Cocoa And Vanilla

Chapter 7 "Sick"

"Sit your ass down and don't say a word." I said frowning after awhile.

"I'm a sick person. I don't deserve this treatment." He smiled shakily but sat down anyway.

I looked in the cabinets and saw that they barely had anything. "I need to go out and get some stuff. Keep an eye on your sister. She looks like she may be coming down with something."

He nodded, body shaking steadily. "I'll come back fast."

"Yeah, whatever. Go do what you need to do." I let a little smile slip onto my face and grabbed my coat and keys.

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"I'm back." I mumbled as I opened the door with the bags in my hands.

I placed the bags on the counter and got to work. I got a pot and started soup then went to check on Merissa. Her cloth was warm now and I rinsed it back out with cold water.

I turned to a sleeping Justin and sighed. I also got him a cloth and pressed it to his head. I got a thermometer and placed it in his mouth. It beeped and I looked at the number.

101.3

I bit my lip and wiped it off. It not very high but it's over regular body heat. I took Merissa's next and hers was lower.

I moved away from them and began to think. Okay, mild fevers and vomiting. I guess it could be a stomach bug. I shivered at the memory of the last time I had one.

I stirred the soup and poured it into a bowl. I brought it over to the table and went to go wake Merissa up. Her sleepy brown eyes made me quietly coo at her cuteness.

She held her hands out to me and I picked her up, sitting her at the table. I woke up Justin next and he sat at the table with Merissa. I gave him a packet of crackers and a bottle ginger ale.

"Where are the other kids?" I said after nearly slapping Justin for eating crackers too fast.

"They don't live here but they are Merissa's friends. They come over just because they can." He said shrugging.

"Speaking of Merissa," She looked at me in confusion. "Is there a medicine she's allergic to? Because I brought her some to help with her fever. I brought you some, too."

"She should be fine. I hope you didn't give her the grape one, though. It tastes like everything wrong with the world." I scoffed and grabbed the bag with medicine in it.

"How old is she?"

"Five." I nodded and poured the right amount.

"Here you go, sweetie." She gave it a strange look and relaxed when Justin said something in Spanish.

She drunk it and I gave her some water to wash the taste down. They continued eating and Justin got up two times to throw it back up.

Later after everything settle back down, Merrisa fell back asleep as I was doing her hair (She had practically begged me to do it and I could not pass those puppy eyes down. She might not have knew a lot of English but she knew the word 'please').

Justin was vomiting less and had not in the past hour. "I swear if I get sick, I'll kill you."

He snorted softly. "That's if you can move. But don't worry, I'll nurse you back to health."

"And that's if my parents let you in the house." I stated, laughing softly.

He hummed and watched as I played in his sisters hair. "You'd be a good mother."

"Bitch, I better be a good mother. Especially since I had to babysit you today." I teased and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," He paused. "Thank you for this. It gets hard sometimes. I have to leave her after I graduate and I want to teach her as much as I can. She struggles in English and she gets picked on a lot about that," He clenched his fists but soon released them. "But I guess that's my fault."

"No!" I shouted then lowered my voice. "No, you're doing a great job. Her English isn't the best but I can see she tries. She is trying really, really hard. Raising your sister because your mother can't afford to do it yourself takes a lot of work. At her young age, she knows that. So please keep it up. For her."

He looked shocked and then he smirked. "You complimented me again."

"Whatever, jackass." I muttered.

"Thank you, though. I needed that." He whispered.

I watched as he curled himself further in his blanket and I smiled. "If you want, I can come over and help her with her English."

"Really?!" His face lit up with emotions I had never seen before.

I suddenly felt bashful and looked down. "Yeah."