The Drawbacks of being Mortal [CLOSED: Frost-And-Lightning]
From the beginning, Don knew the drawbacks of being in the medical field. Long hours, less than desirable working conditions, and of course, the exposure to many dangerous and often grotesque diseases. In his time working towards his degree in surgery, Don had seen it all; from third-degree burned limbs to horrific sexually-transmitted disease-mutilated genitalia. Little phased him anymore.
And yet, there was one thing he could not stand, one disease he could not avoid. It was incurable, and no vaccine existed, and yet it lurked around every corner of the city, every intake room of the E.R...
Nasopharyngitis... Otherwise known as the common cold. And oh, was Don ever susceptible to it these days.
It had begun as a little sniffle, easily ignored and brushed off as a sign of seasonal allergies. Then it progressed to muscle aches, a cough, then a fever followed by exhaustion. After two days of this, Don was down for the count, calling in sick to work just to prevent the spread of this highly contagious (and annoying) disease.
Hunkered down in his favorite pajamas, beanie, and extra blankets to keep away the chill, Don had settled himself onto the couch so he could enjoy quality cable programming while he attempted to rest. A cup of soup long gone cold sat on the coffee table, a half-used box of tissue next to it with a growing pile of discarded ones. A bottle of tylenol sat tipped over among the fray, Don far too tired to bother cleaning them up.
Overall, he felt miserable. It would figure that with all that had occurred over the last few weeks would take a toll on his body, but he hadn't expected to get sick with a cold in the middle of his clinicals. As a policy, he couldn't return until he had been symptom free for 24 hours... That limited his schedule to loafing around until he felt better.
Day two of this, and he already felt like he was wasting away. Still running a fever and with no appetite, Any attempt to get up and make more food often ended in failure due largely to lack of energy, and any energy he did muster up largely went to reaching for tissues or changing the channel. At least he had M*A*S*H* reruns to keep him company.
And speaking of company, just where was Loki? Generally the man was over nightly just to spend time with him, but he had been mysteriously absent since their coffee date with Sigyn. He thought to text him, but had already talked himself out of it multiple times, telling himself that Loki was likely busy if he had not made contact.
It only served to make him feel worse... And lonely.
Finally, at the end of day two, Don relented, sending a quick text to his godly lover.
I'm sick. Can you come over?
A lofty request, and Don felt selfish for making it, but he feared if he didn't have someone peek in on him he wouldn't recover quick enough. Tossing his phone back onto the coffee table, Don curled up on the couch beneath a mountain of blankets and watched the mishaps of a particular medical crew in World War II, including one with a fondness for women's clothing.