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Maverick awoke in the middle of the night to a wave of nausea and deep cramping in his lower abdomen. He attempted to change his sleeping position, careful not to wake the still sleeping Ice beside him. Sleep was always so illusive to him ever since he got back from his latest deployment that Maverick didn’t want to wake him. Maverick wouldn’t go quite as far to say that he had PTSD, but there were certainly somethings that he had to work through that he wouldn’t even tell Maverick about. So, when he was finally asleep, Maverick did everything in his power to help him stay that way.
When another jolt of nausea rolled through him, Maverick realized he could no longer hope to ignore it. He expertly raised himself off the bed gingerly, feet touching the floor lightly before he sprinted over to the bathroom attached to their room, a hand flying over his mouth.
He barely managed to drop in front of the toilet in time to projective vomit, his back arching as his arms reached around to rest on the toilet seat, gripping it hard for dear life. Saliva pooled in his mouth until he was forced to gag once more into the toilet, stomach twisting in pain while his throat burned. His nose began to run while he heaved, the wet splatter of liquid falling into the toilet nearly enough to send him spiraling once more.
Tears clung to the edges of his eyelashes, threatening to roll down his cheeks. His head bowed forward once more as he was caught in limbo between needing to throw up and begging his body not to. To say he was squeamish about it wasn’t quite true, though it certainly was something he tried to avoid at all costs.
Maverick was so caught up in willing himself not to throw up that he didn’t notice the door open and someone slide in behind him until a hand was on his back.
His head snapped back and the man beside him lifted his hands in a show of surrender. “It’s alright, Mav. It’s just me.”
Maverick narrowed his eyes. “Get out,” he ground out.
“No way.”
“Ice, get the hell out! I don’t want you to see me like this.” The change of tone sent him coughing, which only served to aggravate his throat even more. Once he started coughing, he swung back around and cried out in pain as he brought up strings of yellow bile, his arms migrating to curl around his middle.
Ice winced in sympathy before reaching over him and flushing the toilet, hoping that if the evidence was gone the smell alone wouldn’t prove to be too much.
“Shit, Mav. You don’t do anything by halves, do you,” Ice chided as he slid his fingers through Maverick’s sweaty hair to brush it back from his moisture slick forehead.
Maverick groaned. “Why haven’t you left,” he whimpered.
“Because I’m not going to leave you when you’re this sick.” Ice slowly rose to his feet and made his way over to the sink. He grabbed a washcloth and wet it with cold water, wringing it out until it no longer dripped. After that, he came back over to Maverick’s side and began to run the cool cloth on the back of his neck, murmuring soothingly as he did so.
Maverick couldn’t help but squeeze his eyes closed, still fighting the discomfort deep in his abdomen. It was only when Ice began to pull on the bottom of his shirt that he was able to focus on what Ice was doing.
“Arms up,” Ice instructed as he pulled the bottom of his shirt up. “I’m sure you’ll feel better if you take off this sweaty shirt.”
Maverick was too tired to answer, merely lifting his arms partially over his head to allow Ice to pull it over his head. Ice threw the shirt aside in the hamper before taking the washcloth to continue to run it over Maverick’s neck and shoulders. “That feel any better?”
He was about to answer when Maverick ducked back down and threw up once more, body trembling as his hands struggled to hold himself upright so he didn’t completely fall forward.
Ice was there in a second, arm wrapped around his shoulders to keep him steady as he dry heaved, entire body shaking with the effort. Maverick started to whimper when it didn’t immediately die down, toes curling in discomfort as he felt himself going limp.
Ice caught him before he could completely fall over, bracing against the smaller man. “Damnit, Mitchell. I think you have that stomach bug that’s going around base.”
“Just my luck,” Maverick muttered, grimacing at the taste in his mouth. “Ugh, I hate throwing up.”
“I don’t think that anyone likes it, but I do agree.” Ice smoothed Maverick’s sweat streaked hair back and kissed his forehead. “Think you can sit up for a second while I get you some water to rinse your mouth out with?”
Maverick nodded determinedly and pulled away from his boyfriend. He was far from steady, but he managed to lean back with his legs stretched out and flexed in front of him. He tried to keep focused on anything besides how nauseous he was and how much his throat felt as though it had turned to sandpaper and how each swallow brought another wave of pain with it.
Ice was surprisingly quick, bringing a small cup of water down to Maverick’s level and handing it over. Maverick took it in shaky hands and was about to bring it to his mouth when Ice swept in and took it from him, much to Maverick’s dismay.
“What are you doing,” Maverick complained.
“Don’t want to see you spill it all over yourself. You’re even more unsteady than I thought.”
Maverick muttered under his breath, though he didn’t fight it when Ice helped lift the cup to his mouth so he could take a few sips. Maverick pitched forward and spat it out in the toilet afterwards, glad that the immediate taste of vomit was rid of his mouth.
“Feel any better,” Ice inquired.
Maverick cocked an eyebrow. “No,” he replied shortly. “I feel worse.”
Ice pressed his lips into a fine line while lifting a hand to Maverick’s forehead. Maverick couldn’t help but lean into the touch, eyes closed in the bliss ness of Ice’s cold hand.
“That definitely feels like a fever to me,” Ice muttered, half to himself. He couldn’t help but sneak a quick kiss to the top of Maverick’s head as he pulled his hand away, trying to ignore the pout on Maverick’s face. “You definitely have the flu.”
“Lucky me.” Maverick then groaned and crouched down, pressing hard on his stomach as he curled forward until his forehead was almost touching the cold ground. He couldn’t hold that position for long and turned onto his side with his knees brought up to his chest and neck curled forward, entire body shaking as chills ran through his body.
Ice crouched down beside him, noticing how cold the floor was and realizing that was probably why Maverick wanted to lay on it. “I’m going to go change the sheets on the bed and then I’ll be right back, okay?”
Maverick let out a low groan.
“Just holler if you need anything. I’m just going to be in the other room.”
Maverick said nothing, not even opening his eyes or nodding to let Ice knew that he understood. Luckily, Ice didn’t take it personally and jumped to his feet, slipping from the bathroom while keeping the door open just enough so that he would be able to hear if Maverick needed him.
It felt like ages until Ice came back to find Maverick in the same position. If anything, he seemed to have curled into himself even more, teeth chattering as he shivered.
“Oh, honey,” Ice whispered as he crouched back down and began to rub Maverick’s exposed back until his boyfriend opened his eyes enough to see Ice in front of him. “The bed is all ready for you.”
Maverick grimaced. “What if I get sick again?”
“I already have a trashcan next to your side of the bed and a bowl on the nightstand if you can’t make it that far.” Ice continued to rub at Maverick’s back before moving to his sides, gently urging him to sit up.
Maverick did as Ice requested, sitting up slowly as his head swam in dizziness. He instinctively crawled almost onto Ice’s lap, as though wanting his body to become one with his.
Ice took it all in stride and held him close, continuing to smooth Maverick’s hair back. He never quite realized how thick Maverick’s hair had gotten or how unruly it could be. It was almost comical if not for the serious situation that they found themselves in.
“Alright, let’s get you comfortable.” Ice stood slowly and flushed the toilet once more before leaning down and wrapping his arms under Maverick’s armpits and hauling him up, only pulling away when Maverick seemed to be steady enough on his feet not to fall over. His legs still shook with his weight, but Ice was no longer worried that he would fall.
Maverick shoved his hands into his sweatpants as he shuffled from the bathroom with Ice right on his heels. His arms were slightly stretched out, ready if Maverick needed him at a moment’s notice.
Maverick shuffled over to the bed and didn’t hesitate to fall into it, curling up just like he did on the bathroom.
“Mav?”
Maverick forced his eyes open to stare at Ice. “What?”
“You’re in my spot.”
Maverick looked around slightly before shrugging and nestling back under the covers. “S’warm, and it smells like you. I’ll stay here.”
Ice rolled his eyes, knowing when he could fight with a stubborn Maverick, and realizing this wasn’t one of those times. He just waked around to Maverick’s side of the bed, grabbed the bucket and placed it over to where Maverick was sleeping. He then crawled onto the other side of the bed and stopped at the middle, reaching out his foot under the covers to trace it alone Maverick’s calf.
Maverick rolled onto his back and fixed Ice with a pathetic stare.
“C’mere.”
Ice opened his arms and Maverick didn’t hesitate so shift over, shoving his head into Ice’s chest. His legs intertwined with his while his arms raised to drape them over Ice’s neck. He was still curled into a bit of a fetal position, breathing heavily through the pain he still felt coiling in his stomach.
“Don’t feel good, Ice,” Maverick complained sleepily.
“I know,” Ice cooed, kissing the top of Maverick’s head. “Try to get some more sleep, and in the morning we’ll try and get some meds into you to see if you can keep those down.”
“But....work.”
Ice wrinkled his nose. “Neither one of us are going into work tomorrow. There’s no way that I would trust you alone here when you’re this sick.”
“Bossy.” Maverick pressed his head even harder against Ice’s chest until he could practically feel Ice’s heartbeat in his head. It wasn’t exactly an uncommon thing to do, especially for Maverick when he was feeling his most vulnerable. Coming from foster care where he didn’t get this sort of comfort when he was hurt or sick made him crave it even more, even if he wouldn’t outright say it. Luckily, Ice had gotten good at speaking Maverick, even when Maverick didn’t say anything.
“I love you,” Ice whispered.
Maverick nodded eagerly against Ice’s chest. “Still?”
“Always.”