Chapter Text
Dick noticed several things wrong with Damian immediately as he came down the stairs. Firstly, it was almost noon and Damian looked like he had just woken up. He hadn't showered or changed or anything which was fine it was just extremely out of character for the young man. Secondly, he looked pale and was sweating. And thirdly, he was walking very slowly with an out of it, far away kinda look in his eyes.
Dick took another sip of his coffee trying not to be too obvious in his watching Damian. He walked down the stairs silently and came and sat at the kitchen bar laying his head down on the marble counter. If Dick hadn't already known something was wrong he defiantly did now considering that exact action was something Damian had gotten onto Dick about multiple times before. "Hey little D" he spoke carefully, he was almost certain Damian was sick but he knew if he asked straight up he would be shut down quickly "you want some food?"
"Toast" Damian mumbled without moving from his position. His voice was gravely and soft. Dick just nodded and walked toward the kitchen taking the time to subtly brush his hand against Damian's cheek, he was burning up. Dick wanted to just send him straight back to bed but Damian already ate a lot for his age and if he had been running that fever all morning it had probably burned a ton of calories. Plus Dick needed to encourage him to eat now just in case the fever got worse and he lost his appetite. So he got some bread and popped it into the toaster. He would feed him and then send him to bed with some medicine.
The entire time the bread was toasting Dick kept a close eye on Damian. He was shivering despite the fact he was sweating and he looked pale and kinda ashy. Given the amount of sweat that was shining in his hair Dick would guess that Damian had been running a fever since last night, probably not long after they had gotten back from patrol, that is if he hadn't started developing the fever while they were on patrol. Dick didn't remember him acting odd yesterday but that didn't really mean anything especially when it came to Damian.
"Here you go" He slid the plain toast in front of Damian and the boy looked exhausted like he hadn't slept at all last night. He began to slowly nibble on his toast looking far away and absent. Dick watched him for a second before going down to the cave where they kept most of the medicine and grabbing fever reducers and something to help Damian sleep and slipping them into his pocket. When he went back upstairs Damian had gotten through about half a slice of toast and was once again resting his head on the counter. He must have been feeling really awful to be openly showing this much vulnerability and weakness. "Damian are you okay?" He already knew the answer
Damian shook his head a tiny bit without lifting it up. "I do nottt feeeel welll" Damian was slurring his words. The fact that he was willing to admit that he didn't feel well out loud was incredibly concerning in Dicks eyes, more so than even the fact he was slurring his words.
"How about we get you to bed" Dick offered and Damian just nodded getting up off the seat slowly. Dick resisted the urge to just pick Damian up instead he walked behind him as he walked unsteadily. They hadn't made it very far before Damian froze completely putting his hand against the wall, Dick didn't even have time to say something before Damian's eyes rolled back and he collapsed. Dick caught him before he could hit the ground and picked him up carefully. He could feel the heat radiating off of him and the stickiness of his skin from all the sweat.
Damian unconsciously curled into his chest and if it hadn't been for the situation Dick would have found it cute. Instead, he was just concerned because Damian was acting so out of character. He walked carefully up the stairs and Damian's room laying him down on his bed and flipping on the AC. He knew Damian would be disapproving once he woke up but Dick was more concerned about the fever. As soon as he was sure Damian was settled into bed he went into the bathroom grabbing a thermometer to take Damian's temperature.
103.8
Dick frowned at the number, he knew it was going to be high but he didn't like how high it was. He brushed some hair out of Damian's face and shook him by the shoulder slightly. "Dami, wake up" he just wanted to get some medicine and water in him then he would let him go back to sleep. Instead, all he got was a small groan as Damian rolled over on his side. Dick had never seen him this out of it before, It was concerning. After a few minutes of trying and failing to wake the young boy, he decided that he would just give it a little bit and try again.
Roughly an hour later Dick went back up to Damian's room to check on him and hopefully get him to take medicine. He was still asleep. Dick sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his hand through Damian's hair trying to gently stir him, this time it worked and he blinked his eyes open lazily looking at Dick. "Hey little D, I brought you some medicine"
He thought Damian was just going to close his eyes again and ignore him but instead, he pushed himself into a half-sitting position against the headboard of the bed. He looked like shit. Dick handed him the fever reducers and a bottle of water and watched Damian very sluggishly take them from his hand. "Dick" Damian muttered resting his head back against the board the medicine still in his hand.
Dick was surprised to hear Damian calling him by his first name, that fever must have really been messing with his mind. "I..." he swallowed hard and covered his mouth. That was a gesture Dick recognized. He picked up the small empty trashcan beside the bed and offered it to Damian who immediately took it and began vomiting. Dick just rubbed his back wishing there was something he could do to make him feel better.
By the time he finished throwing up everything in his system he just collapsed back against the headboard with laboured breathing and a new sheen on sweat on his forehead. "I know you don't feel good Dami, just take the medicine and you can go back to sleep." Damian looked at the pills in his hand with a frown but took them anyway, Dick was almost certain he would throw up again but he managed to keep them down at least for the time being.
Dick helped Damian lay back down and tucked him in making sure to crank the air up as he left the room to help break the fever. Hopefully, Damian would just sleep for the rest of the day and it would be fine.