office early?

Elliot: I felt like taking some time off anyway. Because of the jet lag.

Jet lag? Right, of course… We stayed in the same time zone, and he knows it perfectly well.

Me: Feel free to admit anytime that you're starting to care about me.

Elliot: Spoken like someone who's taken too much cough medicine.

My lips spread into a wide smile. Ah, there's the man I love!

Love? Oh, shoot. Am I really in love with Elliot?

How could I not be? He's thoughtful, reserved, and so kind to me that I completely forget he hates the rest of the population. And he drives me crazy in the best possible way. As soon as he's in the same room as me, my heart starts racing.

Oh, yes. I am definitely in love with Elliot Vale.

The real question is: does he love me back?

"Come on, Mira. You need to eat something."

Elliot's voice sounds far away, as if he's on a different radio frequency.

I push away the hand he's placed on my shoulder, then burrow deeper into his silk sheets. I don't know how long I've been at his place like this. All I know is that his bed is infinitely more comfortable than mine and I never want to leave it again.

I'm almost certain my sinuses now take up three-quarters of my brain, and my left nostril has been completely blocked since yesterday, when Elliot picked me up from my apartment.

"Mira."

He turns me toward the edge of the mattress.

"Go away," I grumble.

He flicks me on the forehead. It makes my head hurt, and I wince. When I open my eyes, I find a distraught Elliot. I've never seen him like this. His hair is a mess and there are purple circles under his eyes.

I stroke the unfamiliar stubble on his face.

"You need to shave," I say weakly before breaking into a wet coughing fit.

Yuck. Disgusting.

"While you were asleep, breakfast came and went, then lunch, and…"

He checks his alarm clock.

"Dinnertime too. You need to eat, or you might pass out."

The unnaturally high pitch of his voice makes my head hurt even more.

"Shh. Quieter," I beg, placing a finger against his lips. "Wake me up in…"

My sentence is cut off by my body trying to expel one of my lungs through my throat.

"Here. Drink some water. Please."

His voice cracks. He practically shoves the metal straw into my mouth.

"Happy?"

"No," he replies darkly.

"I feel like I'm going to die."

His hand tightens around my chin.

"Don't exaggerate. You have a cold."

Is that worry I hear in his voice?

"Okay," I say, turning my back to him. "I'll get up in an hour. Promise."

"I'm going to call a doctor to come examine you."

"They still make house calls?"

"If you pay them well, yes."

I cough again, but this time it won't stop. It's so violent that my whole chest shakes. I even feel a kind of sharp pain, like a knife stabbing my lungs. Breathing drains all my energy.

The hand stroking my hair goes still.

"Shit. I'll be right back."

Elliot kisses my forehead before pulling his phone from his pocket and leaving the bedroom. I can make out his murmurs through the door, but listening to his phone conversation takes too much effort.

My eyes close, and I surrender to the darkness.

When I wake up, someone is prying open my eyelids and shining a flashlight in my face. I try to put some distance between us, but I only fall backward before catching myself on trembling elbows.

"She's already been sick for three days."

"Three days?" I cry.

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret speaking so loudly. My head and lungs rebel against me, and the pain in my skull gets worse every time I cough.

"My professional opinion is that she needs to be taken to the hospital."

"The hospital?" we say at the same time.

I study Elliot. He looks as bad as I feel, with several days' worth of beard growth. The dark circles under his eyes stand out even more now because his eyes are red. He looks like he could collapse at any moment.

My heart aches, and it has nothing to do with my illness.

The doctor stands and packs his bag.

"She's severely dehydrated and needs proper medical care."

"Do you have another suggestion?"

"Given the symptoms you've described, along with what I can see and hear, it's probably some form of viral pneumonia. Her tissues are covered in green mucus, and she has a fever. If you don't drive her to the emergency room yourself tonight, she'll end up in an ambulance before long."

Pneumonia? Oh, no… That's scary. The only person I know who caught it, a friend of my parents, didn't make it.

I want to cry, but I don't think my body has enough water left to produce tears. It all came out in sweat on the second day.

While Elliot walks the doctor to the door, I sit up and feel around for my phone. I need to call my parents and tell them the news. Except I can't find it on the bed or the nightstand.

Did I leave it in the bathroom? I stand. Walking to the bathroom on my weak legs takes all my energy. The room begins to spin around me.

I grab the door handle to steady myself, then push the door open. At that exact moment, my legs give way and everything goes black.