I arrived at work surprised to see that my desk only had one pile of paperwork. One. It was not the usual five plus more pile. And due to the decrease in quantity, I had it all finished by 5 pm, something that rarely occurred ever since Christian told everyone to hand their work to me. I had a feeling it was because they felt guilty for what happened yesterday. Well that was what I hoped they felt after what happened. I hoped that they felt bad and ashamed. For making me work so hard. For not doing their own work.

Since the paperwork was all done, I decided to go home and enjoy the pleasure of not having to stay past work hours to finish paperwork.

When I got home, I immediately changed out of my work clothes and into my comfy pajamas which consisted of an oversized white t-shirt and shorts. Then I went into the kitchen and looked in the fridge for something to eat. There wasn't much left since neither one of us had bothered to go grocery shopping. I found a tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer and took it out. I made sure to grab a spoon from the utensils drawer before planting myself on the sofa in the living room. I opened the tub of ice cream and took a spoonful of it. It quickly melted in my mouth and the sweet taste of vanilla lingered on my taste buds. Mhmmmm... this would taste even better if I watched it while watching something I thought to myself. I picked up the remote control on the coffee table and flipped on the TV. I began channel surfing for something interesting to watch. There were so many channels, in many different languages. English, of course. Chinese... Spanish... Korean... Japanese... Indonesian... and so on.

I was preoccupied in my little universe until I heard something that caught my attention. There was a sound and it was coming from the direction of the front door. It sounded like .. someone unlocking the door? Could it be a robber? A robber wouldn't have a key, don't be silly Cali, it's probably Christian. I wonder why he was home so early? He usually left work around 9-10, leaving me alone in the empty office to finish paperwork.

Slowly I rose up from the leather sofa and quietly walked toward the door. Right when I stopped in front of it, the door swung open. My prediction was correct, it was Christian but something seemed different. His face was pale, his lips parched. He did look pretty sick when I saw him at the office earlier... I watched in horror as he began to fall forward.

"Christian!" I called out worriedly. I should've checked up on him before I left. I should've.... then he wouldn't be like this.. my heart shriveled up with guilt. He must've gotten sick from when I spilled the water on him. This was all my fault.

I knelt down beside his crumpled body and wrapped one of his arms around my shoulder before bringing him inside. It was more like dragging. He was really heavy. My shoulders could barely support the weight of his body.

Fortunately, I managed to safely bring him inside his bedroom. I laid him down on his bed and took off his dress shoes and suit jacket. Then I proceeded by feeling his forehead for his temperature. His forehead was scorching hot. Oh shoot, he has a fever. What do I do? I've never taken care of anybody before in my life, besides myself. I was an only child. My dad died when I was in high school and when he was alive, he was rarely home, always at some casino gambling. On the other side, my mom ditched us the moment she heard about my dad's increasing debt. She packed up her bags while I was asleep and disappeared. Never saw her again, not that I want to. No mother should abandon their child, no matter what the circumstances were.

From the experience I've gotten from reading novels and from watching TV shows, I remembered that Advil would help reduce it. I rushed out and hurried into the kitchen and started to search in the cabinets for it. It took me some time, but I eventually spotted it. I took it out and placed it on the counter. Then I grabbed an empty glass and went over to the sink to fill it up with water. I brought them both into his room.

Christian was awake by the time I returned. He was no longer laying down, but leaning his back against the headboard of his bed. His hair was disheveled and he looked feeble.

"Are you awake now?" I asked as I placed the water and Advil on the nightstand beside his bed.

"Yeah. What happened?" he asked with a weak voice.

"You were just about to come in when you fainted," I explained. "Why on earth didn't you take better care of yourself? You should've went to the hospital if you knew you weren't feeling well. You're burning up with a fever!" I exclaimed.

"I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"Not if you don't take your medicine you won't," I handed him a tablet and the glass of water. "Here." Thankfully he did not argue with me and obediently took the medicine. He gulped it down and I took the glass back from him. "Now rest," I ordered.

He didn't object and quietly obeyed. He laid back down and closed his eyes. I watched him lay there motionlessly until I saw that his breathing had become steady which told me that he had fallen asleep.

I left the room and went to the kitchen to fill up a bucket of cold water. I carefully lifted it up and headed back inside his room. I placed the bucket on the nightstand and dipped a cloth inside. I wrung it dry and gently put it on top of his forehead. This was something else I had seen characters in both books and shows do when someone was sick.

While he slept, I wandered around the apartment taking this opportunity to explore the place. As I walked around, it soon came to my attention that he had absolutely zero family photos. Cero. I made a mental note to ask him about that later when he was feeling better.

After my exploration was finished, I spent the rest of my time taking care of him. I made sure that his glass of water was never empty since he had to stay hydrated. And every now and then I would go into his room to wet the cloth again and put it back on his forehead. I kept checking his temperature to see if it decreased and when I noticed that it finally did, I felt a little less guilty.

I was beyond exhausted by the time it struck midnight. I went into his room to check on him one more time and I was relieved to see that his temperature had went back to normal. I pulled a chair beside him and sat there, watching his sleeping figure. The steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in and out. Everything was silent in his room, in this entire apartment. The room was dim, the curtains were shut and the bedroom door shut. It gave an atmosphere that started to make me feel sleepy. I made some space on the edge of the bed and laid my head on it. Slowly I began to feel my consciousness ebbing away. Darkness soon surrounded me and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.