Page 43 of Under Your Spell

I laugh harder and my laughter almost immediately turns into a wheezy, honking cough that has me bracing both hands on my knees.

‘Right,’ I say, once I’ve got myself under control. ‘I hope you like lemon and honey because according to David you’re going to be basically swimming in the stuff.’

Chapter Seventeen

Things take a turn for the worse the following morning when Theo’s temperature hits just over thirty-eight degrees. My phone is already out in my hand when Theo’s fingers wrap around my wrist.

‘Don’t,’ he says. I am temporarily distracted by this, the first time he has touched me when I haven’t been too ill to pay attention. He has such good hands and the warm pressure of his fingers, the cold touch of the silver rings he wears against my skin… let’s just say I’m definitely paying attention now.

I swallow. Gather my wits. ‘I have to,’ I say unsteadily. ‘You’re ill.’

‘I just don’t want the fuss.’ He sighs, lets go of me. ‘I don’t feel too bad, really.’

‘I don’t know,’ I say slowly. ‘Your temperature is going up. And you’re so pale and snotty.’

‘But I haven’t been sick,’ he wheedles. ‘And I don’t have a sore throat. Your oath to protect my precious voice is still intact.’

When I still hesitate, he sighs. ‘Look, we know exactly what it is and how to deal with it. I obviously don’t have it as bad as you because I’m not currently vomiting all over your shoes.’

‘I didn’t vomit on your shoes!’ I exclaim, outraged.

‘There was splatter,’ Theo says firmly. ‘My shoes were compromised.’

‘You’re being ridiculous,’ I grumble. ‘I kept all my vomit neatly in the sink like a professional. I don’t think you were even wearing shoes.’

Theo waves this away. ‘Whatever, the point is that all I need to do is take some of the pills the doctor gave you, rest and drink water. If you call David, that treatment won’t be any different, but do you know what he’ll do?’

I shake my head. I actually don’t know what David would do if his precious Theo was sick, but I imagine him smashing in through the window with a war cry and a sack of Sicily’s finest lemons tucked under his arm.

‘First of all, he’ll fly a doctor – or multiple doctors – over from LA.’ Theo looks at me from under his brows. ‘Think of the earth, Clemmie. The environment. The unnecessary carbon footprint.’

I huff.

‘Then,’ Theo holds up a warning finger, ‘he’ll come himself, and – I cannot stress this enough – he will never leave. He will somehow blame you for this situation and then he will hover over you for the next four and a half weeks making sure you’re following his instructions precisely and he will drive us both insane.’

‘Is this all because you don’t want to lose access to my junk food?’ I ask suspiciously.

Theo looks shifty for a moment. ‘I’ve just rediscovered Mini Cheddars,’ he whispers finally, a broken man. ‘Please don’t take that away from me.’

I laugh – I can’t help it – and Theo’s eyes light triumphantly. He also follows this up with what I know is his trump card. ‘And he’ll report to the label and then they’ll all be going mad, fretting over the album, and it will just make things more stressful for Serena.’

Air hisses between my teeth and I know that he knows he’s got me. ‘Fine,’ I say grumpily, ‘but you’re going straight up to bed; we’re going to fill you up to your neck with medicine, and if you do start feeling worse you have to tell me.’

‘So bossy,’ Theo murmurs, walking ahead of me. ‘I love it.’

‘Are you all right taking these painkillers?’ I ask him a little awkwardly once he’s lying on his bed.

‘Because of the drinking you mean?’ he asks. I nod. I know he doesn’t drink, and David specified the house should be kept clear of alcohol. I hadn’t thought too much of it. I know plenty of people who don’t drink for one reason or another – though I will admit that, given his job, I have my own suspicions, fairly or not. Let’s just say Ripp and his friends aren’t exactly squeaky clean… far from it.

‘Yeah.’ Theo leans his head back against the pillow. ‘I gave up the drink a few years back. Not because I had a problem, exactly, but because I could all too easily imagine a future where it would be a problem. I’ve seen way too many friends heading down that road and I was lucky that one or two of them saw the signs and pulled me up on it before that happened. It was easier just to give it up altogether.’ He groans. ‘But painkillers are fine. Now I know what you were babbling about with your achy bones.’

I dole out the tablets and enter the time and what he’s taken into the Notes app on my phone, which Theo says is ‘smug and obnoxious behaviour’, and which I tell him is simply the action of a functioning adult. I force him to drink some water, check his temperature again and then make to leave.

‘No, don’t go,’ he says softly.

I turn back to face him.

‘Who will protect me if I have demonic Mr Men hallucinations?’ he asks, forlorn. ‘What if I feel the need to chew on someone’s arm?’