Eddie grabbed the hem of Richie's shirt, attempting to pull it off, but Richie didn't lift his arms at all to assist him. He even murmured a small, “Noooo…”
Eddie gave his boyfriend a sympathetic smile. "Come on, Rich. I'm trying to make you feel better."
Richie finally, but lazily, lifted his arms. "I already feel better. You—a type-a, workaholic—took a day off of work to take care of me. Besides, you already gave me a shitton of meds."
Eddie scoffed, pulling the shirt off. "Two medicines is not a 'shitton.'"
"Well that one pill tasted like shit." Richie pouted.
"I let you chase it with Sprite. Come on. I just have one more thing, then I'll cuddle you as long as you want me to."
Richie seemed to perk up at that. It was very weak, but he perked up nonetheless.
Eddie grabbed a small jar of vapo rub out of the drawer nightstand next to his side of the bed.
When Richie saw the small, blue jar he let out a long groan. The sound was short-lived by the coughing fit it sent him into.
This is when Eddie would’ve started rubbing his back soothingly but Richie was currently lying on his back. So Eddie started rubbing what he hoped was comforting circles into his chest instead.
“Don’t be dramatic. It only makes it worse.”
“Eddie…” Richie whined, his voice raspy and nasally at the same time. “You know I hate that shit. It makes your skin burn.”
“Rich, it’s medicated. If it didn’t tingle, it wouldn’t work so well. Come on, let me put some on you. I promise It’ll be fast and we can cuddle after.”
Unless Richie was unconscious, Eddie wouldn’t do anything to care for him without his explicit permission. Eddie knew how much that sucked.
Richie sniffled as he inhaled, then muttered, “Okay, fine…”
Eddie uncapped the jar, trying not to shy away at the smell.
His mother would slather that shit all over his body, whether he needed it or not. He became accustomed to the stench but still hated it. But Richie needed this right now. He had been coughing and congested for the past two days and it has only gotten worse.
Eddie smoothed the gross smelling ointment all over Richie’s chest, making sure to apply it thickly. He even rubbed some up and down Richie’s throat.
Finally, Eddie was able to cap the jar and put it back in its proper place. He snatched a wet wipe from the same drawer and cleaned his hand off.
“Eddie…” Richie whined. “It burns.”
A small part of Eddie wanted to scoff at Richie’s complaining. Eddie had to be practically covered from head to toe with this shit when he was a child and he whined less than this.
But Eddie wouldn’t do that in a thousand years. He remembered desperately wanting to be comforted when he was a child and the only comfort his mother had for him was even more pills. He wasn’t going to make his one and only feel anything close to that.
Eddie reached a hand forward and brushed his fingers through Richie’s hair, earning a sigh from him. “I know, baby. I’m sorry. It’ll stop burning so much after a while. Here… You wanna cuddle with me?”
Richie nodded, looking straight-up pathetic.
Eddie leaned back against the headboard, opening his arms for his lover. Richie crawled into his arms—somehow managing to fold his ridiculous long limbs into such a small space—and let out a content noise once he was situated.
Every fiber of Eddie’s being was screaming at him to get away from Richie. To shove Richie off of him, run down the stairs, out the front door, and drive to the next town over. Then to thoroughly sanitize his entire body, take some medicine, and throw in a Hail Mary for good measure.
But he didn’t do that. Because he had gotten therapy and—while he couldn’t keep this up for long and would have to at least wash his hands soon—he had gotten considerably better. Eddie was slowly working through his trauma and he was able to hold Richie while he was sick. He wouldn’t be able to do the same for anyone else but he loved Richie.
Eddie started gently scratching Richie’s back. Richie let out a groan, this one not drawing any coughs out of him.
“Try to get some sleep.” Eddie murmured, leaning down to press a very quick kiss to the crown of Richie’s head.
Eddie wished he could kiss Richie all over his adorable face but putting his lips on Richie for longer than half a second while he was sick wasn’t something he could do yet. Eddie was determined to work on it, though.
Richie took notice and smiled sleepily up at him. “M’kay, Eds. I love you.”
Even though Eddie could practically feel the germs crawling on his lips, he was able to smile back. “I love you too, Rich.”
