Summary: Steve has a stubborn fever and cuddles up with Eddie.
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Eddie clicked pause on Lord of the Rings as a sleeping Steve shifted against his chest. The man had fallen asleep somewhere in the halfway point of the movie, and still felt uncomfortably warm against Eddie’s bare chest.
Steve’s cold had started with staccato sniffles that had grown into deep congestion and fever; the congestion had passed, but the fever refused to budge. It’d been four days and Eddie had done everything from medicine to tepid baths, but the fever seemed to hang on Steve like a second skin. It made Eddie bite his lip in worry.
“Hey sleepyhead." Eddie stroked Steve’s sweaty hair. “Sleep okay?”
Steve shifted and stretched, pressing harder against Eddie as he arched to stretch his back. “Mm, hi. How long was I out?”
“Couple hours,” Eddie replied, reaching for the thermometer on the nightstand. “Feeling okay?”
“Still achy,” Steve sighed. “Like my body is made of lead.” He curled tighter against Eddie.
“We’ll have you better in no time.” Eddie held the thermometer. “Here, open up?”
Steve did and they waited together, watching the numbers climb.
“102.4,” Eddie read with a long sigh after the device beeped. This fever was putting up a fight.
“You want to try some water?” Eddie asked, nodding towards the untouched glass on the nightstand.
Steve nodded slowly and pushed himself to sit up. He stifled a yawn against his hands. “Feel like I could sleep all day.”
“If sleep helps, I’m not going to argue,” Eddie replied, holding the cup in place and glad when Steve finished half the water in small sips. “We’ve maxed you out on fever meds, but we could start a bath later?”
“No more baths,” Steve sighed heavily. He made himself comfortable against Eddie again. “I feel like I’ve spent most of the week in that tub.”
Eddie frowned, twirling a finger around a strand of Steve’s hair. “I don’t like that your fever hasn’t budged at all,” he sighed. “It’s been a few days.”
Steve was already closing his eyes. “Mm, always get fevers like this. They last forever,” he sighed. “Worried my mom, too, but sleep always helped.”
Eddie paused at the mention of Steve’s mom; he hardly brought up his parents and never so casually. He thought of a younger Steve, sick like this. “She was right to worry; I’ve never seen a more stubborn fever.”
Steve wrapped his arms around Eddie and cuddled closer, pressing his sticky forehead against Eddie’s shoulder. “Thanks for stayin’ close,'' Steve mumbled. “The company helps.”
Eddie’s brow crinkled in thought. Had Steve just been left on his own to sleep off his fevers? And if this was a common occurrence, had no one sat with him to make sure he was okay? The thoughts threatened tears to brim, unshed, at the corners of his eyes.
“M’not going anywhere,” Eddie replied, stroking Steve’s shoulder. “But we’re sticking you back in the bath if that fever gets any higher, okay?”
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With the drain in, Finn’s obs came up to a more acceptable level, the sedation they’d given him helping to keep him settled whilst they did it. With that sorted, they’d let Fao clean and even close the cuts to his head, talking softly to his brother as he did it all. He knew they’d bent the rules for him to let him do that, but he appreciated it. It certainly helped Finn out, and the nurse commented that he’d not been that settled or content.
They’d got him a place on ICU, and soon enough he was taken up there. Fao followed wearily, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. Finn was still very sick, that much was obvious. He knew ICU was the best place for him, but it was still worrying. Nobody wanted their brother in intensive care. Fao was worried about his seizures, too, but they said Steve would see him whilst he was admitted to try and control them.
His fever was the most worrying, seeming to not get any better even with all of their treatments. It would take time, but for the moment, it was less than ideal.
Steve appeared after a while, Finn’s case perplexing him. The discussion he'd had with the ED hadn't shed any more light on it, but the scans hadn't shown anything he was too concerned with. Of course there was the matter of his infection, the antibiotics he'd already been on apparently having done nothing. The chest drain was a necessary evil, but Steve couldn't help the worry about it and his seizures. Finn wouldn't be conscious, of course, but it wouldn't be pleasant for him to pull it out.
Fao had settled at Finn’s bedside, exhausted from a long night and not a lot of sleep. He’d ended up resting his head on the bedrails, just to close his eyes for five minutes. At least he’d still be close to Finn, able to settle him if needed, or speak to the staff if they needed anything.
Steve sighed as he saw the brothers, reminded of their first meeting so many years ago. He cleared his throat gently. "Knock knock."
Fao lifted his head, hair falling in his eyes. “Oh, Steve. Sorry, wasn’t asleep, I swear.”
"You don't need to apologise." He said with a smile. "You deserve the rest. How are you getting on?"
"Bless him. I'd got a bed organised for him for the morning, your mum had said he was starting to struggle with absences and the paracetamol wasn't helping with his fever."
“When she called me tonight I assumed it was the big seizure we’ve all seen coming, but of course he had to be different.”
"Of course, it is finn, after all."
“Never a dull moment.” Fao said drily.
"That's very true."
“I suppose he couldn’t let me have all the fun.”
"You and Harrison caused enough stress, I don’t need him joining in, and I bet She and Fred don't either." Steve managed to joke.
“How is Harrison?” He asked. “Haven’t spoken to him in a little while.”
Steve's smile grew forced. "He's getting there. He's struggling a little with everything, but you know what that’s like."
“All too well. I’ll text him.” Fao said. “I’m guessing you’ve come to see Finn, I’ll stop distracting you.”
"Came to see both of you." He said softly. "There's not much neuro-wise I can do at the moment."
“Both of us? I hope I don’t need a neurosurgeon.” Fao joked weakly.
"I'm not on the market for more patients." Steve joked back.
“Good.” He murmured. “I’m good with my head intact, thanks.”
"Though I'm sure Sheila would be surprised to find you did have a brain." He teased, moving to Finn’s side. "Finn? Just Steve, you're okay."
Finn gave a groan, taking a moment to manage to open his eyes. He finally focused on Steve, gave a grunt in acknowledgement, and then rested his head back down.
Fao reached across to squeeze Finn’s hand. “Steve’s checking up on you, eh?”
"It's a stupid question, I know, but how are you feeling?"
Finn made a noise, his voice muffled by the mask. "Tired."
Fao huffed a laugh. “You and me both, kid.”
"I don't blame either of you."Steve said. "Aside from tired? Any pain?"
"No." Finn shook his head. "Fuzzy."
"Like before seizure fuzzy, or after fuzzy?"
That was too much effort. "Both."
Fao couldn’t help but smile. “Always helpful, Finn.”
"How many have you had now?" Steve murmured, looking through the notes. "Right, I'll ask them to keep an eye on it, I'll change the lorazepam to immediately if he does. What's the valproate doing? Hmm, I'll add that too, his other levels are good, that's fine."
Steve trailed off, making a few notes before returning his attention back to the brothers. "Right, a bit of a plan for you two. They're gonna keep the sedation going anyway, make that a bit more comfortable for you, Finn. I'll increase your normal meds, the new one we're trying, and that should help keep them away. If you do have a seizure, we've got that management plan in place and ready. I've written you up for more pain relief too, so just ask. You don't have to wait until if you have a seizure."
It was too much for Finn to pay attention, but he nodded all the same. "'Kay."
“Thank you, Steve.” Fao said, taking it all in.
"Is there anything else you need from me? Or want me to do?" He asked gently.
“No, no.” Fao murmured. “Other than tell the staff I’m a doctor that works here, none of them recognise me.” He couldn’t help the little laugh. “And obviously just keep looking after Finn.”
"I saw you'd managed to sort his lacs out, you did a good job." Steve said. "I'll make sure to let them know."
“They were great in ED.”
"I'm glad." He gave him a genuine smile. "I'll pop back later, see how the two of you are getting on."
“Thanks, means a lot.”
He hesitated before he left. "Hars wouldn't mind a text, and you're always welcome at ours."
“I’ll text him. Gotta keep myself entertained whilst sleeping beauty gets his rest.”
"Of course." He laughed. "Take care."
“And you.” Fao murmured, turning his attention back to Finn.
Finn gave a grunt in acknowledgement that Steve had left, already mainly asleep. He struggled to get comfortable, tossing his head in frustration.
“Here, let me help.” Fao said, standing up to fuss with Finn’s pillows.
He caught Fao's eye as he helped, frustrated and tired and feeling rubbish. Fao fixed the problem though, and that earned a sigh in content, one thing less to complain about.
With the pillows fixed, Fao moved to stroke through Finn’s hair, leaning over the bed to press a kiss to his forehead. He was still absolutely burning up, despite everything they’d done, and his hair was damp with sweat. He wasn’t quite as aggressive and delirious as he had been, but he certainly wasn’t well, and it seemed like everything they were doing wasn’t doing enough.
Biting his lip, he sat back down, worry churning in his stomach. He kept his hand in Finn’s once he was settled, lifting it to press a kiss to his knuckles.
“Love you, Finn. Don’t do anything stupid, please. Let’s get rid of this fever, it’s not doing you any good at all.”
Spoiler: This is an excerpt from The Mushroom Strikes Back
He can’t help learning forward, lightly resting his head on the palm of his right hand. It feels hot. His fever must be pretty bad.
Cody is looking at him now, but he doesn’t know what to say.
“You’ve done well with leading,” Cody speaks up finally, and Anakin’s head snaps up in slight surprise. “You told me in the beginning that you didn’t know how, but you are doing it fine.”
He’d talked to him about that personally, right after Obi-Wan left, because he had no idea what he was doing, and he couldn’t make a mistake when there were so many lives on the line. It still felt like he wasn’t doing enough, but to hear Cody saying otherwise…
“I… am?”
“Yes. And I am grateful that you chose to stay with us and fight,” Cody assures, even if he seems to be feeling a little uncomfortable, “But I must say I agree that you need to… take care of yourself better. You have hardly slept once since he left.”
“And you have?” Anakin asks, dryly. Cody might not be the one with a raging fever right now, but he still doesn’t look good at all.
“You are our… commanding officer,” he begins, almost hesitantly.
“That’s why I have to take care of you, regardless of what danger it puts me in,” he replies, bluntly. It seems so obvious, and he doesn’t understand why Cody’s acting like that’s not true. “You are not the same as us, sir. We were made for this, to fight for the Republic. We are ready to sacrifice what we have to,” Cody replies, as though he’s not calmly explaining that their lives don’t matter.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock
Series: Part 2 of Never Alone
Summary:
Capt. James Kirk had a hard time during his mission on Augreth -- imprisoned, tortured, left behind, hunted -- and came home sick and hurt. He finds his feet running the Enterprise again, and even if there are some setbacks, he knows who can help him through them.
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