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This is the end, Jack blearily thought. I’m going to die here.
Seized up on his bunk, Jack was an inferno. His body was unraveling, too hot to hold himself together. He was melting, liquidation already setting in his skin, muscles, bones. Soon, he’d be nothing more than a brain floating in a puddle, soaking into his mattress only to disappear forever.
Jack couldn’t remember how he’d gotten to his room. One minute he had been sitting on the exam table, distracting himself by picking at the sanitary paper cover while the nurse prepped his injection and the next he was face down on his mattress, shirt and pants discarded to the other side of the room but evidently his shoes had been too much effort. Thankfully, he had made it there alone, his room empty.
The injection burned, like fire raging through his veins. Poisoned, Jack’s mind weakly reasoned as he curled in on himself. No, not poisoned. Dying. I’m dying. It was like he had been set on fire, searing heat wrapping around his body in a blaze. Tremors rippled beneath his boiling skin, aches cracking at his bones. He was gasping, trying to get air but his lungs were yelling at him, fighting him each step of the way. It was like he was drowning in a boiling lake, trapped beneath the bubbling surface.
Pressing his forehead to his knees, Jack wondered how much longer he’d have. This was only his second injection. From what he’d heard, it was only going to get worse. Reyes was one of a handful from the original batch that was still living, set to have taken his fifteenth injection just before Jack today.
Jack hadn’t seen his roommate since they walked down to medical. They got separated into their injection groups upon arrival; Jack’s noticeably bigger than Reyes’. He hadn’t seen the other man since then.
The last time Jack had gotten out of his session for his first injection a week ago, Reyes had been waiting for him, arms crossed with a scowl on his face. His roommate had to basically drag Jack back to their room; Jack’s legs uncooperative from the moment he stepped out of the medical bay. This time no such luck—no one was waiting for him this time—and Jack wasn't sure if he was relieved by it or not.
Reyes was...complicated, to say the least.
Half the time he pissed Jack off to no end; got underneath his skin like no one else ever had before. He was arrogant, cocky, and thought he was better than everyone else. Worst of all, it was true. He was better than the rest of them at nearly everything, not that Jack would ever admit it to his face. His roommate already had a big enough ego without Jack reaffirming what he knew. Still, Reyes was a beast and had earned that ego.
But as irritating as his roommate was, there was a small part of him—okay, maybe not that small—that was utterly enamored by him. A crush, Jack kept reasoning with himself. Just a small, measly, insignificant crush. It was nothing; it had to be nothing, Jack couldn't afford for these feelings to develop any further.
It was just because Reyes was attractive and options were limited. If Jack wasn’t being pumped full of a random cocktails of drugs and wasn’t surrounded by Reyes nearly every single minute of the day, Jack was 99% certain he wouldn’t have given Reyes a second glance. Okay, 88%...fine, 65%. Somehow every time Jack redid those internal numbers that percentage kept shrinking... He didn’t want to think about the implications of what that meant for his situation.
Thankfully, for the most part, Gabriel Reyes was a class A asshole which made it easier for Jack to stifle his crush, or at least forget about it momentarily. Every arrogant smile, sneering insult, goading tease made it just that much easier to think of Reyes as a rival rather than anything else.
But then there were other moments, softer and quiet, more rare, but far more impactful than they should be. Moments that made Jack’s crush grow despite everything he hated about Reyes. Like when Jack had finally beat him in a spar, Gabriel had blinked owlishly at him before clapping Jack’s shoulder and grinned at him, praising him saying, “Finally, some competition” in a way that sent Jack’s heart racing; or when Jack had made a sarcastic remark about their C.O. and Reyes actually had to stifle a chuckle, a sound Jack had spent the rest of the day replaying in his mind and wondering how he could get it to happen again. Or after his first injection and Reyes stayed by his side, helping him breathe through it. “In through your nose, out through your mouth. Just like me, Jack.” It had been the first time Reyes had called him Jack instead of Morrison, Boy Scout, Wonderbread, whatever probably insulting Spanish nickname Jack didn’t know the meaning of.
Even now, his mind on fire and his body burning, Jack could still imagine the phantom touch of Gabriel Reyes’ hand combing through his hair, the rumbling of his voice comforting Jack through his panicked breathing. He let the memories of those two sensations lull him into a half sleep, trying to seek their comfort, even if only mentally.
He barely registered his door slamming open and the heavy shuffling of his roommate coming in. It took far more effort than it should to get his heavy limbs to cooperate and turn himself onto his side to face his roommate. It would have been easier to remain in his ball, but seeing Reyes always made the aches better. And no, Jack was not going to get his hopes up in thinking he could have a round two of Reyes’ comforting, helping hand. He wasn’t that pathetic and pining.
Reyes had fallen onto his own bed, face first into the mattress. Evidently, he wasn’t reacting the same as Jack judging by the blanket he had thrown over himself, shivers racing over his exposed skin. Even then, Reyes was still bundled up in his ratty hoodie he never seemed to take off.
“Cold?” Jack’s tongue was heavy in his mouth as he pushed the word out.
Reyes didn’t respond at first and Jack half thought his roommate was just going to ignore him. It wouldn’t be the first time. However, it came a minute later, muffled by the pillow.
“Fucking freezing.”
Something about the situation made a chuckle bubble forth. As the sound echoed in the room, Jack winced at the ringing in his ears.
“Something funny?” Reyes hissed through clenched teeth.
“You're cold, I’m hot.”
Gabriel snorted, the sound of his amusement doing something funny to Jack’s stomach, making him feel more flushed than he had before.
“Someone’s full of themselves.”
Jack began to stutter. “I-I didn’t mean-”
“Joking, Morrison.” There was a momentary pause before Reyes lifted his head to stare at Jack. “You're really burning up? You look like a lobster.”
How Reyes was able to have a goddamn conversation when Jack could barely think was beyond him. Jack couldn’t get his mouth to move. The most he could sound off was a pained groan. He clenched his eyes shut as a wave of pain curled in his stomach.
Distantly, he could hear Reyes’ mattress creaking and the shuffle of socked feet coming towards him. Cool fingers brushed against his forehead, a tremor raking across Jack’s skin in response.
“Fuck, you’re hot.”
Jack forcibly unclenched his jaw and pushed out the words, “Not so full of myself now.”
“Shut the fuck up before you pass out,” Reyes grumbled, though not harshly. One could almost describe it as fond. Jack certainly wanted to describe it that way. “We got to break your fever. It’ll just get worse if we don’t burn it out of you and I don’t want to haul your ass down to the infirmary.”
Jack had enough mind to shake his head at that thought. Going to the infirmary after injections was a sure fire way to never come back. He didn’t want that. He’d rather melt into a puddle of his flesh here than disappear behind those hospital doors.
“Please,” Jack whined. If he was more right in his head, he would have scoffed at the pathetic display. As it was, Jack would do just about anything to get some relief and avoid the infirmary.
Gently, Jack felt himself being pushed towards the cool concrete of the wall that lined his bed. He pried his eyes open enough to see Gabriel climb in beside him. Heart in his throat, Jack froze as Reyes pulled him close.
“Like a personal heating pad,” Reyes groaned, his clammy forehead against the top of Jack’s head. Distantly, Jack could feel the blanket pulled over them, cocooning them and their combined heat. “Unclench your jaw and relax, Morrison. You’re going to break your goddamn teeth.” As if to help, cold fingertips traced his jaw until Jack loosened the tension there.
The fingers glided up the side of his face, brushing the overheated skin on the back of his neck. He could feel his cheeks going red, though it now had little to do with the fever burning his body. Jack didn’t second guess himself as he leaned into Gabriel’s hand, pressing his body against Gabriel’s. His eyes fluttered shut as he bowed his head. If he was going to die, he’d prefer it be here rather than anywhere else on base.
“Jack,” Jack murmured into Reyes’ shoulder. “I like it when you call me Jack.”
Any embarrassment of the statement was brushed away as Reyes chuckled quietly above him, saying, “Then I’ll make sure to call you that more often, Jack. Just stay with me.”
Jack didn’t even think. He just nuzzled closer, nodding his head. “Always.”