Chapter XVIII

Briella sped her way out of her apartment complex and out the gate, immediately turning right, heading towards Ryan's building.

It was 6 in the evening, the temperature took a noticeable drop.

Compared to the afternoon, only hours ago, the evening had more clouds present in the sky.

Briella swallowed whatever was in her mouth. Briefly looking up at the clouds, she noticed their slow sail.

She took in a deep breath. 'It's gonna snow...' she thought to herself. 'I can feel like... I can smell it.'.

---------

Briella continued walking right before reaching the gate that would lead her towards the entrance of Ryan's apartment complex.

Opening the gate and letting herself in, she headed towards the building's main door.

Upon her entrance, she turned left and headed up the stairs. Reaching Ryan's floor, she turned left before making another left and walked towards Ryan's apartment.

Reaching his place of residence, Briella knocked on the door.

She waited for a few seconds. Nothing happened.

It didn't help her rising anxiety.

She knocked once more, but this time with a bit more force. "R-Ryan?" she called out.

She was about to knock for the third time, but a loud click caused her to freeze in her spot. The door got unlocked.

Slowly, it opened, revealing Ryan in a horrid condition.

He looked paler than usual with bags under his eyes. He was slouched ever so slightly. All of this made his overall appearance look very fatigued, exhausted.

Briella widened her eyes. "Ryan?". A frown developed on her lips, "You don't look the best...".

"That's because I am not..." he replied.

From there, they looked at each other for a mere second.

"Come on," Briella began, lowly. "Let's get you to bed. May I come in?".

"Of course," Ryan started. "Just beware, I am sick. I wouldn't recommend you to stay for too long...".

"I'd disregard your words. I'd still stay until you begin to feel better. I want to help you with anything and everything I can," she replied.

Suddenly, through all the exhaustion expressed across Ryan's face, a small smirk broke through the surface. Briella noticed this.

"What's with the smile?" Briella couldn't help but ask.

"Is this your way of repaying me for that time when I took care of you when you were sick?".

"I..." Briella began. "I just think its what good friends do. They take care of each other, no matter if they are sick or injured. Or, perhaps, both.". A very small frown formed on Briella's lips. "I-I didn't like the way you said 'repaying'. Makes me feel like I have to do this, instead of me wanting to aid you through your sickness, free of will. As I said, I want to help you.".

A moment of silence.

This time, Briella broke it. "Come on. You will feel worse if you stay standing up.".

They both headed deeper into Ryan's apartment, which was after the front door was closed.

Briella was by Ryan. It was obvious that Ryan could walk himself back to his bed, but just in case, Briella was by his side, supporting him.

He laid back into this bed before covering himself with a thin comforter, all while Briella sat on a chair, about a meter or so away from him.

"How are you feeling now?" Briella asked.

"Suckish... sick... tired," Ryan began. "I feel like my head is about to explode.".

"You do sound tired, alright..." she replied. "Rest. Sleep will help you combat the sickness.".

He didn't utter a reply, instead, he responded with a nod.

Then, silence descended upon the room. That was until Ryan broke it. "I-I don't mean to be rude, but... why did you come here, to me?".

Briella was surprised by his bold question that came out of the blue, but nevertheless, she couldn't help but nurture that small smile that grew on her lips. "Well... you didn't reply nor see the messages I sent you. So I told myself that I better come and see what happened.". All this time, she had her eyes on the ground. But now, just as she has finished her sentence, she looked up at Ryan. The smile on her lips was short-lived. Now it was, once more, replaced by a frown. "You got me quite worried, you know that?".

"Sorry... my phone is dead," Ryan began. "That's why I didn't see your message nor text you back. I really am sorry. I didn't mean to cause you to worry.".

Once more, silence descended upon them both. It gave Briella enough time to glance at Ryan's face and notice something strange.

His face changed colour, now he seemed redder than in comparison to a few minutes ago.

'Could it be because he is tucked in?' she asked herself. Then, she moved closer to him.

Extending her hand outwards, her palm softly lands onto Ryan's forehead. He is burning up, severely.

"You have a bad fever..." she muttered under her breath.

"Mhmm..." Ryan hummed in acknowledgement, agreeing with her. He let a few seconds of silence pass before asking, "would you mind bringing me a glass of water, please?".

"Oh, of course!" she replied.

"Oh, and before you go..." Ryan began. "The cups are in the cupboard right above the sink.".

"Okay, gotcha.". With that, she immediately bounced onto her feet before trying to navigate the way to the kitchen. She didn't need a lot of effort.

It was all thanks to the simplistic layout of Ryan's apartment. It all reminded her a bit of how her home looked like too.

Looking in the cupboard above the sink, she found a bunch of glass cups and ceramic mugs.

Taking a glass cup into her hand, she filled it up with water, as requested, before carrying it to Ryan.

"Here you go your cup of water," she spoke quietly as she handed over the filled cup to Ryan.

"Thank you very much.". He took the cup and immediately downed the water. He marked the end with a loud, refreshed groan.

He placed the cup onto the coffee table beside where he laid before looking back at Briella. Briella gazed back at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, noticing the way he looked at her.

"Yes.". A brief pause. "But-..." he began.

"Hmm?" Briella hummed out, prompting him to continue.

"I am starting to feel better now...".

"I am glad to hear so," she replied.

He then sits up. "I feel like writing.".

"Oh, woah, woah, woah. Not on my watch. You have a temperature. A high one!" she started. "While on that, do you have a thermometer?".

"Yes," he replied and with that, he reached out and grabbed the device before handing it over to Briella.

Taking a quick glance at the thermometer, it looked very similar to hers.

"Okay," she muttered under her breath and with that, she pressed the tip of the device against one of Ryan's two temples.

It beeped seconds later, indicating it has a reading. 38.6 Degrees Celcius.

"You have a pretty high fever, you should lay down and rest. Not do work such as writing. All of that can wait, wait until you get better," Briella said.

Ryan could help but let a smile appear on his lips.

"What?" Briella interrogated, seeing his smile. She damned herself when she broke into a smile too.

Seeing Briella smile too only caused Ryan's smirk to grow bigger and bigger.

"It's just... you are so helpful, you really helped me a lot. Thank you so much for everything.".

Briella couldn't help but furrow her brows at his words, the smile still present on her lips. "Of course, you are most welcome," she began. "Besides, isn't that what a good friend does? ".

Her words caused Ryan's smile to recede ever so slightly as his eyes remained on her. He recognized the words she used. She used the words he said to her only days ago.

Despite Ryan's smile going away, it didn't affect her. The sides of her lips remained raised, her eyes moving from Ryan to the ground and back to Ryan.

And that was when Ryan thought to himself, 'What are you trying to do, Briella? What are you trying to do?'.