The sickness started slowly in the day, and then it hit her all at once. She was in the middle of washing dishes when a dizziness overcame her and she collapsed on the cold ground. The guard that had been helping her nearby picked her up and carried her to where William was speaking quietly with a ghostly Enzo.
They'd set their party up in a temporary cabin that hadn't yet been touched by the sickness. Or, they set themselves up while the villagers suffered in the other ones. William dropped the papers he was holding and took her in his arms the second he saw her. Already she felt sweaty and nauseated as if she was about to throw up all over him. How had it gotten a hold of her so fast?
"You got sick! I fucking knew this was going to happen!" William growled and carried her up to one of the empty rooms. Each of his stomps were like echos in her throbbing mind. He placed her in the center of the bed and started to pull off her boots and thick sweater.
"You know," Enzo appeared at the door, he gripped the frame to hold himself up. He looked pale and as if he was about to pass out any second. "I haven't been feeling too well myself."
Just as he said it, he collapsed on the floor face first with a loud thump. William grumbled furiously and snapped at the nearby guards to take him to another room.
"I'm sure it's just a cold." Doris coughed and closed her eyes. "It'll be over soon, it's freezing outside."
"It's been freezing since the moment we entered the north and you've only just gotten sick." William snarled. He wrapped her up in the blankets and left the room a second later. Dread crawled up her throat, as well as a bit of fear.
They were planning on leaving by nightfall to get to the palace by morning. Now that Enzo and herself were sick-they could be here for days until they were both fit to travel again.
It was hard to lift her head when she tried to sit up, it felt as if a led weight pulled her back down to the bed. The second her head hit the pillow, she was out.
Doris woke in a pool of her own sweat. The blankets were kicked down to her feet and she'd never seen sheets in such a twisted state.
"Stop moving, you'll only get sick again." William said from beside her. She turned to see him seated in a chair with a bucket and towels next to him.
"Again?" Doris whispered. Her voice was hoarse and scratchy as if she hadn't used it in years.
"You've woken up to throw up about four times." William leaned forward to wipe the sweat from her brow. "And then you would pass out the second you were done."
"I don't remember any of that." Doris leaned her heavy head back on the pillows. A wave of chills passed through her body, he got up and brought the blankets back around her shoulders. "Was any medicine found?"
William snorted and leaned back in the chair. "From where? the outside snow? No, none of the medicine that we brought has worked on anyone."
"Is Enzo doing okay?" She didn't have the energy to roll her eyes at his ridicules tone. He shifted beside her.
"He's worse than you. I've never seen anyone look that sick before." William said without a hint of sarcasm left in his voice. Doris could see the crease of worry form between his brows and she wanted to smooth it away.
"It'll pass. Don't worry." Doris whispered. When she reached for his hand, he yanked it away.
"Why is it that you can't help but go against my commands? I told you not to get close to anyone and you let an old fucker cough in your face!" He stood and kicked the metal bucket across the room. Doris flinched when it hit the wall. At least it wasn't full of her vomit.
Slowly, Doris tried to pull herself up but didn't get far. "I didn't invite him to cough on me, William." Doris said in a strained voice. Her throat was starting to burn and she only wished she could swallow a pound of snow to sooth it. "I was just trying to be a good person. It's not wrong to want to help people."
"It is if it gets you killed." William growled. He turned to face her and gripped the edge of the bed frame. "At the palace, you never went against my wishes. You did everything I asked and you never-"
"What? I never complained? I was a slave, William. I'm not allowed to complain or tell people how I-" Doris coughed into her arm. "Or tell people how I feel. I'm supposed to blend into the walls and allow everyone higher up than me to abuse me. I'm sorry that you miss that version of myself, but I've finally learned how to respect myself."
Silence fell over the room. He didn't break eye contact with her for a second. She felt sweat drip down the center of her back as she stared at him.
"I'm sure once we get back to the castle things will-" Doris coughed again. "Things will be back to how they were. You can demand me to do whatever you want and I'll cower away from you and hide when I hear your footsteps."
"Doris, that's not what I meant-"
"It's not? Then what did you mean, William? You don't want me to make my own decisions and you get mad when I want to make up my own mind."
"Look where some of those decisions led you, Doris! On your death bed!"
"I don't regret trying to help people who are suffering. I tried to help and I know it wasn't enough but at least I tried." Doris laid back against the bed and closed her eyes. "I was almost beaten to death by your lady at the palace and all you did was tell her to hurt me in private next time-that she wasn't acting like a lady."
Doris heard an intake of breath, she continued before he said anything. "I almost was killed for being wrongly accused of a poisoning. I almost died several times just on this journey. If this was why I go, I would say it's a lot better than the other reasons." She whispered.
He said nothing, but she knew he was still there. She could hear his breathing turn from heavy to lighter as if he was letting his emotions simmer out of him. Doris pulled the blankets more around herself and sunk deeper inside the bed.
"I would have never let her kill you." William said before he finally left the room. His words echoed around her but fell to the floor uselessly. For a man that was built on actions rather than words, he missed the mark on that one.
The next time she woke up again, he was standing over her bed with a steaming cup. For a moment, she'd completely forgotten where she was and what had happened to her. She was halfway out of a fever dream.
"Drink this." He ordered. Doris tried to sit up but kept falling back. He finally gripped her and helped her sit up all the way.
"What is it?" Doris took it with shaky hands. She felt as if her insides were starting to shut down on her. When she looked down at the tea, it looked more red than usual.
"It's whatever tea they had on hand and my blood." William sat next to her on the edge of the bed. Doris shook her head and tried to had it back.
"The last time I took that, I had the most awful dreams-"
"And you'll have them again." He pushed the cup back towards her. Doris sighed. "My blood might get this sickness out of your system before it gets worse. Now, drink."
"What if it doesn't?" Doris asked quietly. She felt a fit of coughs try to crawl their way up her throat.
William looked at her for a moment. As if he was trying to assess every inch of her. "If it doesn't, I'll go out into the storm and I won't stop until I've found something to cure you." He said gently. He brushed her hair behind her ear.
Storm? She didn't realize they'd been in a storm. She glanced out the window by her bed to see nothing but white. William turned her chin back to him and lifted the cup to her lips.
Doris kept her eyes on his blue ones as she tilted the tea back and drank every drop. When he took the cup back, sleep had already taken her under.