Things became very difficult after Arson told me what he had done. I was really lonely in the bed but I knew that I wouldn't be able to feel safe if he was with me. Not right now anyway. When we got up to go to work we averted our eyes from each other, using quipped sentences to greet each other but nothing homey... nothing that got us into a conversation.
It went on for a week or so when I was lying in bed one night, reading a book when I heard the bathroom door creak open and the shower turn on. I looked at the time and saw that it was midnight. What was Arson doing taking a shower at that time of night? I shook my head though and decided to let him do what he wanted. I put the book aside and switched the channel to watch a movie on one of the channels.
The two hour movie ended and I turned the TV off to get some sleep but I noticed that the shower was still going. I looked at the clock, making sure it was a two hour movie I had watched and not longer. But it said 2:00 just like I expected it to. I decided that I should at least check on him to see if he was alright... he might have slipped or something...
I opened the door of the bathroom, the steam hitting me warmly in the face and closed the door behind me.
"Arson? Are you alright?"
I went to the shower and looked in, finding Arson sitting in the bottom of the tub just wasting the water. Not that it was a money issue but still.
"What are you doing?"
Arson looked up at me and shivered violently.
"I'm f-f-freezing..." he stuttered.
"Then why didn't you get a blanket?"
"I did. I couldn't get warm enough... I can't get warm."
I sighed and reached in, turning the water off. I held out my hand to him and he took it. I wasn't aware that he still had his boxers on.
"What are you doing?" he asked, still hugging himself as the cool steam settled on him.
"I'm getting you a towel and some new underwear."
He shivered again and decided to sit on the toilet seat to wait for me. I brought him one of the thick towels we had gotten for our wedding a long time ago (only used for company) and wrapped over his head and around his shoulders. I began to rub him with the towel to warm him when he grabbed my arm softly.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Why are you doing this? I thought you were mad at me."
"I am still mad. But I can't let you suffer, Arson. Jeez, you take things the wrong way sometimes you know?"
He let go of my hand and then put his hands on my hips, pulling me closer to him.
"I don't feel very well, Jane..."
"There's some medicine in the cabinet... Correctly labeled, that is." I said a little more curtly than I had intended for it to come out.
"No, I mean right now... I feel lightheaded."
"Probably because you were just in a hot shower for two straight hours."
Instead of answering me, Arson's eyes just suddenly rolled to the back of his head and he fainted.
"Arson!"
Luckily, he had leaned back on the toilet but he was still too heavy to do anything on my own. I gulped and picked up the phone to call Henry.

********************

"When did he first faint?" Henry asked as soon as he came inside.
"A little over ten minutes ago. I can't move him but... is this...is this the beginning?"
"Yes..."
Henry picked Arson up, him still shivering and put him in the spare bedroom. I gave him a look.
"Nieba told me. You don't know how hard it was for me not to come over here and break his... well, you know..."
I smiled a little. As much of a douche as he was, he was still my older brother.
He covered Arson up with the blankets and I got the rest of the ones from the couch and covered him up. Arson opened his eyes a little and mumbled something but he lost consciousness again.
"What's going on exactly?"
"It's usually a lot warmer where we're from, you know, so the heat is depleting from his body except from here." He said, putting his hand on Arson's stomach. "And you know what that means."
I bit my lip and paced in front of the bed, watching Arson sleep, looking a little warmer now that he was under a pile of blankets.
"What happens now? I need to understand."
"The heat will be drawn to his stomach until things are regulated. Because of his situation, I don't know how much will be from us and how much will be from him. It shouldn't be more than a few days, at most a week. If it's longer than that then there is a problem."
"Right..."
"Right now you need to focus more on keeping him warm than whatever may come later. This is the worst part and once that is over, things get a bit easier from then on... Will you tell him?"
"Not until I absolutely have to."
"It won't take him long to figure out something's wrong with him. He'll find out and then how will you explain?"
"He's done worse things and it's his fault anyway. If he had only waited then things would have been normal."
"True I guess... I'll leave you to it. Oh, and body heat is the best sort of heat he can have."
I nodded a little and looked at Arson. Henry walked up beside me and took my hand in his.
"Look, Cappadocia, if you play this out right, then everything will be fine. There may be a bit of a bump in the road but I believe you'll make it through this. Just treat him kindly until things get situated."
"But I can't take off work like that, Hendryk. Lawyers are open to their clients every day except Sunday. He can take off work but I necessarily can't."
"In the three years that you have worked at your firm, have you ever gotten vacation time or at least used it?"
"Uh... no..."
"Doesn't your case end sometime tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Use your vacation time then."
"He'll get suspicious. It's been so uncomfortable ever since he confessed to me what he did."
"It's your wifely duty to take care of your house and your husband. And that will be your excuse."
I nodded and he hugged me tightly.
"Just take it slow and pace yourself. Things will be fine."
"Yeah..."
I smiled at me and then left to go back home.

*********************

Lucky for me, Arson slept soundly for a long time and when I was done with my case, I told my boss that I was going to be taken some of my vacation time. He told me that he was glad of that because I had enough vacation time to use for three months straight. I told him I was only going to use a week's worth and he said to use two instead. I tried to protest but he said that the DA doesn't like it when the lawyers pack up too much vacation time because then they take a year off sometimes.
So, that meant that starting today, I was officially on vacation. That was alright because I honestly had wanted a break for a while and I really needed to clean the house. I mean, I tidied up when I could but it needed a good cleaning. I decided to get something from a chicken joint for dinner and drove through the drive thru.
I walked in the door and noticed that the house was still quiet as a mouse. I got worried and checked on Arson. He was under the covers still, sleeping like a log. I shook him softly and he stirred awake.
"Wake up..."
He moaned a little and opened his eyes.
"What time is it?" he mumbled.
"Eight at night."
"Huh?"
"Come on and get some dinner. Brush your teeth first though."
"I know how to wake up, Jane." He growled.
He took the blankets off and shivered again.
"God, I'm still freezing. Maybe I should see a doctor or something."
"You'll be fine. I promise."
He gave me a look. "You sound confident."
"Just trust me on this. It's the least you could do for what you've done."
He looked like he was about to protest but just sighed. He nodded and he got up. We ate in silence, him in a thick parka with the hood over his head but he didn't complain.
"Jane..."
"Yes?"
"I know you haven't forgiven me for what I did but... Can you please allow me to sleep in my own bed? I promise not to do anything untoward to you unless you wish it but I'm..." I watched him for a moment and he finally sighed. "I feel isolated. I've had enough of that in my life. I screwed up big time by doing what I did to you but I can't..."
I sighed a little but I figured that when he finds out there may not be enough love left to keep this passion that he has for me and this may be my last chance.
"I guess you can come back to bed. But no funny business."
Arson smiled a little. "Thanks... I still regret what I've done to you... to our trust."
"So do I..."

+++++++++++++++

and she's let him back in the bed, yay! though he doesn't deserve it. he'll probably get the pillow fort treatment for a while