When Logan woke up, his head still hurt. It felt as heavy as a boulder with a rope being tightened around it. He pressed his hands against the side of it, thinking that would help.
It didn’t.
He groaned.
He rolled onto his back, rubbing his eyes. He ruffled his hair which made it look even worse than its usual bedhead style.
“Oh, my head. My precious, precious head” he moaned dramatically, his eyes still closed. He placed the back of his hand on his neck. At least, his fever seemed to have gone down.
He sniffed. His nose didn’t feel stuffy anymore either—another good sign. The road to recovery may be long but he was getting there.
He took a deep breath, happy to have his breathing back.
Then, a frown formed on his face. Something smelled differently from his room. He sniffed the air some more, slowly opening his eyes and sitting up.
He checked his nightstand.
“Chicken Noodle Soup! Yay!” He exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. It looked just as good as it smelled. The macaroni really brought out his appetite too. Everything else had tasted like sandpaper against his tongue. He felt more than excited to finally be able to taste good food as they were meant to taste like.
“That’s probably cold.”
Logan let out a high pitch squeal. Who on earth would lurk in a sleeping person’s bedroom? That sounded like invasion of privacy at its finest. Also, if the person wasn’t an intruder, why would he/she sneak up on him like that?
His head snapped towards his bench window on the opposite side of the bed. Sitting on it, in an Indian style position, was none other than Alex Carter.
She had a book in her hands.
Judging by the cover, Logan could tell it came from his own bookshelf. It had a magnificent selection of books, if he did say so himself. Someone like Alex would have to agree with him on this since she picked out something to read from it.
Despite his hair-raising scream, Alex seemed unaffected. She merely stared at him impassively.
Logan crossed his arms over his chest, pouting at her, “What are you doing here? I could have been naked!”
“Oh, thank gods. That would have caused me nightmares” Alex rolled her eyes. She went back to the book and flipped it to the next page.
“You lie, human!” He continued to say, “My body is a replica of dreams!”
Alex gave him a skeptical look, “Oh, really?”
Logan thought about it for a moment. What kind of body was a replica of dreams exactly? People seemed to have a lot of different opinions about that. Logan rubbed his thumb against his chin. What about him? What body did he consider as a replica of dreams?
“Well, it’s getting there” he shrugged. It was true since he still had to figure out the answer to his own question.
Alex continued to read.
Logan laid on his stomach, facing her direction. He placed both of his elbows on the edge of the bed and his chin in between his hands.
The cheery smile on his face was comparable to a child’s, “Anyway, what brings you here? Did you miss me? Aw, that’s sweet.”
Just like he hoped, Alex’s face turned into disdain. No matter how many times he had seen it, Logan still found it endearing.
Alex snorted at the giddy look on Logan’s face, “Puh-lease, get over yourself. Are you even really sick? You seem too energetic to be.”
Logan’s happy expression turned into a deadpan, “Did you or did you not hear me moan about my head?”
Alex gave him another eye roll.
“Anyway, why do I have cold soup?” He asked, sitting up again. He took the bowl in his hand. He picked up the spoon and soup drops dripped back down to the bowl.
“Oh, well. It’s been sitting there for the past hour.”
“An hour?” Logan stared at her with horrified eyes. Why would someone let food wait? What blasphemy! Food should never be set aside!
“Yeah, I brought it but you were just so quiet I had to savor it and wait for you to wake up on your own.”
“Hmph” Logan huffed like a child, dropping his stare. An hour, damn. That meant he could have spent more time with her. Why didn’t she wake him up like he did in her room? That sounded like a perfect opportunity for revenge.
Looking at the soup, Logan noticed something awfully familiar.
He grinned.
Without changing the direction of his gaze, he said, “Ah, this elbow macaroni brings back good memories.”
Alex stiffened at the dangerously too happy tone in Logan’s voice. She had the faintest idea that her ears had turned pink but she kept on reading the book where she had been transported to a world full of wizards.
“I mean, it’s an elbow looking pasta, drenched in cold liquid. It’s in a blue ceramic bowl, almost like a cup” Logan chimed in, stirring the soup, “Sometimes memories can be linked to certain ordinary things like this.”
Alex couldn’t hear a thing—not a thing. Why? Because Alex wasn’t in this room. Alex was at a wizarding school where no Logan existed to chat her ear off.
“Such wonderful moments, I could almost touch—I mean, taste—”
Alex fluttered her eyes with a sickly sweet smile on her lips at Logan who glared back with a thermometer in his mouth.
She took the bowl away from his hands, “Now, now… be a good boy and sit tight while I heat up the soup. Here. Read while waiting.”
Logan lit up like a child and picked up the story where Alex left off. Somehow he found it interesting to know what part she had been reading. When he didn’t hear the door open, he looked up. He found Alex standing by his bed and watching him.
He quickly shooed her away.
He really wanted his soup.
Under immense concentration, Logan didn’t waver when Alex came back.
She headed over to the bed and sat on the edge, feet planted on the floor. She set down the tray on her lap.
Logan still didn’t look at her. Alex had to chuckle at her new discovery. Who knew that the way to shut up Logan was to give him a book? She almost didn’t want to interrupt him but she did come here for a purpose.
Logan kept on reading as Alex reached for the thermometer she stuck in his mouth earlier. It read 100.4ºF/38ºC.
“Do you go to school even when you’re this sick?” She couldn’t help but ask. So far, she didn’t see any sign that he felt under the weather. The only way to explain was if he was used to this feeling.
Logan finally lifted his head. He blinked a couple of times like he just woke up.
He stared at nothing while his eyebrows scrunched up in the middle, “Um… sometimes? I don’t usually get sick but when I do, I have a limit. If my fever was over 100.4°F/38º C, I’d stay at home. Why? How bad is it?”
“No, it’s not that bad. I was just wondering because I really did mean it when I said you still acted as energetic as ever.”
Logan chuckled. He put the book away and held one of her hands, “Ah, Alex. That’s because of you, silly noodles. I’m just happy whenever you’re around.”
The smile on his face blinded Alex. She wanted to stay still, fearing it would disappear.
He looked so beautiful.
A statement Alex never thought she’d really say.
“But you didn’t even know I was here” Alex broke out of her reverie. Logan merely shrugged, letting go of her hand and folding his arms behind his head.
“Maybe you were in my dreams.”
“What?”
He winked with his signature goofy smile. He didn’t technically lie about that. She had been in his dreams. Even if she glared at him the whole time, he had fun in it. Besides, he really did feel happy whenever she was around. He could almost steal one of Max’s lines.
Something about him functioning on solar energy.
Alex simply shook her head at his antics, “Alright, Romeo. Eat something so you can drink your medicine.”
Logan showed her a cheeky smile, “I will if you feed me.”
