"Angel, are you okay?" Apparently in her hurry to make it to the bathroom in time, she had managed to wake Taylor.

She shook her head and collapsed into Taylor's arms. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and he reached for the bottle of Aspirin on the counter. He handed her one, and then Taylor got her a glass of water. Angel took small sips, and she managed to keep the Aspirin down for about five minutes before she had to empty her stomach all over again.

Taylor held her hair up for her, and he gently stroked her back. When she was finished, he flushed it for her and he gave her another sip of the water. He tied her hair back with a rubber band, and he noticed a tear slide down her cheek.

He wiped it away. "What's wrong?" he asked, very concerned.

"It feels like I'm gonna die. My stomach hurts, I'm dizzy, I'm extremely cold, and-" she was cut off by what was left in her stomach coming up.

Taylor waited patiently until Angel was done, and he flushed it once again. She held on to him tightly, and he picked her up and carried her to the bed.

"Do you want me to go get one of your parents?" Taylor asked.

"No. They'll just tell me to shut up. Then they'll tell me how great my life is and how they didn't even have indoor plumbing or something stupid like that. Besides, then they'll know you were sleeping in here," Angel said as she buried her face in Taylor's chest and started crying again.

Taylor kissed her cheek, and he noticed how warm she was. He got up and found a thermometer under the sink. He gently placed it under her tongue, and he was very surprised when it turned out to be over 100 degrees.

"Angel, do you have any rubbing alcohol?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I have a full bottle in the cabinet on the far left side of the sink."

When Taylor returned with the bottle, she slipped her shirt off. She knew what he was doing. She had learned in 6th grade that when a person has a high fever, you're supposed to rub rubbing alcohol over their chest because it's so cold, and it evaporates quickly.

Taylor quickly rubbed it on her chest, and to her delight, the temperature went down a few degrees so that it was almost near her normal body temperature. He put her shirt back on for her because he didn't want her to be any colder than she already was.

Angel suddenly felt her stomach turn, and once again, she rushed to the bathroom. This time, though, she didn't have anything left to get rid of, and she let Taylor carry her back to the bed.

"It feels like I'm gonna die," she said, once Taylor had put her back on the bed.

Taylor slid in next to her, held her tightly in his lap, and she put her head down on his shoulder. "I'm not gonna let you die, Angel," he said, even though he knew she was exaggerating. "Are you sure you don't want me to go get your parents, though?"

"I'm sure. Just stay here with me," she whispered.

"I'm not going to leave. Trust me. I'd never do that to you," he said as he took the rubber band out of her hair and began combing through it with his fingers.

For some reason, this seemed to comfort her a great deal. She knew that if it had come from anyone else, she wouldn't have been able to go to sleep. Maybe it was the way Taylor said it that seemed so soothing. Maybe it was because she knew that it was true and that Taylor really wouldn't leave her. Maybe she just needed to know that someone would be taking care of her while she was asleep. Maybe...

Before long, Angel was asleep, but Taylor continued to rock her gently in his arms.