(Past Thea) -

[Stalker Journal: Entry NO. 16]

"I hate hospitals," I whined, cradling my arm which had just gotten a shot.

"Tough luck, kid," Dad said and held my hand, guiding me towards the pharmacy near the exit. I slumped down on one of the plastic seats while he went to get my medicine.

It was flu season and I just had to catch it, didn't I?

There was an abrupt and loud sneeze from my right and I sighed. Taking out a clean piece of tissue paper from my bag, I handed it to the person without even glancing at them.

"Thanks." A hoarse voice sniffled, taking the tissue paper from my hand and blowing their nose with it.

"Flu?" I asked, my eyes trained on my phone.

"Yeah, you?"

"Same, it sucks."

"Thea, time to go, kiddo!" I heard my dad call out and I got up, putting my phone in my back pocket and looking at the guy next to me, who was looking at me as well.

He was barely visible since I couldn't see clearly due to my watery eyes but I could make out that he was making a weirded-out face.

There was probably snot on me.

Ignoring it, I turned around and followed my dad out of the stupid hospital.

(Present Thea) -

I groaned aloud as I woke up shivering with a major headache. I leaned forward to grab my water bottle from my nightstand but it was unfortunately empty.

Huffing, I ripped the covers off me and tried to stand up but my knees immediately buckled and I flopped back down on the bed. Chiko jumped up on the bed as well and settled down on my chest while I looked at him, smiling. Leaning forward, I picked up my phone and called Lexi.

"Hey, wassup?" I heard her voice say from the other side along with the shouting of some kids.

"Hey, where are you right now?"

"Home, did you not read my note? My brother got into an accident so I had to rush home in the middle of the night."

"Oh."

"Why does your voice sound so rough? Are you okay?"

"No, I think I'm sick, don't know what it is though, I can't even get up."

"Oh shit, do you want me to call Chance?"

"No, no, he has this important thing today regarding his family business."

"Okay, Tori and Vince haven't still returned from their trip, so Noah?"

"No, he has a date with that guy, remember? He's been excited about it for days, I can't ruin that."

"Dammit," she cursed loudly and I winced at the noise.

"Lexi, don't worry about it, I'll manage," I told her and she sighed.

"Okay, just tell me if something's wrong and update me every hour- Goddammit, stop pulling your sister's hair! Sorry, Thea, I have to go, bye, love you!" I heard her say and then the call came to an abrupt stop.

Oh. Okay then.

I gently picked Chiko up and put him down on the floor. I attempted to stand up once again and immediately felt nauseous. Leaning against the wall for support, I dragged myself to the bathroom.

Looking in the mirror, I could see that my skin had turned pale rather than its usual rosy self and my lips were purple and chapped. Ignoring the fact that I looked like a mess, I exited the room, shuddering uncontrollably.

My headache only grew as I opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water and cool air hit me.

With the bottle in my hand, I staggered towards the chair, black dots lining my view. However, before I could reach the chair, a harsh wave of dizziness hit me and I stumbled to the ground, hitting my head hard against the marble floor. I could only groan in pain as my vision turned black and Chiko meowed near me in worry.

~

"Thea! Fuck, wake up!" I could feel someone shaking me and I grunted as I shifted, feeling a penetrating pain in my head.

"Thank God!" The voice said again and I opened my eyes, squinting as light entered my vision.

"Jonah?" I let out in a raspy voice, recognizing his stormy grey eyes.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm gonna pick you up, okay?" he said and I nodded, unable to speak anymore. I could feel his hands slide under me and he stood up with me in his hands with ease.

He gently set me down on my bed, ignoring the mess around it and on it now.

"I'm gonna be back with some water and shit, okay?" Jonah told me and left the room, coming back a moment later with a packet of wipes, a bottle of water, and a bag of frozen peas in his arms. I eagerly chugged down all the water and set the empty bottle on my nightstand.

"I didn't see an ice bag anywhere so I guess peas will have to do for now," he spoke, handing me the cold bag and I chuckled, holding it against the huge bruise on my head.

Jonah slowly eased my legs to the side and sat in front of me. Leaning towards me, he began to clean my face with a wipe.

"When did you get here?" I asked him, my voice coming out raspy and rough.

"A few minutes ago. Lexi called me and told me you felt unwell. I came here as soon as I could."

"Oh."

"You scared me, Thea. Your skin was pale and cold, it still is but when you were unconscious-" He gently took a hold of my hand in his warm ones.

"Just never do that again, call me whenever if you need someone, be it 3 am in the fucking morning. You could've gotten a more serious concussion than this. Don't ever think you're a bother to someone, okay? At least not to me. I know how that mind of yours works so dump that stupid thought out."

I only smiled as I looked at him, worry evident in his face. "Okay," I whispered and he smiled, caressing my cheek.

Jonah stood up once again and threw the dirty wipe in the trash. He took out a clean sweatshirt from my closet and handed it to me to wear, turning around to give me some privacy while I quickly changed.

"Turn over," Jonah instructed and I complied, confusion etched over my face at what he was doing. Jonah simply grinned at me and began to gently brush my hair, smoothing out all the tangles.

I forgot that I hadn't brushed it yet and it probably still looked like a bird's nest.

I yelped as he accidentally brushed a little too harshly. "Sorry," he mumbled with a sheepish smile.

He easily tied my hair into a braid and I sighed in relief, the tangled mess before was annoying me to bits. I smiled as I once again felt a bit clean but unfortunately for me, that didn't last long.

"Achoo!" I sneezed into my hand, I gagged in disgust as I felt snot on my hand and Jonah laughed at me.

I glared at him and huffed, struggling to get up and he immediately sobered up and stood up as well. "Don't be so stubborn, lean on- or just fall on me, yeah that works too."

In the bathroom, I cleaned myself up and looked up, my eyes instinctively going to the mirror.

"Aah!"

"What happened?" Jonah rushed in, a hand covering his eyes.

"Look at the bruise, it's fucking ugly," I cried, pointing to the huge purple bump on the left side of my face.

"Bruh, you still look gorgeous, it'll go away in a while, don't worry about it," Jonah said and hauled me out of the bathroom. He threw me on the bed and covered me with a blanket.

"You're hot," Jonah abruptly said and I looked at him confused.

"Uh-thank you?"

"I don't mean that, idiot. I mean you feel hot, as in, you have a really high fever. Where's your thermometer?"

"Oh. It's probably in the cabinet under the sink in my bathroom." I told him with a sheepish smile and he nodded, going into the bathroom.

"Uh, Thea, I can't see it!" He yelled, popping his head in the room.

"Check behind my pads, I haven't used it in a while so it's probably in the back."

"Found it!" He came out after a minute, holding it up and grinning as if it was a prize. "Open." He told me and I complied, opening my mouth.

He took it out after a while and his eyes widened as he looked at it, "Fuck, it's like 104°C." He disappeared into the bathroom once again and came back with a little bucket which he put under my bed.

"There's a bucket under your bed if you feel like puking, don't get up and call for me if you need me. I'll just be in the kitchen," he explained and I gave him a thumbs-up while blowing out my nose at the same time.

I mindlessly scrolled through Pinterest, sneezing every few seconds. Wads of tissues were piled up in the trash can by the time Jonah entered the room with a tray in his hands. Setting it down on my lap, he declared, "Your soup, m'lady."

I grinned and picked up the bowl, taking a big spoonful of it in my mouth after blowing on it but I almost instantly spit it out.

"This tastes disgusting," I commented in a low and cracked voice.

"That's probably because of the fever. Now, please stop wasting what's left of your voice on complaints about soup you can't even taste," he retorted, rolling his eyes and I poked my tongue out at him.

Holding the bowl to my mouth, I hastily gulped it down without wasting a breath. I wanted to get this over it, I hated bland food with a passion. Gagging, I passed the bowl back to Jonah who smiled at me and patted my head.

"Good girl."

~

"I know you're cold but that blanket is gross now," Jonah said as he snatched the blanket from me while I childishly whined to have it back.

"Don't take it from me," I complained, sticking my bottom lip in what I thought to be an adorable little pout.

"Thea, I need to clean the vomit off of it, I'll get you another one, don't worry. Now hand it over!"

"Promise?"

"Promise," he sighed in an exaggeratedly annoyed tone.

He handed me a new, clean blanket and left the room, only returning half an hour later with beads of sweat littered across his forehead. He instantly flopped down on the bed, groaning. He lay still with his eyes closed for a while until I poked his cheek and he glanced at me with one eye and his eyebrow raised.

I only smiled at him, sneezing only a second later and he snickered, pushing his dark hair back with his hand.

"Come, warmth," I mumbled, holding out my arms from under my heap of blankets. He got up, chuckling at my antics, and settled down beside me, resting his head on my chest while I played with his hair.

"Your hair smells really nice," I whispered quietly and he hummed in response. He yawned shortly after causing me to yawn as well.

"Are you tired?" I asked.

"Very, taking care of you is hard, especially right now since you're sick. It's like you're drunk," he answered honestly, raising a hand to scratch his head, flexing his muscles at the same time.

"Your arms are hot," I blurted out before I could stop myself and covered my mouth with my hands, embarrassed while he burst out laughing.

"Really now?" he mused. His grey eyes perfectly reflected how amused he was at that moment and I blushed.

"Yeah. Veins and muscles are hot." Word vomits suck but word vomits when you're sick suck a lot more.

"Well, thank you." He snickered. "You know, you're very endearing when you're half-asleep? Otherwise, you're normally just insulting me."

"Because that's what you deserve." I yawned once again. "I want to sleep now."

"I never stopped you."

"But then you'll be bored."

"Doll, just sleep. I'll be fine." He flashed me a smile, poking my sides and making me giggle.

"Okay then, good night even though it's only afternoon," I mumbled, my eyes half-closed.

"Good night, doll." I heard him say and felt him gently kissing my cheek while my lips twitched up into a soft smile and my heart raced at the close proximity.

"I love you," I muttered, snuggling into his warm chest while he chuckled and ruffled my hair.

"I love you too, Thea. Far more than you know."

And as he said so, my heart skipped a beat. I didn't think much if it until very next day when I smiled as I woke up cuddled to him.

I think falling for Jonah.

._.

I'm sorry.

I know it's not an excuse but this week has been shitty for me and I wasn't able to write that much so there will not be any double update. I've been this doing a lot and I understand if you want to be angry.

Moving on, I really love this chapter. It's so nice to see relationships slowly develop over time. And I obviously love Jonah, y'all hate him for some unknown reason though.

Anyhow, once again, I'm sorry but I still hope you enjoyed this chapter.

That's all for now, thank you for supporting me.

Potato out.