Chapter 8: Fever
[November 2013 - 7 Months Pregnant - Bunker Kitchen - Yes, again, Kate’s always hungry ok??]
I had a craving for scrambled eggs. Neither my body nor the demon baby it was growing seemed to care that it was midnight. They wanted scrambled eggs. The hot pan sizzled gently as I poured the beaten eggs in. Chopped green onions and cheese came next, filling the kitchen with a savory aroma. The hair on my arms rose as the air pressure changed ever so slightly and I whirled around. Dean jumped back into the hall in surprise.
“Jesus!” he cried, “How the hell did you know I was here?”
I shrugged. “My senses are all out of whack, some are weaker and some are stronger.”
He took a couple more steps into the kitchen and leaned against the prep table where I’d left the bowls of cheese and bacon.
“Can you hand me those?” I asked, pointing.
Dean looked down at the bowls then back up at me with a sly smile.
“Maybe, what’ll you give me for them? Some of those eggs?”
I bit my lip and walked slowly over to him. Taking my time before squaring up just inches away from him. Dean kept his hands on the edge of the prep table, but I could tell his resolve to hold this pose was fading, quickly. His breath started coming faster, though he was making an effort to slow it. I ran one finger up his arm, feeling goosebumps raise on his skin as I went.
“Dean, I love you and I’ll give you anything you want,” I whispered, my lips hovering just above his, “Except a portion of my food.”
As I started to turn, Dean caught my elbow and pulled me into him. I half fell against him as he wrapped his arms around me, one hand cradling the back of my neck as he kissed me.
When I finally pulled away, he let his hand linger in my hair and grinned.
“I have been dying to do that.”
“I have been wondering what took you so long.”
We stared at each other for a long moment before the spell was broken by a deeper sizzling sound and the smell of smoke.
“Son of a bitch!” I cried.
Dean laughed and finally handed me the bowls.
As I tried to head back to the stove, my vision blurred and my legs felt heavy–like I was walking through gravy.
“Kate?”
Dean’s voice sounded muffled, far away.
I tried to blink my vision back into clarity but all that really did was make it even harder to focus my eyes. When the room started to spin, I dropped the bowls, which shattered as they hit the floor, and I reached my hands out towards Dean. He was at my side in an instant, wrapping an arm around my waist and steadying me against him.
“Easy,” his voice was low and soothing, “I’ve got you.”
In one swift motion, he leaned down and scooped my legs into his other arm, lifting me as though I weighed no more than a bag of rock salt. The spin of the room was starting to slow, but not fast enough. I buried my face into his shoulder just to make it stop. Dean carried me out to an armchair just outside the kitchen and gently set me down.
“Don’t worry about the mess,” he said, “I’ll get it.”
I nodded, closing my eyes and leaning into the tall back. The leather was stiff from decades of disuse, but the firm padding provided the right amount of support.
By the time Dean was finished cleaning up the shattered bowls, my vision returned to normal and the room was firmly back in place. My stomach, on the other hand, was doing flips. My appetite was gone, the thought of food repulsed me.
“You doing all right?”
I looked up. Dean held out a can of ginger ale and I took it greedily.
“Yeah, thanks. I don’t know what that was. I just got dizzy out of nowhere.”
“It’s late, how about I walk you back to your room?”
I cracked open the soda and took a long sip. “Thanks for this,” I said, motioning with the can, “Nothing else tastes this good.”
“Sammy stocked up after you decided to stay.”
Dean offered me a hand up and I took it. I was steady on my feet again, but I kept my hand in his. He didn’t try to pull away either.
At the door to my bedroom, Dean finally released my hand and leaned against the frame.
“You sure you’re ok?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna sleep so hard after this.”
He smiled but there was something else beneath the surface, something sad.
“All right, you know where to find me if you need anything.”
“I know.”
“I mean anything, drink, snack, booty call…”
“Good night Dean.”
He leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek then turned and left without another word. Those connection birds seemed to be working.
The next morning, I woke up on the floor of my room. The last thing I remembered was needing to use the bathroom, but I had no memory of getting up or whether I’d actually gone. I didn’t have to go now, so I must have only been half awake when I got up.
“Kate?” Dean knocked at the door.
“I’m coming,” I said, “I need to get dressed.”
“Kate?”
He knocked harder.
“I’m coming!” I called louder.
The door swung open and Dean peered inside, his eyes widened when they got to me.
“Hey!” I yelled.
“Kate!”
He rushed past me and knelt on the floor. It was only then that I noticed my own, unconscious body on the floor. What the hell…
“No, no, no! Don’t do this to me, Kate,” Dean was pleading as he turned me over, placing two fingers on my neck, looking for a pulse. My head lolled in the crook of his arm, hair splayed out behind me.
Dean breathed a sigh of relief and sat back on his heels.
“Dean?”
“In here Sam!”
The note of concern in Dean’s voice sped up Sam’s steps in the hall.
“What’s wrong?”
He gasped as he looked into my room.
“I don’t know, she’s not waking up and her skin feels like it’s on fire,” said Dean, “I think she’s sick or something.”
“Let’s get her up off the floor at least.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
Dean lifted her—me—in his arms and stood. Sam pulled back the covers on my bed before Dean lay me down in it.
“So you guys definitely can’t hear me then?” I asked. They didn’t move, just stood there looking at my unconscious body. I sighed. At least I wasn’t dead.
“I’ll go grab Jody,” said Sam.
Dean nodded before knocking my laundry off the chair and dragging it next to my bed. He started to adjust my t-shirt and pull the covers up around me, when he froze. I froze too, unsure why he was staring at his hand. He rubbed his fingers together then looked back down at me, gingerly separating my t-shirt and the waist of my pants a few inches to expose my stomach. Even though he couldn’t see me, I froze. I knew I should have told him about this sooner.
He rubbed at my skin, removing a layer of concealer and revealing the spider-web of black veins criss-crossed over my lower abdomen. They’d gotten worse. I still hadn’t told anybody because Dean was already over protective of me to cover for his own anxiety.
“Kate, Why didn’t…” his voice cracked.
I could see tears starting to pool in the corners of his eyes, he tried to blink them back. He sat there for a long moment before tugging my shirt back down and pulling the covers over me.
“I’m sorry,” I said, despite the fact that I knew he couldn’t hear me. “I wanted to tell you.”
“You knew if you told me about this, I would freak and suffocate you more than I already am.”
“Suffocate isn’t the word I’d use, but…”
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
Just then, Sam returned with Jody. Dean quickly wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeve before turning to meet them. Jody made quick work of checking my pulse and temperature.
“103,” she sounded worried, “and her pulse is really rapid.”
“What’s that mean?” Dean asked.
“It suggests an infection of some kind, but from what? Did she say anything to you about how she felt?”
“She had a dizzy spell yesterday, dropped a couple bowls in the kitchen so I helped her to bed. She didn’t say anything else.”
Jody stood and marched out of the room. The boys stood there in shock for a second before rushing after her. I followed them all, almost jogging to keep up.
“I can get antibiotics but my contact who doesn’t ask questions is a couple days out,” Jody said over her shoulder, “Keep her cool and comfortable as best you can until I get back. If she wakes up you can give her Tylenol.”
“Roger that.”
Dean was always better when he had a clear objective. Jody reached for her coat, which was under Dean’s favorite leather jacket, and knocked something out of his pocket as she lifted. She bent down and I snuck over to her, even though I knew she couldn’t see me.
A small velvet box sat in her open palm. My ghostly heart skipped a beat and I covered my open mouth with my hand. He took it, a sheepish look on his face, like a kid who’d been caught raiding a cookie jar.
“Dean, is this what I think it is?”
He nodded as he shoved the box into his jeans pocket. Jody smiled and cupped his cheek with her free hand.
“You guys are great together, get what joy you can out of this life sweetheart.”
Dean stood for a moment, watching Jody leave, and my heart broke for him. I felt bad for giving him a hard time about not saying “I love you” back. He didn’t have to say it, he lived it. Now, here he is with a ring and I can’t make my voice audible to him or show him how I feel. Dean turned and jumped, as if he’d just noticed Sam standing there. He pointed one finger at his younger brother.
“If you say one word–”
Sam put his hands up in surrender, then pretended to lock his mouth shut and throw away the key. Dean nodded, satisfied, and headed back to my room.
Dean resumed his watch from the chair by my bed. Stroking my face with the back of his hand, he also tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
“Hang on Kate, we’re gonna get you fixed up.”