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“I”m fine,” Dean said, pushing Cas aside.
“No, Dean. You’re not.”
As if his body wanted to prove him wrong and his boyfriend right, Dean sneezed, which then caused a fit of coughing. His throat felt like it’d been stabbed. A few months ago, Cas would’ve been able to heal him, but now he was human. So all he did was bring him tissues, keep a bucket near his bed because of severe nausea and not knowing what Dean’s body was going to do, bringing him water, bringing him tea (the two flavors were lemon with honey for his throat, and peppermint for his stomach), bringing him soups and vegetable broth. On top of that, he helped Dean find entertainment. Dean’s vision was blurry, his sinuses full of mucus, and his ears were slightly blocked. Still, he could hear Castiel just fine the times he read to him. Dean had picked out The Odyssey. He barely understood it at the moment, but Cas’ deep, rumbling voice was soothing whenever he read.
Cas paused the show that Dean had been watching on his laptop, and Dean let out a grumbling sound.
“You’re getting worse,” Castiel said.
“Mm-mm.”
Dean shook his head. Which just served to make him dizzy. He held in a groan, not wanting to show Castiel how sick he was. He had to be alright. Surely Sam needed help on his hunt, and on top of that, it was almost Christmas. Dean didn’t do Christmas. Christmas had always been an incredibly tiny fake tree that barely lit up, and eating Chinese takeout. Now, with his kid, he had to let him experience it. Sure, Jack didn’t believe in Santa (thank god; Dean hadn’t wanted to have that conversation), but he was excited. He liked the decorations, the music. Dean was supposed to cook and bake, but he couldn’t. He wanted to so badly that he moved his laptop aside, and tried getting out of bed.
Castiel put a hand on his chest, and it was pathetic how easily he was pushed back down.
“Let me check your temperature.”
Cas grabbed the thermometer they were keeping beside Dean’s bed, and Dean opened his mouth, letting his boyfriend put it under his tongue. Castiel just rubbed Dean’s thigh soothingly as they waited for the thermometer’s verdict.
Eventually, it beeped, and Castiel took it out of his mouth.
“One-hundred-one-point-two,” Castiel informed him.
Unfortunately, Castiel was sitting close to Dean, and Dean coughed, phlegm coming out of his mouth. Damn, that was disgusting. The green landed on Cas’ arm.
“Oh,” was all his boyfriend said.
He went to go clean himself off, threatening to tie Dean to the bed to keep him still so he could rest. Then he came back with yet another bowl of broth.
Dean drank it, Cas gave him medicine, and eventually he was drowsy. He fell asleep.
Dean woke up to coughing. Not his.
Castiel was on his couch, leaning over as the fit wracked his body.
God damn it!
“Cas, you’re sick,” Dean croaked out, throat hurting as he forced out the sounds.
“No, Dean, I’m fine.”
Dean wanted to roll his eyes, but that would make him dizzy, possibly cause nausea. It’d hurt too.
“No you’re not.”
He realized this was very similar to their earlier argument, their roles switched.
Castiel tried to get up, and he swayed. He coughed some more, and then he gasped in air. He clutched at his stomach.
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” he informed Dean.
He rushed out of the room, heading towards the bathroom. The bucket had been right there, but he supposed Cas wanted privacy while being afflicted with such a human condition.
Cas decided to curl up on Dean’s couch when he was back, hunkered down with a plethora of pillows and soft blankets. He had a tissue box beside his bed, and he’d located another bucket, just in case.
Come night, Castiel had a fever.
“You’re now indoctrinated into humanity,” Dean said, sweating now, having chills. Cas seemed to be suffering from the same thing.
“H-how? I’ve been human for awhile.”
“Yeah, well it’s your first time having the flu. Guess you’re gonna have to start getting vaccinations.”
Cas frowned at him.
“Don’t worry, it’s not so bad,” Dean let him know.
The two of them eventually fell asleep again, too tired to do anything else. As he drifted off, Dean hated himself for sharing the illness, but, he supposed he wouldn’t have been able to keep Cas away anyway.