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Dex is irritated as hell. Hand it to the guy named Nurse to get sick on a roadie, the minute their game finished. Dex isn’t even really sure when exactly Nursey started feeling off, but one second they were on the ice, checking the guys from Quinnipiac, tipping that last sweet goal in from just off the side, crashing into each other, and the next Nurse was looking pale and shaky, eyes glazed and hands trembling. Dex had taken one look at him and dragged him off the ice to the change room, and it was a testament to how bad Nurse must’ve been feeling that he didn’t fight him. The bus to the hotel was long with Nursey shivering into his hoodie and worn-looking sweatpants.
Dex slings Nursey’s bag over one shoulder and hauls up his own, ignoring Nurse’s wide-eyed expression and faltering mumble, “You don’t have to—”
“Bro,” Holster cuts him off, throwing a hand down on Nurse’s shoulder and making his knees dip dangerously. “Dexy’s your d-man. He’s got your back,” and Dex has never heard Holster sound quite so approving as he does in this moment. He can’t help it – he goes red.
“Awww, Holtzy, you made our frog blush!” Dex wants to kill Ransom just a little bit.
“C’mon Nurse, bedtime,” he grumbles instead, nudging Nursey towards the elevators with a bag and grabbing the keys from Lardo. “Feel better, brah,” she says, patting Nursey on the shoulder. Nurse sways into her hand, and she shoots Dex a surprised look as she rubs his shoulder. “Let me know if you need anything,” she says to Dex, her expression concerned. Dex nods.
Dex is kind of a low-contact guy. Not that he doesn’t like touching, but it’s not really a bro thing to do. Nursey’s always been the more tactile one, slinging his arms over Dex’s shoulders at kegsters, jostling them together on the bench, even reaching up to ruffle his hair sometimes, when Dex permits it. So Dex puts his hand out, leaves it on the small of Nursey’s back to guide him, and he probably shouldn’t be surprised that Nurse pushes into that touch too. He’s feeling sick, alternating between flushed and kind of sweaty, and shivering, trembling cold. No one likes being sick.
Dex figures he’s in for a long night of worrying. Growing up with so many kids around means you build up a strong immune system, so it’s not like he’s that worried about catching something, but he doesn’t like the way Nurse lets himself be shepherded out of his hoodie and t-shirt – which are kind of gross and sweaty, if Dex is being honest – into a fresh shirt and under the covers.
“You’re a dumbass,” he tells Nurse as he sets a glass of water on the side table and fishes around in his bag for asprin. “How did you get yourself sick immediately after the game?”
“Felt like shit all day,” Nurse grates out, “knew it was coming.”
“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“Quinnipiac,” Nurse says, and curls up a little tighter. Christ, Dex can see the bed shaking.
“Come on, Nurse, you gotta take an asprin. Get your fever down.”
Nursey opens his eyes, blinking blearily, and pokes one hand out of his cocoon to reach for the little pill. “You don’t have to do this you know,” he says after he’s swallowed a mouthful of water. “Go stay with C or something. You’ll get sick here.”
Dex snorts. “Not a chance, Nurse. Didn’t you hear what Holster said? I got your back or whatever. Now go to sleep.”
Nursey gives him a long look, but nods and tucks his face back into the tangle of duvet. It’s still fairly early. Dex and Nurse usually go hang out with C or do some work, and actually maybe getting some of his problem set out of the way might be a good idea. He’s not going to be able to sleep any time soon anyways.
Dex falls into working mode easily, and it’s been about an hour when he hears a soft noise from Nursey’s side of the room. It’s almost a whimper, and it makes Dex’s head snap up immediately. He sets his laptop aside and takes in the way Nursey has thrown off all his covers and is sweating like crazy. Dex presses a hand to his forehead. The asprin hasn’t made a dent in Nursey’s fever – which he knows isn’t that unusual from the time in first year when Nurse got so sick he had unhinged the door to his dorm room with Bitty to check on him. On that occasion, Nurse had tilted his face back and made some comment about how his fevers always run high and burn out fast. Dex had vaguely wanted to murder him then.
Now, Dex just worries. At his touch, Nurse doesn’t move back, just lets out a low whine and squeezes his eyes tighter. “Nurse, you gotta drink some water, man,” Dex says, reaching for the glass. “You’re sweating it all out, I don’t want you to get dehydrated.”
Nursey turns his face further into his pillow, his breathing labored like he’s just come off a long run. “Nursey, come on man, sit up a little would you?” He manages to get an arm around him to tug him up, and Nursey’s eyes flutter open. They’re glazed and unfocused, but he drinks obediently when Dex presses the glass to his lips. When he’s drained the glass, he makes a little desperate noise and reaches for more, and Dex feels a flash of guilt for not realizing how dehydrated he was earlier.
“Here,” Dex says, reaching for his own glass on the other side of the table. He figures it’s a little late in their friendship to be worrying about germs, and at this point it’s not like Nurse can get even sicker. At least he hopes not.
With Dex’s help, Nursey finishes the second glass of water and leans heavily into Dex’s shoulder, his overheated skin pressing into Dex’s neck and his breath hot, so hot, huffs into his collarbone. Dex rubs a hand over Nurse’s shoulder, and a little of the tension eases out of him. “Jesus, you’re soaked already,” Dex says, though he’s not sure Nursey’s even listening. “I don’t really want to leave you in that, especially since you’re going to get cold again soon. But I’m pretty sure that was your last shirt, dude.”
Nursey evidently has been listening, because his hands fumble at the hem and Dex moves away slightly to help him peel the shirt up over his head.
As soon as the air hits his skin, Nursey is back to shivering, his fever flipping his temperature on a dime and leaving him looking lost. Dex hates seeing people sick, can’t really help himself, and lets his knuckles brush over Nursey’s cheek. He’s still too hot, warmth pouring off his skin despite the goosebumps he’s rocking.
“C-cold,” Nursey says, and lets himself be tucked back into his cocoon. “I’ll be right over here, okay buddy?” Dex says, pressing his hand to Nurse’s shoulder one last time before he moves to his own bed. But Nursey’s hand shoots out of the duvet and grabs his wrist before he can go. “Dex?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you stay?” He gets out, every word sounding forced and hard in the effort not to stutter around the cold. “I’m right here, man.”
“N-no,” Nursey says, then shakes his head. “Stay,” he says again, and Dex presses down on his shoulder a little more firmly. “You want me to sit over here?” he asks, to be sure, and Nurse nods a little, his expression more vulnerable than Dex is used to. “Sure. Okay, yeah. Let me just grab my laptop.”
Dex replaces the water glasses while he’s up, and settles himself down on the other side of Nurse’s bed, on top of the duvet with his laptop in hand. He glances over at Nurse, a little frown curling at the edge of his mouth and a crease between his brows. Nursey has turned towards him, his face not far from Dex’s thigh, and despite the shivering Dex can feel Nurse’s breath still hot against his sweatpants. He brushes knuckles across Nursey’s skin again, testing his fever a little anxiously. “I’m just going to finish this problem set, okay?” He asks, his voice quiet. Nursey nods a little, still pressing his face up into Dex’s fingers.
It’s quiet. Nurse is hopefully sleeping, though it’s hard to tell, and Dex falls back into working mode for another while. Eventually his phone pings and Dex sees Lardo’s name up there with Chowder’s, both asking after Nursey. Dex lets them both know he’s sleeping, and finally takes a look at the clock. It’s later than it should be, and Dex should really think about going to bed himself, but he doesn’t really want to leave Nursey even though he knows he’s fine.
On the bright side, Dex thinks as he saves his programs and shuts down his laptop, his fever is clearly coming down a little. Nursey’s still shivering but it isn’t a full body shake, and he’s not sweating through the bedsheets any more. Now there’s just a slight tremor every minute or so, and little huffs of air that assure Dex that Nurse is still breathing normally, like he should be.
Against his better judgment, Dex flicks off the lamp and slips down the bed, stretching out on his back beside his roommate.
They’ve shared rooms but they’ve never shared beds. Dex isn’t sure this is a breach of trust or some shit, especially when he doesn’t want to wake Nursey up and ask him if it’s okay. And frankly, he’s not sure if his feelings towards Nursey makes that any worse or better.
After another minute of deliberation, Nursey shifts, inching closer to Dex and pressing his still-warm forehead to Dex’s bare shoulder. “You stayin’?” Nursey slurs, one eye flickering open a crack before closing again. “Uh. Yeah, if that’s okay. I want to be here if you need water or whatever overnight.” There’s a faint click as Nursey swallows, and he nuzzles his nose minutely against Dex’s arm. It’s a sleepy motion, almost unconscious, as if Nursey was a cat kneading his pillow before sinking into it. Nurse presses a little closer. “Stay,” he says, quiet and soft, and Dex turns on his side to face him, scoots a little closer and slings an arm over his waist. Nursey sighs into his chest.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Dex says, “I’ve got you.”