Chapter Text
It was too goddamn hot, that was the problem. Sully was surprised his shirt wasn't plastered to him with sweat, the tiny ceiling fan in their rented flat doing nothing but pushing hot air around. Still, he thought, Nate wasn't sweating either so maybe it was partially in his head, residual annoyance from being stuck in Dahab in the first place when the boat sale fell through. Sully felt like he should get down to the docks to see if anyone else was selling, but the thought of getting up and moving made his head ache; he could swear the heat was actually getting worse as it got further into the evening.
"Do you have to look so damn comfortable?" he groused, looking over to where Nate was poring over some sea charts and animatedly muttering to himself.
The teenage barely looked up, transferring a series of coordinates to his latest journal. "Hey, at least we aren't stuck here in the height of summer. You were complaining we didn't know exactly where we should be looking, think of this as a excuse to do some of that 'planning' you're always going on about."
Sully took a swig of his beer and grimaced. It was still cold but the taste was off, stale and bitter in a way that churned his stomach. He settled for rolling the bottle over his forehead, sighing softly at the momentary relief. "I know what I said and it would do you good not to fly by the seat of your pants the whole damn time. Still doesn't mean you have to be so energetic, at least have the decency to sweat or laze around like the rest of us."
This got Nate to raise his head, glancing quizzically between Sully and the window. "Seriously? It can't be more than 65 degrees out there, I didn't have you pegged for such a delicate flower. Are you feeling ok?"
Sully realised with a start he was getting genuinely irritated with Nate, with no idea why. He scrubbed a hand over his face and stood up slowly. "I'm just tired and pissed off kid, since we've been stuck here I just think of some group of holiday divers stumbling over our wreck and alerting the authorities...or something equally stupid. I'm gonna get an early night and try the docks in the morning, with any luck they'll be some dive shop short of money in the off season and looking to sell." He lowered his hand to see Nate had put down his notebook and moved around the table, a half-frown lightly creasing between his brows.
"Are you sure you're ok? Do you need me to head out to the market and grab you anything?"
Sully shouldered passed him towards the bedroom, unable to keep the bite from his voice. "I'm fine. What I need is for you to mind your own business and stop treating me like I've got one foot in the grave."
Nate pulled back, expression deepening into a genuine scowl. He turned and stalked for the door. "Good to hear. I'll stay out of your hair until you stop acting like such a total d..."
The last word was cut off by the slam of the door. Sully winced, making it to the bedroom window in time to see Nate making down the street in the direction of the beach. Opening the window he debated calling after him, then didn't. The kid would come back when he'd walked off a little steam, hopefully by then rest would have helped Sully shake his bad mood. He drew the curtains against the last evening light, hoping enough breeze would find its way through to break the oppressive heat and leave him cool enough to sleep.
*
What felt like minutes later he turned over in bed to find the room in darkness. Shivering under a thin sheet he cursed the desert weather, what else could turn him from baking to freezing in moments? Joints aching he shuffled to the window but found it closed. Sully blinked fuzzily, leaning on the windowsill as he tried to think. He didn't remember getting up, Nate wouldn't have made it back yet...his thoughts felt heavy and slow, he only knew this bothered him, like an itch at the back of his mind that something wasn't right in the apartment.
*
He was standing with his hand on the handle of the bedroom door. Had he been going to search the house? Sully collapsed back onto the mattress, feeling his head reel with the sudden movement. This was ridiculous, his dad wasn't due back for hours and there would only be his mom around, she would worry if she found him out of bed. Hopefully his dad would stay out drinking late with his poker buddies; if he came in drunk enough to fall asleep on the sofa there would be no raised voices, no loud noises, no muffled crying late into the night.
*
He started awake, some half-remembered sound following him from sleep. The door to his room was open, there was a shadow crossing the threshold and unreasonable terror gripped his as he groped under his pillow for a gun that wasn't there. He flung his arm out towards the figure, the pillow hit the closed bedroom door with a soft thump and slid innocently to the floor. Sully sat up in confusion, about to call out for someone before realising he had no idea whose name he'd been thinking of. The air of the room felt freezing against his exposed skin; he lay back and jerked the covers around himself, curling up to brace against convulsive shivers that swept through him.
*
Someone was bending over him. Sully pulled back sluggishly as they reached for him, then stiffened as he heard a familiar voice.
"Lazing around in bed again, why am I always surprised when you disappoint me?"
Any question about how his father could have crossed time and distance was lost in conviction not to let that tone paralyze him again, not when he was a grown man and had left fears and family buried long ago. Struggling to focus he flung out a hand and tried to struggle up, the room lurching around him until he just gripped the mattress to hold on, the sound of breaking glass echoing over the pounding of blood in his ears. He pushed weakly at the blankets around his legs, it was too hot and he was trapped, he had to find his way back to the flat where he had left Nate...
"Sully please, it's fine, I'm here!"
There were hands on his shoulders, pressing him back towards the bed. Sully went with them; all the strength draining from him with something that was finally, blessedly, cool. His eyelids were so heavy. There was something cold on his forehead; as reassuring as the fact that he, at last, knew where he was.
"Is hot.." he mumbled, the slur in his voice not as surprising as how low and rough it sounded in his ears.
"Thanks for the heads up, I would never have guessed with that fever you're running."
"Thirsty."
"I got you another glass of water, but how 'bout you help me sit you up this time Sully, what do you think?"
Despite the lack of clarity in his thoughts there was something that still felt off. "Mom, since when do you call me by my nickname?"
She stilled and looked intently at his face. He just tried to keep her face, her worried smile, in focus. A hand rested briefly on his forehead before a cold glass was raised to his lips. As Sully concentrated on taking small sips he heard a small sigh. He lay back, eyelids fighting to close of their own accord. There was a shift in the mattress and he reached out, groping in dull panic until he felt another hand in his. He heard a breath of a laugh.
"Relax, I'm not going anywhere...though I draw the line at a lullaby. Try and get some sleep."
Sully's eyes drifted closed.
*
It was morning sunlight that drew him awake, gentle but insistent and full in the face. The headache, the dry mouth, the gritty eyes - it would have felt like a typical morning after except for the hazy memories, fever dreams that overlapped and blended into one.
"Sully?"
Nate was sitting by the side of the bed, creases from the blankets still visible on one cheek and dark smudges under his eyes.
Sully frowned. "What the hell happened to your face, you get into a fight after you left last night?"
Nate grinned with one side of his mouth to not tug on the split lip, only newly scabbed over. "Don't worry, I'm not banned from any bars. How're you feeling? If the fever hadn't broken this morning I was going to kidnap your very own, personal doctor."
"I'm in no hurry to leap out of bed," Sully said, sitting up slowly, "but better. Sorry for snapping at you last night, I guess being sick is good practice for when I turn into a grumpy old man." He frowned when Nate made none of the obvious comebacks. "Kid, are you ok?"
Nate fidgeted with a loose thread on the sheet. "You were really out of it last night, are you sure I shouldn't get someone anyway?"
The undisguised worry in Nate's voice quelled Sully's first instinct to brush it off."I really do feel better, but if that changes you can call whoever the hell you like."
"Great, I'm sure that'll help when you didn't even realise you were sick the first time," Nate groused, standing with his arms folded. "You lie here like a good invalid, I'll get some coffee - some of us have been up all night."
Sully lay back with a chuckle. "If you get cranky later you can always take a nap."
"Thanks a lot Sully, next time you can fluff your own pillows." Nate looked back over his shoulder, unconsciously rubbing a thumb over his split lip. "Don't go anywhere, ok?"
"Not part of the plan kid." Sully yawned and closed his eyes, missing Nate pausing in the doorway with a wince.
"It never is..." he muttered softly as he slipped away. Touching his top pocket for reassurance he felt the crinkle of paper; the doctor's number was still safely tucked away, just in case.