Alone and Ill

Juliet was frightened.

She was alone in a strange country, without family or friends. She was a widow. She was a woman. She was young.

And she was ill.

Terribly ill.

She had done little more than sleep for several days, not wanting to rise. When she did rise, she immediately sank back down. Her head felt ready to burst, and her stomach gave her fits, and not just after meals.

The landlady of the inn she had found was very kind, fussing over her and trying to soothe her. She kept remarking how the young woman did not have a fever.

She had also been the first to suggest the likely cause of all this. "No doubt," she'd said, though in an accent Juliet could not quite mimic, even in her mind, "it's grief. You've lost your husband, and you miss him something terrible."

It seemed sensible to Juliet. Her heart ached and ached for the man she loved. For the man who had taken poison, believing her to be dead.

"God in Heaven," she whispered. "I want to miss him. I cannot forget him. Not my Romeo. But I cannot bear this much longer."

She was forced to sit up to drink the ale that had been brought to her some time ago. Pain shot through her head, and she groaned quietly. Still, a mouthful of the ale seemed to help that, even if it did her stomach no good.

She looked at the bread that had also been brought and the broth beside it. That woman was so kind. "I can spare the room," she'd said, "at least until your heart's mended a small touch. Then I'll help you find work. A washer-woman perhaps." Or something to that effect.

Juliet broke off a piece of the bread, swirled it in the broth, and ate it. It was not the fine food that the Capulet household had served. Just as the ale was not their quality wine.

Still, she had abandoned the name 'Capulet,' and she could not called herself 'Montague' either. So this would have to do.

With another miserable groan, she laid back down and pulled a thin sheet over her, clutching one pillow to her chest. Tears welled again in her eyes.

"Romeo.."

Muse: Juliet
Fandom: Romeo and Juliet
Words: 364