The Fever Read Online Free

night. Why?"
    Disappointed that Dylan couldn't help her with last night's puzzle, Duffy sank back against the pillow. "I had this dream ..." she began. Maybe Dylan could help her figure it out. "At least, I think it was a dream. There were these noises ... it was really bizarre, like there was someone in the room. It was too dark to see, and I was kind of asleep. I was sure someone was doing something in here. But when I

    called out... if I really did call out, no one answered
    me.
    Dylan looked interested. "Maybe someone was in here. The other bed is gone. Maybe someone was taking it out while you were sleeping and that's what you heard."
    Duffy shook her head. "No. Smith just came and got the bed a little while ago. Took it to Pediatrics. And Amy said at breakfast that no one's been in that bed the whole time I've been here, so. ..."
    Dylan thought for a minute. "One of the nurses told me your temperature was headed for the record books when they brought you in. No wonder you've been hearing things. I'm surprised you're not seeing things, too." He stopped and gave her a quizzical look. "You're not, are you? I mean, did you see anything last night?"
    "No. It was too dark. That httle night-light over by the door isn't worth two cents. A jar of fireflies would make a better light."
    He laughed. Then he took the wastebasket out into the hall and emptied it into a giant wheeled container.
    As he left the room, Duffy sat up straight in bed. There was something . . .
    When Dylan returned to put the small basket in its proper place, Duffy commanded, "Do that again."
    'What? Do what again?"
    "Go out and come back in. Go on\ Quit looking at me like I just sprouted a second head. I have a good reason. Just do it, please."

    Frowning, Dylan obeyed. When he came back in, he said, 'What was that all about?"
    "It's your shoesl" Duffy leaned forward to peer over the edge of her bed. "That's one of the sounds I heard last night . . . that funny slap-slap on the tile. Rubber-soled shoes!"
    Dylan was visibly unimpressed. "Duffy," he said kindly, "this is a hospital. Practically everyone wears rubber-soled shoes, so we won't disturb the patients."
    Dufiy struggled to figure out if she'd just learned anything important. **Yes, but if a member of the staff was in my room last night, why didn't they answer when I called out? There was just this weird, creepy silence."
    "You said you weren't quite awake. Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"
    Disappointed that Dylan had no better answer than that, Duffy flopped back down on the pillow.
    "Hey, don't be mad," he said softly, reaching down to take one of her hands in his. Hers felt parched and dry, his strong and comforting. "Maybe it's your fever. High temperatures can do crazy things to people."
    Crazy? That wasn't what she wanted to hear.
    Seeing the look on her face, Dylan said hastily, "Look, you had to be dreaming, Duffy. If no one was in the other bed, the only reason a nurse would be in this room would be to take care of you. Since you say no one was doing that, it's pretty clear that there wasn't anyone here, right?"
    "I don't say that no one was taking care of me,

    Dylan ... no one was. Vm not making this up."
    But she didn't want to be mad at Dylan. Especially not over something she herself didn't understand. It wasn't fair to expect Dylan to understand it. They'd been friends a long time. She probably would have dated him once upon a time, but he, like everyone else, had thought she and Kit were a couple, and he'd begun dating Amy Severn. They had broken up only a couple of weeks ago. And he'd been so nice to Duffy since she was admitted to the hospital, she was beginning to wonder if he might be interested in more than friendship now.
    She was too sick to think about romance. Besides, how could anybody possibly be interested in someone who looked like roadkill? Dylan was only in her room because he had work to do.
    But when she was well again . . . maybe . . .
    "I guess you're right," she