Smoke -- Jim Hopper

53. THANKFUL

sorry friends I've been lacking on the other books, I got super busy all of a sudden so I can only write at like one in the morning lol

As always enjoy, love you all uwu so fluffy (I kinda teared up a bit)

not edited

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Natalie sat by Jim's side, her hand in his limp one. He had been going in and out of consciousness all night and was sick as a dog. She placed her free palm on his forehead to make sure his condition wasn't getting worse, thankfully he was stable.

Joyce came back into the room holding two steaming cups of coffee. She sat down next to Natalie and handed her a cup.

"Thank you," Natalie said and rubbed her eyes before taking a sip, smiling at the warmth it gave her.

Joyce nodded, "of course," she took a sip of her coffee before looking at Natalie with a wide smile, "so, got any preference on gender?"

Natalie laughed, "so we're jumping right into this then," she stopped laughing, but was still smiling, starting to feel a little less scared of being pregnant, "I think any gender would be fine with me."

Joyce nodded, smiling to herself. The sun just started to rise and bathe the living room in the soft glow of morning light. Birds began singing their morning songs and the dogs rose to their feet, tails wagging.

"Oh, guess they need to go out," Natalie said about to get up.

"No, no sit back down. You need to watch Jim, I got them," Joyce said and stood up, still holding her mug, "C' mon boys, let's go potty."

The dogs trotted after Joyce who let them out through the front door and followed them out, leaving the door open behind her.

Natalie looked down at Jim and grabbed the damp washcloth from her lap and placed it on his forehead. Jim stirred, letting out a groan and she leaned forward in her seat.

"Jim?" she glanced at the pot next to the stool she was sitting on, she better grab it just in case.

Jim opened his eyes, groaning, he tried to sit up a little.

Natalie placed her hand on his shoulder, pushing him down, "careful."

He looked at her, squinting hard at her, he opened his mouth to speak, but let out a deeper groan. He quickly pulled his head up and Natalie scrambled with the pot and placed it in front of his face, looking away as he got sick.

"You're okay," she said rubbing his back with her free hand as he leaned over, holding onto the pot with one hand and her arm with his other.

Once Jim was done she quickly got up and set the pot in their bathtub in their bathroom before rushing back to Jim's side, grabbing an Asprin from the coffee table along with his glass of water. She placed it in front of him and he grabbed the pill and swallowed it, wincing.

"How long have I been out?" he asked, his voice raspy and weak.

Natalie shrugged, "a while, you've been drifting in and out."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "yeah, but how did I get here?" he asked referring to the couch.

Natalie cracked a grin and looked at Joyce when she walked in with the dogs, "we had to drag you here."

"That explains the road rash," he said and lifted his forearms up.

"Oh shut up," Natalie said and rolled her eyes, "we could have easily left you there."

"Not like you would have," he said and winked, which turned into a wince and his hand went to his back where his kidneys were, "shit."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Joyce asked, sitting down next to Natalie.