Chapter Text
Takao woke up in the middle of the night, which was unusual for him. It didn't take him long to figure out the cause though when he noticed the lack of his favorite tsundere in the bed next to him and a horrible coughing coming from the bathroom.
Groaning, he climbed out of the warmth of the sheets and padded to the bathroom. "Shin-chan, are you okay?" he asked as he knocked on the door.
"I'm fine, Takao. Go back to bed," Midorima tried to say, but the effect was marred by the coughing fit that interrupted him mid-sentence.
"You don't sound fine, Shin-chan. Honestly, you sound terrible."
"It's just a tickle. Go back to bed, Takao."
"That doesn't sound like a tickle to me, Shin-chan. And you hiding behind the bathroom door doesn't make me confident either."
The bathroom door finally cracked open, and Takao's first thought, from what he could see in the dim light of the nightlight since Midorima hadn't bothered to turn on the actual light, was that Midorima looked like he'd be likely to be mistaken for a patient that day.
"Shin-chan, come back to bed. You look terrible," Takao exclaimed.
"I'm fine."
"You're clearly not fine, Shin-chan. You're white as a sheet, and you look like you're about to keel over just standing there. And I have a feeling I'd find you were running a fever if I checked."
"I don't get sick."
"The evidence points to the contrary."
"I don't have time to get sick. We're already short-staffed with Takeda-sensei away helping his parents move; everyone else would be scrambling if I'm out."
Takao rolled his eyes as he nudged Midorima back towards the bed. "I don't think anyone would appreciate you coming in to work today, Shin-chan. Especially since you look like you'd be liable to pass out and create more work for everyone if you did. Why don't you lie back down, and I'll call the hospital and let them know that you're indisposed."
"Let them know I won't be out for long," Midorima croaked.
"I'll let them know you'll be back as soon as you're feeling better; I'm sure they'll understand. There have been some nasty bugs going around recently, and you don't normally get sick."
"I'm a doctor; I know how to take care of myself," Midorima retorted, sounding something like his normal self if Takao ignored the weak coughing that followed.
Once Midorima was safely back under the covers, and seemed likely to stay there for at least a few minutes, Takao took his phone into the living room and called the hospital to let them know that Midorima wouldn't be in that day. As he had predicted, there was the normal grumbling about having to find someone to cover for his shift last-minute, but it was superficial grumbling at most, especially since Midorima had filled in for most of the other doctors at some point in the last several months when they had been out sick. After promising that he'd pass on their best wishes to Midorima, Takao hung up and went back to the bedroom.
He found Midorima staring at the ceiling and frowning, two fingers pressed to the pulse in his neck.
"So, doc, what's the prognosis?" Takao asked playfully.
Midorima just glared at him. "The prognosis is that I seem to have contracted one of the many respiratory infections that have been circulating recently, despite my best efforts to the contrary."
"In other words, Shin-chan's sick."
"Yes, in other words, I appear to be sick."
Takao grinned and clapped his hands together. "Which means that I get to take care of you for once. You'll have to forgive me, since I'm not a doctor, but hopefully I can do a decent job. Do you want something to eat?"
"It's three in the morning, Takao. It's not time to eat."
"Well, you were up anyway, so I figured I'd check."
"Just let me sleep," Midorima groaned, dragging a pillow over his face.
"Shin-chan's no fun," Takao said, but he climbed back into bed beside Midorima. Or at least he tried to, but Midorima didn't seem to like that plan.
"Go away, Takao," he grumbled. "I'm probably contagious right now, and you don't want to catch this. Go sleep on the sofa or something."
"Shin-chan," Takao whined, "what sort of boyfriend would I be abandoning you in your time of need?"
"A smart one. If I'm sick, then you're not allowed to get sick, since I wouldn't be able to take care of you, which means you need to sleep somewhere else for now."
"Shin-chan's mean," Takao grumbled, but he dragged himself out of the nice warm bed again. "I'll leave the door open; yell if you need anything, and try to get some sleep," he said, resigning himself to sleeping on the couch for the next several days. Midorima didn't get sick often, but when he did, he was always miserable, which brought out his tsundere tendencies even more than usual. Takao had learned long ago that the best plan for everyone's sake was simply to roll with it until the worst had passed, and save arguing for the times that Midorima came up with truly terrible proposals.
Takao dragged the spare blankets out of the living room closet and tried to make himself comfortable on the sofa, but between the uncomfortable seams between the cushions and Shin-chan's coughing, he finally gave up on any hope of falling back asleep after a couple of hours and got up to make himself breakfast.
He had just finished eating when he heard Midorima's familiar half-asleep shuffle for the bathroom. He waited until Midorima finished and returned to the bedroom before poking his head in the door.
Midorima was lying in bed with his tablet, glaring at the screen and trying to read when he wasn't coughing.
"Would you like some tea, Shin-chan?" Takao asked. "Also, you look terrible."
Midorima lowered the tablet and glared at Takao, again. "Thank you for stating the obvious."
"What are you doing, Shin-chan? You should be resting, and somehow I doubt that whatever you're reading qualifies."
"Epidemiology and case reports from the public health department and the statistics from the local hospitals. I'm trying to narrow down what I may have caught."
"Does it matter exactly what it is? You've caught a flu or a cough or something. Whatever it is, you need to rest and drink plenty of fluids. That's what you're always saying, isn't it?"
"If I know what it is, then I know how long I'm likely to feel like death incarnate. Now if you wouldn't mind, your shouting is giving me a headache."
"Shin-chan, I think you already have a headache; I'm not talking that loudly at all. I'll bring you some tea, and something for your head. You should probably stop glaring at your tablet like that too; you know screens make your eyes hurt, especially if you already have a headache."
Midorima didn't say anything, but he did put his tablet back on his end table, take off his glasses, and bury his head back under the pillow.
When Takao returned, Midorima was shivering under the covers.
"Does Shin-chan have a fever?" he asked. Then he pressed his forehead to Midorima's forehead before snatching it away quickly. "Uwaa, Shin-chan's burning up!" he exclaimed.
Midorima glared at him, which perhaps would have had more than effect if Midorima had actually been able to focus. "'Burning up' is not a technical term, Takao," Midorima croaked.
Takao pouted. "Fine, fine, I'll get the thermometer. You have a fever though."
Midorima coughed weakly.
A couple of minutes later, Takao yelled from the bathroom. "Shin-chan, where's the thermometer again?"
"Above the sink," Midorima whispered loudly. "Same place it's always been."
"Say aaaahhh," Takao said cheerfully when he returned.
Midorima scowled, but he did as Takao ordered. After a couple of minutes, Takao took the thermometer back out of Midorima's mouth and read it.
"Wow, Shin-chan definitely has a fever!" Takao exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever seen the thermometer go this high."
"Let me see that," Midorima demanded, grabbing at it weakly until Takao took pity on him and let him have it. Midorima read the display and winced. "I could use that tylenol now, Takao," he said.
"For Shin-chan's head?"
"For the fever; it could be dangerous if it gets much higher. Wake me up in an hour to check it again; hopefully it will have dropped by then." With that, Midorima burrowed back under the pillows, and Takao let him be while he made his own breakfast.
An hour later, Takao woke Midorima up, braved Midorima's half-coherent ramblings long enough to check his temperature, and concluded it had in fact come back down, which was just as well, since Midorima hadn't left instructions on what to do if it hadn't.
Sometime around midday, Midorima was finally lucid for long enough that Takao could convince him to drink some of the soup he had made. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would be enough to keep Midorima out of the hospital; he knew how well that would end.
As Takao had suspected, Midorima's declarations of going back to work the next day were overly optimistic in the face of whatever flu he had caught. His fever didn't break until three days later, and he still wasn't ready to go back to work until another couple of days after that, by which point he was bored out of his mind from staying in bed and desperate to get back to the hospital.
When two weeks had passed without Takao getting sick, Midorima finally declared victory over the virus.
"This is why getting your flu shot is important, Takao," he said.
"It didn't stop Shin-chan from getting sick," Takao countered.
"It's not 100% effective, but it may very well be the reason you didn't catch this from me. And trust me, this is one thing even you wouldn't have wanted to share."
"Aww, Shin-chan, you do care," Takao teased.
"Of course I care; I always care about you," Midorima promised. "Now get off of my lap or I'm going to be late to work."