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I have not really slept since John came down with Dragon Flu and I have reached the stage of exhaustion where nothing feels entirely real any more. My entire body aches from having to keep my inner fires burning for so long and I don't think I could shift back into human form even if I tried. I swear these last few days have been the longest I have ever had to live through.
Slowly, my every muscle screaming at me as I do so, I sit up and blink the sleep from my eyes. Today has been the best day for a while and I have high hopes that John might finally begin to wake up. Last night his temperature has finally gones back to normal and I had found myself actually crying out of sheer relief. It had been touch and go for a while as to whether John would ever recover. Even now the realisation of how close I came to losing him sends a shiver of icy terror running down my spine. It is an experience I never want to repeat. Any further thoughts are driven from my mind when I feel movement behind me. My heart skips slightly.
"John?" I ask hesitantly, still half afraid that I might have imagined it.
A long second passes. Then John lets out a loud groan and opens his eyes. "Oh god, I feel awful. It's like I've gone five rounds with a rock Golum." He says in a voice that is little more than a barely audible croak. His eyes have lost a little of their usual sparkle but that is often common after a long or bad illness. I'm sure he will be feeling better in no time.
Letting out a sigh I sink back against him, finding myself literally weak with relief. "You had me worried there for a while. I honestly thought I'd lost you." I say, unable to keep the shake from my voice.
Carefully, obviously aware there isn't much space, John shifts so he can wrap a paw around me and pull me close against him. It is comforting to feel the warmth emanating from him after the chilling coldness I thought would never go away. "I'm ok now." John answers, sounding a little distant. "Well apart from the pounding in my head..." He glances down at me, appearing to notice the usual glow is missing from my feathers. "How about you? You must be exhausted from looking after me. How much sleep did you actually get over the past few days?"
I smile sheepishly. "Not much. I've had to keep my fires going to make sure..."
I am interrupted by the crash of breaking china from the kitchen followed by the sound of somebody swearing loudly. John bares his teeth and lets out a snarl, smoke trickling from the corners of his jaw.
"Its fine. It's just Mycroft making breakfast. He's been hanging around to make sure I eat." I say with a yawn. Strange though the experience has been, it has been nice to have my older brother looking after me as though we were a nice, normal family. I don't imagine it will last though.
John lets out a rumble of what sounds like amusement and shakes his head. "He sounds like he's wrecking the kitchen." He laughs before turning his attention back to me. "You look exhausted, Sherlock. Why don't you go to sleep for a while? It'll porbably do you some good."
I want to protest, to say that I don't need looking after but I know that what he is saying is true. Sleep would do me the world of good. Closing my eyes I force myself to relax and quickly find myself drifting off. At some point I am aware of footsteps and an exclamation from Mycroft when he sees that John is awake.
John quickly shushes him and says, "I told Sherlock to get some sleep. He looked like he needed it."
I do not hear Mycroft's reply because by then I have fallen into a deep and peaceful sleep, comforted by the knowledge that John is going to be alright. For now at least the nightmare is over.
To be continued