(Untitled)

[patrick_koster]

When he woke up in the middle of the night the temperature seemed to have dropped significantly and a violent shiver ran through him as he slowly sat up, his brow furrowing as he noticed the windows were wide open: that didn't seem quite right. It certainly didn't feel right. With some trouble he climbed out off bed, closing all the windows, still

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[stormybrendan]

He hurriedly shoved the untouched glass back on the nightstand and stood, helping Patrick to sit up, swinging his legs off the bed. "Put y' arms around m' neck," he told him, ready to lift him up.

[patrick_koster]

Patrick slowly lifted his arms and slipped them around Brendan's neck, wincing and biting down on his lower lip as Brendan helped him out of bed. "Bathroom," he murmured when he was more or less standing upright again, still leaning most of his weight against Brendan.

[stormybrendan]

Arm sliding around Patrick's body and his shoulder tucked under Patrick's Brendan helped him, the two of them shuffling across to the bathroom, the light still on.

[patrick_koster]

"I definitely never looked better," Patrick muttered when he glanced at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Could do with a shave though," he murmured, shivering as he averted his gaze and gave Brendan a sideways glance. "I can take it from here, mate." Taking a leak in private one of the things he'd started to appreciate an awful lot during his years in prison.

[stormybrendan]

Brendan knew Patrick's idiosyncrasies about some things, and nodded, making sure the man was steady enough before turning and leaving the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He went and straightened the bed, sorting out the covers and folding up two of the blankets to lay them across the foot of the bed.

[patrick_koster]

He spent about fifteen minutes in the bathroom and when he staggered into the bedroom again, still shivering noticeably, there was a slight frown on his face, even though he tried to mask it the moment Brendan looked up at him.

[stormybrendan]

"Y' alright?" Brendan couldn't see Patrick's face, the light from the bathroom throwing the man into silouhette as he came out. He could see Patrick's stagger though, and stepped forward, his arm going around him again as another shiver ran through him. "C'mon, get back into bed," he muttered, wondering how long the asprin might take, if it was going to help at all.

[patrick_koster]

Patrick shook his head. "Can't I just try to walk it off?" he asked quietly, leaning his weight against Brendan again as he blinked at the other man. His dry throat had him swallowing a couple of times and he gave a helpless shrug.

"Perhaps I ought to eat something, that ought to make me feel a bit better," Patrick murmured, rubbing at his eyes with one, trembling, hand. "On second thought." He turned around, the sudden movement causing him to sway slightly. "Be right back," he muttered before staggering back into the bathroom.

[stormybrendan]

Brendan stood there, wincing as he heard Patrick retching. He walked back into the bathroom, grabbing a face cloth and wetting it. Turning the tap off he crouched down behind the kneeling figure, resting his hand on Patrick's shoulder for a moment before sliding his hand across to gently rub at the back of the man's neck. He waited till he figured most of the retching had finished, then reached around to wipe Patrick's mouth.

[patrick_koster]

He muttered a curse or two once the cramps disappeared and the retching finally subsided, shaking his head when Brendan finished wiping his mouth. "This weren't how I'd imagined spending the day," he breathed, absently noting how his head was still throbbing and his vision had become blurred.

[stormybrendan]

"No? Well that's a relief. Can't imagine planning to be tossing y' guts up and havin' a temp of a hundred plus would be most people's idea of a fun day." He dropped the face cloth in the sink and stood back up again. "C'mon, let's try again with the gettin' y' back to bed part, hey?"

[patrick_koster]

"Suppose that's better than my suggestion about eating something," he murmured, breathing shallowly, and allowed Brendan to pull him to his feet again, his body trembling from exertion.

[stormybrendan]

With no little gentleness Brendan guided Patrick back to the bed, the quaking in the man's muscles worrying him more than the shivers that ran through him still.

He lifted Patrick's legs, sliding them under the covers and pulling them over Patrick's body. "I'll just get a basin," he told him and headed out to the kitchen quickly, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and returning to the bedroom.

[patrick_koster]

"OK," Patrick whispered meekly, body and most of his head burrowed beneath the covers, he let his eyes fall closed again and took another shallow, raspy breath, hoping he could alleviate the pain in his back - and his head - by just not moving anymore.

[stormybrendan]

Before checking on the man again Brendan went into the bathroom and found a fresh face cloth, damping it and returning to the bedroom. His concern increased when he heard Patrick's breathing, and he wondered whether it was some kind of 'flu. He needed to get some fluid into him too, and he suddenly remembered that the asprin he'd given Patrick mighn't have had much chance to work.

"Y' want some water?" he asked, pulling the covers down so he could see Patrick's face, putting his hand on the man's forehead.

[patrick_koster]

The hand on his forehead felt good, comforting even, and Patrick sighed; the water was probably a good idea for more than one reason and, with some effort, he gave Brendan an almost imperceptible nod, coughing a bit to clear his throat before he glanced up a the man and muttered, "Aye - perhaps a bit."