Title: The Magic of an Ordinary Couple of Days
Author: Angie
Email: [email protected]
Category:
Universe: ATF
Rating/Warnings:
Summary:
It was a cool morning, unusually so for this late in the spring. The soft snoring coming from the still figure on the bed was reassuring, yesterday, he couldn't even breathe through his nose. The new flu bug was especially virulent, knocking sufferers flat of their backs at first. After refilling the insulated pitcher on the nightstand, Buck made sure JD was completely covered by the warm, fuzzy throw cover before slipping quietly out of the room.
The couch was strewn with the blankets and pillows Buck had carried from his room so he could be closer to his young roommate in case he needed help during the night. Stacking the pillows in the recliner, he began to fold the blankets. After all the bedding was stacked out of the way, he turned on the TV and surfed until he found an old movie. The coffee in the pot was cold, so he poured a cup and put it in the microwave to heat. There was some left over pizza from the night before and he ate it cold, washing it down with the coffee.
A series of loud sneezes had him up and in JD's room again. The poor kid was tossing around on the bed, trying to find a position that would allow his aching body some measure of comfort. Pressing his palm against the flushed face, Buck could tell that his fever was coming up again. Rearranging the pillows, he helped the kid get settled again. It was too soon for another dose of Tylenol, so Buck wrung the cloth from the small pail of water and wiped JD's face. The bleary brown eyes opened, tried to focus, and then slid shut again. Buck tucked the blankets around JD again and left the room.
The phone rang and Buck spent a few minutes talking to Nathan about how JD was doing. He asked the medic to pass along to the others that he and JD would not make it to the ranch that afternoon. Nathan promised to call in a few hours to check on them again.
After hanging up the phone, Buck decided to do a little cleaning. Starting by gathering up all of the takeout food containers, he filled a trash bag. While he was picking up the trash, he stacked all of the magazines and junk mail on the coffee table. Just that little bit of cleaning vastly improved the look of the apartment and he took a break to check on JD again. The fever was still there but he was draped comfortably around his pillows. Buck wiped him down again and JD opened his eyes.
"Buck? What time is it?"
"Nearly eleven. How are you feeling?" Buck wiped JD's face with the cool cloth again.
"Head hurts. Tired. Hot."
"Drink some of this. Nathan said you need to drink as much as you can and rest."
"We're supposed to go to the ranch," JD protested.
"You aren't going anywhere. Feel up to some soup?"
JD nodded and sank back into the pillows. When Buck returned with the bowl of soup, he was asleep again. Buck wiped his face again, waking him and drawing a confused expression.
"What time is it?"
"Still just eleven. Let me get you situated and you can have some soup." Buck pulled the young agent to a sitting position and propped him up with the extra pillows.
Slowly, with shaky hands, JD dipped in to the soup. It was good to see him eat, the flu had left him not wanting anything to eat and vomiting when he did. He made it almost to the bottom of the bowl before his stomach began to rebel.
"Buck...I think I'm gonna," JD warned as he handed off the bowl.
"Lay back and try to relax. You need to keep something on your stomach, kid," Buck said as he supported his friend. JD leaned back for a moment before he began to swallow hard and fast. Buck patted the younger man's arm and tried to calm him before reaching for the bucket at the bedside. JD heaved up the soup and lay limply across Buck's thighs as he battled the dry heaves. Buck soothed his hand up and down JD's back until the kid lay still.
"I hate being sick," JD protested softly.
After giving him a sip of water to rinse his mouth, Buck helped JD to lay back again. Situating him once again, Buck covered him warmly and let him go back to sleep. Returning to the living room, Buck sorted through the mail and threw away or filed all of it. Keeping only the most recent copies of the magazines, he tossed the rest into the trash. After grabbing a sandwich and a tall glass of tea, he looked in on JD again. He seemed to be resting comfortably. It looked like he had managed to drink some of the water from the pitcher.
Now that the living room was in order, Buck turned his attention to the kitchen. Starting in the refrigerator, he threw out anything he couldn't remember having bought in the last few days. Having a sink full of dishes to wash, he loaded the dishwasher and started it. He moved on to the pantry and began cleaning and reorganizing. Wiping down the stove and countertops, he stopped for another break. He was surprised at how long it had taken him. A sound at the door had him turning around.
"Hey, what are you doing out here?"
JD swayed slightly and Buck went to his side, he was more than hot again. "Can't...not feeling...so hot."
Wrapping an arm around the kid, Buck led him back into the living room. Snagging a quilt from the stack he had brought down last night, he wrapped JD and set him in the middle of the couch.
"Stay right there, I'll put some things together and we can watch TV together, okay?" Buck watched until JD nodded and then he went back into the kitchen. Grabbing the fresh pitcher of tea, two cups and a straw for the kid, he went back into the living room. Arranging the pillows in the corner of the couch, he made himself comfortable. Stretching out one arm, he coaxed JD into lying down. Cruising the channels, he found something they could both enjoy.
"Thanks Buck," JD whispered.
The older man rested one hand on JD's neck and rubbed the nape gently. A fever driven shudder wracked JD and he pulled the blankets more closely around him. Buck offered him a sip of tea from the straw. After taking a small swallow, JD's eyes began to drift shut. For the next couple of hours, he drifted in and out of sleep but managed to keep down several ounces of the tea.
Nathan called around suppertime to see how JD was doing.
"He still can't keep anything down. He's been sleeping a lot and his fever comes and goes," Buck informed the medic.
"I picked up some stuff from Rain that should help. I'll stop by on my way home."
Another bout of shakes took hold of JD. He wiggled inside of the cocoon of blankets until he was turned facing Buck. The wiggling and squirming continued until he was practically in Buck's lap with his hot, sweaty face pressed into the older man's neck. When the doorbell rang almost an hour later, Buck was unable to move without disturbing JD. Grabbing the cordless phone, he rang Nathan's cell.
"Nate, have you got your spare keys? JD's asleep in my lap and I don't want to wake him if I don't have to," Buck said softly. In a moment, the team medic let himself into the apartment.
"How's he doing?"
"He's still awfully hot, but he kept down some tea."
Drawing up a syringe filled with clear liquid, Nathan set the syringe on the table and pulled his electronic thermometer out. Gently inserting the sterile cap into JD's ear, he took a reading of his temperature.
"It's still high, 103.4. I've got something for the fever too. I'll give him both. He'll sleep for a while but he should be able to keep down some soup afterwards. Do you want to put him to bed first?"
Buck gathered the blankets and lifted JD. The bedroom, closed up all day so that the noise wouldn't wake JD, smelled of sweat and sickness and vomit. Buck shook his head and carried JD into the master bedroom. He laid his friend, blankets and all on the side of the king sized bed. JD shuddered again as the cooler material of the sheets touched his fevered skin. Nathan retrieved the pair of syringes and the alcohol swabs. Baring a patch of JD's hip, he swabbed the skin and administered the first injection. JD flinched as the medicine stung. The second shot didn't sting as badly and he barely twitched.
"I'll stop by in the morning and check on him again. I'll call Chris and let him know you'll not be in tomorrow," Nathan said as he gathered his supplies and snapped the needles off of the syringes.
Buck made a fresh pitcher of tea and carried the plastic wastebasket in to set beside the bed. Turning on the TV in his room, he settled on the other side of the bed to wait for the pizza he ordered. When the doorbell rang, he padded out and paid for his supper. Not wanting to risk upsetting JD's stomach, he avoided carrying the food back into the bedroom. When he returned to the bedroom, JD had begun to sweat.
"Hey kid, how are you feeling?"
"Need a shower...feel yucky," JD answered as he tried to sit up. Buck moved to help him get up and into the bathroom.
"You be alright by yourself?"
"You wanna watch me shower? Is there something you want to tell me, Buck?" JD teased.
"No, I just don't want to have to take you to the hospital for stitches when you fall in the shower."
While JD was in the shower, Buck changed the sheets on the bed and brought in fresh blankets for the kid. He heated some more soup and carried it in to wait. JD stepped out of the bathroom dressed in fresh sweats and a tee shirt.
"What did you and Nathan do to me? I got a bruise on my back side!"
"He gave you a couple of shots so you'd stop puking all over the place and he unstuck your thermostat so you'd stop running so hot. You think you feel up to some soup?" Buck asked.
JD slipped into the fresh bedding and accepted a tray table across his thighs. He stirred the soup for a minute before sipping from the spoon. After a couple of bites, he was certain he could keep it down and dug in enthusiastically.
After about half of the soup, JD felt better, tired but better. He sank back against the pillows and closed his eyes again. When Buck looked over next, his roommate was breathing through his open mouth and sound asleep. He pulled JD to a more comfortable position and tucked the blankets in around him and left him to rest.
In the morning, JD stumbled out of the bedroom, scratching his head and a spot on his hip. His stomach was growling loudly.
"Wow, what happened in here?"
"You were sick and I got bored so I cleaned. You hungry?"
"Yeah, starving. What do we have?" JD reached for the refrigerator.
"Sit down, I made your favorite," Buck said with a grin. He opened the oven and brought out a pan with several slices of French toast. "Nathan said to go easy at first. You don't want to upset your stomach again. Dig in."
JD gratefully took the plate and drizzled the strawberry syrup lightly across the stack. Buck set a glass of cranberry juice on the table and sat down with his own plate.
"So, what do you want to do today?" Buck asked between bites.
"Don't you have to work today?"
"Nope, Chris gave me the day off to be with you. I know you're not up to going out but do you want to rent some DVD's and hang a quilt over the sliding doors?"
The apartment faced the east and the sun shone into the rooms all day. By hanging a thick quilt over the patio doors, they could darken their living room. The plasma screen TV that Buck had bought with his income tax money was like being at the theater. With all of the hours the team had been working, they rarely got to see any of the new movies. Buck returned with The Lord of the Rings trilogy and a couple of the other new releases. He had picked up some Sprite for the kid while he was out. The two of them piled up on the floor against the couch and lost themselves for a while.
Nathan called around noon to check on them. Buck told the medic that JD was feeling better and that he'd kept his breakfast down. He was cautioned not to let the kid overdo and that he should still get plenty of rest.
"Don't worry, Nate, we're just spread out here on the floor watching a couple of movies. I've got him some jello and plenty of cranberry juice. He's doing fine."
"Okay, as long as his temp stays normal, he can come into the office tomorrow for a few hours."
The roommates watched all three of the Trilogy movies and then took a break to eat. JD ate the tomato soup after Buck stirred a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream into it, cringing as he did, he couldn't understand how the kid could stand it that way. Like a baby, JD dropped right off to sleep after filling his stomach with the warm soup. Buck shut off the movie and surfed the satellite channels for something else to watch. In no time, he was asleep too.
JD rolled over and punched his pillow a couple of times before he settled back down. Buck stirred just long enough to make sure JD was covered before he went back to sleep. By the time the sun got high enough to light up the kitchen, they were both awake. After a shower, JD got dressed for work. Buck took him in, figuring to bring him home and drop him off in a few hours. Nathan kept a close watch on the young man until he started yawning and struggling to keep his eyes open, then he told Buck to take him on home and put him to bed.
As he lay down to sleep, JD grinned to himself. It was a strange thought, but it was the truth, it was a truly ordinary couple of days. No one was shooting at anyone, no one was on light duty recovering from an injury. Just him and his little flu bug, which he was getting over, life was good.
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