#nr15

Jason blinked at the books in front of him.  Everything blurred and for a moment he couldn’t remember what was going on.  He pressed his hand against his head.  It was pounding painfully.  

It felt like he was trying to think through a daze.  Like everything around him were sluggish and strange.  He was so tired, drowsy, that he was barely able to function.  So he just sat there, staring at the books.  

He barely noticed when the door opened.

“Jay-Jay?” Rowan asked as he noticed, Jason did not react to him coming in.  His friend just sat there staring at the books like he did not know what he was seeing. 

Jason just muttered something incoherently, voice hoarse and scratchy.  

Rowan frowned and walked over to Jason, putting a hand on his friend shoulder.  “Hey...  Jay-Jay?” he asked “Are you alright?”

Jason flinched at the touched before just staring at Rowan’s hand in confusion.  It looked like he wasn’t even aware of what was going on.  

“Come on, Jay-Jay...” Rowan said “Talk to me?”

For a moment it looked like Jason was going to try and say something, but he just shut his eyes tightly.  

Rowan put a hand against Jason’s forehead.  “You’re burning up” he said “Why didn’t you say something?”

“...row...” Jason muttered before he just slumped to the side, forcing Rowan to catch him.  His breathing sounded a bit off, strained and painful.  After a moment his eyes flickered open again, unfocused and confused. 

“Shit, Jason...” he said and slowly moved so he could put Jason’s arm over his shoulders and slowly helped the other guy to get up.  

Jason leaned against him, barely able to move on his own.

Slowly Rowan helped Jason out of the office and to his room.  Jason were barely reacting to anything. He was unbalanced, barely able to move in a straight line.   

His eyes flickered open when they reached his room.  

He flinched as the world around him started morphing into strange shapes.  Quickly he shut his eyes again, biting back a moan.  He shook his head slightly, as if trying to get away from the images and pain and confusion.  

“Jason....” Rowan said as he was forced to catch his friend when he collapsed right in front of his door.

Rowan swore as he picked Jason up carrying him to the bed.  

“I’m going to call the doc” he said he stepped back.  

Jason groaned, his eyes flickering open for a moment .  They were unfocused.  For a moment his eyes found Rowan.  

“....Rowan...” he muttered, the word slurred and confused “I...  I don’t...  I...”

Rowan sighed.  “it’s okay, man” he said gently “It’s alright...  The doc will take care of you, just get some rest alright?”

Jason’s eyes were confused, it was like he had no idea what Rowan was talking about, unable to understand anything.  Rowan just sighed and patted Jason on the shoulder.  “Stay here, buddy” he said “Try to get some sleep, alright?”

Still Jason just stared at him with confusion.  

“Sleep...” Rowan said.  

Jason closed his eyes after a moment.  “... sorry....” he muttered his words slurring almost unrecognizable.  

Rowan sighed and pulled out his phone as he left the room, pulling the door close behind him.

***

“Where is he?” Sam asked softly.  

“The doc just left” Rowan said “Gave some medicine for Jason, but that’s about it”

“And....  What’s going on with him?”

“The usual...  He’s got a really high fever.  Doc said  that’s why he started to before delirious”

“He was alright this morning...” Sam said softly “Maybe a little tired, but he didn’t look sick”

“You know how it goes” Rowan said “He always get the worse”

Sam nodded.  “I’ll try to get his fever down” she said as she took the cloth and bowl from Rowan “You get some rest, please”

Rowan nodded. 

With that Sam made her way to Jason room.  Jason was asleep, moving restlessly in the bed, like he was dreaming.  

Sam placed the bowl on the bedside table before sitting down on the bed, brushing some of Jason’s sweaty hair out of his face.

“Jay...?” she said softly “Hey sweetheart...  How are you feeling?”

For a moment it looked like Jason were going to wake up, but he just muttered hoarsely before continuing to sleep.

Gently Sam touched his forehead. Even before she could even touch him, she felt the heat radiating of his skin.  He was moving restlessly, like he was having a bad dream.

His broken voice muttered softly, barely audible words.  

Sam wrung out the cloth and wiped Jason’s face, gently trying to cool him down a bit.  

“Ssshhh...” she said softly, brushing his hair back and putting the cool cloth on his forehead “Easy now, my dear...  Take it easy and let me take care of you for once”

Jason moaned as he moved a bit restlessly.

Sam bit her lip.  “Come on you idiot” she said sternly “Just keep still would you?”

For a moment Jason’s eyes flickered open.  They searched around, looking for something before flinching and closing them again.  

“Jason” Sam said cupping his cheek “Hey what’s wrong?”

The way his eyes moved, behind the closed lids, was familiar.  It was clear that he was dreaming.  

Sam sighed and cooled the cloth again, wiping his face.  

Jason muttered, his breathing spiked and he moved even more restlessly.  The words slurred and broken.

The moment he started thrashing around, she knew what was going on.  Gently she focused on calming him down, trying to keep the fevered dreams from getting any worse.  

It was when the worse dreams started.  

Jason started thrashing on the bed, muttering and tangling in the sheets. Sam did her best to calm him down. 

His eyes flickered open for a moment.  

“Ssshhh....  It’s alright, Jay” Sam said, brushing his hair back with one hand “It’s just a dream...  Deep breaths...  You’ve got a fever”

Jason’s fevered eyes found her, they looked confused.  “....Sammy....”

Sam brushed his hair back.  “It’s alright” she said gently “Everything is alright.  It was just a dream.  Don’t try to talk alright?”

For a moment his eyes went out of focus before closing again as he fell back into a fevered sleep.  The dreams kept on coming back.  Some worse than others, making him thrash around and try calling out, while his voice refused to work.

Sam stayed with him, until the fevered dreams became less and he lowly started waking up again.  

Jason groaned, wincing at the pain in his throat.  “...sammy...” he muttered, struggling to get his voice to voice.  It felt raw, like he’s been scream.

“Jay” Sam said with a tired smile, leaning over him, cupping his face “Hey...  Are you awake now?”

He nodded slightly before shivering.  

“Why didn’t you tell us you weren’t feeling well?” she asked as she reached over to the bedside table, picking up the medicine the doctor left for him.

“sorry...” he muttered.

“It’s alright” she said “Drink this.  It should help with the fever and the pain”

Jason tried to sit up, but his arms just gave in beneath him.  With a sigh, Sam gently lifted his head, so he could swallow the medicine.

Once we figured out the entrance, we were surprised how big the outside area actually was! The plants were laid out well, everything was in categories so it was easy to find what you were looking for and there was plenty of different varieties. 

We didn’t go with anything specific in mind that we wanted to get, but it was a good place for a browse. Chloe got a reduced white lavender which was actually in great condition at 50% marked price, meaning it was £4.50 and Ollie got an ornamental grass, it wasn’t labelled but it was also half price and cost somewhere around a fiver which is perfect for next to his new pond (more to come on that soon, I’m sure). Chaelyn bought a ceramic pot which again was half price, so we must have caught them at a good time! Regardless of the reduced items, we felt that in general they were reasonably priced throughout their plants, and everything seemed great quality. 

Chloe absolutely fell in love with a few of the dahlias that they had in stock, which again were reasonably priced and great condition. It was nice to see something a bit more striking, and she is pretty passionate about Dahlias. 

Indoors had the normal selection of tools, seeds and tat. The tools weren’t cheap, but no more expensive than anywhere else - standard prices for branded tools. There was some cute niknaks, some were a bit tacky, but we did enjoy the bird house that looked like a pub 👌 (but maybe that’s just lockdown kicking in). Definitely a good spot to buy gifts for your mum. 

Tiny houseplant section, nothing particularly unusual, but not really the sort of place you’d go for houseplants anyway so no love lost there. 

Service was nice, the lady was polite and friendly but felt a bit bad for her trying to serve as well as ‘police’ the queue to keep them 2 metre apart on her own! 

Ash and Chaelyn popped into the farm shop after we paid. Covid meant that there was a strict one way system, but that didn’t spoil anything. As soon as you walk in there is loads of fresh, local fruit and veg. The place is packed with typical ‘farm shop’ stuff, as well as local teas, booze, bakery items and Chaelyn’s favourite - soaps and cake! Prices were really reasonable for the quality and service was friendly. All in all, really enjoyable. 

The results are in...

Value for Money: 4/5

Service: 5/5

Selection: 4/5

Quality of Plants: 5/5

Atmosphere & Aesthetic: 3.5/5