Where's your heart?

After Nicole leaves I go back inside, checking on Frank and asking if he needs anything before I take my phone and go into the kitchen, calling work and telling them I'm sick and need to take a few personal days. When I'm done I go down the hallway to the spare bedroom, grabbing a blanket out of the closet and when I go back into the living room I grab the remote, handing it to Frank before taking a seat on the other end of the couch and he shifts around, laying down with his head resting in my lap and I lay the blanket over him, letting him flick channels until he finds something for us to watch while I play with his hair. Half an hour later Frank is snoring softly and I gently ease myself out from under him, grabbing a cushion off the other couch and putting it under his head, pulling the blanket a little further up so he's covered properly before I go into my bedroom, changing out of the clothes I've been in all night, making myself more comfortable and grabbing my sketch pad and pencils before I go back into the living room, curling up in the arm chair as I start to draw.

An hour later Frank starts to stir, groaning softly as he rolls to lay on his back and I sit my sketch pad aside, getting up and leaving the room to grab the bottle of painkillers the doctor gave Frank and a glass of water and when I go back into the living room I kneel on the floor infront of the couch, Frank rolling his head to look at me. "How are you feeling?" I ask, my eyes scanning his face and he shrugs slightly and says "I've been better." "Here, maybe these will help a bit" I tell him, shaking two pills into my hand and offering them to him, sitting the bottle aside and helping him sit up again before handing him the glass of water and after he's swallowed them he hands me the glass back, slowly pushing himself to stand up and I stand too, stepping out of the way to let him past as he slowly leaves the room, his limp worse than before. A few seconds later I hear the bathroom door close so I grab the pill bottle and take it and the glass back into the kitchen, sitting them on the bench before going back into the living room and sitting down, my eyes starting to get heavy as my night of no sleep catches up with me and when Frank comes back out of the bathroom a few minutes later he smiles softly as he limps over and reaches out for my hand, taking it and pulling me up as he turns back towards the door. As Frank and I head towards the door I step over and wrap my arm around his waist, letting him lean against me and making it easier for him to walk and when we get to the bedroom I help him settle under the covers, making sure he's comfortable before I climb in beside him and as I roll onto my side to face him Frank says "I don't feel too good." "What's wrong? Do you feel sick?" I ask, frowning as I reach out to gently cup his cheek, feeling his skin burning hot against my palm. "Yeah, but mainly my head just hurts real bad" he tells me, pressing into my touch as he lets his eyes slip closed and I feel myself start to worry as I ask "Do you want to go back to the hospital?" "No, I'll be ok" Frank tells me as he shakes his head slightly and I sigh softly before saying "Ok, but if it gets any worse at all tell me." "I will babe" Frank promises his eyes remaining closed and I slide my hand down to slip into his, squeezing gently as I let my own eyes slip closed and the sound of Franks slow even breathing helps lull me closer and closer to sleep.

A few hours later I wake up to the sound of Frank retching, a pained groan escaping him and I drag myself out of bed, my head spinning and pounding but I ignore it as I stumble across to the bathroom where I see Frank kneeling infront of the toilet, his whole body shaking as he leans over and vomits again. "Frank" I say softly as I kneel down behind him, my hand coming up to gently rub his back and after he heaves again he sits back on his knees, his good hand coming up to wipe at his mouth and I shuffle closer and wrap my arm around his waist, guiding him to lean back against my chest as I look at his face which has gone deadly pale. "Frankie, talk to me" I plead softly, his body shaking and trembling against mine and he turns his head to face me, leaning in and burying his face in my neck as much as he can, a pathetic sounding whine escaping him. "I think we should go back to the hospital" I tell him, his face pulling out of my neck and I can see in his eyes he wants to object but he doesn't say a word, my facial expression giving away that it's not his choice anymore. "Are you done?" I ask, my eyes darting down his face before meeting his eyes again and he sighs softly and nods, sitting back up a little and I push myself to stand, reaching down and helping Frank to his feet too and once he's up he tries to take a step but wobbles, his knees buckling under him and I quickly wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him into my side to keep him upright. We slowly stumble our way back over to the bedroom and once Frank is seated on the bed I leave the room to grab my phone, dialling the number Nicole gave me before and when she answers I tell her what's going on and she tells me she'll be right here to take us back to the hospital. I put the phone back on the bench and make my way back into the bedroom where I find Frank laying down, his eyes half closed and I can see he's on the verge of passing out but the voice in my head screams at me that that's a bad idea so I gently guide him to sit back up, meeting his eyes as I say "Frank I think you should try and stay awake until we see the doctor ok?" "Tired Gee" he slurs out, his voice thick and slightly garbled and as his eyes slip closed again, his body sagging a little more I start to really panic, my hand gently patting at his cheek as I plead "No, Frank please open your eyes," a tear rolling down my cheek as my hand on his arm starts gently shaking his whole body, desperate to keep him conscious.

Notes