#hwaiting

Eric p.o.v

We were halfway through filming the second episode of Hwaiting when I noticed I was starting to feel a bit off. My throat had started hurting, which I assumed was just from yelling over the chaos of the children. 

“Eyo Eric!!!” Jamie yelled right by my face, I cringed away, her loud voice echoing in my ears. “What?”

“buy me food”

“NO BUY ME FOOD!!!” Jae yelled running over and shoving Jamie out of the way. I winced at his voice, even louder than Jamie’s “no, children get your own food” I said, trying to keep the playful energy going. I tried not to show that the words hurt my throat. “What if we all just go out for lunch?” Ashley suggested. 

“I don’t want to go out” Jamie complained, she grabbed onto Ashley’s arm, “unnie buy me food” Ashley made no move to remove Jamie’s arm but she did shake her head. “Let’s order delivery and just eat it here” Mathew suggested. We all agreed, we all wrote down what we wanted and gave the list to Peniel, who lost the game of rock paper scissors and therefore had to order. 

The rest of us cleared of the game tables so we could eat on them. I was feeling lethargic and achy. I thought I was just tired and needed food, that usually helped when I got tired. But when the food arrived as soon as I smelled it I no longer felt hungry. I was starting to feel a bit nauseous. It must have shown on my face because I felt a hand on my shoulder, I slowly turned my head and saw Ashley standing there, “Eric are you okay? You look like you’re about the throw up, or pass out. Or both?” She spoke quietly, but Jamie heard from nearby, she quickly turned around so fast I swear her neck cracked, “you good Eric?” Jamie did not posses the same skill of speaking quietly and her voice got the attention of the others. “dude, you look awful!” Jae said loudly, I glared at him, “not like... I mean-”

“Jae just shut up” Jamie said elbowing him. “Are you okay Eric?” Peniel asked, he set the food down and came over to me. Everyone was crowded around me. “I feel kinda sick” 

“Like you’re gonna throw up?” Jae asked, he took a step back. “I don’t know. I feel a bit nauseous” I sniffled a bit, I had just noticed my nose was stuffed up. 

“How long have you felt sick?” Peniel asked, I noticed all my friends had concerned looks on their faces. “I don’t know. But you guys don’t need to worry, I’m really okay.”

“Dude, you look 2 seconds away from death” Jae said, he still stood a few steps away. “Jae, I’m not going to throw up” I assured him, he had stood away from me since I mentioned feeling nauseous. “sorry” he looked guitly, he stepped closer to me. I knew Jae was always a bit on edge when it came to germs in general, but especially throwing up. “HETchu- ETCHhu- ETchu!”

“bless you” The others said in unison. “thanks” I sniffled, I had been so congested but after sneezing the congestion loosened a bit and caused my nose to begin running. “Ugh” 

“Eric, maybe you should go home? Especially if you’re sick” Mathew suggested looking worried, Ashley placed her hand on my forehead, “especially because you have a fever” 

“I think one of us should drive you home. You shouldn’t drive with a fever” Peniel said, he looked worried, actually they all looked worried. “guys, I’m fine. It’s just a little bit of a cold.”

“Eric you have a fever. That’s not a cold” Jamie said, she flicked my arm. “I never thought I’d say this but Jamie is right” Jae said, Jamie glared at him. “Eric, bro, you’re sick. You’ve got a fever. You need to go home and rest” Peniel said, the others agreed. “dude if you’re gonna keep refusing Mathew can throw you over his shoulder and carry you to the car and make you go home and rest!” Jamie said loudly in my face. I backed up a step. I glanced at Mathew who just shrugged, and half nodded. “you guys are insane” I coughed, “no, you’re the one who’s insane, refusing to rest when you’re obviously sick” Jae said, the others agreed with him. “okay guys, I’ll go home”

“let us take you home. That way we know you’re actually okay”

“Guys I’ll be okay” 

“dude you’re not driving yourself home” 

“I can drive you home” Ashley said, the others agreed that was best. “Guys-” I coughed, the words hurt my throat. My head spun a bit and I stumbled slightly. My friends all moved towards me, “You okay?” I nodded slowly, realizing actually how unsteady I suddenly felt. The room was swaying a bit, I suddenly felt on the verge of fainting. “Eric!” 

Jae p.o.v

I watched as all color faded from Eric’s face, he swayed a bit on his feet. Ashley called his name, she sounded as panicked as I felt. Eric started to fall over, Mathew and I quickly moved forward and grabbed onto him as gently as possible but keeping him from hitting the floor. Once we had him stabilized enough Mathew guided the only half conscious Eric to a couch. “does anyone have a thermometer?” Ashley asked looking at us, “We’re in a studio. I seriously doubt they have a thermometer just laying around.” Peniel said, all of us looked at Eric who was laying against the arm of the couch, his skin was pasty. “I’m going to get my car keys, he needs to be home” Ashley said, we all agreed. Peniel began packing up the food, Mathew gathered up Eric’s stuff, Jamie helped cleaning up. I had somehow ended up on babysitting the sickie duty. Things were going fine, he was still mostly asleep, but he was still quite pale. I noticed a green tinge that made me a bit uneasy.  He suddenly gagged and I jumped backwards to avoid it. But I realized it was my job to take care of him, I took a trashcan and slid it next to Eric, he gagged again, I guided him to be over the trashcan, I was uneasy but I set my hand on Eric’s back. Cringing when he gagged again and the sound of vomit hitting the trash can echoed in my ears. The smell made me feel nauseous. He sat up and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “don’t” I swallowed nervously, I took a tissue from the box and gave it to him. He used it to wipe around his mouth and nose. “You okay?” I asked, the smell was starting to bother me. “yeah” he coughed, he looked at the trash can, then up at me, “shit Jae, I’m sorry” 

“it’s okay bro” I tried to force a smile, he moved to stand up. I put my arm in front of him, “what?” he coughed, “I don’t think you should stand up yet.Last time you did you almost passed out.”

“oh” He looked a bit confused. “do you remember it?”

“not really, but I was wondering why I was on a couch” He coughed after before suddenly bringing his arm up to his face, “hETcHu- ETChhu- etCHHu-”

“bless you” 

“thanks” he took a few of the tissues out and blew his nose, I cringed a bit. Hoping he didn’t notice, “sorry Jae” oh, guess he did notice. “It’s fine”

“I know you don’t like being around sick people”

“Seriously dude, it’s fine” even though I’d prefer to be anywhere but with a sick person I tried my best to assure Eric it was fine. I didn’t want him to feel guilty on top of already being sick. 

I was very relieved when Ashley and Jamie came back in the room at that moment. “Hey. You’re awake” Ashley said, Jamie wrinkled her nose, “did you throw up?” Eric looked embarrassed, “yeah, feel better though” 

“That’s good. We should still get you home. You’re still pretty feverish” Ashley said, having placed her hand on Eric’s forehead. He looked even more embarrassed. Mathew and Peniel came in at that time. “He’s alive!” Peniel said, which earned a glare from Eric. Causing Mathew and I to both laugh. Ashley rolled her eyes, “Let’s get you to the car and home to rest” 

“Do you need help bro?” Mathew asked as Eric stood up. Eric shook his head, he swayed slightly. Mathew and Peniel both stood on either side of Eric, just in case. Ashley had gone with them because she was driving. Jamie and I were in the back. “I’m gonna clean up a bit. Can you grab my stuff” She nodded towards the gross trash bin. “Jamie, it’s okay, I can do it”

“Jae, nah bro. I know you really hate that stuff. Besides you already had to deal with it once.” She shoved my shoulder, “go get my bag” I nodded, feeling very grateful for her. 

After gathering her stuff and mine I went back to the room she was in. She looked a bit disgusted, but she didn’t make any comment about it, only taking her bag from me. “You coming with me?” 

“yeah, are we going to Eric’s house?”

“yeah, Ash and I were talking about it. We’re all gonna meet up at his house and watch over him” 

“babysitting Eric” 

“Paying him back for the countless times he babysits us” She said laughing. I nodded, “yeah” 

Eric p.o.v

I must have fallen asleep in the car because before I knew it I was being shaken awake by Mathew, “Bro, you’re home” I rubbed at my eyes, trying to shake the tired feeling. I climbed out of the car, noticing how sore I felt. I started walking to the front door when i realized I left my house keys at the studio, I was about to say something when Peniel held the keys out to me, “you might want those” I thanked him. I unlocked the door. My friends all followed me inside, Jamie and Jae showed up while I was unlocking the door. “what are you guys doing? You’re going to get sick” 

“Bro, we aren’t leaving you alone” Jamie said as if it was obvious. “You babysit us on a daily basis. It’s our turn now” Jae said with a teasing smirk. “thanks guys” 

“go lay down. You need sleep. That’s the number one best thing for someone who is sick” Ashley said gently pushing my shoulder. “I’ll make some soup.” She said turning towards the kitchen. “Eric where do you keep the medicine?” Mathew asked, I pointed towards the bathroom, my throat was too sore to speak. “Okay, to be with you” Jamie said, her arms crossed. I slowly went to my bed. “Do you need a bucket in case you get sick?” Jae asked, seeming a bit uneasy. “No, my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore” I sniffled, my nose itched, “HTChuuh- ETChHu- etTCHu” 

“bless you” 

“thanks” I sniffled, I held my sleeve against my nose. I went up to my room. Peniel walked with me, I heard the others say something about making sure I didn’t faint on the way. 

I got to bed and must have fallen asleep and slept hard because it felt like only a few seconds later when I woke up. I looked at my phone and saw it had been nearly 6 hours since we had gotten home. I assumed my friends had left, so I was surprised when I got downstairs and they were all sitting on the couch watching tv. “Hey” I said, drawing their attention to me. “IT’S ALIVE” Jamie yelled. I rolled my eyes. “How are you feeling?” Mathew asked. “better. actually a lot better. Mainly just congested.” I coughed. 

“That’s good. There’s soup in the fridge we can re-heat. You need to get some food in your body so we can get some medicine in your system.” Ashley said, she stood up and began walking to the kitchen, she gently pushed my shoulder, “go sit down. you do look a bit more steady on your feet but we want to be on the safe side.” I sat down next to Mathew, Jae looked over at me, “you look a lot less pale now”