lift up a log and find me under it

Kaija let out a raspy sound that almost resembled a sob. She'd get through this, she had to - and Ophie too. She had a big powerful pack at her heels, couldn't they figure something else? She wasn't a loner like Kaija with nowhere to go and no one to help her... or was she trying to avoid her family in case she got them sick, too? Her heart felt as heavy as the crystal growing out of her eye as she lay there, listening to the sound of their labored breathing. Whatever Ophie was going through sounded horrible, somehow more horrible than her own afflictions. Like she was breathing in fungus. She felt a shiver go through her at the thought. Surely there was something she could do to help her.. but she felt so tired too, and she pressed tighter against Ophie as she coughed. "You'll get better. Maybe we just need to rest," Kaija said, assuring herself as much as Ophie. She loved her too much to see her fade away - she had to live, she just had to.