64 The wind beneath his wings
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #64 The wind beneath his wings
Rating: PG-13
Summary: “Every dance is a kind of fever chart, a graph of the heart”- Martha Graham
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43 #44 #45 #46 #47 #48 #49 #50 #51 #52 #53 #54 #55 #56 #57 #58 #59 #60 #61 #62 #63
He was brilliant. He was relentless. He was forceful. He was a go-getter. He was undefeatable. But not this day. Today he was a wet towel on the big bed. A powerless pawn in a crappy game of chess. A messy blur in a sea of paper hankies. He was sick. Really sick. Too sick to work. Too sick to get up. Even too sick to smile when Luke placed a cold cloth on his forehead.
The stupid part of it all was…he’d seen it coming. The nurses started to sniffle, even without him snarling at them. Some doctors called in sick, increasing his workload, and his last few dinners had tasted like cardboard. He had taken his usual precautions. Some antibiotics, more time to rest - that hadn’t been easy - and yoga. For some reason his winning formula had failed, though.
Last night he’d been throwing up the latest cardboard and he remembered periods of extreme heat without any sexual activity. His nose was leaking and his lungs were squeaking. He knew the signs. The flu had found him and was kicking his ass. Big time.
Somewhere in the background he could hear Luke’s voice and some female he didn’t recognize. Apparently Luke trusted her enough to let her take care of him, because he could hear her voice from time to time. Helping him to drink and even supporting him to the bathroom. Whoever she was, she was strong and fierce. She felt like a rock when he leaned on her.
He couldn’t recall any nurse with her posture and for some reason her identity became the midpoint of his feverish dreams and hallucinations. To ease his mind, he grabbed her wrist when she was refreshing the cold fabric on his forehead.
“Who are you?” It was a pitiful whisper, but she heard it anyway.
“I’m Mrs. Graves, Dr. Oliver. Your housekeeper.”
Reid frowned, trying to collect his thoughts and memories.
“We have a housekeeper?”
“Yes, you do,” she didn’t sound offended, “You didn’t think this house cleaned itself, did you?”
Reid frowned again. Did he know? Could a house clean itself? He honestly wasn’t sure, so he took her word for it.
“I see,” he whispered and he could hear her laugh softly.
“I don’t think you really do, but that’s okay. It’s quite a fever you’re having.”
“I’m hot,” Reid whispered.
Mrs. Graves laughed again. “Yes, you are.” She let an ice cube wander over his face and he nodded. That was nice.
“Luke…”
“He will be right back. He’s getting some medicine.”
“Is he sick?” Reid looked very worried and Mrs. Graves watched him with tenderness.
“No, you are.”
“I’m never sick,” Reid muttered highly indignant.
“Of course you’re not,” said a soft, familiar voice near his ear and Reid felt safe. Luke was here. He sighed with content when he felt Luke’s fingers entwined with his. Reid could hear him talk to the woman again. Who was she? He couldn’t remember. Names. He wasn’t good at that. Remembering names. He remembered the most important one. Luke. Luke was here.
All of a sudden his teeth began chattering and his veins seemed to transport ice water instead of blood.
“This is what Dr. Bob predicted, so if you can help me…”
Was Luke talking to him? He couldn’t help. He was too cold. His whole body was aching. He growled when he felt Luke pulling at him.
“I can’t…”
“Come on, Stunner, we’ll help…”
Reid was getting angry. Why didn’t they just leave him alone. He felt horrible. He didn’t want to get up. He didn’t want to walk. Where to anyway? He felt the tiles under his feet. Bathroom. Why was he here? He didn’t need to go. He didn’t…
Luke was talking to that woman again and then he heard her leave. He wanted to ask why he was here, but the words didn’t come out. Then he felt warm water over his body and he moaned. This was better!
“Good?” Luke whispered in his ear and he nodded.
“Sick…”
“I know. It sucks.”
Reid nodded again.
Luke held him, softly massaging the muscles in Reid’s shoulders. It felt surreal. No ambiguous remark after Luke’s ‘sucks’-comment. Touching Reid without any response. Reid’s hands on him for support, without exploring his body.
Luke obviously wasn’t sick. His body recognized the muscles under his fingers, the smell of the skin near his nose and that beautiful body leaning onto him. A recognition that became perceptible and made Luke feel uncomfortable. Even with his boxers still on. So when Reid stopped shivering, Luke turned off the shower and quickly wrapped a towel around his own waist. When Mrs. Graves stepped in, she focused on Reid and Luke made a mental note. Their housekeeper was very discreet.
Together they managed to return a dry and reasonably content Reid to bed, but when Luke stepped back, Reid grabbed his hand.
“Don’t leave me,” he begged and Luke kissed his forehead.
“Never, Feverboy.”
Mrs. Graves smiled. This was a first encounter with Dr. Reid Oliver she hadn’t imagined, but it was a special treat to see how even this fever couldn’t affect their love for each other.
“You go and sit next to him and let me take care of you both,” she gave Luke a soft tap on his shoulder.
“Thanks, Mrs. Graves. I left our medicine on the hall table. Could you get that? I don’t want to leave Reid right now.”
“No problem.”
She came back with the paper bag and two glasses of water.
“Shall I give it to him?” Mrs. Graves offered and Luke nodded.
“That would be great,” he took out Reid’s pills and handed them to her.
“Dr. Bob gave me some stuff too, to limit the risk of contagion. The annual flu shot obviously cannot stand up to this type of flu.”
“Obviously,” Mrs. Graves smiled. “I assume you know what not to do with your doctor, right?”
Luke nodded. “I know. I’ll keep my distance. With great difficulty.”
The older woman nodded. “I quite understand. But you getting sick won’t help anyone.”
Luke thought about his kidney and smiled. “Exactly.”
After the shower, Reid had fallen asleep and when he woke up, he saw Luke sitting next to him on the bed, working his laptop.
“Writing?” Was that crackling noise his voice? Reid frowned.
“Hey you…” Luke placed his hand on Reid’s forehead and smiled. “Looks like the fever passed.”
“Fever?” Reid’s frown deepened.
“You don’t remember?” Luke’s thumb caressed Reid’s chin. “You were pretty sick.”
“I was?” Reid tried to recollect the previous hours but failed. He did realize something else. “You…you have to be very careful. I don’t want you…”
“I know,” Luke smiled. “Bob gave me some medicine to boost my resistance and I’ve taken every precaution. I’m careful.”
“Good,” Reid smiled, “No I can sleep.”
Luke didn’t mention that Reid had already slept for hours and just nodded.
“You do that, my love.”
“My love,” Reid whispered. “How sappy it that?” He fell asleep with his lips in a big, content smile.