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Monday, November 1st, 2003: 7:40 a.m.
Halloween was over three days ago, and the festivities in the Upper East Side gradually died down. The morning was calm and quiet, and the autumn leaves pranced in an asynchronous rhythm. The Lafayette residence was also supposed to match this said energy, but something seemed different. Very different.
Mr. and Mrs. Lafayette’s room, tissues were coating both their nightstands. They, especially Luka, had gone through over four tissue boxes, all littered throughout the floor. There are also several mugs of lemon ginger tea that were all empty. On Hyuna’s nightstand, there was some herbal medicine from Japan that her actor friend, Patsy recommended. That’s not something that they would do now right? Well, no, but in this case, definitely a yes.
Luka laid face first on the pillow, blanket covering him halfway, breathing with his mouth. Poor him caught the flu, and now he has a fever, all because of some gag ritual that three fourteen year olds decided to try for fun. His wife wasn’t safe either, as she suffered the same fate two days later after he caught it.
Now, if we go to Genevieve’s room, it’s really no different. Whatever goes around comes around. She had it worse out of all of them. She couldn’t get up, she had chills, a sore throat, a fever, and to make matters worse, that time of the month started creeping through. For her, it was also the beginning of a new school day, and that also signified that she has a French test today. Sniffles and sneezing could be heard all throughout the penthouse.
*RING RING RING!!! RING RING RING!!!*
What could that be? Or who could that be was the better question. The landline phone kept aggressively ringing in the kitchen. That phone alone woke Luka up from an uncomfortable sleep. He sure didn’t want to get up, but he had to. His body ached all over as he stretched his arms high into the sky. He looked paler than usual, and his lips looked like it lacked color. His eyes were nothing more than two dark circles due to the lack of sleep last night. He put on a light blue robe and lazily made his way down the stairs, with wet coughs appearing every few steps in. The phone wasn’t waiting for him, as it kept ringing and ringing.
”Lafayette Residence this is Luka speaking.”
Luka sniffled. His voice sounded even more congested and sore every time he spoke.
“Yes this is the assistant principal, Mrs. Morris. I think you should know why I’m calling.”
Luka rolled his half-shut eyes and sighed, knowing that this was some ‘why is your daughter absent!?’ thing.
”About Genevieve? Yeah she’s not coming.”
”Well, why? It’s first period and she has a French test. Something that screams so important to you. Madame Forestier needs her now.” Mrs. Morris wasn’t playing. That test meant life or death when it came to Genevieve’s grade.
“Look Mr. Lafayette are you going to bring her to school or-“
*click*
“That man…” Mrs. Morris, who still held the phone, twitched her eye out of pure shock.
Just like that, Luka hung up the phone, not wanting to hear what Mrs. Morris was going to blabber out of her mouth. His stomach then started to growl and grumble. Obviously in order to stay healthy and function, he had to eat breakfast.
As he trudged towards the fridge, he pinched his nose bridge. Wait a minute, where are his glasses?
”Shit…” The realization that his glasses were upstairs caught up to him. No wonder things were a little more blurry than usual. Well what gives, he’s not going to go back and get them, especially when he’s sick. That felt like running a marathon.
He wasn’t going to eat anything heavy, that’ll make him nauseous, so he popped open a glass container of Greek yogurt and washed some strawberries and blueberries, and mixed them together. He was not cooking a whole top tier worthy breakfast that he usually made during cold autumn mornings.
Luka then made his way towards the living room, sniffling and coughing all over the sleeve of his robe. Eugh, looks like he has to wash that after.
He plopped down on the sofa and took the remote from the coffee table, turning on the TV in the process.
Delicate footsteps could be heard from across the living room. It was Mrs. Lafayette, or better known as Hyuna, Luka’s divine and ravishing wife, who was also ailing with autumn’s flu. She had Patsy’s Japanese herbal medicine on one hand, and peppermint tea on the other. She wanted that flu gone in an instant.
”Morning hun.” Hyuna cleared her throat, approaching the sofa to cuddle with her also flu-ridden husband. Hyuna’s soft, yet raspy Southern voice at least made Luka feel a bit better.
”Morning my love.” He responded back, kissing her on the lips as she burrowed into his chest, covering both of them with the sofa’s blanket.
“My Lord this is way worse than my pregnancy with Jenny. At least I didn’t feel all washed up and feverish, and I got to go outside.” Hyuna chuckled a little after saying that.
“Tell me about it.” Luka softly laughed before sniffling once more. Silence then embraced the house, and nothing but the muffled voice of a perfume commercial and a spoon scooping yogurt could be audible.
Now if we go up to Genevieve’s room, she has the worst of it. She called Chloe, who was also sick, both instantly regretting doing that ritual. Genevieve really shouldn’t have taken Luka’s words with a grain of salt. Now Drew was the only one out of the trio who was in school, which would probably be her situation for the rest of the week.
Genevieve was starving, and she needed to get a heating pad stat, which was all the way downstairs in the hallway drawer near the dining room, where all the first aid supplies were stored. She couldn’t yell out Luka or Hyuna’s name to get their attention because of her sickly state, so she got the idea of toughing it out and get them herself.
She slowly arose from her bed and made her way out of her bedroom door, meeting face to face with that “NO SLANG ALLOWED!!!!” poster. She rolled her eyes before making gentle steps down the stairs.
Not too hard right? She finally made it to the hallway and was nearby the drawer, but when she was about to open it, something fell odd.
Genevieve felt nauseous. She could feel her tongue getting warm, and the world around her started to spin. Genevieve could feel the weight being lifted, and then she saw a white light with a hint of pastel colors. She tried to find something to latch onto, but…
*thud*
Before she could react, her knees buckled and landed on the carpet. Her fingers ran cold and her lips turned pale
*CRASH*
Genevieve face planted onto the carpet that cushioned her fall. Her hand knocked over some pictures and clutter that was on the drawer.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Luka and Hyuna were relaxing, lying in each other’s arms. Luka finished his yogurt, and Hyuna took another one of that herbal medicine.
“Luka, did you hear that?” Hyuna whispered. That crashing sound wasn’t normal.
“Hm? No?” Luka, half asleep, had no knowledge of that sound that was just made.
Hyuna’s maternal instincts suddenly kicked in, and she quickly got up from the sofa, forgetting that she had the flu in the first place. She rushed to the hallway in full speed.
“Jenny?” She called, hoping that Genevieve would answer. That gut feeling only made her speed walking turn to sprinting.
”GENEVIEVE!” Hyuna’s eyes widened in shock as she screamed in horror. She couldn’t just stand there and be paralyzed, so she hoisted her daughter onto her arms and rushed to the kitchen.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” Hyuna’s voice became shaky, and she was teary eyed. She thought that she came too late to help aid her daughter.
As she finally arrived in the kitchen, she gently laid her down on the tiled floor and filled a cup with freezing cold water, and poured some on her hand, placing it on her head, face, and neck.
From the living room, Luka heard all the commotion, which did leave him concerned, so he got up from the sofa and slowly trudged to the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.
That was when he saw Hyuna kneeling down, pouring water onto her palm and splashing it onto Genevieve’s face, panicking.
“Luka don’t just stand there, DO SOMETHING DAMMIT!” Seeing how urgent his wife’s words were, he scrambled through the fridge, looking for some juice that she could drink.
”Please baby wake up please.” Hyuna started sniffling not because of her flu, but because she was sobbing. Poor Hyuna, and most definitely poor Genevieve.
Genevieve slowly started to regain consciousness, finally opening her eyes. She could hear her mother yelling at Luka in urgency, but it was muffled by the tinnitus that was ringing in her ears. She could at least feel her head propped up against her mother’s thighs.
“Mom?” Genevieve quietly spoke, looking up at Hyuna. She felt a bit dizzy still.
”Thank God…” Hyuna sighed with relief as she whispered to herself.
“Yes Jenny this is mommy! Just please stay awake for me okay?” Hyuna looked down at Genevieve. She wished she could hug her daughter and kiss her a million times, but now’s not the time. She has to recover first.
”Take her to the living room. It’s warmer there.” Luka held a large glass of orange juice and water on one arm, and a bowl of applesauce on the other. Hyuna nodded her head and carried Genevieve bridal style to the living room.
Luka carefully set the two glasses and the applesauce onto the coffee table, then fluffed the pillows for Genevieve’s head and feet. Hyuna followed behind him with Genevieve. She gently laid her down on the sofa, kneeling down next to her, covering her with the blanket.
”Feeling a bit better?” Hyuna asked before getting the orange juice from the coffee table. All Genevieve could do was nod her head since she didn’t feel like talking.
“That’s good. Just take it easy okay?” Hyuna brushed her blonde bangs and kissed her forehead.
“Mon petite chouchou, est-ce que tu vas bien?” (My little cabbage, are you okay?) Luka rushed to her side with a spoon-full of applesauce. There he goes with the pet names and French again.
“Luka, not now. You can be a doting father once she’s better. Right now, she needs to rest.” Hyuna side eyed him as she was helping Genevieve sip her orange juice. She knew that he was trying his best, but it really got to a point for her.
“Leave me be, she at least has to know that her father was by her side.” Luka, still holding the applesauce, knelt down next to Genevieve on the floor, and spoon fed her small amounts.
”Were you trying to get a heating pad dear?” Hyuna mentioned. I mean she was near the drawer when she passed out after all. Genevieve nodded her head, eating the spoonful of applesauce Luka was giving her.
”Here, let me go get it for you. Luka, watch her. Make sure nothing happens. Got it?” Hyuna made her way to the hallways drawer and searched for the heating pads.
”Bandages, Ointment, cough drops, where the hell are the heating pads?” Hyuna rummaged through the items before she finally found the pack of heating pads that were at the far back of the drawer. She took one out and also took a thermometer with her too.
”Ne t’inquiète pas, papa va te faire allr mieux.” (Don’t worry, papa will make you feel better.) Luka, despite being ridden with the flu himself, reassured Genevieve as he fed her more applesauce. All she could do was smile and nod as he kept encouraging her to eat and sang her some French songs from her childhood.
”Okay, got them.” Hyuna finally came back with a heating pad. She slowly lifted up the blanket, to which Genevieve shivered in response. Hyuna knew she had to make this quick, so she placed the heating pad on her stomach and quickly put the blanket back on. She then put the thermometer on her forehead. 99.4° F. Not low enough, but at least it wasn’t a fever.
For the rest of the day, Luka and Hyuna took the time to help Genevieve recover, and by the time it was evening, they were all snuggled up under the sofa, watching a vintage movie to help lighten the mood. This was how they spent their autumn, and Genevieve made sure to not try some weird rituals on the internet. Ever. Again.
The end :)