Chapter 7

"Damn storm," AJ muttered as he fiddled around with an old radio he had found.

Howie rolled his eyes. "AJ, give up."

"No way, D. I can fix it and we can get a weather report."

"Why in the hell do we need a weather report?" Kevin huffed. "Just look out the damn window. Guess what! It's raining."

AJ continued despite Kevin's words. I looked down to see Brian who had fallen asleep. Maybe my temperature did help him after all.

Howie noticed that Brian was hogging the blanket. "Aren't you cold, Nicky?"

I paused for a moment. "Uh, kinda', but Rok needs the blanket more than I do."

"Why?"

Leave to Howie to ask questions. "Um, he's cold-natured."

"He is?" AJ asked jumping in.

"Yeah, sure he is." Okay, truthfully I didn't know, but it was a good excuse.

Kevin's eyes squinted. "Are you okay, Nick? How's your headache?"

"Almost gone." It wasn't my head so much now, as it was my stomach.

"Almost?"

"Yeah."

"If your headache's not gone yet you should lye back down."

Brian began to sit up brushing against me. He yawned. "Are you okay? Your skin's warm."

Kevin glanced at me. "Are you running a fever?"

"No." Technically, I wasn't lying. I hadn't taken my temperature, so, I wasn't 100% sure I had a fever.

"Go lay back down. You're acting way too weird," Kevin demanded.

Slowly, I made my way back to the bedroom. I was tired, but no one should be forced to sleep on that damn water creation. I laid down hoping the dizziness would pass. I heard someone enter and lay down beside me. I recognized Brian's voice. "I hope you don't mind, buddy, but I'm real tired. And it's way too cold in the living room."

"Sure," I croaked trying to ignore the waves his weight had created.

"Are you sure you're not getting worse?"

"Let's just get some sleep." And with that I forced my eyelids to close.