Don’t leave Carson alone with a fever
More young Carson. In this one he is 17 and has to stay home from the school with the flu. What starts out as a normal flu gets out of hand because of course it does. Whumpy.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/25833043 (Ao3 link)
“Mom!” Carson yelled from his bed lazily, “Mommmm! Momm!”
“Oh for fucks sake what is it?” She said, throwing open his bedroom door. Some days she felt like she was still raising a five year old.
“I’m sick I can’t go to school.” He stated.
Carson’s mom glared at him for making her stop getting ready for work just so he could tell her that, “You’ve already missed too much school.” She turned to leave.
“No, but I’m actually sick.” He protested. Now that she looked, the dark circles under his eyes did look a little worse than usual against his pale skin.
She sighed, “Carson, sweetheart, when you’re an adult you have to go no matter how hungover you are.”
“I’m not hungover!” He yelled.
“Don’t lie to me,” she said firmly.
“I’m serious!” He whined.
“Fine,” She closed the door and Carson listened to her footsteps retreat. He knew that that didn’t mean he was off the hook and he could go back to sleep. She was going to get the first aid kit and so she could go all nurse on him and find out for herself whether or not he was telling the truth. If he didn’t try to get out of school like this at least once a week he’d actually be insulted by how little she seemed to trust him. A minute later she came back with a small box that had the thermometer in it. In her closet was a much bigger first aid kit stocked with medical grade supplies that had been “misplaced” at the hospital where she worked. Carson’s mom thrust the thermometer at him and he let her place it under his tongue. Her wet hair dripped onto the end of his bed, she obviously hadn’t had time to dry it before he interrupted her routine.
It beeped three times and she pulled it out to look at it. She was careful not to make any kind of expression that would allow Carson to say he told her so. “Hmmm, it’s a bit high.”
I fucking knew it. “What does it say?” he asked.
“102.1. Definitely a fever. Come here.”
Carson reluctantly sat up and leaned against the wall opposite her already knowing what she’d do next. With absolute focus she felt around his neck and throat for any swelling in the lymph nodes.
“Seems normal. I’ll let you stay home but you have to take some medicine and promise to email all your teachers about your missed classes.”
“Whatever. Can I go back to sleep now?” He asked.
“Take some ibuprofen first. I have to get to work.” She leaned in to kiss his forehead which Carson of course had to make a look of disgust at that went completely ignored by his mother. Knowing she’d be running late now he didn’t ask for anything else before she left to finish getting ready. He let his head sink back down into his pillow. He really did feel awful. Probably caught some kind of virus from school. A familiar ache settled into his bones as fatigue threatened to drag him back to sleep. He knew he should get up and get the medicine like his mom told him to but he was just so tired. The mere thought of moving made him nauseous so Carson decided to take a little nap to escape his discomfort.
Oh god. He was drowning. Carson was sure of it. While he was sleeping a river must have come through and gotten his bed all wet and sticky. He tried to move his legs but they were trapped in the current. His eyes snapped open suddenly and Carson looked down to find that he was still in his bed and while it was soaking wet, it was actually because he had sweat through the sheets which also explained why they were sticking to his legs. He kicked them off, letting all the blankets on his bed slide onto the floor. The fresh air on his body felt refreshing for a solid three seconds before he became unbearably hot again. Fuck, what time is it? He rummaged around in the crack between his bed and the wall for his phone and ended up pulling it up off the ground by the charging cord. He turned it on, 11:47am. Shit. He had slept for hours. And over the course of those hours he had only gotten worse. If he just took the damn fever reducers in the morning he might feel fine by now but instead his sick ass let it get worse and worse until he woke up covered in sweat with a pounding headache. Good job, Carson, good job.
He slowly sat up and winced as a ray of sunlight from his window lined up with his eyes. It sent shooting pain into his head along with an overwhelming surge of nausea. The instinct to not throw up all over his bed kicked in and got him up and running for the bathroom even though just seconds before he would have thought running to be impossible. Since he was alone in the house, Carson didn’t bother to shut the door before falling in front of the toilet to hack up everything he had eaten in the last 24 hours, or by the looks of it, everything he’s eaten in the last 17 years of his life. He definitely had the flu. Carson didn’t really mind throwing up though as long as it was quick. Is that strange? Don’t most people hate it? At least for him once he was done the feeling of nausea went away so it was worth it to just get it over with. He leaned against the tub for a good long while before moving again. He was going to go lay back down, again forgetting that he’s supposed to take medicine for this, but the phone rang and interrupted his thoughts. He found one of the house phones on its charging stand in the hallway and answered.
“Hello?” He said, surprised how hoarse his voice sounded.
“Oh, hello, I’m from the school. I’m calling for Diana Hall?”
“Well too bad, you got Carson,” he said. “She forgot to call and excuse me didn’t she?”
“Yes it seems she did, can I talk to her?”
“No, she’s at work. Just go ahead and write down that I can’t come in because I’m dying of the flu.” With that he hung up. They would probably just call her cell number next but either way, it was no longer his problem. Carson put the phone back on it’s stand hearing his mother’s voice in his head saying “stop leaving the phones in random places, they need to charge”. He almost took it back off the stand just to be a little shit but he didn’t. Truthfully, his mom was the one person he shouldn’t cause trouble for. She worked long shifts and spent all her free time at home cooking them food, cleaning the house, and worrying about him. As he stood there in the hallway reflecting on his life, Carson felt a little bad for being so incapable of taking care of himself. His mom never complained though, she was an angel like that. He wished she was here now to take care of him because he was indeed doing a shit job of that himself. Ugh, time to go lay back down.
Carson dragged his feet as he walked the whole three steps back to his room, perks of living in a small house. He crawled onto his bed and sighed. How was it possible to ache even more when lying down? A loud ding by his head startled him awake again, which was strange because he didn’t even realize how close he was to falling asleep again. There was a text from his mom.
“Remember to drink water and try to eat something. There’s soup and broth in the cupboard that you can microwave. Take more medicine every four hours. Love you!”
His eyes were a little blurry when he tried to read the small text but he managed. That was all good advice. He should really do all those things. He should go do them right now before he forgets…
---
The next time Carson wakes up he knows he fucked up. His entire body shook with chills and yet again his bed was soaked with sweat. It was a lot like earlier that morning except he felt a million times worse. The headache had turned into a full blown migraine and his fever must be pretty high too considering how freezing cold he felt. This was bad, really bad. He tried to get up to go find the thermometer but only succeeded in falling on his face. His arms and legs didn’t want to cooperate with him. The ache he felt before was now accompanied by severe weakness. So severe that he knew walking anywhere would be impossible. He would literally have to crawl to the bathroom. Thank god no one was around to see this. He must look pathetic.
The fever made it really difficult to keep his thoughts in order so Carson had to repeat his task in his head over and over again until he got it done. Go to bathroom, check temperature. Go to bathroom, check temperature. Go to bathroom, check temperature. Fuck. The first aid kit with the thermometer was kept in a high cupboard which he would have to stand up to grab. Using the sink, he pulled himself up to his feet and leaned heavily against the wall. Carson had to stop and catch his breath before reaching up to grab the box. His legs shook with the effort of standing and his head swam with dizziness. Carson managed to drop the box onto the lid of the toilet as black spots took over his vision. It was the same feeling you get when you stand up too quickly and everything goes black for a second as you sit down before you actually get to the point of passing out. He almost didn’t want to know how bad he let his fever get untreated but he needed to know so he could decide what to do next. One thing was certain though, he needed to take some fever reducers stat. Luckily he found a small packet of aspirin in the box so he wouldn’t have to stand up again to grab the bottle above the sink. As Carson tore open the small pouch he realized he didn’t have any water to wash them down with. Pills or not he definitely needed to drink something if he could stomach it. The sink was too far away but the bathtub wasn’t.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered to himself before he turned on the water and leaned far enough into the tub to put his mouth under the stream of water. He swallowed the two pills with it and took another couple sips but had to stop because the stale taste of tap water made his stomach turn. Carson turned off the water quickly and gagged into the tub. As much as he wanted to throw up he couldn’t let himself because then he’d have to take more medicine and in the state he was in he wasn’t sure if he’d even get that far. It took a minute or two for his stomach to settle down and stop trying to eject what little fluids it had. Now that he thought about it he hadn’t eaten or drank anything all day. That on top of throwing up earlier meant that he was almost definitely severely dehydrated. Those couple sips of water wouldn’t be enough but if he tried to force more down he’d lose it again pretty quickly. That was a problem for later though, he still needed to take his temperature. This part was significantly easier than the others as all he had to do was sit there with the thing in his mouth until it beeped. Carson’s eyes slipped closed and he would have fallen asleep sitting up if the obnoxious beeping didn’t snap him out of it. Carson pulled it out of his mouth and struggled to focus his eyes on the tiny numbers. He had to blink a few times but there it was, 104.8. Holy shit. Did fevers even get that high from just the flu? Did he have a raging infection that he didn’t know about? Had he overused his magic and forgotten about it? More likely this was just his punishment for not listening to his mom and neglecting to do anything to break the fever earlier. The smart thing to do would be find a phone and call his mom but he wasn’t even sure if he had the time for that. Carson wasn’t sure how high a fever had to be to be dangerous but his was certainly getting there. It was getting harder to stay awake too.
“Something, gotta do something…” he rambled to himself. He racked his brain for a solution to all his problems. What would his mom do in this situation? No… he couldn’t. No way… Even as he was denying it to himself Carson got back on his hands and knees and started crawling towards his mom’s closet. If he couldn’t get himself to a hospital he’d just bring the hospital to him. Or the next best thing at least. Maybe he could have gone back to bed and everything would have been fine but he just as easily fall asleep and die or something. Carson just didn’t trust himself to pass out at this point. If he didn’t do something now he’d lose his chance.
He pushed open his mom’s closet door. There it was, the big first aid kit. His mom had an entire crate full of medical supplies stashed away for emergencies including everything one would need to do surgery at home, various medications that she couldn’t possibly have obtained legally, IV kits, needles, oxygen, and some other stuff he didn’t recognize. Carson wondered if she had all this stuff just because she could or if she went through a lot of trouble to sneak this out of the hospital because of how unpredictable he was. She never knew what kind of reckless injuries he’d come home with, especially when he was a little younger and even more depressed. Remembering each time they had opened this crate in the past he realized that having it really was justified. Carson sifted around through the supplies until he found what he was looking for. His mom had been smart enough to put everything he’d need into one plastic bag labeled “Saline IV”.
He dumped out the contents onto the floor in front of him and stared at them in confusion. He knew how to place an IV but it was admittedly harder to figure out while his brain was busy frying itself. There were a lot of tubes and for a second they moved around on the floor like snakes. What the fuck? he thought, Oh yeah I’m hallucinating. He put one hand down on them so they couldn’t move and used the other to sort out the supplies. He found the actual IV bag and attached the first tube to it then pulled a hanger down from the pole above him that his mom used to hang all her sweaters and jackets in the warmer seasons. The small hole at the top of the bag was big enough to get the curved part of the hanger through then with some difficulty he hung it back up next to the sweaters. Damn, a sweater sounded pretty good right about then, he was freezing. Why was he so cold? The fever, can’t forget about the fever. With the bag situated he turned to the more difficult parts of the IV. Carson found the little plastic piece attached to a needle that was used to put a tiny tube into the vein. Most people don’t realize that it wasn’t actually a needle that stayed in the vein, the needle was only used to insert the flexible tube then was removed. Otherwise it would hurt every time someone moved their arm. After taking inventory of the rest of the contents of the bag he finished assembling the IV and made sure there was no air in the tubes. Now for the hard part, actually inserting it. Carson tried not to think about it as he sanitized the needle and spot on his arm he planned to place it. His mom made him practice finding the vein and inserting the needle maybe a thousand times when she taught him how to do this so it was basically second nature to him but that didn’t mean he was comfortable around needles. There was a tiny pinch as he put it in and Carson breathed a sigh of relief when it was finally over. He put a thin piece of medical tape over it to keep it in place. Wow, he actually did it. This time when he fell asleep he knew he’d feel better when he woke up instead of worse. He couldn’t help but scold himself for not just taking the medicine in the morning. Maybe he could have avoided all this. Oh well. Carson tugged at a jacket to pull it off it’s hanger so he could use it as a blanket. In any other situation sleeping in his mom’s closet would have been uncomfortable but he was so damn tired it didn’t make any difference to him.
---
It was night time when his mom finished her shift at the hospital and drove home. They actually let her leave early because she was worried about the lack of response to all the texts she sent him to check in. She just had to trust that Carson could take care of himself for a while. He was almost an adult, she couldn’t afford to miss work every time he was sick. She rattled off excuses to herself as she parked in the driveway to reassure herself she wasn’t a bad mom for leaving him alone all day.
“Carson? Are you sleeping?” She called out as soon as she got in the door. No response. She ran up the stairs without taking off her shoes or jacket so she could check on him as soon as possible. His mom opened the door to his room expecting to see him lying where she had left him but his bed was empty. Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe he was in the bathroom. The door was left open so it didn’t take long to find that he wasn’t there either. She did however find a mess left on the floor so he had obviously been in there. Where the fuck could he be? It was highly unlikely that he’d go to her room but it was the last place she hadn’t checked so he opened the door with high hopes. Her bed was untouched and the light was off. Now she was really worried. Just as she was about to have a heart attack something caught her eye. The closest door was ajar. When she left in the morning it was closed. His mom flicked on the light and threw open the door. Oh thank god. She hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath until she exhaled again. There he was, sleeping in the bottom of the closet with medical supplies littering the ground. Kneeling down next to him she shook his shoulder.
“Wake up, honey.”
“Huh… what?” He stirred.
“What’s this?” She asked, seeing something on the inside of his left elbow. Her eyes followed the tube all the way up to the bag hanging on a clothes hanger. Judging by the amount left he had started the IV a while ago. His back is gonna hurt after sleeping like that for hours she tisked.
“Come on. Get up.” She told him.
Carson frowned and tried to push her away but he didn’t have the strength to resist her. She felt his forehead, he still had a fever but it was a low one. As much as she wanted to ask what the fuck happened while she was at work she knew she should wait until he was well again so with some struggling she managed to lift him up and drag him over to her bed. The makeshift IV stand/clothes hanger was moved to one of her corner bedposts and she checked it to make sure he did it right. Being a nurse it only took a quick glance to make sure everything was in order. She tended to him the rest of the night. Carson never fully woke up but she managed to spoon feed him some soup which he threw up... Then she spoon fed him some more, having more success the second time. Eventually she got it out of him that he didn’t take any medicine and let his fever get to a ridiculous 104.8 degrees. She sighed knowing that she should have forced him to take the medicine before she left that morning but she did have to give him some credit for taking the necessary precautions later on when he realized that not only was his fever dangerously high but he also had little chance of lowering it as dehydrated as he was. All in all, it was a rough day that dragged on well into the night.
