Charlotte hummed a tune as she walked up the many steps to her flat, swinging her leather case with her disguise in one hand, and a parcel with a few Christmas gifts in another. She’d been sneaking a few shillings away from Nick every week so she had enough money to buy him a nice gift for the holiday. It was as if he was buying it for himself in the end, but Charlotte always reminded herself that it’s the thought that counts. 

Her day had gone wonderfully so far. She’d been worried for weeks that she was failing the majority of her classes because of time missed, assignments not completed correctly, and just generally being confused but things were looking up, despite a few troubling moments. She swore she was almost caught one day when the professor called Charles to the front of the class to speak with her and while he was explaining that her grades were quickly slipping a familiar face stood next to her to pass in his assignment. The entire term Charles had never come in contact with Nick during school. She made sure she was one of the last people in class so she could sit as far away from him as possible, and made a point to avoid him when they were handing things in. With two hundred people in the class it wasn’t too difficult. It was only that moment when he stood beside her that she thought she was done, but he passed in his paper and went on his way. It wasn’t until later that he told her how odd it was that a man in one of his classes smelled just like her. 

Exams were coming up just before the break for Christmas and Charlotte was worried, but not as worried as before. She had found out that the classes she thought she was failing she was actually just barely passing, and a passing grade on the exam would ensure her success in first term. She only hoped that she could achieve a passing grade. It seemed like whenever she needed to study Nick always had plans for them to be doing something else. Whereas in the beginning of the year she would have just ignored him, or gave him food to occupy his time, she quickly realized that it wasn’t going to work for very long and she had to do what he wanted to do some of the time and cram all of her reading into the times when he was working. 

Nick had been taking on a lot of extra shifts at the butcher shop, sometimes working well into the night. Everyone was planning grand holiday dinners and putting in orders for large amounts of meat so the owner kept them there overtime trying to fill all of the requests that came in. Charlotte knew that Nick was tired from school and the extra work and had been suffering through a cold for a few weeks, but with more work came more money, so she selfishly hoped for a very nice gift when they got to her parent’s for Christmas. 

When Charlotte reached the top of the stairs she was surprised to see their door ajar. She felt a slight sense of panic thinking that maybe they’d been robbed, but it wouldn’t make sense for a burglar to climb all those stairs when there are flats on the bottom floor. She approached the door hesitantly and pushed it open the rest of the way, slightly surprised to see Nick sitting on the bed. He wasn’t moving and Charlotte found herself taking a long look at his stomach just to make sure he was breathing. She closed the door behind her and stashed her things in the closet before going to stand in front of him.

“Are you alright? Shouldn’t you be at work?” she asked, watching him continue to look down at the ground, his boots half unlaced.

“They sent me home,” Nick replied with a raspy voice, coughing as soon as air hit his lungs.

“Why?” 

“Because I’m sick!” he whined, wiping his nose on a handkerchief.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and bent down to take off Nick’s boots, “Oh you’re not that sick.”

“I am,” he contested, pulling his feet free, “It’s been weeks and I’m not feeling any better.”

“Did you go see a doctor?” she wondered, knowing the answer. 

“No,” he said with a hint of a pout in his voice.

“Then I guess you’re not that sick,” she shrugged, lifting his legs up off the floor and onto the bed so she could cover him with the quilt.

“Well I’m sorry Miss. Nightingale, I didn’t realize I was in the presence of an expert,” Nick grumbled sarcastically, his head flopping back on the pillow. 

Charlotte crossed her arms and looked down at him curiously, “Who?”

Nick was surprised, given that Charlotte was all about women being independent that she didn’t know who Florence Nightingale was, “She’s famous,” he answered, adding, “She’s a nurse.”

“Well if she’s famous she must be a really good nurse,” Charlotte concluded as she moved to the stove to boil water for tea, “Maybe you should go see her and she can tell you how not that sick you are.”

Nick sighed, “I’m pretty sure she’s retired, not that it matters,” he rolled his eyes, “You know I really hope this is contagious.”

“I don’t really get sick, myself,” Charlotte shrugged, making him sit up so he could drink his tea. 

Nick tried not to smile at her smugness and took a sip of his tea, his face contorting at the taste, “Honey,” he said weakly.

“Yes?” Charlotte replied in a chipper voice.

Nick couldn’t keep himself from laughing, trying not to cough up a lung in the process, “No, it’s bitter, needs honey,” he explained.

Charlotte took his cup and added honey, making sure it was just to his liking before handing it back, “There you go,” she said running a hand over his hair, “I think I heard Sue getting in I’m going to pop in real quick to talk to her.”

“Don’t be long,” Nick told her. He didn’t really like the amount of time that Charlotte was spending next door. He liked Sue well enough, she seemed like an okay woman but her views on women’s rights were even more left wing, and liberal than his wife’s. He worried sometimes that the opinionated old woman might be filling Charlotte’s head with ideas that could get her into trouble. 

Charlotte just waved him off as she closed the door behind her, heading next door. She had taken to doing some of her school work at the neighbour’s just because Nick would assume they were having tea and chatting and wouldn’t bother to interrupt so she didn’t have to worry about finishing in a rush. 

She loved talking with Sue because she knew so much. Of course, talking to Nick was interesting also, but if you didn’t speak Latin or Greek, follow University rugby and football, or be very politically conservative then the discussion could occasionally come up short. He could be liberal when it came to some topics, but then on others he would talk her into the ground on how wrong she was for thinking a certain way. Sometimes it was just hard to keep up because he was obviously a lot smarter than she. 

Sue never did that though and that’s why Charlotte loved talking to her. She never felt like she was being spoken down to, or chastised for thinking one way or another. Sue would tell her stories of all the places she’d been during her life and all of the things she did while there. Sue had become a big part of lobbying for the legalization of birth control, and she often tried to get Charlotte involved in their movements, especially now that she herself was practicing it. One thing that Sue had become keenly interested in was the fact that Charlotte’s church had a group who was only there to ensure that the birth control advocates didn’t succeed and Charlotte had become a bit of a spy for the cause. 

“So it’s all men?” Sue asked, pouring more tea into her cup.

Charlotte nodded, “I saw them after mass putting up signs on the bulletin board about a protest they were going to attend. As far as I could see everyone was male.”

“Figures,” Sue scoffed, “So concerned about spreading their seed they don’t even think about what it’s like to have to give birth to eighteen children.”

“They’re not all like that!” Charlotte tried to defend.

Sue shook her head, “My dear, don’t let them fool you. They are all like that, they might tell you different, but they’re lying. That’s what men do, they lie.”

Charlotte wasn’t going to argue the point with her so she conceded and Sue continued her rant. Her mind went to Nick for a moment, thinking of how for the last few hours she’d been able to hear him coughing through the wall but she hadn’t heard it recently.

“I should go check on Nick,” she suddenly said, interrupting whatever the other woman was saying.

Sue looked at her quizzically, brushing back a strand of her long grey hair, “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s sick,” she explained, “I really should be taking care of him.”

Sue crossed her arms and shook her head at the young, naïve girl in front of her, “He’s a grown man, I’m sure he can take care of himself.”

“That’s just it,” Charlotte sighed, “He can take care of himself better than I can take care of him. He takes care of me most of the time too, but I love him and I want to make sure he’s okay because I know he would do the same for me.”

Sue relented, knowing it was more a matter of conscience than a man/wife debate, “You’re right, everyone likes to be pampered when they’re ill.”

Charlotte made a quick dash back to her flat, gasping when she opened the door to see Nick curled up in a ball under the quilt shivering. She went to his side immediately, noticing that the sheets were soaked with sweat. 

“You’re burning up,” she observed, her hand on his forehead, “You should have come and gotten me!” 

Nick just groaned in response while Charlotte tried to figure out what to do. Truthfully she had no idea what to do, being a person who had rarely been ill since she was a child she wasn’t really skilled in remedies and found herself standing in the middle of the flat wishing that her mother were there to take care of Nick so she didn’t have so much stress about it. 

“Okay,” Charlotte spoke aloud to no one in particular, “We have to get your fever down is what we have to do,” she stated, quickly going into the closet to grab more blankets. She piled them all on the bed on top of Nick, tucking him in tightly while he shivered uncontrollably. She sat down next to him and rubbed his arms, trying to warm up the rest of his body.

“I don’t think this is working,” Nick complained, his voice small and weak.

Charlotte brushed back his sweaty bangs, concerned by the heat that was radiating off of his forehead. His entire face was red and sweaty and she was at a complete loss as to what she should do if the blankets didn’t work. She just remembered a time when her brother had a fever and her mother put extra blankets on the bed to keep him warm so he could sweat it out. It didn’t seem like Nick was sweating out the illness, only getting worse. 

“I don’t know what else to do,” she admitted, looking to him for some sort of guidance. 

“My mother,” Nick began, having to stop to take a deep breath, “She would put something cold on my head.”

“Something cold,” Charlotte repeated, thinking of where she could get something really cold. Her thoughts immediately went to the ice box and she left Nick quickly to see if she could get some ice from Sue.

“How sick is he?” Sue asked as Charlotte returned looking for ice.

“He’s got a really bad fever,” Charlotte responded, running her hands through her long brown hair anxiously.

“I’ll come take a look at him,” Sue offered, sensing that Charlotte wasn’t all that good with sick people. 

The two of them walked back over and Sue was amazed when she realized just how bad Nick’s fever was. 

“How long has he been sick?” she asked, pulling the blankets back off of him.

“He hasn’t been feeling well for a few weeks now. Um, coughing, a little fever I suppose, just a cold,” Charlotte tried to explain, not really knowing what Nick’s symptoms were since she kept telling him he wasn’t as sick as he said.

Sue tossed the blankets to the floor and Nick curled up more mainly because he was cold but also because he didn’t like the idea of someone else being the one to care for him. Sue sensed his pride showing through slightly so instead she instructed Charlotte on what to do.

“Now you’ll know for next time,” she told her, “You need to get him out of those wet clothes.”

Charlotte nodded and moved to remove the work clothes that Nick still had on but his hand grabbing hers stopped her.

“I will not be seen indecent by some old woman,” he said sternly, his cold hand gripping her wrist.

“She knows how to make you feel better,” Charlotte tried to reason but Nick just held onto her tighter.

“Charlotte,” he merely spoke her name but his tone made her know that he was serious beyond any doubt. 

“Alright,” Charlotte sighed before turning to Sue, “Just tell me what to do.”

Sue gave her a quick rundown of what she should do, shaking her head at Nick as she headed for the door, “That’s men for you, always afraid to look weak.”

“Hush,” Charlotte chastised, “he’s sick!” 

She quickly usher Sue out the door after thanking her for her help then took up the task of getting Nick better.

“Now, let’s get you out of those clothes shall we?” she asked rhetorically, trying to get him to sit up. The difference in size between them was vast, Charlotte being a slight, petite woman and Nick the complete opposite. He often got stares since it was unusual to see anyone as tall as he was, people over six feet tall were hard to come by. She was now realizing just how big the difference was as she fought to get Nick into a sitting position, then into the chair next to the bed without much help from him. 

Once she got him up she stripped him down to his skin and wrapped him in a blanket while she warmed some water. While the water boiled she stripped the bed and got fresh sheets (the only other set they owned) from the closet and remade the bed. Once the water was warm she poured it in a wash basin then stuck Nick’s feet in it, hearing him hiss as his skin hit the hot water. She wrapped a few more blankets around him then opened the window, letting in the cool night air. 

Nick tried to relax, leaning his head back against the wall. Charlotte sat by his feet and slowly rubbed his calves, trying to draw the blood back down to his legs and away from his head as Sue had instructed her. 

“Maybe we should go to your parent’s early,” he suggested after a few moments when his body temperature had finally started to return to normal and his chills had somewhat subsided.

“Why? You have exams,” Charlotte reminded him, staring at the fine hair on his legs as she warmed them.

Nick coughed loudly and groaned, “They’re not going to let me take them if I’m sick. They’re not going to let me be in a room full of scholars thinking I’m going to give everyone scarlet fever.”

“You don’t have scarlet fever,” she shrugged, really hoping he would decide to stay since she also had exams.

“I know I don’t,” Nick rolled his eyes; “It was an example. I would just really like to go home and get some rest and be taken care of.”

Charlotte stopped rubbing his leg and pulled his feet from the basin so she could dry them with a towel, “You mean so you can have your mother take care of you.”

“Don’t use that tone,” he shook his head then let Charlotte lead him back onto the bed, “It’s not as if you really know what you’re doing here. I’m worn out Char, everything has just been a little too hectic lately and with being sick I just can’t take much more. I would really like to go out to the country a week early and rest. My professors will understand that, why can’t you?”

Charlotte sighed, “We have bills to pay, and things to take care of before we go to my parent’s so why don’t you go and I’ll meet up with you in a few days?”

“We can pay rent and that now,” Nick said, wondering why she wanted to stay behind.

“If we give Mrs. Figs the money for more than one week then she’s going to spend it and say we never paid. That happened before when we gave her more than a week’s worth. We won’t owe for the two weeks of Christmas until January, so you know she’ll charge us extra,” Charlotte used as an excuse when in reality she needed to stay to take her exams.

Nick sighed and shrugged, too weak to argue, “Fine if you’re that worried about the six shillings then stay. I’m going to go. I’ll go to the school tomorrow to let them know I’m not well and then I’ll get on the train.”

“I’ll pack your things,” Charlotte told him and Nick continued to stare at her quizzically wondering what on earth had gotten into the girl so she was going to stay behind by herself an extra week before Christmas just so she could pay their landlord for a week’s worth of rent. He knew it wasn’t worth fighting her on it because he would eventually succumb to whatever she wanted, but he couldn’t say he was pleased about her decision either. 

Meanwhile, Charlotte was jumping inside having been so worried that Nick would talk her into going home (which she was looking forward to) because then any chance she had of passing her classes would be gone.