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Fat snowflakes fell from the sky, drifting silently past the window. 2-D watched them through half lidded eyes. He felt horrible, his head hurt as usual, but today it seemed he’d acquired some sort of nasty cold on top.
He shivered even though he was wrapped in as many blankets as he had been able to find. He was pretty sure he had some sort of fever, he hoped it would break soon and relieve him of his misery. 2-D would never admit it but he wished his mom was around to take care of him, being a nurse she’d always known just what to do.
A large black dot was crawling up the window frame in his peripheral vision, he turned his head to see it better. Nothing there. He stared blankly at the spot for a minute, then refocused on the snow outside.
He had a sudden flash to when he was a kid, stuck in much the same position, he’d gotten to skip school that day. Normally he’d have been excited to stay home, but at that time he’d felt, if possible, even worse than he was currently feeling. He remembered his mom coming in every so often to give him popsicles and take his temperature while he’d watched the snow fall, wishing he could go out to play.
The black dot was back, he focused on it through the corner of his eye, a spider? He turned his head to look at it, once again it disappeared. Great, he was seeing things now. He went back to watching the window, ignoring the flashes of black in his peripherals.
He didn’t know how long he’d been staring at the snow, it could’ve been minutes or hours, he had no real way of knowing. He shivered and drew his blanker tighter around his body. Big mistake, the chills suddenly disappeared, now he felt like he was boiling, the blankets that had been his only source of comfort now suffocating him.
He groaned and pushed the blankets off, hoping to get some relief. He regretted it immediately, the chills came back, worse than ever. His teeth chattered and he shivered violently as he desperately tried to pull the blankets back up.
Lying back down with the blankets once again wrapped tightly around his body, 2-D closed his eyes, he was so hot, but at least the chills had calmed again. Maybe if he took a nap he’d feel better when he woke up.
One hour later
2-D groaned, rolling onto his side and slowly cracking his eyes open, he was so hot, it felt like he was burning alive. Sleeping hadn’t helped in the slightest, if anything it’d made things worse. His mouth felt horrible and cottony, his eyes felt dry and itchy and his whole body ached. He rubbed his eyes, his face seemed much too hot, though it was hard to tell. A popsicle seemed nice right about now. He wished there was someone who could bring him one.
Maybe he should go get one? His mouth was so dry and he was so hot, something cool and hydrating sounded like heaven. He really didn’t want to get up though... if he got up then he could take some Tylenol, maybe that would help ease his fever.
The thought of a possible relief was enough to get him sitting up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. The movement caused the chills to once again rear their ugly head, he pulled his blanket closer around his shoulders.
Standing up, his legs shook, he felt unbalanced and wobbly. He clutched at his blanket, the room seemed to tilt and swirl, his hand shot out, grabbing at the wall to steady himself. He closed his eyes, waiting for his head to settle. When he felt like it had been long enough he slowly open them. The room had stopped spinning, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked at the window, it was still snowing. Maybe if the Tylenol brought his fever down he could go out, he’d always loved the snow.
He refocused on the door, he just had to get to the kitchen. Still holding tightly to the wall he took a step, then another, and another, until he had made it all the way across his room. He gripped the door handle, swinging it open and stepping into the hall.
All he had to do now was go down the hall and he’d be in the kitchen, that wasn’t so bad. Progress was slow, his legs hurt and he felt so unstable he was afraid he’d fall. The temptation to just go back to bed was real, but he’d already made it this far, he was almost there.
Finally making it to the kitchen he stood in the doorway trying to remember why he’d come. He couldn’t remember. He was a little thirsty, maybe that was it. He went to the cabinet, his hand shook as he grabbed a glass.
Heading over to the sink he filled the glass to the top and brought it to his lips for a sip, it was lukewarm but he didn’t care. He turned towards the door, feeling confident that he’d gotten what he’d come for. He took a wobbly step, watching in slow motion as his full cup slipped from his hands.
Falling, falling... a loud crack rang out as the glass made contact with the floor, exploding into a million little pieces. Water splashed all over his socks and blanket. 2-D stared down at it, trying to process what had happened, his brain felt sluggish like it was coated in molasses. He should clean that up, what if someone cut themselves?
He frowned, where was the dust pan? He stepped forward with the intent of looking for the broom, something crunched under his feet. He looked down, dumbfounded. His sock was turning red. Huh.
Deciding a Band-aid was in order, he walked back toward the cabinet, more glass crunched under his feet. It surprisingly didn’t hurt too bad, grabbing a box of bandages and heading for the kitchen table, so he could sit down and apply the Band-aids.
“The fuck?” Murdoc’s voice shattered the relative silence.
2-D looked up from his place at the table, he’d removed his socks and was trying to figure out the best way to put the Band-aid on.
“Hi, Murdoc.” He chirped, sounding better than he felt. “Careful I dropped a glass.”
“I see that,” He said, sounding annoyed.
“I’ll clean it, soon as I put these on.”
Murdoc grumbled something to himself and carefully scooted around the mess, heading for the fridge.
2-D brushed his feet off with his blanket and stuck the Band-aids on. There. If he’d been thinking straight he would’ve realized just how shoddy his patch up job was, but as it was he thought he’d done a pretty good job. Now it was time to clean the glass and water still strewn across the floor.
He stood up, it hurt to put pressure on his wounds but it wasn’t the worst pain he’d ever felt. Where was the broom? Without thinking he stepped right back onto the mess, predictably another shard lodged itself into the bottom of his foot.
“Oh.” He said staring down at his feet, he heard Murdoc’s boots crunch over the pile of glass. Oh right he was wearing shoes, why wasn’t he wearing shoes?
“You high or something?” He heard Murdoc ask, was he? he wasn’t sure. His head hurt, so maybe he wasn’t high enough.
“I dunno,” He said, still staring at his feet.
Murdoc’s boots came into view, “Look at me.” he ordered.
Without thinking 2-D obeyed, as he soon as he did Murdoc’s open palm connected with his face. He cried out in surprise, his blanket slipping from his grasp, he only barely managed to keep himself upright.
He reached up to touch his still smarting cheek, Murdoc stared at him. “Why’d ya do that?” He was starting to feel bad again, the kitchen was spinning.
He felt the chills wrack his body now that his blanket was gone, he was shivering, his teeth chattered and his vision blurred.
Murdoc watched 2-D closely trying to work out what exactly was wrong with him. He was shivering, and his face was pale. He also seemed, if possible, even less with it then usual. 2-D swayed, his black eyes betraying nothing. Then he suddenly pitched forward, falling straight towards Murdoc.
Instinctively he wrapped his arms around 2-D supporting him against his chest so that he wouldn’t fall to the floor.
“Sweet Satan, mate. You’re burning up!” He exclaimed, as 2-D skin made contact with his.
2-D’s only response was a broken moan.
“Right, okay,” He said, more to himself than anything, “just... gonna sit ya down,” he awkwardly shuffled with 2-D back to the table.
It was tough to get 2-D to stay upright in the chair, in the end he pushed it as close to the table as possible, effectively wedging 2-D in place. With that done, he went to the cabinet and grabbed some Tylenol and a thermometer.
“Take this.” He ordered, plonking a cup of water and four tablets in front of 2-D.
2-D tried to pick up one of the pills but his coordination was off, he ended up swiping them off the table, nearly spilling his water at the same time.
“Fuckin’ ‘ell,” Murdoc grumbled, shaking four more tablets into his hand. “gotta do everything for ya huh?”
He grabbed 2-D’s jaw, pulling down on it so 2-D was forced to open his mouth. He put all four pills on his tongue then pressed the cup of water to his lips.
“Drink.”
2-D did his best, he choked a little but was able to get them down in the end. Murdoc put the cup down on the table and grabbed for the thermometer, he’d been pretty confident that 2-D would be able to take that many pills at once but he was still relieved it’d worked. Lucky him that the idiot was an addict.
2-D seemed slightly more aware of his surroundings now so he didn’t bother trying to force his mouth open again.
“Open.” He said, waving the thermometer in 2-D’s face.
2-D squinted, trying to figure out what Murdoc was waving in from of him, when he didn’t open his mouth Murdoc pressed the end to his lower lip.
“Open.” He said again, this time with more force.
Seeming to finally comprehend what Murdoc wanted 2-D open his mouth, allowing Murdoc to place the thermometer inside.
“Hold it,” He told 2-D, watching him closely.
2-D shivered and hugged his torso. The thermometer began to slip, Murdoc grabbed his hair forcing his head up.
“I said hold it.” He repeated, pushing it back in and releasing 2-D hair.
This time the thermometer stayed, “’Course you pick the one day Noodle and Russ are gone. Jesus.” he muttered crossing his arms.
He tapped his foot impatiently and looked at the clock, another few minutes. The floor was a mess of glass, water, and blood, he sighed noisily and kicked at a particularly large piece, sending it skittering across the floor. He glanced down at 2-D, he wasn’t looking too good but at least he was still holding thermometer.
After what seemed an age, enough time had finally passed for Murdoc to read the temperature. He took it from 2-D and held it up, squinting at the silver line. Shit. That couldn’t be right. He stared at the line dumbfounded, it read 41°C (105.8°F), that was high, really high. Right?
Murdoc admittedly didn’t know anything about medicine, didn’t even bother pretending to know anything about it, he’d been to the doctor only a handful of times in his life. Most of those hadn’t been by choice either, usually some sort of school mandated check up or that time he’d woken up in the hospital after a particularly brutal bar fight.
Whenever he got sick he’d usually just chug some cold medicine and sleep it off, no reason to bother with the busy body’s at the hospital. Even he knew though that 41°C was high, maybe that was why 2-D was so messed up? He tried to remember what the normal temperature was, 38°C? No, that didn’t sound right.
He thought back to when Noodle had one that was around 39°C, Russel had nearly lost his shit, saying he’d take her to urgent care. Murdoc had spent ages talking him down, not wanting the idiots there to take Noodle away from them seeing as they had no papers for her. She was just a kid though, you had to be more careful with kids.
“Hey, faceache.” 2-D angled his head in his direction.
“What’s the normal temperature for humans, huh?” It was a long shot, he wasn’t even sure if he should trust 2-D on something like this, but he didn’t really want to wait while he checked his own temperature.
“Um...” 2-D frowned, knitting his brows together.
Long seconds ticked by, Murdoc wondered if he’d forgotten the question.
“Thirty-six or somefink...” He said finally.
Murdoc’s heart skipped a beat, “You sure?” he asked gruffly.
2-D barely reacted, instead he seemed to stare off into nothing. Once again the silence stretched, Murdoc watched 2-D closely, wondering if he was even capable of responding.
Then 2-D blinked and cocked his head to the side, “Fink so, feel bloody terrible now, what’re the numbers?” then as an afterthought, “Mam used to make me stay in bed if it was over thirty-nine.”
Murdoc ran a hand through his hair, shit.
“Mmm-Murdoc?”
“What?” He snapped.
“I’m... I’m so cold, c-can you get my blanket?”
“No.” He snapped, then feeling a little bad, “It’s full of glass you idiot.”
“Oh...”
This was bad, he needed to cool him down somehow. A scene from an old medical drama flashed to the front of mind, if he remembered right, they’d used an ice bath to cool the patient down. He looked at 2-D who was slowly collapsing onto the table. An ice bath was probably in order he decided.
“Right, okay.” He said quietly to himself.
Striding purposely toward the freezer, he yanked open the door and grabbed the ice box. Then he hurried out of the kitchen in the direction of the bathroom. As soon as he reached the bathtub he turned the water on cold and dumped the entire ice box out. Letting it run he hurried back to 2-D.
2-D hadn’t moved an inch, “Right, let’s go then.” he said pulling 2-D off the chair.
“wher-?”
Murdoc didn’t respond, 2-D seemed to be getting warmer by the second, something that, all though he wouldn’t admit to, worried him immensely. 2-D didn’t protest as he was dragged down the hall, only occasionally groaning and rolling his head side to side.
When they reached the bathroom Murdoc laid 2-D on the floor, propping him against the wall he started working his shirt off. Once that was down he started on his pants.
“Stop, cold.” 2-D mumbled unsuccessfully trying to bat Murdoc’s hands away.
Murdoc ignored 2-D’s protests, tossing the pants into the corner with his shirt. 2-D violently shivered, curling into himself in a vain attempt to retain some warmth.
The tub was almost full, time to put 2-D in. “Don’t think yer gonna like this mate.” He said, scooping 2-D up and carrying him over to the tub.
“Wait-” 2-D squirmed, seeming to finally grasp what was happening.
“It’s for your own good.” Without further ado he dropped 2-D into the freezing water.
2-D’s eyes snapped wide open, he screamed, thrashing in the icy water he scrabbled for purchase in the slippery tub. Making no progress his panicked eyes locked onto Murdoc still leaning over the tub. He clawed at Murdoc’s arms desperately trying to climb up and out of the water.
“Argh!” Murdoc yelped as 2-D raked his finger nails down his arm, nearly drawing blood.
“Stop it! goddammit!” He yelled, struggling to subdue 2-D’s flailing arms. It was like trying to grab a particularly violent and slippery eel.
2-D showed no sign he’d even heard Murdoc, if he had he clearly wasn’t going listen. He continued flailing, attempting to grab Murdoc and use him as a ladder out. Realizing 2-D’s actions were driven by panic, with no rational thought behind them, Murdoc took advantage.
2-D lunged for him, this time he didn’t try to dodge, just let 2-D come to him. He caught 2-D’s right wrist in his hand, 2-D’s left hand connected with his arm, grabbing a hold of it in a death grip.
“Fuck!” He said, prying the hand off, 2-D’s nails leaving little crescent marks in his skin.
2-D was sobbing, desperately trying to yank his arms back, splashing water on the floor with his legs.
“Stop it, ya sod!” Murdoc growled, holding his wrists with one hand he pushed 2-D’s arms and chest down, with his other, he grabbed one of 2-D’s legs forcing it beneath the water.
2-D kicked as best he could with his one free leg but his strength was waning, the fever taking it’s toll. Soon he had calmed down, only halfheartedly squirming. Murdoc kept a hold of him just in case he decided to try escaping again.
2-D hiccuped. “Let go... please...”
“Not a chance, dents.”
2-D groaned in despair, resting his head on the edge of the tub. Murdoc used his shoulder to wipe water off his cheek, 2-D had managed to soak both him and the bathroom. Water was everywhere, he was glad he hadn’t turned the tap off yet because the water level had been dramatically lowered.
They stayed like that while the water filled the tub, when Murdoc deemed it high enough he eyed 2-D trying to gauge whether he could let go in order to shut off the tap or not. 2-D had long since stopped trying to fight him, now he laid in the cold water shivering but otherwise unmoving with his eyes closed.
Murdoc decided to risk it. He slowly released 2-D’s leg and shut the tap off, when 2-D didn’t react he carefully released his arms, hoping he wouldn’t have to wrestle him back under the water. 2-D stayed where he was, good. His back crackled and popped as he stood up to survey the damage.
Water was absolutely everywhere, he mopped some of it up with 2-D’s clothes but there was still a lot. He shook his head and turned back to the tub, 2-D still hadn’t moved, that gave him hope. He dipped his hand into the water checking the temperature, cold but not freezing, he should probably add more ice.
He looked at the ice tub still sitting on the sink, he wouldn’t get any more ice from the freezer anytime soon. It was pretty cold outside, Russel had said something about it snowing sometime soon. He hadn’t looked out the window or gone out that day so he had no idea if it had snowed or not but maybe he could get some icicles from the roof.
He glanced down at 2-D, trying to decide if he was at risk of drowning while he was gone, he looked alright and he hadn’t moved at all. Hopefully that meant he’d be fine. He crossed his fingers and slipped out the door.
Once outside he regretted not taking the time to change out of his wet clothes, the wind seemed to sweep straight through him, freezing the wet patches on his shirt and pants stiff. He shivered, feeling as if he was the one in the ice bath. Russel had been right, it was snowing, really snowing. If he’d been the type to like nature things he might’ve thought it was beautiful, instead he just found it inconvenient and slightly annoying.
Using a broom he knocked some icicles down, collecting them in his arms he headed back inside. 2-D was thankfully still right where he’d left him. He knelt down beside the edge of the tub and began carefully placing the icicles into the water, trying not to disturb 2-D lest he decide to try fighting again.
Placing the last icicle into the water he stood up and ran some warm water trying to warm his hands up. The ice touching his bare hands and exposed arms had been painfully cold, warming them up burned, he grimaced at himself in the mirror.
With that done he went to kitchen to grab a beer, ignoring the glass crunching under his feet he grabbed two bottles, cracking one open he chugged half straight away, immediately feeling comforting warmth pooling in his stomach, spreading through his body.
Feeling better he went back to the bathroom to watch 2-D, over the next two hours, he made four more trips outside to grab more icicles and even some snow when he ran out of easily accessible ice. He was just sitting down with a cigarette and another beer when 2-D finally stirred.
“M... doc...?”
“Not a doctor mate.” He said taking a drag.
“C-cold.” 2-D whined.
“No shit Sherlock.”
“Please...” Murdoc could hear his teeth chattering.
“You want out?” He was tired of sitting there doing nothing, putting 2-D to bed sounded quite nice.
“Please...” 2-D repeated.
“I need to check your temperature first.” He said standing up and heading for the kitchen to get the thermometer.
The thermometer was sitting on the table right where he’d left it, he grabbed it and shook it down while he returned to the bathroom.
Kneeling down next to the tub he made 2-D hold it under his tongue. Then he found some towels, laying one on the floor but keeping the other to wrap around 2-D. They both waited impatiently for the time to pass, when it had finally been long enough Murdoc took the thermometer back and held it up.
39°C He felt some of the tension leave his shoulders, the ice bath had worked! 2-D shivered violently, watching him with a hopeful look on his face.
He offered his arm to 2-D. “Come on then,”
Despite his miserable state 2-D’s face broke into a smile, his cold clammy hands latched onto Murdoc’s arm. Feeling a bit like some sort of a horror movie monster Murdoc thought. Despite the gross feeling of cold wet hands touching all over his arms he pulled 2-D up, helping him step over the lip of the tub and onto the towel he’d laid out.
“Sit down.” He ordered.
2-D obeyed, crumbling to the ground and wrapping his arms around himself in an vain attempt to warm up. Murdoc wrapped the extra towel around 2-D, who gratefully pulled it tightly around his shoulders.
“I’ll get you some clothes, stay there.”
Heading down the hall to 2-D’s room he pulled open his dresser drawers searching for a new set of clothes. 2-D definitely wasn’t the most organized person so it was hard to locate a complete outfit. In the end he found new underwear, socks, and shirt he was fairly sure was clean. The pants he picked up from the floor, he was under no illusion that they weren’t dirty, he didn’t really care though, they were pants. 2-D was lucky he wasn’t bringing him dirty underwear.
“Right, put these on.” He said entering the bathroom and tossing 2-D’s clothes down in front of him.
2-D nodded, Murdoc turned around and lit up a cigarette. He could hear 2-D struggling with his clothes but he had no intention of helping him unless absolutely necessary.
“Can- can you help with my, with my pants?” Damn it.
He heaved an annoyed sigh and turned around, luckily it seemed 2-D had managed to change his underwear and put on his shirt by himself. Just the pants and possibly his socks, he could do that. Just add it to the laundry list of things that would hang between them never to be acknowledged, or brought up lest they be forced into a deeper conversation.
“Get up.” He said yanking 2-D’s arm so that he was standing.
2-D whined at the rough treatment and leaned onto Murdoc so as not to fall.
“Left leg in.” He barked holding the pants open for him.
Once 2-D had gotten the first leg in, he helped him get the other before pulling them up none to gently. He brought 2-D over and sat him on the lid of the toilet.
“Can you do your socks?” He asked.
2-D stared down at his lap for a long time before slowly nodding. Murdoc handed them to him, 2-D accepted them but stayed where he was, staring blankly at his lap.
Murdoc puffed on his cigarette, waiting to see if 2-D would actually put them on or not. He looked away for a moment, when he looked back 2-D had pulled one leg over his knee and was staring at his foot.
“Somethin’s wrong.” 2-D muttered quietly to himself.
He followed 2-D’s gaze, the glass had really done a number on his feet, the bandages 2-D had applied in his delirious state had all but come off leaving the wounds exposed for all to see. He should probably bandage them, it’d be a waste if he’d done all that work to save 2-D’s life, only to have him die of infection just a few days later.
“Ya don’t remember?”
2-D looked up at him in confusion, “What happened?” he asked.
“You stepped in glass, dumbass.”
“Really? I don’t... I don’t remember...” He said quietly.
Murdoc huffed, opening the vanity cabinet and rummaging for bandages. When he found them, he slammed the cabinet door, grabbing some tweezers and rubbing alcohol. 2-D leaned away from him as he approached, likely sensing his annoyance.
He knelt down in front of 2-D and grabbed his ankle, “If you kick me you’ll be sorry.” 2-D nodded, holding onto his leg in an effort to brace himself.
Murdoc inspected the foot, looking for glass fragments, luckily it seemed the water had washed most of them out if there had been any in the first place. Spotting a small piece towards the front of his foot, he gripped 2-D’s ankle a little tighter as he used the tweezers to pull it out. To 2-D’s credit he barely flinched.
Not seeing anymore pieces Murdoc uncapped the rubbing alcohol, he didn’t bother warning 2-D before he doused his foot with it. 2-D jumped and gritted his teeth, he sucked in a deep breath but held himself together.
Now that he’d sterilized it, Murdoc wrapped the foot in bandages before moving over to the next one. This one was a lot worse, there were quite a few pieces stuck in his heel as well as the sole of foot, it looked painful.
“Stay still.” He warned, holding 2-D’s ankle in a death grip.
Above him he heard 2-D suck in a deep breath bracing himself for the pain. The pieces in his heel weren’t too bad, at most he’d get a slight flinch from 2-D but mostly he was able to stay still. As soon as he moved to the much more sensitive sole things ramped up from easy to difficult. The second he touched the particularly large piece of glass lodged just under 2-D’s big toe. 2-D violently flinched away, breaking free from Murdoc’s grasp and narrowly missing his face with his foot.
“I’m sorry!” 2-D exclaimed, sounding panicked. “I didn’t mean to, my leg... my leg just jumped on it’s own I swear!”
Murdoc just glared at him.
“He-here, it- it won’t happen again, I’m sorry. So sorry.” He said putting his leg back where it had been previously.
Murdoc sighed, he hadn’t actually kicked him so he supposed he could give the lad another chance, he believed him when he said it hadn’t been intentional 2-D had always been jumpy that way. 2-D would sorely regret it if he did kick him though, a few glass shards wouldn’t even come close to the amount of pain he’d be in if that happened.
“If you do that again, I’ll knock the rest of yer teeth in, ya’hear?”
2-D nodded, his eyes had gone teary, Murdoc hoped he wouldn’t cry, it was annoying to listen to. Holding tightly to his leg, Murdoc went back for the piece of glass, this time 2-D managed to control his reflexes so that even though his leg jumped and flinched it stayed in place. Murdoc dropped the glass in the trash and absentmindedly gave the leg a gentle pat before starting on the next piece.
Soon he was down to the last one, he had to dig into 2-D’s flesh to get a firm hold on it. 2-D squirmed holding a hand over his mouth, trying to suppress the pained noises he was making. It was a tough one, he had to wiggle it a bit to loosen it. When he finally managed to pull it out, tears were streaming down 2-D’s face, though to his credit, Murdoc thought, he wasn’t actively crying. He was tougher than he looked.
He grabbed the rubbing alcohol bottle, 2-D tensed, bracing for the sting. He poured it over 2-D’s foot, washing the blood and bacteria away. With that done he bandaged 2-D’s foot, deciding it would be better if he left the socks off for the time being.
He stood up, 2-D wiped his eyes. “Come on,” He said hauling 2-D to his feet, ignoring the hiss of pain 2-D let out, it was time for him to go back to bed.
They slowly limped down the hallway, 2-D leaning heavily on him. When they made it to 2-D’s bedroom he helped him get into bed, relieved his caretaker role was almost over.
“Get some sleep, I’ve got shit to do.” He said, turning to leave.
“Murdoc?” 2-D asked hesitantly.
“What now?”
“Could- could you maybe- could you maybe bring me some pepper- peppermint tea?” 2-D asked nervously stumbling over his words.
He sighed, “Fine.” what was one more thing anyway?
In the kitchen Murdoc turned on the kettle, putting a tea bag in 2-D’s favorite mug. While he waited for the water to boil he found the broom, the water had mostly evaporated while he was watching 2-D in the tub so it was fairly easy to sweep all the glass into a pile.
The water was boiling. He leaned the broom against the wall and poured it into 2-D’s mug, then he set the timer for four minutes. While he waited for it he finished sweeping stray shards of glass into the pile and swept them into the dust pan, before wiping the blood off the floor. By the time he’d finished the timer was seconds away from beeping.
He grabbed the Tylenol off the table and dumped two tablets into his hand, then, shutting off the timer he grabbed 2-D’s mug. Leaving the tea bag in, he headed back to 2-D’s bedroom. 2-D raised his head off his pillow when he entered, giving him a small smile when he saw the mug in Murdoc’s hand.
“Here’s your tea,” He said handing the full mug to 2-D, “take these,” he handed him the pills.” if your temperature gets that high again I’ll have to throw you back in the tub and I don’t think either of us want that.”
2-D accepted the pills, swallowing them dry, he nodded in agreement.
“Great. Well I’m off, don’t ask me for anything else.” He turned his back on 2-D, striding toward the door.
“Murdoc?” Rage bubbled just under the surface.
“What!?” He snapped, rounding on 2-D causing him to shrink back against his pillow.
“Thank you.” 2-D said so quietly that he almost didn’t catch it, his anger calmed a bit.
“Whatever, couldn’t have you dying on me.” With that he stepped through the door and slammed it shut behind him. In the hallway he lit a cigarette with shaky hands, what the hell had even happened today? He needed a drink, or maybe a few.
Later that night Noodle and Russel came back to an eerily silent studio, (well, silent if you didn’t count the ghosts). Murdoc sat passed out in front of the TV having polished off an entire bottle of rum, as for 2-D, after he’d finished drinking his tea he had fallen into a deep sleep, not to wake up again until the next afternoon. When he did eventually wake, he’d report that he felt “In tip top shape”, besides of course the pain in his feet. Which was good because he spent much of the rest of the day waiting hand and foot on a grouchy hungover Murdoc.