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It was December 26th, right after Christmas. Jack got ill, everyone thinks it’s the change in weather, but personally I think it’s because he kept stuffing his face with all the food from Christmas dinner.
When Jack gets sick he pretends he’s fine, even when I and the others can tell he isn’t. He’s always like that, pretending he’s so tough when in reality I know he isn’t tough all the time, atleast not when he’s with me, not that im bragging or anything, I don’t need to brag.
At night when everyone was asleep, I’d lay there with him and provide him with medicine, water, and whatever else he needed during that time. Jack never really said thank you, but his overall kindness and small smiles made up for it.
I know Jack doesn’t like to mention it directly, nor at all, but I can tell he likes our small quiet hangouts. I remember once he said it was the only time he gets to let loose around someone.
It made me feel special, even though he probably didn’t mean anything by it.
While Jack was laying down in his bed, I sat up next to him and was reading him Huckleberry Finn. He liked the book and I liked reading it, so everything worked out fine.
It was a good book. I got to a part where I started doing really funny voices, Jack didn’t do anything but smile a little, and once I noticed it got some kick out of him, I kept at it.
The more I did the funny voices, the more I kept laughing at my own self, and it made Jack laugh too, so i continued to do it even through my giggles.
Jack did funny, exaggerated voices too and it made us laugh harder. Although the laughing made Jack cough and lose his breath a lot, I could tell he didn’t mind it at all.
A few moments later after we calmed down and stopped eachother from getting yelled at for not being asleep and for being too loud, Jack looked up at me and whispered.
“Simon, im cold. Can you get me my blanket?” He asked in a hushed voice, he coughed silently again and cleared his throat.
I nodded even though all the adults were telling me to keep him cool so he didn’t over heat and feel worse with his illness.
I’d rather him be comfortable after all.
I draped the blankets over him and he smiled, nodding his head down once before he got comfortable in his bed. His eyes looked droopy, I could tell he was tired.
Once he go comfy in his bed, I crawled back in as well and sat up next to him. Jack leaned his head on me a little to get a view of the words. I continued reading the book.
Jack kept complaining about being frightened of something, I don’t remember what it was but I softly comforted him about it and he seemed to stop.
He didn’t need much, but I was happy that my words could be something he needed for comfort.
I decided to keep my curtains drawn, we slept not far from eachother but in case he needed something I don’t want him to have to open my curtains and talk to me, those curtains are loud and annoying.
When we hang out I always make sure to have everything prepared, even though Jack reassures me not to, but I can’t help it. I just want everything to be perfect for us. And it usually is until one of his friends comes back or something, then everything’s back to how it was before, but I tried to not pay any mind to that stuff right now.
Right now it was me and jacks time.
As we laid there, Jack started getting more sleepy by the second, i continued reading. I acted like I didn’t notice as to not break his tiredness.
He looked up at me and in a daze of sickness and tiredness, he called me mother. I was shocked for a second and then giggled. Jack realized what he said and he got really embarrassed. Even in the dark room i could tell he was as red as a tomato.
We both laughed like drains, our bodies were moving all over the place as the laughter only seemed to get louder, we tried shushing eachother and it only made everything worse. I liked his laugh, the way his eyes scrunched up and his smile got really wide, and his teeth got visible, it was cute.
We eventually calmed down and just stared at eachother, we tried to not laugh again so we put on our best serious faces, which we sucked at doing so eventually, after more giggling we managed to calm down so he could sleep.
After a few minutes of me continuing to read the storybook, I realized Jack had fallen asleep. I finished my line and quietly closed the book. I put it aside next to me and I slowly lowered myself down to lay next to him. I laid on my left side with my hand under my head and my right hand close to jacks side.
I stared at him while he slept.
I watched how he breathed in his sleep and how he looked so calm while he slept. I wondered what he was dreaming of, maybe his mum? Or maybe something silly like how his Christmas would’ve gone if he didn’t get sick all of a sudden.
As I laid there, I saw that my Christmas present to him was still wrapped neatly, the tag on the bow saying “To: Jack, From: Simon” was clear as day, even in the nighttime. It was on his bedside table right with his medicine and water, the box wasn’t humongous, nor was it as big as what all the others had gotten Jack, but it was meaningful nonetheless.
I didn’t mind if he hadn’t opened it yet, I assumed he was waiting until
He felt better so he could truly appreciate the gift, I might be wrong but oh well.
I liked staring at Jack in general, I liked his blonde hair and the way it was visible from what felt like a mile away. I liked his bright blue eyes, they reminded me of the river near the church, and that’s also where we have our tree of destiny, so it was good memories to look at Jack.
I looked down at the distance between us, I stared blankly at him and sighed. Once I thought we were too close, I backed away from him.
He stirred in his sleep but it didn’t seem like he was having a nightmare, with the small light coming from the moon from the window I could see a slight smile forming on his face, so that’s when I knew it was a dream.
With the silence in the room and the silence from outside, all there was the sounds of me and Jack breathing. I tried matching his breath patterns and it felt weird, so I stopped.
A little bit later after I felt myself getting tired, I quietly slipped out of his bed and returned to my own, placing the book on my nightstand and got ready to sleep.