Raccoon City High - Chapter 34

Rebecca rolled over onto her side, her eyes half closed. She'd been awake half the night due to her coughing. She'd downed half the bottle of cough syrup, but that only helped a small degree. Her lungs were aching, and her chest and her abs from coughing. She was exhausted now, wanting nothing more than to sleep in her own bed.
Green eyes half opened, she stared blankly at the wall, her eyes out of focus. Her breathing was shallow due to her aching lungs. It hurt. It hurt to breath, to move. It just hurt.
Billy, on the other hand, was sleeping soundly. (Sure, he'd been up until past midnight, trying to quell his anger at Rebecca, but she didn't now that.) He slept in the other bed, curled up under the blanket and hands slipped under the pillows.
She swallowed hard. Her throat was dry and raw. She groped blindly for the juice Billy had bought her, downing it in almost one gulp, It helped a little, but she was still highly uncomfortable. She groped for the thermometer next, wondering if her fever had gone down because of the asprin. She hoped so.
She turned it on, slipping it under her tongue and letting it rest. Silence until it beeped. With red LED numbers, it said 102.7.
She whimpered, leaning her head back. Her fever had hardly fluctuated.
"Billy..."
No reply.
"Billy..." She whimpered, louder this time. "Please, wake up."
A murmur from the older man and his eyes fluttered open. He blinked slowly, looking around the room for a moment.
"H-huh?"
"My fever isn't going down." She whimpered, feeling panic begin to spark in her chest. "It's still at 102, Billy." She whimpered again, staring at him. Her head was still swimming.
"Take some aspirin." The teacher rubbed his eyes, turning over. He wanted some more sleep.
"Billy, that won't work." She whined, rubbing her cheeks. They were hot to the touch, and her hands felt cool and clammy. "I wanna go to the doctor..."
"You don't need to go to the doctor." The man finally sat up with a frustrated sigh.
"Billy, please." She whimpered. "Please."
"Most normal girls don't beg to go to the doctor." He snapped, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
I'm not normal. She thought bitterly. I'm dating an ex-marine teacher who kidnapped me. I'm miles away from home and I'm dying...I'm anything but normal at this point.
She fell silent, turning away from him. Maybe she would get better and she wouldn't need to go to the doctor. But...maybe she wouldn't. Maybe her fever would continue to rise. She knew that at 103 degrees, a fever became dangerous.  She had less than half of a degree to go before she had to go to the doctor.
"W-why are you doing this, Billy? Wh-what'd I do wrong?" She whimpered softly. He hadn't been acting this way last night. Before she went to sleep, he had been willing to do anything for her.
"Because you texted Joseph Frost." His voice was a growl at this point. "And you called your mother."
"No I didn't." She answered quickly.
"Oh yes you did. Don't you dare lie to me, Rebecca."
She shrunk away. "...just one. It was just once, and..."
"And what? You feel that it's fine to jeopardize all that I've gone through for you because you decide you want to text your old friend?"
"Billy, I didn't...know what I was doing, I was feverish--"
"Bullshit!"
She whimpered, covering her ears with her palms.
"Bullshit and you know it, Rebecca." He growled. "You were all over the news because of that little stunt."
"I wanted them to know I was safe."
"I'm a wanted Criminal, Rebecca!" There was a laugh. Forced and hollow. "Do you want me to go to prison?"
"N-no, Billy." Her voice was shaking.
"I've thrown everything away for you. This is how you repay me? By jeopardizing everything that I've done for you?!"
"Billy, I..."
"So no. I will not take you to the doctor. I can't afford it. They'll recognize me and take me to Jail. Do you want to be stranded here, alone?"
"...no, Billy." She murmured softly, closing her eyes.
"Take some aspirin and take a nap. I'll get you a cold cloth for your head."
She whimpered, reaching for the pills. "...y-yessir."

Rebecca fell asleep quickly due to all of the medication in her system and the fever. Billy gathered up their suitcases, packing them in the car. He was careful to avoid getting seen. He knew he had to either cut or shave his head, and that was something he wasn't willing to do.
...but if he could get Rebecca's hair dyed while she slept, it might be easier for them not to be spotted. He smirked to himself.
He threw the suitcases in the trunk, making sure there was room in the backseat for Rebecca. They'd been there for almost two days, and he knew they needed to get out. If she liked it or not, they were leaving.
He had to get to another hotel, at the very least. He was planning on driving until they got to the next town. ...God, he knew she'd be pissed. But he also knew they had to get going, if he wanted to make sure they didn't get caught. That was his top priority right now.
After he gathered everything he could in the trunk of the car, he moved to Rebecca. He wrapped her gently in the blanket she was sleeping under, pulling him close to his chest. Her head lolled from side to side. She curled against him with a soft whine.
He couldn't help but smile. There was the girl he'd fallen in love with – messy dirty blonde hair, closed eyes, looking just as delicate as a porcelain doll. She was so tiny and so delicate... he felt a pang of guilt for dragging her out here. He could've just accepted his fate... but damn, he loved her so much...
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

There was a scream from the bathroom. Steve was on his feet, stumbling towards the bathroom. Claire had dissappeared in there a couple of minutes ago. He assumed it was a spider – she always screamed when she saw a spider.
There was sobbing from the other side of the door, choked whimpers and whines.
"Claire!?" He banged on the door. Jill was standing behind him with a frown. The girls hadn't been talking since Jill had made her take a pregnancy test. (It felt a lot longer than it actually was.)
"Claire, are you okay?" Jill asked, her voice much more stable than Steve's.
"O-oh, god." Came Claire's wavering voice from the other side of the door. She was still crying. "...I..."
"W-what, Claire!?" Steve banged on the door. "Are you okay?!"
"...I..." She took in a deep breath, hoping to calm herself down. "...I'm...f-fine." Still cracking, wavering.
"What's going on?" Jill asked. She was still calmer than either Steve or Claire.
"...I...am...not pregnant." She spoke slowly, trying to pronounce her words carefully. She wanted to make sure the other two heard. "I'm not pregnant." She spoke slowly.
"How do you know!?" Jill stared hard at the door.
"...g-got my period. You must've misread the test, Jill." She whimpered, rubbing her eyes. "...I'm not pregnant."