The next morning, I woke feeling as though someone had run me over with a carriage and several rather large horses.

My head throbbed, my limbs were stiff and sore, and my chest ached every time I took a breath. I rolled onto my side and stared at the wall opposite, it swam in front of my eyes and I blinked several times, but it didn't stop. The low humming noise from the previous day filled my ears once again and I couldn't even hear the noises coming from the kitchen below. The space next to me was empty, Esther having started her chores for the day and leaving me alone in the room. At the far end of the room, the fire burnt bright, but I shivered against the blankets and pulled them up to my neck.

With every breath, my chest constricted itself and my lungs felt like they were being squeezed by my ribcage. I wheezed heavily as I brushed my hands over my face. My skin felt hot to the touch, as though it were burning and small beads of sweat travelled down my forehead and my face. I shivered despite the heat that seemed to come off my body in waves and sitting under the blanket only made me feel warmer. I almost felt as though I was in my own personal oven, the blanket keeping the heat in and slowly cooking me from the outside in.

I wanted to stay in bed, but I had my doubts that Mrs Ealing would allow such a thing, even if I wasn't working in the house. Groaning, I kicked the blankets off my body and lay staring up at the ceiling as I fought to take a breath. Everything I did felt as though it took more energy then it was supposed to, and my breathing sounded heavy and almost squeaky. I swung my legs off the side of the bed and the room lurched to one side as I sat on the edge of the mattress and took another wheezing breath whilst I waited for the room to straighten up, but it didn't.

Instead, I pushed myself into a standing position and reached out to grab the wall, stumbling slightly and falling to one side. My hand found the cold stone of the wall and I used it to steady myself, my legs shaking slightly as I started to take another step. The room jerked to one side suddenly and I stumbled, my hand missing the wall and I suddenly fell forward. Before I hit the floor, someone grabbed me and forced back onto the bed.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you?" Esther's voice sounded muffled and distant as the ringing in my ears continued.

"I'm fine," I replied, fighting to stand back up only to be forced back down.

"You have a fever and you're struggling to breathe, I wouldn't call that nothing. Miss Jenkins thinks it is influenza, but she's asked Doctor Ealing to confirm. You are not going anywhere."

Esther pushed me back against the wall and slipped from the room, returning a few seconds later with a glass of water which she handed to me. I sipped the water, which felt cool against my scratchy throat, and watched Esther as she stood near the doorway. She twisted her hands together anxiously as she waited for Doctor Ealing and Miss Jenkins to arrive. I didn't see why she seemed so stressed or anxious, the way I saw it, there was nothing wrong with me expect from a small sniffle, nothing that wouldn't go away after a little more sleep. Telling Doctor Ealing just seemed like an over-exaggeration.

I drank a little more of the water and pressed my back against the wall, the glass felt cold against my clammy palm. As I sat against the wall, I resisted the temptation to press the glass to my forehead which had started sweating profusely even though I still felt cold and had started to shiver more than I would normally. All I wanted to do was curl up under the blanket and sleep until I could sit up without the room tilting so dramatically. I could smell the breakfast Miss Jenkins had on in the kitchen and I bit my lip to keep myself from vomiting up the water and bile from my stomach. I hated vomiting. When I was five, I had a stomach virus that only lasted a day, and I hoped this was going to turn out to be the same thing rather than influenza.

Still, there was little I could do to protest.

After a few minutes of silence, footsteps echoed up the stairs and I sipped a little more of the water, though it wasn't sitting in my stomach very well. I held the glass of water against my arm, cooling it down slightly as Doctor Ealing appeared in the doorway followed closely by Miss Jenkins and Robert who looked as though he had only just woken up. Doctor Ealing put his medical bag on the floor and perched on the edge of the bed, looking at me but not saying a word. He placed the back of his hand against my forehead as I moved the cold glass down the length of my arm. When Doctor Ealing took his hand away, he muttered something, but I could only see his lips move, no sound bypassed the ringing in my ears.

"Definitely influenza, it's come on rather quickly though seeing as she showed no symptoms up until early evening. I expect the lack of sleep may have come into play, but I can't be certain. I am worried about her breathing, influenza can create chest problems, but never this bad," Doctor Ealing said, he may have been looking at me, but he certainly wasn't talking to me.

"What do you mean?" Miss Jenkins asked anxiously.

"Difficulty breathing isn't uncommon, but she's really struggling. I fear that her years in the factory may have damaged her lungs. Years of breathing in the fibres from the cloth would have taken its toll and the smoke damage from the two fires may have damaged her lungs even further. With her breathing the way it is now, it looks as though the incidents have caused a lot of damage and the influenza is aggravating an already precarious situation."

"And you can tell all that without examining her?"

"I can hear her breathing from here, it's heavier then it should be and she's wheezing more most of my influenza patients. I'll need to listen to her chest to get a better understanding, but it's definitely a bad case of influenza."

"Where do we go from here?"

"You'll need to apply a wet cloth to her forehead to keep her temperature down and give her porridge and full cream milk. Robert is going to stay behind whilst I go into the office so you and Esther can keep working, he's helped with more cases of influenza than anything else, so he knows what he's doing."

"Very well. Esther, come along, you have chores to do."

Esther smiled at me slightly before her and Miss Jenkins left the room, leaving me with the cold glass of water. I pressed the back of my head against the wall and glanced up towards the ceiling, the room spun as I tried to focus my attention onto a small knot in the wood panelling. The knot swayed from side to side as I stared at, the wood beside it swirling and moving. Just watching the room spin made me feel sick, the constant movement playing havoc on my stomach as it tightened and almost knotted together. I wanted the room to stop spinning and return to normal.

Robert stood off to the side of the room as Doctor Ealing's rustling in his bag brought my attention away from the ceiling and back into the room. From his back, Doctor Ealing pulled out a stethoscope, the same one Robert had used on me after the fire at the factory. He glanced at me and gestured to the glass of water. I handed it over, almost missing his hand completely and dropping it on the floor. Doctor Ealing placed the glass onto the floor in front of him and shuffled his position on the bed to face me, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me.

"Can you lay down for me, Rosie? I need to listen to your chest."

I nodded and slid myself down the wall until I hit the mattress. Shuffling myself around slightly, my head hit the pillow and I sunk myself deep into it as Doctor Ealing leaned forwards and undid my nightdress. He pressed the stethoscope against my skin, it felt cold against my hot skin as Doctor Ealing leaned forward pressed his ear to the end of the stethoscope. Having Doctor Ealing so close felt a little odd, but I didn't have the strength to do anything other than lay there as he listened to my chest for longer than normal. Whatever happened to be going on, he didn't appear to like it.

"Alright, take a deep breath for me." I did as asked, my chest tightening and a wheezing noise escaping my throat. "Excellent, again?" I took another breath."

A little while later, Doctor Ealing leaned back and removed the stethoscope my chest, the heat running back to the area the moment the cool instrument had been removed. I rolled my head to the side and watched as he stuffed the stethoscope back into his bag and stood up. He crossed the room and muttered something to Robert who furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. As they spoke, I lifted my left hand and placed it in front of my face, my hand was shaking, and it looked slightly blurry. I dropped my hand back on the bed and closed my eyes slightly.

"Alright, Rosie, I was right about your breathing but there is nothing we can do about it since it is the influenza that is causing it. There is a minor rattle in your chest but as of right now I'm not all that worried about it. The years in the factory have certainly done a number on your lungs, but they should clear once you start to recover. I've instructed Robert to stay here so if anything happens, he's available."

"I don't need babysitting," I mumbled, keeping my eyes closed.

"Unfortunately, you do, at least until the influenza clears up."

"Alright."

"Your mother has been informed on what's going on, but she wants you to stay away from the twins, just in case they catch it. I trust you will follow the rule?" Doctor Ealing said, looking across at Robert who lingered in the doorway with his arms folded over his chest.

"Of course, Father. I'll stay here unless I need something," Robert said.

"Good. Perhaps you can get some studying done."

"Hm, we'll see.

"I'll be back later on today to check on you if you need anything you can ask Robert. Consider this a temporary role reversal, you can give the orders to Robert."

"Sounds like fun," I muttered.

I kept my eyes closed but listened to Doctor Ealing as he returned to the bed beside me and presumably picked his work bag off the floor. He placed his hand onto my forehead again before his footsteps echoed across the room and he muttered something to Robert before his footsteps receded down the stairs. With Doctor Ealing gone, Robert seemed rooted to the spot as I pulled the blanket up to my neck and nestled down beneath it, rolling onto my side. Knowing Robert was still standing at the far side of the room, watching me, made it impossible to fall asleep and I found myself tugging my blanket over my head in an attempt to ignore him.

The only sound in the room was that of my breathing, it sounded a lot louder underneath the blanket then it had before. I listened as Robert moved from the door and down the stairs, leaving me along before returning to the room. He sounded as though he had bought a chair back to the room with him as his footsteps grew closer and the sound of something hitting the floor echoed through the room.

"I can't help you if you're going to hide," Robert said, his voice muffled by the blanket and the humming in my ears.

"The light hurts my head," I murmured.

"I closed the curtain, the only light in here is the fire. Miss Jenkins made you some porridge and I have a cloth which I'll give you later on, it'll help bring your fever down a little. Then again, it might make your nightdress a little damp."

"I just want to sleep."

"You can sleep after you've eaten something, you won't get better if you refuse to eat anything. For once, do what you're asked to and don't fight it."

"I hate you," I muttered, pulling the blankets off my face.

"Hm. That might be the case, but you're stuck with me. Now, do I need to feed you or are you going to eat this on your own?"

"I can do it."

Pushing myself into a sitting position, I leant the pillow against the back of the bed frame. The room continued to swirl and move, although I knew Robert was still, it looked as though he had started rocking back and forth or moving from side to side. He bent down and place a steaming bowl of porridge onto the blanket that lay across my legs. Despite the blanket separating the bowl from my legs, it felt as though it had started to burn through and all I wanted to do was kick the blanket and the porridge away from me. Robert then handed me a spoon which I dropped into the bowl the moment the cool metal touched my skin.

Robert continued to watch me as I grabbed the spoon from the bowl and picked up a small spoonful of the porridge. Miss Jenkins had drawn a swirl on the top of the porridge in honey with sugar sprinkled across the top. My stomach groaned in hunger, but it still felt as though it was doing backflips in my abdomen. I didn't know if I could keep the porridge down and I certainly didn't want to vomit in front of Robert. Still, if I didn't eat it myself, I knew he would spoon feed me and that felt far more embarrassing then vomiting. Even with my stomach twisting and turning at the smell of the porridge, I knew I didn't have a choice.

Whilst Robert continued to stare at me, I ate the first spoonful of porridge. It burnt my mouth as I swallowed it, my throat scratching slightly. After eating porridge for so long back at the factory, I had grown to dislike it, but the honey and sugar Miss Jenkins had added made it so much better. Even though my stomach still felt as though it was spinning and tying itself in knots, I was glad to be eating something, even if it was piping hot and felt as though my throat had been burnt. By the time I had finished the porridge, the bowl and the last few mouthfuls were cold though it sat in my stomach a lot better then I thought it would.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Robert asked. "Let's just hope you can keep it down, I'm not known for dealing with vomit very well." He took the bowl from me and placed it on his lap, wrapping his fingers around it.

"You would make a terrible doctor if you struggle to deal with vomit, plus your bedside manner is appalling."

"Well, you're my first patient so there is time for me to improve." He paused. "I'm going to let all the insults slide seeing as you're ill, but don't think you can get away with it when you've recovered."

"I insult you all the time and you've never said anything."

"True. Don't let Mother hear you talk to me like that, she'll probably kill you," Robert grinned at me before pulling a strip of cloth from his pocket. He pushed the chair back slightly and slipped from the room, returning seconds later with the cloth now dripping with water. "This should help bring your fever down. Once we get that under control everything else should calm down."

"Can I go back to bed now?" I asked, not even interested in what Robert had said. All I wanted to do was sleep and he just happened to be in the way of that.

"Yes, you can go back to bed. You know, you're a real pain when you're sick."

"Thank you, I appreciate the compliment."

Robert shook his head slightly, but I caught him fighting back a smile as I flattened the pillows back against the mattress and slid down the back of the bed. Once I was lying on my back, Robert placed the cloth on my forehead with small beads of water running down the side of my face. The beads of water dripped off my chin and onto the collar of my nightdress, soaking through the fabric and cooling my chest slightly. I still shivered slightly as I pulled the blankets up to my chin, but I didn't mind the cloth on my head it gave me a nice cooling sensation against the heat that radiated off my body. I was surprised Robert hadn't put the fire out, my fever was high enough to heat the room.

I nestled myself against the blankets and listened to the sound my own heavy breathing alongside the movement and occasional turn of a page from Robert who had brought a book up with him when he had gotten the porridge and cloth. After spending so long sleeping in a room with other people, I had grown used to the noises of others as I tried to sleep; I found them comforting. As the noises continued, I found myself sinking further and further into sleep as the sounds grew further and further away.

~~~

A/N - Ding-dong, we're back! Chapter Seventeen is here and once again we have drama, not that there isn't a chapter without drama... Anyways, pre-writing updates! I am approaching the end of Chapter Twenty-Five so I'm well ahead of schedule when it comes to updates. 

So, thoughts on the chapter? Rosie is actually sick this time and Robert has been put in charge of babysitting xD I just keep putting them in the same room... Ehehehe. Do you think this will bring Rosie and Robert closer? How do you think Mrs Ealing is going to react? 

Comment below!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to @houseofmirrorswho is not only a great person, but has an AMAZING book called Siren that you should all read! 

First Published - September 17th, 2019