My Boyfriend is Obsessed with Me

My boyfriend is OBSESSED with me when I get sick.

I woke up sneezing.

Badly.

Once was normal.

It pulled me back to reality, to warm blankets and lavender pillows.

Twice jerked my whole body. Three times, my eyes blinked open. The pain hit as soon as my thoughts did. Harsh, cutting agony at the back of my skull.

I thought it was a migraine, but then came a fourth sneeze, a fifth and that’s when I felt warm wetness across my mouth and nose, seeping down my chin.

Blood. My blankets and pillows were soaked in deep cardinal red.

I found my voice.

“Daniel.”

My boyfriend’s name came out in a shuddery breath.

Another violent sneeze tore through me before I could cry out, and I stared at red slicking my fingers. Stumbling into the bathroom, I ran the bathroom faucet and scrubbed until I was watching wet, flaky blood spiral down the drain. “Babe?” Daniel shouted from our bedroom.

I grabbed another wad of toilet paper, dried my face, and flushed it down the toilet.

I took a single shuddery breath, and stepped back into the bedroom.

“I'm fine,” I said, already rehearsed. Daniel was a hypochondriac when it came to my health. If I had so much as a headache, he would already be dragging me to the ER.

As expected, my boyfriend was already dressed, throwing his coat on.

He took my wrist and pulled me downstairs, and then straight to the garage. “Where are we going?” I asked, when he started the car. Daniel leaned forward, pressing his hand to my forehead.

“Kairie,” he whispered, grasping my hand. “I'm going to save you, okay?”

Daniel turned to the wheel, his lip curling, like he was disgusted. “Tell me if you’re going to sneeze again.” He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out an old takeout carton. His eyes scanned the road. “Sneeze into that.”

I laughed, but that hurt more.

Fuck.

“Have you gone mad?” I whispered. “Why do you want me to sneeze into week-old Chinese food?” When he didn't respond, I let out a breath. “Daniel. Babe. I'm fine. It was just a bad nosebleed.”

He didn't look at me. “We're going to an ENT.”

“At 4am?” I whisper-shrieked. “Look, I know it was scary! I was fucking scared! But it stopped! I stopped sneezing, and the pain is still kind of there, but—”

We stopped outside a looming building with checkerboard windows.

Daniel pulled me out of the car, tightening this grip on my wrist.

We definitely weren't at the ER.

“What pain, Kairie?” He whispered, leading me through automatic doors.

I was blasted in the face with freezing cold air, and the dull pain continued, creeping across my forehead. It was suddenly too bright. I could barely put one foot in front of the other as he pulled me to the front desk. A woman with a wide smile greeted us.

“Good evening!” She said, nodding at Daniel. She didn't even look at me. “How may I help you?”

“My girlfriend is…” Daniel's voice bleed into a frenzied hiss. He nodded at me to take a seat across the room, and I thought about protesting– but my legs felt like they were giving way. Slumping down in a chair, I took notice of the waiting room. Several plastic chairs sitting in flower formations.

I watched my boyfriend talk in hisses whispers with a nurse.

With Daniel occupied and my phone at home, I resorted to counting ceiling tiles, my head tipped back, counting under my breath— until a boy around my age slumped down next to me.

He was already casting red flags, wearing nothing but a hospital gown, and dragging along an IV. “Don't say anything,” he muttered, “Just pretend not to notice me.”

I did, a shiver creeping down my spine.

“They're going to take us out, you know,” he whispered. “They already tried with me, but I'm resilient.” He sneezed violently suddenly, swiping blood from his nose, his lips curling into a grin. “I'm too strong.”

“Jasper!”

I glanced up. A woman hovered over him, arms folded.

She yanked him up by the collar of his gown, shooting me a look. “What the fuck do you think you're looking at?” she spat, before dragging the boy away.

Before I could shout after him, my name was called out.

“Kairie Mason?”

I looked up and nodded, following the doctor into a brightly lit room.

I took a seat on crinkly bedding, letting the doctor prod and poke me, shining a light in my eye.

Daniel hovered behind him, his expression dark, lips twisted.

After a while, the doctor stepped back.

“Hmm.” He prodded my neck, feeling along my lymph nodes. “Mr Jones, you reported the vessel as awakening,” he leaned forward, frowning. “But your partner seems to be very much still asleep.”

“No.” Daniel gritted out. “No. You said when she starts sneezing—”

“I said, it's a possibility that the original body will sneeze out the placeholder.”

The doctor sighed. “It's a false alarm, I'm afraid,” he turned to my boyfriend, as the word vessel sliced through my thoughts.

“I can remove the substitute,” he said. “However, it may damage Kairi’s brain function—”

“I don't care.” Daniel hissed. “Get it out of her. Now. I'm sick of playing pretend. I'm sick of pretending that THING is her.”

The doctor wore a patient smile. “You bought the stray, Mr Jones,” he said, “to take the place of your brain-dead girlfriend.

"Strays are still human beings, lost souls that we have given a purpose. They may not have a body of their own, but they’re still alive. They still think, breathe, and hurt.” His fingers traced my neck, and my body froze up. “Be patient, Daniel. When Kairie awakens, I will happily remove the placeholder. But for now—”

“No.”

Daniel shoved past him, grabbing a scalpel. He plunged the blade into my neck, and I screamed.

“No, I'm getting it out now.”