Shane tossed and turned a few times before his eyes flew open. Everything was blurry; his head hurt like hell and he felt like he was burning up. Something cold and damp was placed on his forehead.

"Shhhh… it’s ok baby, I’m here… go back to sleep…" The voice was soft but his head hurt too much for him to figure who it was. He closed his eyes again and drifted off.

Kian patted Shane’s forehead with the wet cloth. Shane’s skin was burning hot and he had a funny pale colour spotted with big red dots. Kian thought he must feel like crap, his temperature was really high. Being in Asia, he hoped it really wasn’t anything worse than a bad case of flu as the doctor had said.

For Shane’s sake he wished they’d been in Ireland, or at least London, from where they would have been able to fly him back home. But, as it was now, Shane spent the days in the hotel room. Not that he’d seemed to be aware of anything the past two days. Kian felt like crying seeing Shane in such a state.

Bryan suddenly bounced into the room, humming ‘Pinball Wizard’ to himself. "Hey, Ki, we’re off to the arcade to play a few games…. Coming?"

Kian looked at Shane, "No, I’d rather stay here, but thanx."

Bryan looked at Kian, "Can’t you get someone else to stay with him? Ya know, I’m starting to be a bit of a champion on pinball, you up for a challenge?"

Kian forced a smile, "That’s great Bry, but I’m staying. You go have your fun."

Bryan gave an exasperated sigh, "Ok so." He turned on his heel, a bit surprised that Kian had turned down the challenge. Sometimes he wondered if Shane and Kian were more than friends.

Kian looked at the door as it closed behind Bryan. He wondered if he ought to have gone, did it seem suspicious?

"Kian?" the croaky voice made him turn back around.

"Shane?" Shane looked at him and groaned slightly. Kian placed his hand on Shane’s forehead; the fever seemed to be subsiding.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like crap… can I have a glass of water?" Shane croaked the answer.

Kian stood up with a smile, "Sure, hold on."

Kian got mineral water from the fridge and poured some into a glass. He put it on the bedside table and helped Shane sit up before handing him the water. His hand ran through Shane’s hair as he drank.

"I was worried about you…" Kian whispered as Shane handed him the empty glass, "I was so scared."

Shane smiled weakly and held his arms out to welcome Kian into a hug. His warm lips planted a kiss on Kian’s forehead. "Hey, you know I’d never leave you…"

Kian nodded and snuggled a bit closer. He wished he could kiss Shane but figured it would probably be a bad idea if he risked catching that virus too.

They just sat like that for a while, until a soft knock on the door made them jump apart.

"Come in!" Kian called.

Nicky came into the room. "Ah, you’re back in the world of living," he said to Shane with a smile. Shane nodded.

Nicky turned to Kian, "Anto wanted me to get you to go to dinner with us. Says it’s not healthy for you to just sit in all day."

Kian looked at Shane. Shane yawned. "You go Ki, I’m going to sleep anyway, so I’ll be ok."

"You’re sure?"

"Yes, now go."

Kian stood up, "Ok, I’ll see you later so…"

"Yeah, see you."

Nicky mouthed a ‘thanx’ to Shane and followed Kian out the door.

Shane sighed and lay back against the pillows. He wondered for how long he had been zoned out. He bet Kian had been sitting by his side all the time, Kian was like that. Whenever any of the lads were sick Kian would turn into nurse mode and take care of them. Kian took care of them in a lot of ways actually.

If Westlife had been a computer, Kian would definitely have been the motherboard. The centre of everything, the piece everything was connected to. And, he loved him for it. Shane closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile on his lips, dreaming of Kian, no doubt.

Kian came back to find Shane sleeping peacefully. He was munching on a bag of candy worms, having let himself been talked into going to the arcade for a little while after dinner. He had to admit that it had been fun though, he had probably needed to get out and take his worries off Shane for a while.

Shane’s eyes opened slowly and he looked sleepily at Kian.

Kian smiled, "Feeling better?"

Shane nodded, "Yeah." His eyes fell on the bag of candy. "Can I have one?"

Kian looked at him and considered before smiling as he handed Shane one. Without warning Shane took it with his mouth, brushing his lips against Kian’s fingers in the process. Kian shuddered and pulled his hand away, "Shane, don’t."

Shane put on his big- eyed puppy look, "Why?"

Kian sighed, "Cause you’re supposed to rest, and I’m afraid if you do that I won’t be able to control myself." Shane still looked at him with that look. "Shane, don’t make it harder on me than it is. I’ve been longing for three days now, and it looks like it’ll be at least three more…"

Shane frowned. "Ok so, whatever you want."

Kian sighed, again, "It’s not what I want, it’s for your own best."

Shane turned around grumpily, ‘"Ok, nurse Kian."

---

The next three days dragged past. Shane was visibly better, but the doctor wanted him to stay in bed a few more days to make sure he regained all his strength and the virus was out of his system before he went back to work. Kian and the rest of the lads had to do promotion without him, which resulted in Shane spending the days alone in the hotel room.

As the third day came to an end Kian decided it was time to cheer Shane up a little. He’d be joining the lads the following day anyway, so they could have a little celebration as well… He thought back to Shane’s sarcastic nurse exclamation a few nights earlier, and suddenly he had an idea…

---

Kian had a big grin on his face as he entered the room he shared with Shane that evening.

Shane looked at him, "Why the big grin?"

Kian smiled and walked over to kiss him, "I have a surprise for ya. Just hold on two minutes."

"Ok," Shane replied as Kian went into the bathroom.

A few minutes later Kian emerged from the bathroom. Shane started to laugh at the ridiculous sight… Kian… in a nurses outfit! Dress, hat… the whole lot.

Kian winked as he made his way over to Shane’s bed. Shane pulled himself together as Kian glared at him.

Kian smiled and placed his hand on Shane’s forehead, "So, how are we feeling today Mr Filan?"

Shane bit his lip to hold the giggle in and replied, "I’m feeling much better, thank you, Nurse Egan."

Kian smiled, "That’s good…" He jumped off the bed and bent down to find something in the little white bag, purposely sticking his bum up in full view for Shane. Shane didn’t feel like giggling anymore now, as his breathing started to get irregular.

Kian found what he was looking for and pretended to take Shane’s blood pressure. He put on one of these sexy concentrated looks and then looked at Shane. "Oh, I dunno about that Mr Filan, your blood pressure seems awfully high."

Shane grinned, "That’s cause you’re here with me…" he said huskily.

Kian put on a shocked face, "Now, that’s sexual harassment." Shane pouted and Kian laughed slightly.

Kian rooted in his bag again. "I have to give you an injection, now, give me your arm…" Shane stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest. "It won’t hurt, don’t worry."

Shane pouted, "I promise to be real good… but please, no injection Nurse Kian," he wailed.

"Mmmm… you know it’s for your own good…"

Shane reached out his hand and took the needle from Kian. "I promise to make up for it… I’m ok and I’ll prove it…"

Kian looked at him. "Ok, prove it so."

Shane grinned and grabbed the front of the dress Kian was wearing, pulling him down onto him he gave him a passionate kiss. "Ok, you look very sexy in that, but I’m afraid I’m gonna have to take it off…" he started to remove the clothes, painfully slow.

The twinkle in his eyes told Kian that Shane would probably be proving himself all night through… Not that he minded.