Jacob crossed his arms, not giving a reaction to Mattie's attempt at humor at a time like this. Not to mention, he knew that she was lying through her teeth. She just wanted to stick with Nicholas. It was understandable, he had to admit. They seemed like very good friends and had obviously been through a lot together. They'd probably known each other for years, from what it seemed like. "Okay," he finally said. "You can stay in here, but I'm going to be sitting right here with you, got it?" Saying that, he went over to the empty couch and plopped down on it, propping his feet upon the coffee table in front of him and crossing his legs. "I don't want to risk [i]anything[/i]." He bobbed his head lightly with his eyes closed, music playing in his head. He was always thinking of music to distract him. --- To say the least, Nicholas felt like he was dying. He felt like at any moment his spirit was just going to come right out of his body and he would be [i]dead.[/i] As much as he didn't want that to happen, he knew there was no way he could stop it from happening. The only thing he could do was lay there and accept his fate. He was going to die in front of Mattie and Jacob and leave them behind. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he kept trying to say, but it was only coming out as muffles and groans. He was more relaxed than he was before, he could admit that. --- Jacob opened his eyes and stared at Nicholas. He shook his head and said, "Don't keep talking, Nick. You're gonna use all of your strength, and we can't understand you." Rising from the couch, he went over to Nicholas and removed the cloth from his head, feeling his forehead. "If you're gonna survive this, you'll be fine by tomorrow evening, okay? That's how long it's going to last if you're going to live." He nodded lightly and soaked the cloth with the rest of the water from the bottle, then put it back on Nicholas' forehead. --- Nicholas listened, but didn't respond with a nod or a word. He was grateful for the cooled cloth on his forehead, as it had become hot and uncomfortable. [i]Tomorrow evening,[/i] he thought. [i]That's why mom's lasted so long... she wasn't going to live through it.[/i]