Magnus leaned across the narrow kitchen table, worry tightening the line of his jaw. "What's wrong? Do you have
no appetite at all?”
Denise gave a weary nod, strands of hair sliding over her pale cheek. "I probably just didn't sleep well. Let me
crash for a bit. I'll eat around noon."
Magnus straightened, forcing a light tone that betrayed his relief. "All right. Go on, get srest."
Denise rose, but a sudden wave of dizziness tilted the room. Her knees buckled, and she almost hit the floor.
She shook it off, convinced it was nothing more than fatigue. Steadying herself, she made the slow walk to the
bed, stretched out, and slipped back into sleep almost instantly.
Left alone with the silence, Magnus collected the dishes, rinsed away the last traces of breakfast, and wiped the
counter clean.
There was a the wouldn't have lifted a finger. He had grown up untouched by chores, but Denise's gentle
ultimatums had broken that habit.
In the past, when faced with Magnus' reluctance, Denise would reprimand him. Locking him outside or banning
him from sleep until the kitchen sparkled had worked.
Now the routine felt natural, almost comforting.
When everything gleamed, he kicked off his shoes and stretched out on the couch.
Night-shift work flipped their hours upside down. Daytnaps were the only way they survived.
He had barely closed his eyes when Denise began murmuring across the room, her voice thin as mist drifting
through a dream.
"Dad... Mom, don't worry. I'll make you better. Please, don't leave me."
The words pierced the quiet. Magnus sat up, heart thudding, and studied her flushed face.
Softly he called, "Denise."
She didn't stir. Sleep held her fast.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtA fierce blush burned across her skin, the kind of heat a fireplace could never kindle.
Magnus glanced at the portable electric heater and wondered if it was too hot.
However, he actually found the temperature tolerable.
He laid his palm on her forehead and felt the heat scorch his skin.
This isn't the heater at all.
Magnus frowned. "Are you having a fever?"
He started to withdraw, but Denise's hand shot from the quilt and clamped around
his, desperate and unyielding.
"Dad, Mom... Don't go."
Her grip locked his wrist in place, every muscle in his body going rigid at the unexpected strength of fevered
panic.
"Denise, it's me."
She heard nothing. Lost in the dream, she clutched what she believed were her parents’ hands, terrified they
might vanish the moment she let go.
Magnus tried to free his hand, but
Denise's fingers, which were fever-hot and trembling, locked around his like iron soaked in fire. He grip, heart
surrendered to the grip,
hammering at the helpe
coursing through him. s
"Why did you spike a fever now of all nights?" His voice cracked, urgency bleeding through the hushed
syllables. Worry clouded his eyes, and every breath he drew seemed to bey the room for answers he did not
have. s
"When | earn piles and piles of money," Denise whispered, words wandering in fever-fog, "I'll cure you two."
Magnus forced himself into gentle agreement, nodding as though each delirious promise were gospel.
"All right,” he murmured, leaning close so she could catch the promise on his breath. "We'll get better."
Perhaps the sound threaded its way through the haze because Denise mumbled, "Mm-hmm. You will get
better..."
A fresh throb speared through her skull. She winced, lids fluttering like weak moths around a candle.
"Mom, my head hurts..." The plea spilled out, blurred, child-small.
The word "Mom" stunned Magnus.
No one had ever called him. thgtehor
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He knew nothing about nursing the
sick, only that warmth was life. Hg
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After that, he did not move. He simply
sat on the mattress ol elogyysen
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forget its cue. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
"This won't do. A fever this high needs a hospital," Magnus muttered to himself.
He shook her shoulder, gentle at first, then harder when she failed to stir. “Denise, wake up. We're going to the
hospital. Con, open your eyes."
His gaze flicked to the window. Beyond the pane, night snow fell heavier, spiraling in thick white veils that
smothered the streetlights.
Only hours earlier, he'd trudged hthrough drifts that swallowed the roadway. Ice had sealed the asphalt, and
public buses were already suspended.
Jaw set, he snatched up his phone and punched the emergency number. Each ring seemed to last a lifetime.
A dispatcher finally answered, but relief was short-lived. Plows were still clearing ice, so the ambulance would be
slow, perhaps very slow.
Magnus ended the call and bent over the bed. "Hold on, Denise. Get well for me, okay?"
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