I walked into Leslie’s apartment to find Ramona going through their cupboards and Leslie sneezing and coughing on the couch, a pile of tissues covering the table.
“How do you not have any medicine?” Ramona asked.
“I told you I don’t-” A coughing fit interrupted whatever Leslie was about to say.
“Uh-huh. I’m getting you some, anyway. Hey, Dax,” Ramona said when she finally noticed me. “I’m gonna buy medicine for Leslie. Make sure they don’t die.” She patted my shoulder, then left.
“Wait, what?” I called after her.
“She’s being dramatic,” Leslie said. They sounded really congested.
“I guess this is why you weren’t at work today,” I said as I sat down on the couch next to them. I placed the back of my hand on their forehead. Leslie definitely had a fever.
“Yeah, well, someone tossed me in a pond recently,” they replied.
My face turned hot as I let out a nervous laugh, glancing away.
“Rafjoiamkethuaeijdfkch,” Leslie muttered as they laid across the couch, placing their head in my lap. I smiled down at them, gliding my hand across their face as they got comfortable.
“Unraveling the ceiling won’t work,” Leslie said.
“I know,” I replied with a sigh. “The next best thing is getting her in through a dead zone. But getting her from there to an entrance would be…” I trailed off once I noticed Leslie had fallen asleep.
Not long after, Ramona walked in with a single bottle. “Here,” she said, placing the bottle on the table. “Directions are on the bottle. Yeawiojtklair of Leslie. Irewjaitodmst to class.” Then she rushed out the door.
It looked like she’d bought liquid medicine for Leslie. “Leslie,” I said, shaking them awake.
“What?” they replied groggily.
“You should go to bed. I’ll bring your medicine.”
“Ugh, fine.” Leslie got up unsteadily and walked down the hallway to the bedroom. I followed after them, bottle in hand.
They sat on their bed as I poured medicine into the bottle cap and when I gave it to them, Leslie drank it without complaint. I sat cross-legged on the floor beside the bed as I waited for them to fall asleep.
Then Leslie, laying on their side, suddenly asked, “You know I love you, right?”
I blinked. “Yes,” I said with an amused smile. “And I love you too.”
“Fine. But do you know how much I love you?”
“Um…” I wasn’t certain how to respond. Especially since they were starting to sound drunk.
Leslie rolled onto their back. “I love you so much that it would fill this whole room,” they said, outstretching their arms. “No, the whole city.”
I grabbed the bottle of medicine off the nightstand. “What’s in this?” I wondered aloud as I looked over the ingredients.
“I mean it,” Leslie said. They were on their side again so they could face me.
I smiled at them, putting the bottle away. How could I not answer to that sincerity? Even if they didn’t really know what they were saying because of the fever. “I don’t know how to put into words how much I love you,” I replied. “But I would do absolutely anything for you.”
I kissed their forehead. When I sat back, Leslie was fast asleep.
To be continued…