Title: Amber's Cold
Author: randomguy
Original
Summary: Amber gets sick and Cody springs into action
Authors Notes: I was pleasantly surprised by the success of "Amber's Date," so I decided to go ahead with the sequel. If you haven't read "Amber's Date," you may want to read it here before starting on the sequel. It's not as long, I'm afraid, but that's mostly because it a lot more fluff now that I've established Amber and Cody's relationship.
This is the first part of the story; I have a little bit of sorting out to do before I can charge ahead with part 2. Enjoy!
“Heh-itschoo!”
The sneeze was hard enough to make Amber sit up in bed. Right away, she recognized what her aching body, stuffy nose, and pounding head were trying to tell her. “Heh-itschk!” She moaned as she felt the sinus pressure building and flopped backward in bed. She knew right away that she was sick. He pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes in frustration. Having a cold was the one thing that could take the fun out of sneezing. Angrily, she crossed her arms as she lay in bed, knowing the day ahead of her would be a long one.
“heitsch!” Cody sneezed gently and rubbed his nose as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He was pretty familiar with the different ways he sneezed and what caused them, and he’d never felt one like this before. His eyes squeezed shut as the feeling came back. “itschk!” He screwed up his mouth, thinking. He slumped back in his chair and started fiddling with his Newton’s cradle, the way he often did to help him work things out. Something about it caught his attention this time. Funny, how he could move one ball and the other could feel its effects without the two even touching… The realization hit him at the same time the next sneeze did. “atschk! Amber!” He jumped to his feet and bolted out the door.
When Amber woke up, she felt even worse. With a long moan, and already feeling the tickle building in her nose, she picked up her cell from her night stand and started to dial Cody’s number. Cody’s answering machine picked up.
“Hello! You’ve reached Cody’s cell-”
“AH-tschioo! Heitsch!” Amber rubbed her nose and held her breath, hoping she could hold her sneezes until after she had left her message.
“-after the beep. Thank you!”
“Enxtch!” No such luck. “Hi Cody, it’s Abber.” Her voice came out sounding worse than she’d expected. “I’b sorry about the sdeeze…” She laughed a little to herself. “Od second thought, doh I’b dot. H-hadg od…” She held the phone away from her face. “HEH-itschk! Cody, I’b really sick. I’b dot godda be able to beet with you later today like we were subposed to. I’b so… sorr… I…” Oh no. “ITschoo! Hetschoo! Hehistchk! EHTsch! Hitschoo! EH-inxtch! Tsch! Hetsch! Itsch!” She took a deep breath as she geared up for the next set of sneezes, when she suddenly realized that there was a finger pressed under her nose. She opened her eyes, and realized that the finger belonged to…
“Cody!” Cody smiled down at her and waved. “Hi Amber,” he said warmly. She offered no resistance as he gently removed her phone from her hand. “I kind of want to let you finish,” he said as he closed the phone. “Best message ever!” Amber laughed, then panicked as she realized that it had made Cody’s finger slip from under her nose. “C-C-Cody…” Cody calmly pressed his finger under her nose again. “Don’t worry,” he said reassuringly. Amber relaxed when she heard those words, and she closed her eyes. Cody smiled again. “Let me know when the feeling’s gone, okay? I can’t hold my finger here forever.” Amber laughed again and felt a sudden surge of happiness. Everything was going to be alright. Cody was here. “You cad bove it dow, Cody. I think I’b okay.” Cody cautiously removed his finger, and then relaxed as he realized that she really was done.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. I had to make a few stops on the way.”
“It’s okay… how did you get in? Add how did you dow I was sick?”
Cody smiled. “We traded keys, remember? And… I’m not really sure how I knew you were sick. I just kind of… got this feeling.”
“Feelidg?”
“Yeah… I can’t really explain it… I sort of just knew what you were feeling… I even started sneezing too.”
Amber was in awe. “Woah. I cad’t believe that… wait… I bissed you sdeezidg?!” Amber pounded the bed in frustration, and Cody had to stifle a laugh. “Take it easy, Amber, don’t wear yourself out.” Amber pounded the bed. “I dod’t like bissing that!” Cody couldn’t keep from giggling.
“It’s okay, Amber, I promise I’ll do it again.”
“You better.”
Cody giggled again as he picked up a big white bag and placed it on the edge of Amber’s bed. Amber tried to see what was inside, but her head began throbbing as soon as she tried to sit up. Cody gently pressed his hand to her forehead.
“Don’t try to get up yet.”
“What’s id the bag?”
Cody was now looking through the bag intently. “What? Oh, this. It’s why I had to stop on my way here. This is for you.”
“Huh? Cody, what…” Amber’s voice trailed off and her eyes widened as Cody started removing the contents of the bag and placing them on her night stand: Halls, Benadryl, Zicam, Sudafed PE, Extra Strength Tylenol, Airborne, Delsym, Mucinex, and aspirin. Amber’s mouth dropped open. Cody must have seen, because he chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, they don’t conflict. I checked.”
“Cody, this is…”
“I just want you to feel better,” he said as he measured out the Benadryl and gave it to her. She tried not to make a face as she swallowed. “Cody, I… I c-can’t th…thank y… heh… itschoo! heitsh! etschk! I can’t… thank you… itsch! …enough.”
Cody laughed as he measured out the Sudafed PE. “I think you just did.” He handed her the spoon. She wasn’t as successful at keeping herself from making a face. Cody smoothed her hair gently. “I know it doesn’t taste great, but you’ll feel better in a little bit, I promise. Besides, everything else tastes fine. Trust me.” He handed her four pills and a bottle of water he produced from the bag. Amber swallowed the pills as Cody was unwrapping a Halls. “What is all this? I mean what will it do?” Amber asked. Cody motioned for her to open her mouth and then placed the Halls in it as he looked round at the medication. “Um… let’s see… they should… cool your nasal passages, ease your sore throat, thin out the mucus, stop the congestion, block irritants, suppress your cough, take your fever down, boost your immune system, and stop your headache. So… you should basically feel normal in a little while.” Amber’s mouth was hanging wide open. “C-cody… are you… serious?” Cody nodded as he handed her a measured spoonful of Delsym. Amber made no attempt to hide her face this time, and Cody chuckled again. “Don’t worry, only one more you have to swallow, and it doesn’t taste bad,” Cody said as he dropped the Airborne tablet into a cup, poured water into it, and handed it to her. She took a tentative sip. Cody smiled. “Taste good?” Amber grinned and nodded as she drank the rest of it.
Cody smiled approvingly and picked up the Zicam gel swab. “This should stop your sneezes.” Amber smiled slightly. “Don’t you want to hear me sneeze?” Cody blushed a little. “Of… of course I do… but I just… I don’t like seeing you unhappy.” Amber smiled, and Cody removed the swab from its container. “Alright,” he said as he handed it to her, “be careful with this, okay? You have to kind of… stick it in your nose and makes little circles to spread the gel around on the inside. But if you stick it in too far, it could… well… it’s basically a Q-tip, so… you know…” Cody’s face turned bright red. Amber giggled to herself as she took the swab from him. “I’ll be careful, I promise.” Amber gently inserted the swab into her nose. She could already feel it beginning to tickle. Slowly, she circled it around a few times and then removed it. She released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and smiled. Cody smiled back at her. “Good job. Just one more time.”
Amber nodded, took a deep breath, and inserted the swab into her other nostril. She fought to keep her hand steady, but it was shaking too much. Cody realized immediately that she had put it in too far, and pulled the swab away with one hand while removing a box of tissues from the bag with the other. Amber’s eyes were shut tightly and she was biting her upper lip. “It’s okay,” Cody said as he hurriedly ripped open the box and pulled out several tissues. He help them to her face with no time to spare. “Heitsh! Atschk! heh-Itsch! Eh-tschoo!” She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut tighter. “Ntsch! Enxtch! Hentsch!” Cody shook his head. “Don’t stifle them like that. It’ll only make it last longer.” Amber nodded weakly. “ATSSSH! HEH-ITCH! ETSCH!” She took in one more gasp of air. “HEEEEEITCHOW!” Amber’s entire body relaxed as she flopped backward on the bed. “Wow.” Cody nodded and squirmed a little as crumpled the tissues and threw them away. “Thadks for holdidg theb,” Amber said as she experimentally touched her now red nose and immediately withdrew her hand. Cody nodded again. “Y-you’re welcome.” He shuddered. “Geez.” Amber blushed deeply.
“I’b sorry, I cad’t codtrol it.”
“It’s okay… but… maybe you should let me do that side.”
Amber stayed perfectly still as Cody gently stuck the swab in, made a few slow circles, drew it out, and then softly pinched her nose to spread the gel evenly. “Okay,” he said with a sigh, “you’re done.” Amber sighed and smiled in relief.
“Thadk you so buch… I dod’t kdow what I would do without you.”
“Don’t worry about me… just feel better, okay? I have one more thing for you.” Amber was stunned as he drew out a small white container. He took the lid off and handed it to her along with a spoon. “It’s chicken soup. My mom taught me the recipe a while ago… I think it makes the medicines work better or something… trust me, you’ll feel amazing after eating it.” Amber nodded and ate a spoonful. She froze, her eyes wide. Cody couldn’t help but smile. “It tastes pretty good.” Amber nodded and ate the soup hungrily.
Cody kept smiling as he cleaned up the things he had brought and put them back in his bag. He looked down at Amber, who had already finished the soup and was now dragging her spoon against the side of the bowl in attempt to pick up any stray ingredients. Cody chuckled and took the bowl. “Uh-uh,” Amber said with a shake of her head and pulled it back. Cody laughed again and gently but firmly pulled the bowl towards him. “That’s all you need. You should try to get some rest.” Amber moaned.
“But I don’t want rest. I want to be with you.”
“Don’t worry,” Cody said as he picked up the bag and started to head towards the door, “I’ll be back.”
“No! Cody, wait! Don’t go!” Amber sat up quickly. “No Amber!” Cody dropped his bag and ran towards her, but it was too late. Amber’s head was already spinning, and everything went black as the fell back against the bed, bouncing limply like a rag doll.
