Lillian
The sound of a heavy fist pounding on her door stirred her from a slumber that was much too short. Her mind was groggy, her body weighed down with fatigue. As she forced herself upright, Chelsea's voice rang out. "Lillian, may I come in?" When she got to her feet, Lillian's head spun. A dry coughing fit racked through her body as she shuffled on weak legs to the door.
Chelsea gasped when the door opened. Her hand flew to her mouth. "You don't look so well."
Lillian slumped against the door frame. The wood felt cool on her skin, easing her dizziness by a small margin. "Sorry, Chels. Haven't been sleeping much lately." Everything around her went dark for a moment. Her body felt weightless, then the world around her came back in a haze.
A pair of strong arms cradled her in a secure embrace. The touch of Chelsea's small hand felt chilly on her feverish skin. "She's burning up."
Another voice, Mitchell's voice reached her ears. "I'll take her to the medical office. Do you know how to reach her rep?" Her weight shifted as Mitchell stood with her, making her head spin again.
Lillian gritted her teeth, doing her best to will her body to move. "Don't … need … medi-," her world turned dark again, body going slack. She fainted before she could finish speaking.
Chelsea
Dehydration and Exhaustion. That was the medic's diagnosis for her condition. Chelsea recalled the majority of the campus would ask for extra water to bring with them but to their rooms, but Lillian never did. Was her social anxiety so severe that she would forget such a necessity?
She glanced at her friend's face. Lillian was sleeping soundly on the sterile plastic covered bed, her cheeks and the bridge of her nose red with fever. Her small pink lips were chapped. The medic injected an IV into her lower right arm to help replenish her fluids.
Frantic tapping from someone running echoed down the hall. Chelsea listened as the steps came closer, until they came to an abrupt halt just a short distance from the door. The man that stepped through the office door looked just like Drax, with his messy chestnut brown hair and vibrant green eyes. Instead of golden armor, he was dressed to impress with charcoal grey business suit and blue tie. It was easy to see he held some authority within the company, judging by the Id badge clipped to his chest. The moment his gaze fell on Lillian lying ill on the bed, his face went ashen. He approached slowly, almost as if he feared startling her. "How is she?"
"The doc said she should be fine after some fluids and proper rest," Chelsea answered, taking in the way the knight in his fancy tailored suit gazed at Lillian. The sharp edge of worry to his facial features softened at the news.
Lillian cracked her eyes open, glassy and brown with fatigue. A shadow of a smile touched her lips before sleep claimed her again. This was only the second time Chelsea had seen Lillian acknowledge someone warmly.
The petite girl faced the gentleman across from her with a grin, catching the name on his ID. "Guess that means you're trustworthy, Mr. Braxen."
Mark's head snapped around to Chelsea in surprise. Heat bloomed across his cheeks. He had been staring at Lillian as if in a trance, momentarily forgetting about the smaller woman. He cleared his throat. "Oh, really? How do you know?"
Chelsea told Mark of the experiences she had with Lillian whenever she found herself in social situations. Mark's face fell. He ran his fingers through his hair making it more messy. "It must have all been a shock to her system."
Watching her friend slowly recovering in bed, she could see her in a different light. Not as some unshakable force nor a spirit broken beyond repair. There was a different kind of strength. A resilience that could only be forged through severe hardship. "She went through hell before we met her. Didn't she?"
"As her rep, I'm not allowed to say. As her friend, I can tell you her scars run deep. Give her time." At some point while he was speaking, his hand reached for Lillian's. Her fever was already fading thanks to the fluids dripping through the IV. Her color had slowly returned to normal.
"It's not polite to talk polite about someone behind their back." Mark and Chelsea flinched. Lillian awoke while they were speaking. Some of her eyes' normal colors had returned.
A small wicked grin spread across Chelsea's face. "Then it's a good thing we're talking beside you."
Lillian's eyes lit up with humor. She chuckled with a toothy grin. "Mischievous pixie."
Chelsea laughing returning the teasing tone. "Sneaky Shifter." Before her very eyes, Lillian's carefully built walls starting to open up a little more, like an older sister slowly adjusting to accepting a younger sister.