Naruhito (56)
At night, it seemed like I was having a terrible nightmare. When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the carpet instead of my bed, without any blanket. Hiiro was beside me with a pillow and had covered me with a blanket, but unlike usual, he wasn't holding me. He was just watching me from a short distance away.
"How are you feeling?"
Hiiro asked, still keeping a bit of distance. Feeling lonely, I snuggled closer. Unusually, I felt sticky, probably because I had been sweating.
Hiiro's arm wrapped around my back, gently patting me. For some reason, my nose started to sting.
"Feeling better now?"
What are you talking about?
I clung to him and started dozing off again.
"Can you go back to the bed? Is it okay if we go back?"
Anywhere is fine.
I clung tightly to Hiiro's clothes, determined not to let go.
The next time I woke up, Hiiro was gone, and I was alone in bed. There was a glass of water on the bedside table, so I drank it.
As if he had been waiting for me to wake up, Ikumatsu entered the room.
"Good morning, Naruhito."
"Good morning..."
Ikumatsu placed his hand on my forehead and nodded.
"Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
"No."
"Your body temperature is a bit high. You seem to have sweated, so it's coming down. Let's wipe you off. If you get cold, your temperature might go up again."
Saying that, he wiped my head, face, and body slowly with a warm, wrung-out towel. It felt so good that I almost fell asleep again, but then Hirosue came in with some rice porridge. There was also mixed juice!
"Don't fall asleep until you finish eating~"
After drinking half of the mixed juice, it was taken away, and rice porridge was fed to me. I was in a daze, just letting it happen. I managed to eat it all. Hirosue patted my head approvingly and gave me back the mixed juice. I held onto it tightly and sucked on the straw with all my might.
Hirosue laughed.
"Cold things taste good, right? Because your body is warm. I'll bring you more later."
Yeah.
As I tried to go back to sleep, I realized I needed to go to the bathroom.
When I tried to get down from the bed, Hirosue looked surprised.
"Bathroom."
"Huh? Can you manage? Wait a moment."
Just before I could slide down, Grandpa lifted me up.
Hirosue was frozen with his hands outstretched, ready to catch me.
"Hirosue, leave the rest to me."
"Oh, uh, right. Please take care of him."
I went to the bathroom and then fell asleep in Grandpa’s arms. Even though I hadn't done anything, I felt exhausted.
What do you think about this chapter?
