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It had been four days since Aleks had his first symptoms of a bad cold. It took a harsh turn real fast, leaving him bed-ridden and weak. Neither James nor Aleks had laptops, so Aleks was incapable of updating YouTube or posting videos, let alone record them. He had tried to sneak out the day prior, but James heard his stumbling and scolded him back to bed.
Now, 9:32 at night, Aleks sat in bed, miserably staring at the wall in front of him and sniffling every few seconds. His hair was a mess, his eyes were dark and his nose was red, contrasting greatly against his pale face. He had nothing to do in there but sit, or sleep. Not that he feared James, but he didn't want to be yelled at again for getting out of bed, so he decided to suck it up and stay put. Still, it didn't end his boredom and frustration. When you get like that, you need to move, but Aleks wasn't allowed to. He wasn't allowed to do anything, for that matter... and James was babying him throughout all this. It was like he was clueless to awkward boundaries, Aleks thought.
Just then, he had a spontaneous coughing fit. Struggling through the hacking, Aleks leaned over to grab a water bottle off the floor, but all he had were empty bottles. In horror, he stared at the floor littered with nine empty bottles as he ceased to stop coughing into his arm. It was hurting his throat and chest, but it wasn't stopping.
The coughing was so loud, Aleks hadn't heard James as he came running up the stairs with a new supply of water for the thirsty Russian and a racing heart. He swung the door open to Aleks' room, his eyes wide with fear as he watched his friend, red-faced, struggle to breathe. Quickly taking a seat on the edge of his bed, James opened the one bottle and held it up for Aleks, who tried to suppress his coughing long enough to take a tip, and, unknowingly, grabbed the bottle shakily, his hand over top of James'. Accidentally choking out some of the water he'd just tried to swallow, Aleks pushed the bottle away. It wasn't stopping. James noticed this, and held the bottle away to avoid it being spilled, and began to pat Aleks' back with his free hand. That did the trick.
Panting, Aleks closed his eyes to calm down and rest, the battle between coughing and needing air having drained him of more energy. He reached out for the water, and James gave it to him cautiously.
"Are you alright?" he asked, a clear shakiness present in his voice. Aleks sounded an "mhm" before letting James screw the cap back onto the bottle. Almost empty already.
"You scared me..." James said, holding a hand up to the younger's forehead - he'd broken into another fever. Aleks shook his hand off, not wanting sympathy or friendly gestures.
"Yeah, well... not my fault." he said in a nasally voice. He may have been sick, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be his normal self, personality wise. James ignored him.
"I need to get you medicine. If I go to CVS, are y'gonna be alright?"
"Of course I'll fuckin' be alright."
James just wanted to help, Aleks told himself, and decided to chill out. "Sorry". he made himself say. James nodded in response.
"Well, stay put. I'll be back soon."
And after a hestitant moment, James was gone. Aleks planned to listen and stay where he was, he did - but drinking almost ten bottles of water did a number on a person's bladder. He'd managed to muster up enough strength to swing his legs over the edge of the bed and stand up, but dizziness and fatigue were quickly building up, dragging him down. Irregardless, Aleks hobbled down the hall and into the bathroom. He'd barely managed to finish and return to his room before his vision screwed up and it became increasingly difficult to stay standing. In the hall, he gripped the railing tight, looking down into the large foyer and at the front door, but that just made it worse. And just like that, it had felt as though the wind had been knocked out of Aleks, and he fell to the floor, passing out.
Hardly thirty minutes had passed, and James was already back at home with two kinds of medicine, cough candies, chicken noodle soup, Kleenex, and Viks. He'd wasted no time on getting back to Aleks, running up the stairs, but the second he noticed the other man was unconscious on the hall floor, James dropped the bag and ran to him, falling to his knees.
"Aleks! Aleks, wake up." he called out, but nothing.
James didn't know if Aleks was really light, or if he was really strong, but neither mattered as James effortlessly lifted Aleks off of the floor and carried him back into the safety of his room, setting him down carefully on the bed and pulling the covers back up over him. He set off to get a cold cloth and laid it across Aleks' head, beads of sweat having formed, dampening his hair and dripping slowly down his temples and cheeks and neck. James wondered if he could even breathe through his nose and a slight panic set in all over again as he thought Aleks might not wake up if he stopped breathing in his sleep. He touched Aleks' shoulder, which didn't quite wake him but caused him to gasp through his mouth and start breathing through it instead. 'Better...'
Aleks would be alright for a few minutes if he was fast, James thought as he ran back down the stairs to make a bowl of chicken noodle soup for when the sickly one awoke again. His expression was full of concern as he opened the can and poured the contents into a bowl, preparing to microwave it for two minutes and twenty-eight seconds, the exact time Aleks always liked for his soup. Most people would ignore little things like that, but James always remembered them. He remembered when to back off when Aleks was upset, he remembered the exact time he'd wake up everyday and what he'd do, he remembered that he liked to walk around the front of vehicles to get to the other door rather than the back. He remembered that Aleks was wary of thunderstorms, that he hated sticky things on his face and hands, that he had to know people well before he could open up to them. James remembered everything.
With the microwave beeping snapping James out of his trance, he took the bowl out of the Inverter and brought it upstairs with a spoon and four crackers. As he was setting the items down on the nightstand, Aleks inhaled sharply and opened his eyes. 'Thank God he's awake.'
"Hey, sleepyhead," James said, trying to smile.
"James? What happened?" Aleks questioned, voice raspy again.
"I don't know. I came home and you were out cold in the hallway. So I, uh... carried you back in here. I made you some soup, look - and I got you medicine, and Kleenex and Vicks and shit--"
"James..."
"What? Did you want something else? I could get you something else."
"No, I don't-- for fuck's sake, James. Why are you doing this?"
The smile faded from James' face.
"What do you mean? I'm doing it for you. You're sick. I'm trying to help you."
"I don't want your fucking help!"
The two stared at each other for a moment, James' eyes filled with hurt, glossy, and Aleks' full of anger, but a hint of thanks. James looked down, blinking as he furrowed his brow, and carried on with what he was doing, a frown replacing his once-prominent smile.
"Here..." he said, sitting on the edge of the bed and trying to feed Aleks the hot soup, avoiding eye contact. He continued to stare downwards, even as Aleks didn't immediately eat the soup. He rolled his eyes and leaned forwards, drinking the soup from the spoon. For awhile, they carried on like this: silent feeding, like Aleks was a baby that had to be monitored and fed by somebody else's steady hands to keep him from making a mess of himself. It was making him want to dump the soup onto James and storm out of the room, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not now.
When Aleks had finished the soup, he looked at James, hoping his feelings weren't that hurt and that he'd look back at Aleks, but it wasn't happening. Still, Aleks continued to stare while James set the bowl back down on the nightstand. The most he did was look at Aleks' lips, lifting a thumb to wipe away a bit of soup on the corner of his mouth, not caring what Aleks thought anymore. He lifted the nighttime bottle of cold medicine and read the instructions while he pulled at the plastic covering the lid. Once it was off, he poured the recommended dose into the small measuring cup it came with. Aleks hated pills, which is why James bought the liquid medicine. He'd gotten there just in time, buying out the last two bottles of the good brand of medicine for adults.
Still quiet, James held the tiny cup up to Aleks lips, insisting without saying anything that he take the medicine without back-talk, and Aleks did just that. He followed along to his care-taker's orders and swallowed all the dark blue-ish purple liquid that tasted vaguely of berries. Needing the cup tipped back forced James to look up, and when Aleks finished, their eyes met once more.
Aleks noticed then - James looked tired. He had dark circles forming beneath his eyes, lids hooded and pupils slightly dilated. He wasn't making any sort of expression now, just blank nothingness. Was he staying up with Aleks at night? Was he avoiding sleep to care for him? Aleks wanted to know for sure, refusing to remain stupid about it.
"When's the last time you slept?" he asked. James' eyes widened just slightly.
"Doesn't matter." he said, closing the medicine bottle and putting it back down.
"Just tell me, dude. I don't want to know that I've been keeping you up with my coughing, or need for care, whatever."
"I slept for about an hour and a half last night, if you must know. I'm fine. Bit you're not. And I'm not going to rest until you're okay again."
Screw boundaries. They were long-ago crossed by now, but Aleks was realizing he didn't care anymore, and neither did James, apparently.
"You should sleep anyway." Aleks said, still keeping his eyes on the older man.
"Not until you're--"
"Not until I'm okay, yeah yeah. Listen - I will sleep if you sleep. That medicine should knock me out, and I feel pretty tired already. But I'll fight it if you don't sleep."
A moment of silence. Aleks was sitting still, and James was still staring downwards since he put the bottle back down on the table. It seemed like hours had passed until James finally sighed and agreed.
"Fine. But... first you need more stuff. You need your rest more than me." he said, reaching for the blue container of Vicks. Upon opening it, the minty scent wafted out into the air. Aah, nostalgia...
"Lift your shirt up."
"No!" Aleks snapped, back to his stubborn self. "Fuck that."
"Just lift your damn shirt." James hadn't raised his voice or sounded angry, just tired. Aleks decided to do as told and lifted his t-shirt up to his collarbone. James dipped his fingers into the gel-like stuff and rubbed it into Aleks' chest, the heat radiating off of it. He could feel his heartbeat, the pace having quickened once James' hand touched his skin. Once absorbed, Aleks twisted around, exposing his back. James rubbed more of the stuff into his back. The gentle movements were helping to put Aleks to sleep, but he didn't want to admit that. He made himself open his eyes as he turned back around, re-adjusting his position and the blankets of the bed. Still a bit of Vicks left on his fingers, James reached up and rubbed it onto the bottom of Aleks' nose and across his cupid's bow, causing Aleks to grab James' wrist and try to push him away, but he quickly let go.
"There you go, asshole." James said, the corners of his lips curling upwards again. There's that smile.
"Thanks... bitch." Aleks replied, smiling along with his friend. "Go to sleep."
"You go to sleep."
"No, you. We had a deal."
"Yeah, but you're the sick one."
"I'll make you sick!"
"Like hell you are, Aleksandr. Let me turn off the light and then we'll sleep."
"You're staying here?"
"Of course I'm staying here, stupid. I agreed tos leep, I never agreed to leave your room. Now shut up and rest."
Aleks chuckled, a toothy grin presenting itself. The first real smile in days - it was a beautiful sight. After shutting the light off and turning the fan on, James returned to Aleks' bed, sitting down on the floor next to it. Neither said anything in the darkness, both assuming the other to have fallen asleep already, but not yet.
Aleks moved his hand over to the edge of the bed, his fingers hovering. He wasn't sure what he was hoping for from that, but the outcome didn't seem to bother him. James reached up to punch his fingers lightly, then non-chalantly moved his fingers around until he was holding Aleks' hand. There. Not so bad.
"Goodnight, James. And thank you."
"Anything for a friend..." James said quietly, voice trailing off, and after a few seconds of silence, a soft sigh was heard in the pitch black room and the distant words were echoed as Aleks began to drift off.
"Goodnight, Aleks."