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Calum didn’t think too much of it when he started getting a headache during the middle of their interview, instead he chose to ignore it. However by the end of the interview things had taken a turn for the worse.
As soon as they had said their thank you’s and goodbyes he rushed off to the nearest bathroom and shoved himself into a stall, falling to his knees and clutching the rim of the toilet as he unceremoniously threw up his lunch. His breathing was laboured and his headache still hadn’t disappeared. Something was definitely wrong, he barely ever vomited and his headaches usually never lasted this long.
The black-haired boy staggered to his feet and grabbed some tissues, wiping away the saliva that was beginning to trail down the corners of his lips. He threw the wad of tissues into the toilet before flushing it and walking out of the stall.
He needed to hurry back otherwise the boys would begin to worry or they’d notice something was up. He didn’t want that, they had enough on their plates.
Calum quickly rinsed his mouth out, washed his hands and fixed his hair, doing one last check in the mirror to make sure he looked presentable before he exited the bathroom. He was still feeling a little woozy but he could put up with it. “Hey lads! Ready to go?” He asked, trying to sound enthusiastic. They all nodded and headed to the van.
Michael climbed in first and headed straight for the window seat while Luke plopped down next to him. Ashton gestured for Calum to go first as he held the door of the van. The Kiwi sat beside the other window and immediately began opening it.
He really needed fresh air and if anyone told him to shut the window he was definitely going to lose it. His train of thought was interrupted as Ashton shut the door behind him and slumped against Calum’s shoulder, putting nearly half his weight on the poor boy.
“Well that was one weird interview!” The curly-haired blonde exclaimed as the rest laughed. Calum paused mid-laugh because he was beginning to feel like he might just throw up. He was hoping that nothing would happen, at least not until he got to the hotel. He really didn’t want to embarrass himself more than he already had. However luck seemed to be on his side as it seemed that nobody had noticed the minor change in his demeanour or so he thought…
The majority of the ride back to the hotel was silent due to the fact that Luke had fallen asleep on the green-haired boy’s shoulder, Ashton was on his phone doing who knows what and Michael was simply sat there listening to music and staring out the window, occasionally running his fingers through Luke’s hair. Calum had chosen to subtly massage his temples, well as subtly as one could, while breathing in the fresh air that was coming in through the open window. He hoped they would get back soon…
About forty-five minutes later they arrived back at their hotel. Calum chuckled at Luke’s reaction to waking up and realising his head was on Michael’s lap, the blonde’s cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink quite quickly. Deciding to leave them be, Calum exited the van and made his way to the elevator where Ashton was stood waiting.
“Cal, do you have our room key?” The boy in question nodded and Ashton sighed in relief. “Knew I could count on you!” He said cheerfully just as the doors to the elevator slid open.
They duo walked in and pressed the button for their floor. Calum nearly fell over when the elevator started going up. ‘Get a grip Hood!’ He chided himself as he leaned against the back wall of the elevator for support.
Ashton watched his best mate lean back, he was curious as to why Calum had been acting a bit off the whole day. He looked paler than usual and Ashton swore he saw the younger boy wobble a little as he left the bathroom earlier. He’d have to ask the other about it later. The elevator soon came to a halt, the doors opened and the two made their way to their room.
The older boy waited patiently as Calum fiddled with the key card, almost dropping it. “You alright there mate?” He questioned, watching the boy go rigid before stammering out a ‘yeah’ and finally opening the door. Ashton shuffled inside and threw himself down onto the bed as Calum disappeared into the bathroom, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
He took out his phone and scrolled through his newsfeed on twitter, occasionally favouriting or retweeting posts. Just as he was about to put his phone down he heard a choked gasp and immediately jumped to his feet, running over to the bathroom door and almost violently began knocking on it. “Cal you are definitely not okay. Open the door!”
“I-Im fine!” Calum rasped out. His head was pounding and he seriously thought he wouldn’t be able to throw anything else up, it felt like he’d gotten rid of everything inside his stomach. What more was left?!
“No you’re not! Please open the door Calum.” He heard Ashton’s voice exclaim from the other side of the door. Slowly but surely the ill boy rose to his feet, gripping the sides of the wall as he hobbled to the door. He unlocked it and before he could even turn the handle, Ashton threw the door open and tumbled inside.
“You idiot!” He scolded as he moved Calum towards the toilet, grimacing at what was in the bowl before flushing it away. “Why didn’t you tell me-us that you were sick?” He asked as he sat Calum down on the lid of the toilet. “I-I didn’t want to trouble you guys…” The black-haired boy mumbled as he stared at the tiles that lined the floor in an intricate pattern.
Ashton brushed the hair out of Calum’s face and pressed the back of his hand to the younger boy’s forehead, letting out a small ‘shit’ once he removed his hand. “Cal you’re burning up! Just…Okay just tell me what’s being going on. How long have you felt ill for? What have you been feeling? Nausea, fever, headaches?” Ashton was firing questions left, right and centre and poor Calum had no idea on where to begin.
Taking a deep breath he spoke, “I, uhm it started during the middle of our interview. I got a headache but I just ignored it and then after the interview I threw up and when we were in the car my headache was really bad and my throat felt super dry. I just threw up again but I guess you already knew that…”
Ashton stood there for a moment, trying to remember what illnesses had similar symptoms to what Calum had mentioned and he narrowed it down to either the flu or a stomach bug. A stomach bug seemed more likely though as Calum kept throwing up…
“You must’ve eaten something bad. Anyways we’ve gotta go visit the doctor tomorrow okay? For now you’ve just got to drink a lot of water, eat dry food and get a lot of rest.” Ashton stated before motioning for Calum to stay put as he went to go get a glass of water.
Ashton returned a few moments later and handed the glass to Calum. “Small sips okay babe?” Calum nodded, his cheeks turning pink at the use of that particular pet name. Eventually he finished his glass of water and looked up at Ashton who was patiently waiting near the door with a packet of crackers. Where did he even get that from?
“You coming?” He called as he walked towards the bed. Calum got up, turned the light off and walked out of the bathroom.
Slowly he sat down on the bed, eyes widening slightly as his stomach let out a weird grumbling noise. “Crackers taste like shit.” Calum whined proceeding to take a cracker from Ashton anyway.
He munched on it silently as Ashton informed him about his illness or what he thought it was. After Calum had eaten about half the packet of crackers (he still insisted that they tasted like crap) he proceeded to lay down patting the empty space next to him.
Ashton placed the cracker packet on the bedside table and lifted the covers up, tucking Calum in before getting in himself. “Thanks Ash…For everything.” Calum said quietly, it was barely audible but Ashton still caught it. Instead of replying verbally, he wrapped his arm around the younger boy and pressed a kiss to his warm forehead. “Sleep well Cal.” He whispered as Calum snuggled closer.
“G’night Ash. Love you…” Calum mumbled, finally succumbing to sleep. Just before he drifted off however he heard a whispered, “Love you too…” and he swore he felt his heart stop if only for a second.