Bittersweet (English)

CHAPTER 15

His nose twisted after detecting the stench coming from somewhere on the upper floor. It was so strong like it has been left to dry for days. Miko also followed him around looking so curious about what he was on about. 

“Kaye? Are you there?” he called out to Kaye as he took one step over the other.

Still, there was no answer. The hallway on the second floor was dim. Aside from light coming from the bottom of the stairwell, he perceived a soft light coming from an open room. 

His hand clenched the handrail as he climbed the stairs. There was no tingling feeling of crisis. He hasn’t sensed any danger around the house either. He was sensitive to any form of threats that was why he was confident of her safety. 

Even so, he was still anxious. He was already in the middle of the staircase when Miko came running from behind. With his usual hyper-activeness, he kept woofing that his noise echoed around the house. 

Then suddenly, Mykel heard the creaking of the door in one of the rooms upstairs. He heard a rasping voice followed by a terrible cough. 

“Who’s there?” 

“Kaye!” 

He rushed to her side after hearing her choking voice. God, that was awful to hear.

She was bundled up with a thick blanket and a patch of Koolfever on her forehead. 

“Mykel? What are you doing here?” Kaye’s sore voice was difficult to bear. She sounded confused yet she softened after seeing him. 

“I was knocking on your door for almost an hour now. I can’t even reach your cell,” concern was all over his face. He couldn’t deny his worries.

After running to her side, he immediately led her back to her bed. 

Her room was in chaos. Tissues were scattered everywhere. Empty bottles were in a disorderly fashion. Opened packets of food were all over the floor.

His eyes narrowed in disbelief. He slowly shook his head. “Goodness. Why haven’t you contacted me? Or any of your friends?”

Was she this adamant about avoiding him? Damn, who’s full of pride now?

Kaye continued coughing and it was getting worse over time. He gently lowered her to bed. He held her hand and he knew exactly how bad her condition was. He didn’t need a thermometer to know the temperature as she was emitting a burning temperature.

Miko came into the room and played with the bottles on the floor. He picked one bag of bread that was half-eaten. Has she been eating these all this time?

Kaye tried talking but her grating voice led to an awful sound of coughing.

“Stop and just settle there quietly.”

He gently tapped Kaye’s cheeks. He took a fresh towel out of her drawers. He looked around and saw a small basin on the drawer beside the bathroom door.

The water in the basin was already warm. It might have been sitting there for a long time. 

He entered the bathroom to get some fresh water. He tried turning both hot and cold water. Looked fine. The house’s gas was working great. 

He stared at himself in the mirror. Had he been moving around with deeply wrinkled brows? 

Oh man, definitely not a look for someone taking care of a sick person. 

But, he was truly mad. Kaye just holed herself in the house sick without letting anyone know. He didn’t even have any idea how long she has been sick. Her phone wasn’t broken. She should have informed her friends if she didn’t want to contact him who was nearby.

“Urgh!” He grunted realizing the flow of his thoughts. He sounded so pathetic.

He was getting annoyed with himself. Has he reached his breaking point? Sometimes it was hard pretending to be mature and being the bigger person. People all have their limits. We are human after all.

He took a deep breath before leaving the bathroom. He should appear calm despite their overall circumstances. Given her current condition, it wouldn’t be the perfect time to talk about personal matters.

Kaye’s cough finally stopped. It was painful to listen to her sore throat. But her face was still flushed and she was sweating excessively. She even began shaking even though the heater was working and she was covered with a heavy blanket.

“Damn, Kaye. You should have let anyone know if you didn’t want to contact me.”

The calmness he had possessed earlier was thrown out of the window. He was even angrier seeing her suffering like this. She was enduring this cold just for who knows how long. If he hadn’t come to her house, what would have happened to her? 

He furiously wrung the wet towel. He removed the patch from her forehead. By the looks of it, it had been used for a long time. It was worn out. 

“How long have you had a fever?”

He wiped her face with the towel. She opened her eyes and stared at him with cloudy eyes. She might be too dazed to realize the situation she was in. 

“Mykel?” Kaye inquired with a confused expression. 

“Yes. How are you feeling now?” He replied with a stern voice. 

He couldn’t hide his anger. He was just a text away. They were neighbors for goodness sake. Was it that hard to rely on him despite the situation?

“What are you doing here? Go home,” Kaye murmured in between breaths. She was having a hard time talking because of her grating voice.

“What the heck?!” He finally snapped. 

She’s being indifferent! He was ready to give her an earful. Who wouldn’t get furious with this kind of treatment?

But then, his rage turned cold when Kaye made a low, pitiful whining sound. He was taken aback seeing her tearing up with constant sniffling. 

“What are you crying about?” involuntarily, he raised his voice. He definitely sounded defensive there. He felt guilty because he was about to scold her. 

The sudden spike in his tone made matters worse. Kaye cried even louder than before. 

He panicked. He had no idea why she suddenly cried. He examined if she was hurt somewhere. He even questioned her repeatedly but she just continued whining like a sick puppy.

“You shouldn’t be here,” again she was sending him away. But hearing her sobbing noise plus the look on her face told him otherwise. 

He knew something was behind those words. And he roughly had the idea of what it was. 

Miko, detecting his mum’s distress, sprinted to her side. He licked her hand that was hanging on the bedside. Now both the owner and her dog were whining. 

Oh, man. He groaned internally. The night was long. 

“Go home. Leave me alone,” Kaye continuously ranted like a brat. Seemed like having a fever gave her a bad case of childishness.

He scratched his head. He took a long deep breath to compose himself. It was the time to be the bigger person. 

“I ain’t going home. Not when you’re like this,” he vowed with a soft smile on his lips. The weird turn of events was starting to get fun.

“I’m fine now. So go back to your house.”

Listening to her whining repeatedly somehow cooled him down. It was rather amusing seeing her acting like this. It sure does bring back memories. 

“You are nowhere fine so I’m staying. Stop being so needlessly stubborn,” he argued with a definite tone.

Kaye sobbed even more hearing his reply. 

“Why won’t you ever listen to me? I only wanted the best for you.”

He stopped midair. Those words hit him. Not on the current fever thing. But on a different aspect. 

He dropped the towel back to the basin. He turned to her with a sad smile on his face.

“Well, I’m as stubborn as you are.“ He shrugged then leaned back to his chair. His eyes mirrored the turmoil inside of him. He closed his eyes for a moment then chuckled before continuing. “I thought you know that better than anyone.”

Kaye covered herself with the blanket. She continued crying under the sheets. She seemed pretty sensitive now that she has a fever. He barely saw that side of her. She always appeared fine. No matter what the circumstances were.

The image of the past flashed through his mind. Maybe because this was a rare occasion for them. For years, it was the first time they were together like this. Just them. Two people with heavy burdens and regrets. They have never talked about it since then. It was like they silently agreed on this setup although he wasn’t really in favor of it. 

This wasn’t what he had in mind during their reunion. 

But even if he was against it, he had no choice. He had been trying to mend everything one-sidedly. And to be honest, he was burnt out. 

Miko tried digging Kaye under the covers. He was scratching the sheets with a worried expression. 

“She’ll be fine.” He reassured Miko with a gentle pat on the head. Miko looked from Kaye then back to him. He seemed feeling better since he began laying on the floor with eyes still glued to the bed.

He chuckled seeing how Miko was easily swayed. He just wished he could move forward like that.

He turned back to Kaye who finally cooled down although she was still sniffling. She uncovered her face but her whole body was still wrapped. 

Trails of tears were on her face. The corner of her eyes was damp from her outburst. 

Kaye stared at him with gloomy eyes. They were still misty due to unshed tears. 

He couldn’t help but laugh at this rare scene. Growing up, Kaye didn’t show any form of weakness. Her independence had always been the cause of Macy’s worries. She refused to tell anyone her troubles.

“Shouldn’t you be glad I’m caring for you hours before Christmas day?” He teased. 

“Exactly why you must go home. I can handle my own,” Kaye’s response came head-strong.

“Come on. Can’t you just be thankful for my undying love for you?”

“Go home. Celebrate with your family.”

“Stop being a kid, Kaye.”

“This is unnecessary.” Kaye’s rigid response. “I’ve been brushing you off since we met so you should at least feel indignant.”

“I don’t even recognize that word.” 

“Mykel! Can you just get mad at me?”

Kaye exploded into tears. Looked like she was as jam-packed as he was. Her fever at least gave him an insight into her thoughts. It showed her honest side.