The rest of the day goes by. We've suddenly been shovelled with a load of work that would take weeks to do. We have a deadline of 3 weeks. Cutting it fine a bit.

The next week is stress central at work. It's all hands on deck, we've been working hard.

I have to admit, Augustine has not taken it lightly. He's staying late and when he comes home, he's so stressed out and tired he has hardly any energy to talk to me. For the first time ever, he snapped at me when I asked him if he was okay.

He immediately apologised and begged me for forgiveness but he's never been like that. I gave him a handjob to help him relax. It worked until the morning.

I wake up. Augustine is flat out to the world. I decide to get dressed.

I head back into the bedroom after being ready and wake up Augustine. I take one look at him and realise he's ill.

"Morning." His voice is thick and nasal.

"Get back in bed. You're sick."

"I'm not sick."

"Yes, you are."

"Edie, there's so much work to do."

"And you're ill."

"I can't leave it to you 3. I'm coming in."

"Fine. But you're not staying late tonight."

"Fine."

He gets dressed and we walk to the lab. It's cold at this time of year.

We head in and Augustine immediately goes to do work. Me and Sophie and Cosette start doing our own work.

"I'm so worried about him. He's as sick as a dog and he's insisted on coming in."

"Yeah, we've seen it before. One time, a few years ago, he had really bad food poisoning and he was still writing up reports. Just writing, sweating, and stopping every few minutes to throw up into his bin."

"Oh, yeah. We called an ambulance eventually. He was delirious."

"God."

"He's such a workaholic. It's bad for him."

"Yeah."

I continue on with my work and now I'm worried about him.

I go to check on him at lunch. He's slumped over his desk, looking pale. His hand shakes as he writes. I can tell how shit he feels by looking at him.

"For gods sake, Augustine, go home."

"No. I cannot."

"At least have a break now. You're gonna kill yourself."

He frowns. "But Edie..."

"Come on. Now."

"I... fine..." he stands up slowly. I take his hand, and I lead him out of the room.

"Let's get you some water."

"Ok..."

He sits down, resting his head in his hands.

I got him a big glass of water and I rub his back. I take his lab coat off him. He's burning up.

"Thanks, Eden..."

"No problem." I say. "Do you fancy going home now?"

"...maybe."

"Thought so."

I wait for him to drink his water and I take him home. I help him out of his clothes, he's too weak to do it himself, and I tuck him into bed. I stroke his hair, and he drifts into unconsciousness.

I head back to the lab. I decide to finish off his workload for the day, I'm the only one qualified to do it.

It's a lot. No wonder he's sick. But I manage to shift 3 quarters of the entire load by the end of the day. That'll be a nice surprise for when he's back.

I head back in the evening. I collect Josie and I go inside.

I check on Augustine right away. He's half asleep.

"Hey, sweetie."

"Hi, Eden."

I go to check his temperature. He's still warm but I think he's cooling down. He wraps his arms around me, resting his head in my stomach. I think he's been wanting the comfort.

I stroke his hair. I just want him better.

"You want some food?" I ask.

"Toast..."

"I can get you toast, honey. Can you lift up your head so I can get up?"

"Later."

"Oh. Ok."

I let Augustine sleep on me. He's sweaty, definitely with a temperature. I just let him relax. I doubt he's relaxed this much in years.

He finally lets me up to make him toast, which I bring up to him. While he's eating, I feed Josie.

She falls asleep and I put her to bed before returning to my sick fiancé. He's fast asleep, and I hold him until I fall asleep.