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"Merlin, I swear on my life I'm fine."
It's been an hour and a half since Merlin found him lying on the floor of the bathroom, half conscious. It was times like these Merlin wished Harry was still around to convince Eggsy to stay put. He still has his glasses on, like he's going out for god's sake. He's pushed up on his elbows, arguing. In bed. Now, of all times.
"I don't give a rat's ass, alright?" He opens his mouth again, probably to complain, but he lets out a heavy sounding cough instead. He doubles over, and after he's done he pulls one of the blankets up around his shoulders.
"I'll be fine once I get sorted, I'm not sick." His voice is rough, and Merlin can't help but feel sorry for him. Even if it's his own fault.
Merlin's sitting by the spare bed in HQ, next to the undoubtedly ill Eggsy Unwin. Unforunately for Merlin, Eggsy is just about the most stubborn kid he's ever met. It's no new development to find him collapsed somewhere, he rarely remembers to take care of himself while he's working, but he's very rarely ill. At least not like this. He's pale as a ghost, and he has a cough that a dog would be afraid of.
"You wouldn't want me to call Lancelot, she'd be wound up over this." Eggsy lets out a tired sound and pulls the blanket over his head.
"What do you even want?" His voice is muffled by the heavy comforter, so Merlin pulls it back. "Noo...I'm cold."
"You have to agree to sit still for a few days. At least until your fever breaks."
"I don't have a fever. I told you, I just need to get sorted." His eyes are glassy and distant, and there's a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. It's clear he's not about to admit anything, and Merlin's positive he wouldn't know what to do if he was left alone like this. To humor him, he presses the backs of his fingers to his cheek. Of course, the heat rolling off him is enough to constitute a week in bed, but Merlin'll be lucky if he gets even 4 hours of sleep. "You lost the plot if you think I'm staying here."
"I can page Lancelot, she'd be here in a minute flat." Immediately, the look on his face changes to panic.
"Please don't call Rox. She'd rip me a new asshole, please." Merlin smiles.
"You'd listen to her though, if she told you to stay put. You're scared shit-less of her, yeah?" He shakes his head.
"I don't wanna waste her time. Look, it's not so bad, I can work." This is ridiculous, he's trembling just trying to keep himself sitting upright.
"You stay here, alright? Try to get some sleep. Don't move, I mean it. You'll break your nose tripping over your own feet." Before he has a chance to protest, Merlin's gone.
When Eggsy had woken up that morning he knew the moment he opened his eyes he knew he was fucked. Everything hurt, his eyes, his head, his joints. Sure, he'd slept on the floor of Roxy's office, but he did that sort of thing all the time. He remembered they'd just come back from a mission, and he was going to head home, but she insisted he stayed. She did this sometimes, after they finished some long drawn out task, she'd make him sleep in her office to make sure he slept at all. He'd had some issues in the past with forgetting to eat or do anything other than running around kicking in windows. It wasn't that he didn't care, he just didn't notice. He was usually so high on adrenaline he didn't notice anything until after the fact. Usually Roxy slept next to him though, to make sure he didn't leave in the middle of the night.
Besides the pain, he was dizzy, Holy shit, he was dizzy. He was still wearing his suit, and he felt like he might melt. If Roxy was gone, that meant something important was going on, and he wasn't about to miss it over what he was sure was just a cold. Until he stood up that was. He almost fell over, and a wave of nausea rushed over him. Ok, he could deal with this. He could throw up and get going, it wouldn't be a big deal.
After he got to the bathroom, he was ready to go to sleep again. However, he decided his suit jacket and tie weren't the best idea. Getting vomit on something you have to wear everyday isn't smart. Of course falling asleep in your boss's bathroom isn't smart either.
The last thing he wanted was to be laid up doing nothing for a week until the whole thing blew over.
Bitterly, he had to concede. Merlin was right, he couldn't even move without wanting to vomit. He was nervous to see Roxy, if how he felt was any indication, he must have looked terrible. She must be doing something important, and even though he knew she'd drop it to come chew him out, it didn't make him feel any less guilty. Such a waste of time, Jesus.
He must've fallen asleep, because he woke up to her shaking his shoulder.
"Eggsy, c'mon."
"Hey." His voice sounded raw and it hurt his throat to speak. He was cold again, and he couldn't quite manage to keep himself steady.
"Fuck, I mean, Merlin said you were in bad shape but this is ridiculous." She grazes her fingertips over his temple and along his jaw. She's worried as hell, she only gets that pinched look when she's worried. She had that look when they jumped out of the airplane, she had that look when he'd gotten a nasty cut on his leg a few months after he officially became "Galahad."
"It's no big deal, it'll be fine." He was giving himself a headache.
"You're so stupid, why are you so stupid?" She's smiling, but her eyes are still worried. "You always do this." He can't help but smile back at her. She sits down, and unfolds a paper from her back pocket.
"What's that?"
"Instructions. Merlin forgets I have common sense." She looks back up at him. "I'm supposed to take your temperature, see if you have a fever." They both know very well he does, but she bothers with it anyway. "Yeah. Almost 40." She narrows her eyes and lays her palm on his forehead. "Yeah. Definitely." He's about to tell her it's not so bad, and that he feels alright, but he figures there's no more use in lying. She looks so worried, it's killing him.
"I'm sorry, Rox, I-" she pats his shoulder, cutting him off.
"You don't have to be sorry. It's alright. You just never...slow down. Take a break." She's got something in her hand now, a cloth. She places it over his eyes, but he pushes it up so he can see her. It's damp and the cold feels incredible on his skin, but he's itchy to get the whole thing over with. He wants to be back in that invincible state where he can run for days on coffee and gin. It's nice to see Roxy when they're not in danger of being shot or stabbed, but feeling weak is horrible. "Are you hot? You must be, right?"
"Sort of." Back to lying. "It's not so bad, I've had it worse. I'm just tired." She nods.
"Before you go to sleep, you have to take these." She holds out two small white pills. "Paracetamol." He dry swallows them easily enough, and before he sees her leave he's asleep.
He screams himself awake. He has nightmares sometimes, usually bad enough to wake him up, but never like this. It was so vivid, so intense. He's broken out in a cold sweat, his t shirt is soaked. He hopes nobody heard him, but it's only a moment before Merlin's in the doorway. He's still shaking, he hopes Merlin can't tell.
"Everything ok?" he closes his eyes and tries to take deep breaths, but they only make him cough. Before he realizes quite what's going on, he feels Merlin's hand on his shoulder, the other on his forehead. His breath is hitching now, like he might cry. He hasn't cried in a long time, not since Harry died, and he certainly doesn't want to start again now. "Hey, calm down, it's alright. Look at me, it's ok. Gonna take you to the infirmary, alright?" He nods, and without another word, Merlin picks him up. He must be delirious, because he knows Merlin'd never do this kind of thing. Maybe Harry, certainly not Merlin.
When he wakes up, he's somewhere different, with a different damp cloth on his forehead. He thinks he can see Roxy, but he's not sure. Everything's a blur, he's coming in and out of consciousness. He fights to stay awake, and after a while he feels steady. It's then he can hear her voice again.
"Eggsy, can you hear me? Look at me." Roxy. He wants to say something, anything, to let her know he's alright, but he slips back into sleep.
The dreams are the same each time. The water, rising and rising and he can't break the glass and he can feel himself getting lightheaded, and just before he's going to take a gasp of water, it breaks, but Roxy's gone. Not dead, just gone. Vanished. Sometimes it's Henry he dreams about, and the final image he has of him. Being shot before he can break the glass.
He isn't lucid until late the next morning, and it finally feels as if the fever's finally come down. He's tired, shaky, but the pain is gone. He stands and stretches, rolling his shoulders. No one's there, but he's sure someone will be coming along soon. He's right. A few minutes later, there's Roxy. She smiles when she sees him standing.
"Feeling good?"
"Better."
"Well, you look better. Merlin's been worried off his ass, but I'm sure the sentimentality will wear off." She says, and he laughs. "You sure you don't wanna lay down? You were practically catatonic last night."
"I'll be ok. You can go, if you'd like."
"Of course not, are you kidding?"
"Don't you have...important stuff?" She laughs.
"This is more important than that. Trust me, you're more important than any of that."