As the back of their fingers reached A’s cheek, B paused. A felt warm. Slightly too warm.
A comes down with a fever, their partner B takes care of them.
B chuckled at the program. It was a Friday night tradition to get take away and spend the evening on the sofa watching whatever entertainment show of the week happened to be on, followed by a movie. Tonight was no exception.
A was curled up next to B with their head on a pillow in B’s lap. This was one of the standard arrangements.
Sometimes B would lay with their feet in A’s lap (and if they were lucky, get a foot massage). Sometimes it was the other way around. Some days they would push the table to the side and put their feet up on the ottoman, snuggled together under the same quilt.
But tonight A had felt a bit chilled and wanted to cozy up under a warm blanket. Which led to the current situation, with a blanketed A resting their head in B’s lap.
What was unusual however, which B just noticed, was that A was sleeping. Sure, it wasn’t that out of the ordinary for A to fall asleep. But normally it would happen later in the evening, towards the end of the movie.
B smiled fondly down at A’s sleeping form. “Hey, sleepyhead,” they began in a low voice, barely louder than a whisper. They raised their hand to stroke their cheek and continued, “you’re gonna wake up at 4am if you fall asleep now.”
As the back of their fingers reached A’s cheek however, B paused. A felt warm. Slightly too warm. They pressed down just a tiny bit more firmly, then slid their hand up to press their palm against A’s forehead.
This confirmed it. A was definitely running a fever.
B had just decided they should go get the thermometer when they heard a small voice.
“Mmh, that feels nice,” A said in a sleepy voice and let out a small sigh.
“What, this?” B asked as they adjusted their palm on A’s forehead.
“Yeah,” A said, eyes still closed.
With one hand still on A’s forehead, they touched the back of their fingers of the other to A’s cheek.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” B said softly, concern lacing their voice.
“M’okay, just a bit of a headache,” A replied sleepily.
“I think you’re running a temperature,” B said, feeling A’s neck with the back of their fingers, then stroking A’s cheek again.
“Stay right here, I’m gonna get the thermometer,” B said, carefully sliding out from underneath the pillow, trying not to jostle A too much.
A pouted but didn’t say anything. They did however wrap the blanket tighter around themselves. B noticed.
“Are you cold?” B asked.
“A bit,” answered A and pulled the blanket right up to their chin.
B leaned down and rubbed A’s arm, more for comfort than to create heat. “I’ll be right back.”
B returned shortly, carrying a thermometer, a glass of water, and A’s duvet. They began by putting the first items on the table. Then they gently laid the duvet on top of A’s already blanketed form and proceeded to tuck them in tightly.
“There we go, that should make it better in a moment,” B said with a soft smile. Then they knelt down next to A. Picking up the thermometer they continued: “Okay, let’s see what we’re dealing with here.”
A looked up at B as they held the thermometer close, and somewhat reluctantly opened their mouth to let B insert the thermometer.
Once B was sure that A held the thermometer in place by themselves, B let go and looked up into A’s eyes. They were bright and glassy with fever.
“Oh, honey,” they all but whispered while reaching out to cup A’s flushed cheek. A sighed and leaned into B’s cool touch.
B stayed kneeling next to A until the thermometer beeped, at which point they took it out and read the verdict.
“101.2,” B stated and looked at A. “Would you like something for the fever, for the headache?” A nodded.
B fetched a pill from the medicine cabinet which A gratefully accepted.
“Do you want to go to bed now?” B asked once A had swallowed the pill.
A pouted. “No, I want to stay out here with you.”
B couldn’t help but smile. “I’d go with you of course,” they said, ruffling A’s hair slightly and then immediately smoothing it down again.
A considered for a moment and then said “No, I want to watch a movie. We always do.”
B thought that if A had already fallen asleep once, they’d most likely not stay awake for the movie. But they didn’t argue. They just smiled warmly and nodded. “Okay. Let’s watch a movie.”
B slipped back in under the pillow so that A was once again resting their head in B’s lap. They decided on a movie and settled down to watch.
B would alternate between slowly running their fingers through A’s hair, gently massaging their neck, and tracing their fingers along the shell of A’s ear; all things they knew A liked and which would hopefully make them feel more relaxed and comfortable.
Occasionally B would look down and see how A was doing. They managed to stay awake for much longer than B expected. But it was only a matter of time before A fell asleep, softly snoring into the pillow.
Once the movie was over, B slowly woke A up. They hated to do so, but knew that A would sleep better in the bed, in their pyjamas, teeth brushed. And A would need lots of restful sleep, so B insisted. A was a bit dazed but didn’t complain.
But after only a few hours, A woke up. It was still dark and they knew they should go back to sleep. But no matter how much they tried, they just couldn’t.
They’d been so cold earlier that evening, but now they were starting to feel too hot instead. They pushed away the duvet. But then their feet got cold so they pulled it back over their feet and legs.
They kept turning over to try and get more comfortable, but nothing was helping. And the pyjama shirt was suddenly very rough on their skin. Even when they were perfectly still it felt like every seam was digging into their skin.
A’s movements had slowly been waking B up, and when they heard A whimper they were instantly awake. They sat up quickly, turned on the bedside lamp and looked over at A. “What’s wrong?”
A winced and covered their eyes at the brightness. Then their hands fell to their pyjama top, pulling at the collar.
“It hurts,” was all they managed.
B looked A over in concern. “Where?”
“This,” B said, pulling on their pyjamas once again. “And it’s too hot and too cold and I can’t sleep,” they added in a voice sounding more and more as if they were going to cry at any moment. Their breathing was shallow and more rapid than usual.
B leaned over and put the back of their hand to A’s forehead. It was dry and very warm.
Looking over at A’s bedside table they noticed that the glass of water was empty.
“I’m gonna get you some water,” B began, sliding their hand down to caress A’s cheek with the back of their fingers. “But first I’d like to take your temperature again. I think your fever’s gone up.”
First they helped A out of their pyjama top. Then they propped up A to a slightly more seated position and placed the thermometer under their tongue.
“I’ll get you some more medicine, okay,” B more stated than asked. A nodded. B’s heart broke for them. They looked exhausted, and the feverish flush had spread, covering most of their face and was creeping down their arms and chest as well.
B hurried away, returning soon after with a pitcher of water and a fever reducer.
They refilled A’s glass, and when the thermometer beeped they checked the number and frowned. 102.6. B looked over at A with concern. Their eyes were even brighter and glassier now.
“Here, take this,” B said, handing A the pill and the glass. A swallowed the pill.
“I want you to drink all of it, I don’t want you to get dehydrated,” B said with a concerned voice.
A emptied the glass. B refilled it from the pitcher and placed both back on the nightstand.
Then B helped A lay down again. Doing so they felt how hot A’s skin was. No wonder they were feeling uncomfortable.
They wanted to give A a hug, but were afraid that doing so would only hurt them or make them feel worse. They settled on trying to make A feel better in other ways.
“Here, see if this helps a bit,” B said, slipping their hand under A’s neck and carefully lifting A’s head and torso up so they could turn A’s pillow over.
As A settled back down on the cool side of the pillow they closed their eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
This gave B an idea.
They hurried away and returned with another pitcher of water and a few cloths. They sat down next to A and put the first cloth in the pitcher. They wrung it out, folded it once, then used it to very gently dab A’s face.
B let the cloth rest on A’s warm skin, cooling it down. First they held the cloth to their right cheek, then their left. Then they proceeded to wipe their chin and nose, before folding the cloth again and placing it on their forehead.
Then they wetted another cloth and held it against the sides and front of A’s neck, before slipping it in behind A’s neck and letting it rest there.
B continued with the rest of the cloths, wiping down A’s shoulders, arms and chest. All the while they noticed how A’s breathing was slowing down, and they were beginning to take deeper breaths. A good sign, B thought.
Once the final cloth was placed over A’s collarbones, they seemed to have calmed down enough to possibly be able to go back to sleep. Plus, at this point the medicine should have started doing its job.
B turned off the light and laid down on their side of the bed. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, but soon they could see the rise and fall of A’s chest. They were now breathing so steadily and deeply that B hoped they’d fall asleep soon, if they hadn’t already. But suddenly they heard a small voice.
“Thank you.”
B almost chuckled at that. “Oh sweethart, you don’t need to thank me.”
A turned their head to look at B. “I’m so lucky to have you.”
B would have pulled A into a tight hug, if they weren’t afraid that would counteract much of the effort they’d just put in trying to cool A down.
“And I you,” they replied, settling for caressing A’s cheek with the back of their fingers, relieved that A was sounding calmer and more coherent now. It was still too warm, but slightly cooler than it had been. “Do you think you can sleep?”
A paused for a moment, then said “Will you trace my back?”
B smiled fondly. “Yes, of course.”
As A turned over to their side, facing away from B, the cloth on their forehead slipped down. B reached over and picked it up, turned it over and placed its cooler side back on A’s forehead.
They then laid down facing A, reaching out their hand to start tracing their fingers up and down A’s back in featherlight touches.
A gave a deep sigh and B could feel them become even more relaxed.
“I love you.”
It was barely audible, but B was just able to hear it.
“I love you too,” they whispered back.
B kept lightly touching A’s back in long, slow strokes, until they could hear the soft snoring which let them know they A was finally getting the restful sleep that they so desperately needed.
Imagine the character who always gets up, no matter how many times they get knocked down. They bounce right back up and keep fighting; they refuse to stay down.
Until they don't immediately pick themselves up. They stay flat on their back, squinting at the light. Immediately, their sparing partner drops their weapon/stance and is like "holy shit are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just... I just don't... I just realized how shitty I feel."
Another OC of mine, that goes by the name of Fever (her spray tag is the burning signature to the right). Speaking of which, her spray cans have physical properties to them--that fire graffiti she's spraying isn't just for show.
