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Maybe it all started when Lloyd hung out in the cold, slushy day too long and allowed himself to get really cold and wet and stayed that way for a few hours. Maybe it was when he stayed up way too late for multiple nights doing ninja stuff. It was probably those fangirls too. Whatever the reason was, Lloyd had contracted a cold.
He thought everything was fine. A little headache that could be chased away with Tylenol and he could keep going with his day (and night.) So that is what he did. He had Tylenol and stayed up until three in the morning doing his ninja stuff with the others. Nobody noticed- not even himself, how he lagged behind, took longer to catch his breath, and just seemed sort of off. Everyone was a little tired by the end of the night so nobody questioned how exhausted Lloyd looked.
There was a scratchy, post-nasal drippy feeling in the back of Lloyd's throat and he coughed here and there. It hurt a little to breathe through his nose, but it didn't matter too much because it was stuffy and hard to breathe through his nose anyway. He hoped that it would clear up when he woke up. After getting into bed, he promptly passed out.
In the morning, the others were waking up slowly but surely, ready to start a new day.
Jay looked over at Lloyd who was curled up on his bed, all the blankets and sheets pulled up so the green ninja was just a green cocoon of green blankets. "Er, should we wake him up? Master Wu might be mad if he's late."
"Let him sleep," Cole said, "he looked exhausted last night."
"Yeah, I guess," Jay shrugged, heading out to brush his teeth. The others followed him, leaving Lloyd to sleep.
==
At around mid breakfast, Lloyd woke up feeling really bad and really hot. He was quick to throw the covers off of him and get out of bed, shivering at the sudden cold air but it felt nice at the same time.
His nose was really stuffy and runny and his throat hurt badly. It was like someone was stabbing a knife down it. He needed some water, probably. Still feeling groggy, he pulled on a light sweatshirt and headed to breakfast.
Kai looked over at Lloyd as he walked through. "Well, look who's up! It's sleeping beauty."
"Hey," Lloyd rasped, hating how hoarse his voice sounded, but also wincing at the sudden burn in his throat, hurrying to get some water.
"You don't sound too good," Zane commented.
Lloyd gulped down the water which helped the smallest fraction of the problem. "I don't feel that great," he replied hoarsely, "kinda crappy."
"If that is so," Wu said, "you should stay in bed and rest."
"But-"
"You need to be at your best to fight. If you never allow your body to heal, it's like taking two steps backwards for every step forward."
Lloyd was silent, not liking the plan but at the moment he was shaking from the cold aid and sweating from wearing the sweatshirt and it hurt to even breathe too hard. "...Fine." He poured himself some hot water and put some tea leaves in it. While it brewed, he fixed himself a bowl of oatmeal. When the tea was done, he poured honey in it, which was Wu's suggestion to help his scratchy-sounding voice.
"Is he contagious?" Jay asked, scooting sideways as Lloyd took the seat across from him. Kai elbowed him, shooting him a look.
Lloyd took a bite and swallowed, nearly choking. He was quick to gulp down some tea. He managed to swallow, but his body was wracked with wet coughs. That added to the knife-stabbing pain in his throat as well as a soreness in his lungs. Everyone had their eyes on him now.
"Are you good?" Cole asked.
"It really hurts to swallow," Lloyd replied, voice sounding worse after that coughing fit. He took a sip of tea which didn't hurt as bad to drink as eating the oatmeal.
"This seems very sudden," Zane said, "have you had any symptoms earlier to today?"
"Yeah... I've had this awful post-nasal drip thing going on for a few days and I thought cough drops could fix it."
"Anything else?"
"Ma nose is runny and I'm cold and hot at the same time as of right now." He took another sip of tea, leaning back before realizing that there was no back to the bench. He toppled over before anyone could catch him and sloshed tea all over his chest and sweatshirt. Luckily, the tea wasn't scalding hot and he was alright burn-wise. "Ughhhhhhhh." Cole was quick to help him up along with Zane.
Lloyd picked up his oatmeal, not feeling very hungry anyway. "I'm going to take a shower."
After the shower, Lloyd went back to bed, feeling very cold, pulling the covers all the way over his head, leaving a small gap of fresh air to breathe.
==
Once again, when Lloyd woke up he was absolutely burning up, throwing off the blankets and then regretting his decision by retrieving them as the cold air made him shiver so bad his teeth clattered together. Jay was in the room at the time, looked over when he noticed the sound.
"Lloyd?"
"Mm?"
"Are you okay?"
"No." He was too hot again. He sat up and brought the covers up around him, trying to find the perfect position so he wasn't too hot or cold.
"You're... you look really hot and sweaty, man," Jay said.
"That's cause I am," Lloyd said, realizing that Jay was right.
"I'm going to go get Zane." Jay was quick to leave the room and come back with Zane and Kai.
Zane held a thermometer. "Here, can you take your temperature?"
Nodding, Lloyd stuck the thermometer into his mouth and waited until it beeped, taking it out and reading it before passing it to Zane. "100.2. That's not bad, right?"
"Well, it's a little higher than what is considered okay, but you're not going to burn up. Do you have a headache?"
"A little, I guess. It's not bad." Lloyd got up to go to the bathroom and get some water. He didn't return to his bedroom. He instead went to the game room because staying in bed all say was AWFUL and BORING!
He played some video games until his headache was too much to look at the bright screen and went to curl up again on the beanbag chair with one of the blankets that he assumed was Kai's because it spelled smokey and was red. He pulled it over his body, but left it so his neck and face could be exposed to the cool air because he was feeling hot again. Very hot. Actually, he didn't want the blanket, he just wanted to hold onto something for comfort.
Kai walks in and sees Lloyd curled on the beanbag chair. "Won't you be more comfortable in your own bed?"
Lloyd just hummed to say 'I don't know.' Kai walked over and sat down near his head. "You feel very warm. Is your fever spiking?"
When Lloyd opened his mouth to speak, he found that his voice was so bad that it was nearly all the way gone. Just a few undecipherable sounds came out of his mouth. Kai tangled his fingers in Lloyd's hair, a worried expression on his face. "Do you think you need some Tylenol?"
"Probably," Lloyd managed to rasp out. He scooted over to Kai and rested his head against his leg, wrapping his arms around his older brother. "Don' go, please."
"You're suddenly very clingy," Kai commented, trying to lighten the mood. "I promise I'll be right back." He got up when Lloyd let go and quickly went to get the medicine, water, and the thermometer.
Nya was in the kitchen when he was getting water and a snack for Lloyd. "Is everything okay with Lloyd?"
"He feels kinda hot and wanted some Tylenol."
"Okay. Hopefully whatever he has is gone quickly."
"Yeah, hopefully." Kai picked out some crackers and peanut butter and went back to sit with Lloyd. "Here, sit up."
Lloyd did and shoved the thermometer into his mouth before Kai asked. Kai looked over Lloyd's shoulder and it read 101.1.
"Fuck, it went up," he gave Lloyd the medicine and the water. "This better get it back down."
After Lloyd ate his snack, he lay back down again and Kai went back to stroking his messy platinum hair. He stayed until dinner, dragging Lloyd to eat. He didn't talk much, leaving Jay to make some good-natured comments that Lloyd smiled at a little, and then he went to go take another shower and head back to bed, feeling cold again.
==
Jay woke up when he heard sounds from Lloyd's room. The one thing he missed was that in the Monastery, they got their own rooms and they were separated by hallways and doors. It was nice for the privacy, but over the many years and battles, they had gotten closer than basket weaves and tighter than knots as a team. He quickly ran to Lloyd's room which was down at the end of the hall, three doors away. He burst in, surprised that Cole hadn't woken up with the crying and mutters, but Cole slept like a rock.
Turning on the lights, he found Lloyd tangled in all of his sheets, cheeks flushed red, mumbling hoarsely in his sleep. Judging by the way his eyebrows pinched together and the thrashing, Jay could understand that he was having a fever dream.
He sat on the edge of the bed, placing a hand on Lloyd's arm. The green ninja woke with the slightest touch, gasping. (It really hurt to breathe like that.) His eyes were wide as he searched the room, finally landing on Jay who worriedly smiled.
"You're okay," Jay assured. "You were having a nightmare."
"Oh. Did I wake you up?"
"No," lied Jay.
"Sorry."
"It's alright. Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep again?"
"Yeah," Lloyd replied, the childish want for comfort shining brightly through his eyes.
"I know I acted all germaphobic and stuff, but I really don't care if I get sick, but I doubt I will because I was pretty sick, like, two weeks ago."
"Yeah... You were." Lloyd's eyes closed again. Jay slid in next to him, pulling the blankets up and putting an arm around Lloyd just like he did when he was just a young ten year-old kid. Lloyd sighed at the comfort, relaxing to an infinite degree.
Jay didn't leave when Lloyd fell asleep. He stayed there until morning because he had also fallen asleep.