Alex was laying on the couch, blankets pulled all the way up to his chin, and surrounded by so many tissues they could make a whole other blanket. His eyes were glassy and red-rimmed with bags so deep under them, they looked like bruises and his cheeks were flushed, but the rest of his skin was an almost deathly pale. Plus, he was covered in a sheen of sweat that had his hair practically plastered to his skin. And Julie had never felt more concerned in her life.
Ever since the boys had come back to life, she tended to worry ... a lot. A lot more than was probably necessary. But she couldn’t help it, they were in just as much danger now as any other human being and she now knew that anything could happen, life could do the unexpected at any time. They may have been given a second chance, but there was no guarantee they would have any more than that. And this was the first time any of them had been sick, or anything out of the ordinary. She was maybe a little beyond worried.
But, she told herself, she needed to stay calm. Alex was the most anxious person she’d ever met, if she start freaking out, it would only make things worse. She took in a deep breath, told herself to calm once more, before she carefully made her way into the studio and called out to him.
“Alex?” She spoke gently, stopping in front of the couch and kneeling down slightly. “Hey, are you okay, love?”
Alex looked to her, as if noticing her presence for the very first time, and gave a weak smile. “Oh, hey, Jules. Yeah I’m fi - ” But no sooner had the words started to leave his mouth, was he suddenly cut off by a coughing fit that had Julie quickly helping him sit up, one hand gently patting his back and trying her best to just hold him through it as there wasn’t much else to do. He sounded bad, wheezing in between coughs, and when he was finally done, his head came to rest on Julie’s shoulder and the worry she was feeling only increased.
“Oh, sweetheart. I think you’re anything but fine.” She spoke, voice still gentle, and Alex made a small, non-committal noise, accompanied by a shrug. She pressed a hand to the back of Alex’s forehead and almost immediately pulled away, letting out a hiss. “Lex, baby, you’re burning up. Do you know what your temperature is?”
Alex gave a shake of his head. “No, been pretty much laying here all day. Haven’t felt like getting up to check.”
Julie frowned, looking around the studio, realizing it was just her and Alex in there. “Where are the boys? Do they know you’re sick?” There were still certain legal issues to be sorted out before the boys could be enrolled in school, so they pretty much stayed at the studio all day. It felt very unlike them to just leave Alex in a state like this.
“Reg w-went with your dad to that photoshoot and think Luke went busking or something. But they don’t know, haven’t been home all day.” Julie noted how hoarse Alex’s voice sound, like he’d spent the entire day coughing. She let out a sigh.
“Okay, okay.” She responded quietly, trying to weigh her options. She knew the best thing to do would probably be call her dad, but she also knew that ‘shoot was three hours away and by the time she got a hold of him and he got home, Alex could be even worse. Going to look for Luke would mean leaving Alex and she really didn’t think he needed to be alone a second longer. Carlos was supposed to be going to a friend’s house after school and spending the night, plus, as much as she loved her brother, she wasn’t sure there was much a twelve year old could really do.
After a bit more thinking, she made her decision. She would do what she could for Alex and just hope it could be enough until her dad, or someone else, was home. She turned to look at Alex now and noticed his eyes had fluttered shut, she couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not, but her voice was still quiet as she carefully said his name. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes, they were still glassy and he just looked so miserable it practically broke her heart.
“Hey, sweetie. We’re going to go inside the house, okay?” She gently ran a hand through his hair as she spoke, noting how he leaned into it with a look of relief on his face.
“Why?” He breathed out, his voice hardly above a whisper and if Julie hadn’t been so close to him, she wouldn’t have heard it.
“The studio is too cold for you to stay in while you’re like this, it won’t help you get any better. I’d prefer to have in a house with central heating and cooling.” She explained carefully, softly. Alex did nothing more than give a nod in response, which she took as a good sign that he was at least acknowledging her answer. “Do you think you can make it into the house?”
Alex lifted his head off her shoulder now, blinking blearily as he looked around. “Uh, yeah ... think so.” Though he didn’t actually sound too sure.
Gently, Julie maneuvered her way around him, standing up and offering a hand out to him. “Alright, well, I’m going to help you, okay? You can lean on me as much as you need to, I promise. Don’t be worried about squishing me or anything.” Alex just gave another nod, and the fact that he didn’t protest this any further was just a sign of how sick he must be.
Once Alex was up and leaning against Julie, the two of them thankfully made it into the house with little incident, aside from another coughing fit from Alex that had been so bad he’d almost passed out. But either way, Julie was relieved once they made it throw the front door and into the safety on the house.
She carefully led Alex into the living room, as much as she would prefer to have him in her bed she knew there was no way Alex could handle the stairs right now and she wouldn’t be able to get him up there on her own, and helped him onto to one of the couches. Once he was laying down, she grabbed a blanket and tucked it around him, pulling it up to his chin like he had had in the garage.
“Hey, love.” Her voice was still soft and gentle, it hadn’t been anything else since she’d first found Alex. It took a second for Alex to focus on her, and his gaze didn’t even seem that focused. “I’ll be right back okay? I’m going to go get some things for you, but I promise I’m coming back.” And just like all the other times, Alex simply gave a nod in response. Which, Julie was kind of starting to a hate. A quiet and non-responsive Alex felt weird and unnatural. While he was never quite as chatty as Luke or Reggie, one thing that could always be counted on from Alex was a sarcastic or witty response, none of which was happening now.
It took for a few minutes to gather everything she needed for Alex, a thermometer so she could actually get an idea of what his temperature was, a cool washcloth for his forehead, and a glass of water and some Tylenol, and when she came back, she realized Alex had actually drifted off to sleep. The last thing she wanted to do was wake him up, but she knew it was very important he take the medicine and she got an actual idea of what his temperature was so she knew if a hospital trip was necessary.
She pushed her dad’s computer chair over to where Alex’s head was, sitting down in it before gently beginning to run her hand through his hair, softly calling out his name. After a few seconds, his eyes were blinking open and it looked like he was literally fighting to stay awake and she couldn’t help the tiny sigh that escaped. “Hi, baby, I know you just want to sleep, I know. But I need you to take some medicine for me and I need to take your temperature, okay? I promise it’ll only take a few minutes and then you can go right back to sleep. Can you do this for me, baby, please?”
To her relief, Alex nodded again and she helped him sit up, passing him the Tylenol and the water. Once he swallowed the medicine down, she took the water back (after urging him to take a few more sips) and stuck the thermometer under his tongue. It only took a minute for it to beep and once it did, she breathed the tiniest sigh of relief. His temperature was 102, which was high, but not high enough that she needed to call 911 or anything. Thank god.
She helped Alex settle back down, laying the wash cloth across his forehead. She then took her hand and began to run it through his hair once more, feeling him begin to relax under her touch and it was only a few minutes before his eyes were drooping shut and he was drifting off once more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Julie wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed, when she was jolted awake by the sound of someone whimpering and calling out her name. It took her brain a few minutes to catch up, for her to realize she had fallen asleep in the chair next to Alex.
Alex, who was sitting up but his eyes were still screwed tightly shut. Alex, who was reaching out, presumably for her, and letting out small whimpers, calling out for her.
Immediately, she sat on the couch next to him, placing a hand on either side of his, noting that at the very least he didn’t feel as warm. “Hey, hey, hey, Lex. Alex, baby, love, wake up. Open your eyes, I’m here. I’m right here. Come on, baby, I just need you to open your eyes for me, okay? I’m here, honey, I’m here. I’m right here.” She was speaking softly, though there was slight hint of franticness to her tone, and she began to brush her thumbs back and forth across Alex’s cheeks.
After what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only about a minute, Alex’s eyes fluttered open and he locked eyes with her. “Julie.” Was all he said, before he was practically diving into her arms and she was catching him, wrapping her arms tightly around him and holding as tight as she could without hurting him.
“Hey, shhh, Lex it’s okay, baby. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I got you. I got you.” She began to move her hand in soothing circles on his back, while she angled her head enough to press a kiss to his temple, hoping to just provide as much comfort as she could.
“Do you want to try to lay back down?” She asked gently and she felt him tense in her arms. “I won’t go anywhere. I’ll lay down with you, I promise.” She then felt him nod against her chest.
Carefully, she laid them both down onto the couch, and though it was a bit of a tight squeeze, she refused to let go. She wouldn’t break her promise. She continued her motions on his back, and it wasn’t long before the both of them drifted off once more, cuddled as close together on the couch as physically possible.
Which was how exactly how Ray, Reggie, and Luke found them a few hours later. None of them had the heart to wake either up, so they just figured they would get the information they needed once both fully were.
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