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Nadia and I had been discussing her headaches that morning in her private study when Portia came rushing in, spluttering out apologies as she drug me out towards the library. She led me through a few secret passages explaining how Julian had been up all night working refusing to stop and she needed someone to convince him to rest.
Once in the library I made my way back to his desk, not even five feet away and I could already make out the sheen of sweat covering his face. He was frantically scribbling something onto parchment, muttering indiscernible words under his breath as he ran a hand through auburn hair. I hadn’t been noticed yet as I stood next to the desk, watching the words messily appear and then be scratched out only to be rewritten again.
“Julian.” I murmured, keeping my voice soft as not to startle him. Gaining no response I sighed and reached for his hand causing the quill to strike across the remaining empty page.
“Oh, (Y/N) when did you get here?” I ignored his question bringing my hand to his forehead and taking notice in the heat that seemed to pulse off of him. He definitely felt like he had a fever, and every so often he let out a sniffle. Possibly a simple cold, it would be easy to fix with proper care but knowing Julian he would deny that he was sick.
“What is so important that you decided to neglect your health and let a fever wreck havoc on your body?” I questioned conjuring up a bowl of cold water and a cloth. My hands moved without thought taking the cloth and running it across his forehead, his eyes closed in relief before snapping open and meeting mine.
“I am not sick, besides I needed to finish my notes on the new batch of leeches I got last week.” He croaked, his hand reached for mine pulling me into his arms to lay his head on my chest. “You can have me to yourself now if that's what you wish”
“You have a fever Jules and you need to rest, let's take you back to your room.” I suggested quietly. There was an odd sort of peace that settled around us as he leaned on me, his frenzied state from earlier calming. When he didn’t move or respond I ran a hand through his hair before tilting his head back to look at me.
“I can’t have you falling asleep on me Doctor,” I teased. “We need to get you to a proper bed,”
His grey eyes twinkled with mischief at my words and I lightly knocked him on the back of the head, “Not like that you goof.”
He rose to his feet then, movements sluggish as he slung a long arm across my shoulders giving me a silly grin. “Lead the way Darling.”
We made slow progress towards his bedroom, passing the occasional servant who gave me a stiff nod as I lugged the giant mass of man around. At one point I caught sight of Portia scurrying towards Nadia's wing with a platter.
There were times when I absolutely loved the way the palace was with the winding halls you could get lost in and then there was now when I strongly wished that the guest chambers were closer to the library.
Eventually we were at his door and I used a spell to push the door open, hauling Julian to his bed and tucking him in. During our walk here he had begun to mumble under his breath and occasionally I’d catch wind of what he was saying. I had assumed that meant his fever was getting worse so I had conjured another bowl of cold water, wiping his forehead and neck to hopefully provide some comfort. I moved to place the bowl on his dresser and when I turned back around his eyes were fixed firmly on me, lips pressed tightly together.
“Stay.” The words were uttered so quietly I was afraid I was the one hallucinating but as I made my was back over to him his face relaxed. He grasped my hand once I was close enough, pulling me to sit on the edge of his bed while his eyes stayed focused on the sheets, “Please.”
I smiled and placed my free hand on his cheek before smoothing back his hair and meeting his eyes with mine, “Of course, I’m not going anywhere.”