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The air was too heavy. It stuck to Morgan’s skin like a wet shirt and weighed down their lungs. They were fairly certain that one shouldn’t be able to feel their lungs. They dragged their legs around until they hung off the bed and then used every ounce of willpower to raise themself to a sitting position. Their lungs really did not appreciate that and rewarded them with a bout of coughing that would’ve astonished the Consumption itself. The stuff they coughed up was nowhere near pleasant, but at least there wasn’t any blood in it.
After they were reasonably sure they weren’t going to aspirate to death, they pushed to an unsteady stand and made their way tenuously over to their scheming desk. They had a heist to plan, and they’d be damned if some disrespectful respiratory infection got in their way. Alex was off-world, and they really wanted to finish this heist before they came back so that they’d have something to show for themself other than clean laundry. They glanced over at the steadily growing pile of dirty clothes. The clean laundry wasn’t going to last much longer either by the looks of it.
“Alright, Morgan, time to get to it.”
They flicked on their lamp and propped their head up, trying to get their eyes to focus on the blueprints in front of them.
God, they really just wanted to lie down and not move for about two weeks.
Another coughing fit hit them, causing them to double over and knock their plans off onto the floor.
Why was their mouth so goddamn dry? When was the last time they drank any water?
They’d had two pots of coffee in the last 12 hours. That counted, right? Once they caught their breath, they bent over to get the blueprints. As soon as they sat back up, a high-pitched ringing filled their ears and their head swirled with a cold, empty sort of feeling. They had just started to wonder what the hell that was about when their vision went black. And then they were falling.
“Hey, I know I wasn’t supposed to come back for like another week, but I found this—“
Alex cut off as they stepped through the doorway into Morgan’s room. Morgan was unconscious on the floor in front of their desk, their chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Morgan?”
Panic spiked up into Alex’s throat. They rushed to Morgan’s side and dropped to their knees, placing a hand on Morgan’s forehead. They could feel the excessive heat from their friend’s skin before their hand had even touched, and their hand stuck as they pulled it away. Morgan's shirt was drenched through.
“Morgan? Hey, wake up.”
They shook their shoulders, to no avail. They could hear their heart beating still, but it was going much too fast.
“Ok, just hang on. I’m going to get you help, okay?”
They scooped Morgan up into their arms, holding them close to try to calm some of the shaking. Alex teleported them straight into the lobby of the nearest hospital. As soon as they appeared, screams sounded, and the rest of the people in the ER waiting room scrambled to leave. Alex ignored them, striding up to the check-in desk.
“Help them,” they said simply, their voice a threat in itself.
The woman at the desk stared back with wide eyes.
“Of-of course. Wha-what’s wrong with them?”
“I found them on the floor like this. I don’t know how long they’ve been there. It seems like they’re having trouble breathing. They’re burning up and their heart is going too fast.”
The woman nodded nervously and motioned for some nurses, who rounded the corner pushing a narrow bed.
“Lay them here. We’ll take care of it,” one of the nurses said.
She hardly acknowledged Alex’s presence, making them wonder what sort of terrible things she’d been witness to that she wasn’t fazed by the presence of a serial mass murderer. She kept all of her focus on Morgan, cutting their shirt and peeling it from their skin as the others rolled the bed back to a room. Alex followed at a distance, careful not to get in the way. They turned their head when the nurse finished taking Morgan’s shirt off and started wiping off the sweat to attach leads. The nurses had put a mask over Morgan’s mouth and nose, and they at least seemed to be breathing a little easier now. When Alex looked back, they had needles in Morgan’s arm, pulling out blood and then pushing in fluid. Morgan’s eyes were still closed, and they were completely limp as the nurses moved them around.
“What’s happening?” Alex managed to ask around the lump in their throat.
“They’re septic. We’re giving fluids to get their blood pressure up,” the same nurse from before answered without looking up. “You should go back out to the waiting room.”
“I’m staying,” Alex said harshly.
“You’ll only get in the way,” the nurse finally looked up and met their eyes, “you want what’s best for them, don’t you?”
Alex swallowed. Of course they wanted what was best for Morgan, but it felt like being torn apart to leave them alone while they were like this.
How long had they been alone before Alex had gotten there?
They didn’t want to think about it. Instead, they backed away slowly, leaving to go sit out in the waiting room. Alex was not good at waiting. After they got too restless to stay seated, they started pacing the room. The front desk lady followed them cautiously with her eyes. A couple more people came into the ER, but they left as soon as they saw who was prowling the room. Alex was just about to start murdering people to relieve some stress when someone came out to call them back. Morgan was still asleep when they entered, but they looked more comfortable now. They weren’t sweating anymore, and Alex could hear their heart beating at a steady, normal rate.
“They’ll be fine. Looks like they’ve got pneumonia, and we’ll have to keep them for a couple of days to give antibiotics until the blood tests come back.”
Alex took a deep breath, relaxing a little bit.
“How did it get this bad?”
“It usually doesn’t,” the nurse answered, “at least, not in someone young and healthy like them. Do you know if they have any problems with their immune system?”
“Does not sleeping, eating, or drinking properly for days at a time count?”
The nurse’s eyebrows shot up.
“Yeah, that would do it. Anyway, we’re moving them upstairs now. You can meet us up there.”
She handed them a room number, and Alex nodded and teleported to the room immediately. They brought Morgan a couple minutes later. After a lot of fussing around with wires and bags and tubes, they finally left, leaving Alex sitting at Morgan’s side. Alex reached over hesitantly and took Morgan’s hand in their own.
“You’re such an idiot, you know that? How many times have I told you to take better care of yourself?”
Morgan stirred a bit and rolled their head toward Alex, not bothering to open their eyes.
“Where’s Alex?” They slurred, barely above a whisper.
“I’m right here,” Alex said, squeezing their hand.
They hesitated, then reached one hand up and carefully moved a strand of hair out of Morgan’s face.
“I need Alex,” Morgan said again, their eyebrows drawing together.
“It’s me,” Alex said, “I’m here.”
“I forgot to tell them.”
“Forgot to tell me what?”
Morgan let out a little chuckle that devolved into a coughing fit. Alex held their hand and rubbed their shoulder until it passed.
“I married them,” Morgan slurred, “but I forgot to tell them.”
Alex just waited, rubbing their thumb over the back of Morgan’s hand.
“I love them,” Morgan said softly.
It almost could have been missed with the sounds of the oxygen and the machines beeping. But Alex didn’t miss it. They froze, feeling all the blood rush from their head before they responded in barely a whisper.
“What?”
“I love Alex.”
And then they let out a long breath and fell back asleep, the monitor beeping out the rhythm of their heart in the background. Alex stared down at them, unmoving.
Morgan was delirious. That had to be it. It wasn’t real.
Cold trailed down one side of their face, and they reached up to find a tear.
No, it wasn’t real.
When Morgan woke up again, they didn’t talk about it. They didn’t even seem to remember it—so Alex didn’t bring it up. After a few days, the hospital sent Morgan home with some pills and a warning to take better care of themself, at which they had rolled their eyes. The first thing Morgan did when they got home was go for the scheming desk, but Alex redirected them to the bed.
“Nope, not happening.”
“Aw, come on,” Morgan whined, “I’m behind like four days of heist planning.”
“You can heist plan once your lungs are working properly again.”
Alex followed them to the bed to make sure they laid down. Morgan made a show of grumbling about it, but Alex could see the relief on their face once they were lying down again.
“Ok, well, I’m going to go get some groceries since somebody is a fucking idiot and forgets to feed themself.”
Morgan rolled their eyes but reached out and caught Alex’s hand as they turned.
“Stay.”
Alex turned back around. Morgan was staring up at them with those deep brown eyes pleading, and—goddamn it—Alex had never been able to tell them no.
“Please. Just for a bit.”
Morgan patted the bed next to them. Alex swallowed.
“Ok. Do you want me to be a cat?”
“No.”
They eased themself onto the bed next to Morgan, and Morgan leaned into them, nestling their head against Alex’s chest just where their arm met their torso. Sometimes, Alex forgot how small Morgan was. Small and fragile, their mind reminded them. Morgan reached one arm around Alex and sighed, relaxing down until the shape of their body fit perfectly into Alex’s side. Alex rested one arm on their back and reached around to hold Morgan’s arm with the other.
It wasn’t real.
“Do you remember what you said to me the first day in the hospital?”
The words were out of Alex’s mouth before they could stop them, and now it was too late to backpedal.
“Oh my god, did I say something embarrassing,” Morgan groaned. “I was high on fever; you can’t hold it against me.”
They could take it back now—could make up some embarrassing story, and Morgan would believe it because they didn’t remember otherwise. That’s what they should do.
“I love you,” they whispered.
And then fear spread through them in sharp tendrils and squeezed their throat and their chest. They’d lasted years. Years, and now it was all over. Morgan grew very still against them.
“What?” Morgan whispered back.
“I love you,” Alex said again, a little louder this time, “I think I always have.”
Morgan shifted and sat up. Alex closed their eyes, not wanting to face their impulsive decision yet. They felt a hand on their cheek; Morgan’s thumb wiping away another unwanted tear. When they opened their eyes, Morgan was staring down at them, searching their face.
“I love you too, you fucking idiot.”
And then they leaned forward and finally—finally—Morgan’s lips were on Alex’s and everything was right with the world.