3/5 Instance: Hard to Do

[Slarti]

Timelined: The day after ‘Chairman’

Hepzibah: Hepz was starting to come out of a hard and near dreamless sleep. At some level, she was vaguely aware that she wasn't where she had been before. Hector's scent was all around her and, as a result her nightmares had been pushed away. But she was still very dehydrated and very weak.

Hector: Hec turned in his chair as he heard her stir; she'd been nearly motionless and asleep most of the day. He got up and walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, brushing her hair out of her face.

Hepzibah: Her eyes fluttered open a tiny bit as she looked up and made out a male form over her. She tried hard to focus, but she was so fuzzy headed, it was nearly impossible concentrate. Slowly, Hepz turned toward the feel of the hand against the forehead. "Hector?..." she whispered, hopefully.

Hector: "Yeah... It's me babe..." He felt her forehead, still a little warm, but much better than it had been earlier that day. "How ya feelin?" He reached for the wet cloth on the bedside table and dabbed her brow again.

Hepzibah: She nodded slowly, blinking and trying to wake up. "Better... I think. My head still hurts." But at least she didn't feel quite so nauseated. "I... Where am I?"

Hector: Hec put the washcloth back on the table, "Back in my bed. Easier to take care a ya here." He said quietly and added, "J came by and told me what to do..." Was a weird convo, Hec couldn't even recall talking to him before. "Want a drink?"

Hepzibah: She smiled and rubbed her head against the pillow. No wonder his scent was all around her. "Been taking care of me?" she looked up at him softly. Hepz reached up to touch his hand and noticed an IV in the back of her hand. Fighting back a shudder, she looked back up with a slightly frightened frown. "Hec??"

Hector: "Don't worry, just liquids. You've been dehydrated. Can't imagine why." He smirked. "But yeah, takin care of ya, woulda been the whole time if I'da known."

Hepzibah: "Thank you," she brushed her fingers over the back of his hand. Hepz bit her bottom lip, she hated fighting with Hector. But she'd really hurt him and he'd really hurt her. "Anti-nausea med too?" she tried to make conversation as much as she could with her head in a fog.

Hector: "No, but got a few pills if ya need 'em." He started to reach for the small tray on the table.

Hepzibah: "Um...Ok, I'll try." She tried to push herself up in the bed. "Oh! Room spinning," she grimaced, closing her eyes. Hepz held out her hand blindly for the pills.

Hector: Hec poured a couple out of the bottle and placed them in her palm, "There ya go." He helped steady her and pulled the bottle of Gatorade closer, "Drink this." He opened it and handed it over.

Hepzibah: "Thanks," she nodded, making a face at the sports drink. The prospect of ingesting anything made her queasy but Hepz knew she had to try. She put the pills in her mouth and took a tiny sip. "Yuck," she screwed up her face comically. Taking a closer look at the medicine bottle, she tilted her head, "Emerol?"

Hector: "Yeah... Was what they had..." He put the bottle up. "Want you to finish that bottle off before you fall back asleep. It's got electrolytes." He nodded knowingly.

Hepzibah: Hepz looked at the huge bottle and gave Hector the sad, round kitty cat eyes. "Half?" She countered.

Hector: "Whole thing." He narrowed his eyes at her. "And no trying to pour it out when my backs turned. Gotta keep your fluids up."

Hepzibah: She rubbed her temples, her head still hurt but not as badly as before. "Hec, I'll never get all that down..." Between that and the IV - she was going be spending all her time the bathroom for a whole new reason.

Hector: "Oh come on... Just close your eyes and swallow." He gave her a dirty grin and a wink. "But you needa drink that, and later we'll work on gettin some food in ya."

Hepzibah: Hepz gave him a weak grin back. "You know I've never closed my eyes," she nudged him a little with her knee. "I always liked to see the look on your face." She took another tiny sip. At this rate it was going to take a week to drink all that Gatorade.

Hector: "I know." He grinned again. "So... Yeah." He rested his hand on her knee and watched her drink, chewing the inside of his cheek.

Hepzibah: "Yeah..." She looked down, trying to think of something to say. She wanted to apologize, put herself in his arms and put things right again - but her pride made her stay still. Reaching over to get a straw, Hepzibah winced as she accidently pulled her IV.

Hector: Hec moved it closer so she'd not have to stretch against the IV, doing small things to help so she could 'take care of herself'. He looked around the room and remembered, "Oh... Got you fresh clothes..." He pointed to the pile of folded laundry on top of the dresser.

Hepzibah: "Thank you Hector, for everything." She touched his hand then picked up the straw with an appreciative smile and looked over at the comfy clothes he'd picked out and her smile grew. "I can't wait to take a shower and get good and clean," she sighed, not able to remember the last time she'd had a shower. At least in her feline form, she didn't sweat...

Hector: "Yeah, I can't wait either..." He held his nose and cleared the air with his free hand. "But hey, it's no worries babe... I don't mind takin care a ya." He squeezed her hand then stood up and walked over to the TV, "Want me to put on a movie or somethin?"

Hepzibah: "One of these days - we're going to have to switch places you know..." She tried to keep her smile from falling. Hepz swallowed hard as a wave of nausea passed over her - although not as severe as before. The meds must have been kicking in. "Your room, baby. Whatever you want is fine," she offered.

Hector: "K." He turned it onto Cartoon Network, not really caring what was on, but the changing everything 30 minutes good for his short side attention span. "Yeah... We'll see." He grinned back at her as he headed to his desk. "So... How ya been, sides the debilitating 'illness' a course."

Hepzibah: Hepzibah saw his easy smile and couldn't help but smile back. "Ok, I guess. Trying not to completely fail English. Made a nice little bundle in Nola. Nobody deals 'em at Black Jack like your gi-... like I do." She looked down took another sip of the sports drink to distract herself. "How about you?"

Hector: "Good, work, school, stayin outta gettin in trouble." He saved his word doc before he started to continue working on his paper. "Hung out with Mo and new chick the other day. Was fun?" He said it like a question, not really certain about how it ended at any rate.

Hepzibah: "Yeah, Nori... she was at Mardi Gras. I think she'll be ok here - if she can kick her habit for good. It's not easy." She didn't ask him to elaborate, not sure if she really wanted to know. She chuckled at Wily racing down across the desert in jet powered skates. "Hector..."

Hector: "It's tough, but I've known people to do it." He turned in his chair at his name, "Yeah?"

Hepzibah: She tried hard phrase her question the best way possible. There was no easy way to say it, but she was never one to beat around the bush. Her face expressed the sadness in her voice. "Why... What made you think I woud cheat on you? Going to the fights without tell you is - it's a long way from screwing someone else behind your back."

Hector: He looked at her, his throat hard, "I... I don't know. Kitty said something, and I didn't hear it right, and I was already in a weird mood, and it's not like half the guys in the school have actively tried to get in your pants... Guess... I don't know... Was just... I don't know..."

Hepzibah: She didn't dispute him. They both knew she’d had more that her fair share of lovers here, and others still had expressed their interests. Her eyes flitted to Mayhem's empty bed. Karr would have been eager to have been a bed mate. An if Hector weren't in the picture, she was sure she'd be in Kyle's bed. But she loved Hector - she wished she knew how to make him see how much he meant to her.

Hepzibah: "Hector," She held her free hand out to him. "Come here..." she said softly.

Hector: He got up and did so, taking her hand and a seat next to her on the bed. "I know... It was stupid... but I can do stupid too sometimes..."

Hepzibah: "No, baby - it wasn't stupid. We both now that I'm not exactly known for my virtue." She stared at his hand holding hers. "But... I can't explain it. I just don't want anyone else - just you. Never felt this before. Scares me sometimes..." Her thumb rubbed over his and smiled. "You know... There are only two people I've ever said 'I love you' to? Just two. My papa - and you."

Hector: "I... I love you too. And yeah, it's scary... and it makes ya a little crazy. And I'm sorry I freak on ya, but I am of Latin decent... so... fiery fits of rage, specially when a woman’s involved are gonna happen." He tilted his head and gave her a slight grin.

Hepzibah: She loved that little grin he got sometimes. "Baby, I can deal with the hot temper. I got one of my own. And I kinda like you being jealous sometimes. But..." She dropped her eyes to her lap.

Hepzibah: "You hurt me, Hector. I can take Monet calling me a prostitute and a whore. But you calling me that..." She blinked several times as she willed herself not to cry. "There aren't many people who can hurt me the way you did."

Hector: "I... I'm sorry... I just got worked up... and kinda blew my top... See... that's why I keep the calm, cool, and carefree Mexican thing going... don't like flippin out... My mind was just in a weird place... and it'd been forever since I'd seen ya, and then first thing I hear about ya I take wrong..." He bit his lip, he hated it when she couldn't look at him. He knew he'd really fucked up at that point.

Hepzibah: Hepz nodded, still looking down. She wanted to just say all was forgiven and pull him down into bed with her. But it just hurt so damn bad. She'd turned down every advance made on her - not just because she wasn't interested but because she didn't ever want to betray Hector or give him cause not to trust her. And now... she didn't know what to do. A tear finally slipped down.

Hepzibah: But she wasn't completely without blame on some things. Finally she looked back up. "Baby, I'm so, so sorry I didn't tell you about the fights. I-I was wrong. I just... I just didn't want you to be mad at me. I'm a coward sometimes Hector. I'm sorry."

Hector: "I know... And I'm sorry I flipped out on you when I found out... but I couldn't do nothin’... Just killed me that it didn't seem like you cared what I thought. Felt like I'd been betrayed." He cupped her chin and wiped away her tear with his thumb. "But I love you, and I shouldn't have gone that extreme... I swear I'll never do that again..."

Hepzibah: "I believe you," she smiled leaning into his hand and looking up at him, still a little teary eyed. "And I swear I have been and will be 100% faithful to you. You got nothing to worry about. You're my man. I don't want nobody else. Period." She paused and then said the hard part. "And I promise - no more secrets. I won't hide anything from you again. Except, where I hid your birthday present," she grinned trying to lighten the mood a little.

Hector: "Like you can hide anything from me." He grinned. "So... we gotta deal? I won’t flip out, both remain faithful, no more secrets... That about it?" He asked, ticking them off on his fingers.

Hepzibah: Hepz nodded happily. "I think so." It felt like a huge weight was off her shoulders. She took his hand and pressed a kiss into the palm. "I hate it when we fight. The only good part about it is the making up part. And I'm too sick still to even do the making up part right now," she pouted.

Hector: "I know... Maybe I should stay mad at you till you get better." He looked at her, pretending to seriously consider it.

Hepzibah: "Hector!" she protested, her eyebrows knitting up, till she saw the little glimmer of humor in his eye. She slapped his leg - more like let her hand fall on his leg. "You are such as ass." She could feel herself starting to get sleepy. Probably the medicine. But at least her nausea was abated for the moment. "I love you," she whispered, smiling up at him so relieved they were 'ok' again.

Hector: "I love you too." He smirked, "and least it's a sexy smart ass, and not a dumb ass." He reasoned out and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He saw her head start to nod, barely able to keep her head up. "Get some sleep, and I got some more stuff for ya when ya start gettin better." He smiled softly and pushed her down to the bed.

Hepzibah: Hepzibah nodded, taking a long drink from the straw in her Gatorade as she laid down. She promised Hector she'd finish it when she woke as she handed it off to him. Rolling her head deeper into Hec's pillow she took in his scent and smiled. Her tail curled up around her contentedly as she drifted off. She was still smiling a little as she fell asleep almost instantly.

Hector: Hec pulled the covers up and tucked her in tightly. He bent down to give her another kiss and then killed the lights to let her sleep. He walked back over to his laptop, checked real fast to make sure she was asleep, and minimized his word doc to read the webpage under it. 'Signs of early pregnancy.' Check... check... check... shit... check... hm... swollen breasts with darkened nipples? Really?... I'll have to def check that later... He shook his head as he continued to read up on it.

[Elfdame]

I keep wondering where the fever fits in. I've been around a LOTTA preggos and never heard of that symptom. Then again, maybe I didn't notice ... I did have one pal who sweated like a hog all through Mass when she was in her first four or five months ...

[Raven Hare]

That is a good question...a very good question indeed

[steyn]

LMAO Even Elfdame thinks preggies!!!