Coughs.
Vinyl Scratch rolled to her right.
She cruised over a fifty-foot wave on a surfboard, her arm hooked around Octavia's waist. The suntanned damsel giggled, leaning into her. The cellist wore a modest one-piece swimsuit with floral patterns. Of course she did. As they reached the crest of the wave, Octavia faked a scream and buried her head playfully in Vinyl's chest, tickling her sternum with smokey black bangs.
More coughs.
Vinyl Scratch rolled to her left.
She pulled her blade out from the dragon's chest. With a flick of the pommel, she converted the weapon back into an mp3 player. Twirling about, she flexed her biceps under neon-glowing armor and waggled her eyebrows. Octavia cooed in delight, hiked up her ballgown, and rushed over to give the heroic knight a deep hug and several flower-scented kisses.
Soreness... spreading... consuming...
Vinyl Scratch winced.
Dammit...
Vinyl Scratch sniffled.
Dammit to Hell...
Unable to drift off to sleep, Vinyl finally sat up. Her bedroom reeled around her. She lay under several comforters and blankets... and still she felt freezing. Every breath through her nostrils was a torturous thing. She felt as though a spiny sea urchin had nestled deep inside her sinuses, poking into every tender nasal cavity with bloody malice.
I'm getting sick. I hate being sick.
It was true. Ever since arriving home in the soaking rain the day previous, a bug had been planted deep in Vinyl's nose and throat. Now it had infected her eyes and ears, overflowing her orifices with mucus and wax.
She stifled a moan, bravely swung her legs out... and stepped up out of bed.
The girl instantly regretted it. The world reeled around her... making the shuffling trip to the bathroom outside the hall a precarious tight-rope-walk of nauseating proportions.
Halfway to her destination, Vinyl passed by her mother.
The woman heard just one snort from her daughter, and instantly she dropped her laundry basket and spun around. "Hollllld up there, Sparky." She marched over and grasped the teetering teenager's forehead in a tender palm. "Don't move. The doctor is in."
Oh gods. Just shoot me.
"Tch... mmmhmmm..." Vinyl's mom leaned back, tilting the girl's chin up so she could stare into her bloodshot eyes. "You're positively burning. I guess I didn't imagine all that rainsoaked laundry hanging over the shower rod. Huh?"
Busted. Send me to the electric chair. Just anything but—
"Whelp... here comes the cough syrup."
Ugh.
"You know the drill!" She pointed at the girl as she wandered across the house and into the kitchen. "Plenty of fluids around the clock! Though, at this rate, you'll be lucky if you get better by Monday. Don't try to celebrate or anything, though. How many sick days is this so far this semester? At this rate, we might as well homeschool you."
Now that's a scary thought.
"If I had a dime for every time you ignored my warnings about walking home in the rain..."
You'd buy out the L.A. Clippers. I get it.
With a wheezing cough, Vinyl nevertheless hobbled her way into the bathroom... where she promptly knelt before the toilet and gave a porcelain confession.
Whatever... it was worth it. Totally... worth it...