Chapter 22

Onew sniffled and curled up on the futon.  Only his luck was terrible enough to fly halfway around the world to meet his girlfriend’s family and wind up being sick and laid up for most of the time.

They had planned to stay a couple of days after Thanksgiving, to film life in Lex’s hometown and give Koreans a view of America that had absolutely nothing to do with Hollywood.  But the cold Onew had been battling seemed to have finally won. 

The door gently clicked open.  Lex came in, wearing grey sweatpants, a black t-shirt and leaving her feet bare.  In her hands she held a tray which she raised up obscuring her face as she tried to hip check the door shut without dropping its contents.  Her hair was straining at the black hair tie that she had put it up in that morning and had since started to fall down the side of her head and sat lopsided just above the base of her neck now, several errant strands having broke free and now flying around her face or having been tucked absentmindedly behind her ears.   

“How’re you feeling?” She asked quietly, in that same tone of voice that people used in a library.  That self-imposed feeling of necessary silence as though to speak at a normal volume would encourage the illness to fight even harder. 

“I’ve been better.” He said nasally, his nose stuffed up beyond any ability to breathe and speak normally.  “I just want it to go away.” 

She set the tray on the desk across the small office.  There was a glass of cool water which Onew gulped down eagerly as soon as she handed it over. 

“Guess I need to get you some more water,” she smiled, laughing with her eyes.

There were several pills lying on a napkin on the corner of the tray.  Onew recognized them now as a vitamin C pill to boost his immune system, decongestant to help clear out his nose, and Tylenol to help bring down the fever that had jumped up that morning to frightening 103.5˚F (39.7˚C) before lowering slightly.

Lex came back with another glass and Onew took the medicine.

She laid the back of her hands against his forehead, a worried look on her face.  “Any more dizzy spells?”  She asked as Onew took the last pill.

He shook his head slowly, “None yet, but I haven’t tried to stand up since the last one either.”  Onew’s voice was raspy, his throat sore from his draining nose. 

She made a small ‘tisk’ing sound before grabbing one of the bowls off of the tray.  A bowl of steaming chicken and rice soup was brought over to Onew’s futon.  She helped Onew’s shaking hands hold the bowl steady and wrapped his fingers around the spoon.  “Just try and get a little down, alright?” 

It was slow going, but Onew was glad that Lex didn’t try to feed him, that would have been too patronizing.  Instead she just helped him balance that bowl and ran the occasional hand through his hair, lightly scratching her nails against his scalp.  It was comforting in an odd way.  Onew managed to get through half of the bowl before he just had to stop.

Lex gave him a sad smile and took the bowl and moved it back to the tray. 

She grabbed the other bowl, filled with cool water and two wash cloths.  She made Onew lay down all the way, gently pushing at his shoulder until his head met the pillow. 

She rang out one of the cloths, folded into a 5 inch by two inch strip and laid it on Onew’s forehead.  The sudden cold was shocking but greatly appreciated.  Onew closed his eyes as the chill swept through.  It felt like diving into a swimming pool on a hot summer day. 

He heard a wringing sound again and opened his eyes to see the other cloth being squeezed above the bowl.  This one wasn’t folded and Lex laid it out over her hand, its fabric draping over on all sides. 

“My mom used to do this for me and my brother when we were sick,” she explained before she began to run the cloth around Onew’s wrists alternating them with his neck, fully wrapping around and even running it along the back of his neck, dampening the pillow.  Onew was surprised at how quickly he seemed to be cooling down. 

“The veins are close to the surface in your wrist and neck, so if you cool those areas you can cool the blood and that travels through the body.”  She answered the question that he hadn’t even begun to ask. 

This continued for a few minutes.  She placed that rag back into the bowl and took the one from Onew’s forehead.  She dampened it in the bowl once more and replaced it, cool once again.

She sighed, “I wish you would let me take you to the doctor.”

Onew’s illness had stopped filming cold two days ago, but the man had refused to go to the doctor.  “I hate doctors. And it’s a cold, what can he really do about it?”  Onew reasoned.

Lex pursed her lips.  “This doesn’t seem like just a cold.  Cold’s don’t lay you out flat on the floor in my kitchen.”  She pointed out, remembering the first dizzy spell that had resulted with Onew passing out for a couple of seconds as he went to get a glass of water. 

Onew sniffled and Lex wordlessly handed over the box of tissues. 

Onew felt bad for making her worry though.  She had wanted to show him her life, what it was like to grow up here and live here, but Onew had fallen ill, too ill to really even leave his bed. 

Onew tried to clear his throat, but it turned into a coughing fit.  The coughing had started last night, the next round of being sick. 

When it passed he looked up and saw the concern on her face.  “Alright,” he rasped, “I’ll go to the doctor.”

A grateful smile graced her face and it made Onew feel a little better.