Nicholas looked over at Mattie, and something about seeing her face made his will to live even stronger. He was as relaxed as he could be right now, determined to wait it out and move on. He felt like he would recover. He felt like he [i]had[/i] to recover. He'd had the fever, the chills, the sweating...would he start vomiting? That was most definitely a side effect of the infection. He hoped not - not with this rope in between his teeth. He felt nauseous, but not to the point where he thought he would puke. It seemed more like the result of the fever and chills combined.

Regardless, the night went on miserably. Nicholas drifted in and out of consciousness, whether from the infection, the painkillers, or his exhaustion, he didn't know. Each time he drifted asleep, he was thankful. It cut out part of his suffering. His body was hot but his insides were cold. It didn't make any sense. He'd had fevers before, he knew they were supposed to be this way, but man, he hated them.

In the midst of the night, when Nicholas saw Jacob had already fallen asleep and Mattie seemed like she was getting more tired by the second, Cole started wailing from the bedroom.