Work Text:
Viktor was a wreck. He knew something was wrong from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning.
He felt his head heavy, pulsing with a dull and annoying ache. When he moved to get the sheets off his body, he felt his arms extremely weak and floppy. Viktor had already mumbled the first curse of the day. He moved carefully to get out of bed, feeling his whole body protest against him, muscles weak and tired, and then he felt it. A sticky wetness sitting in his underwear.
Viktor had to close his eyes for a second and breathe slowly to get himself together. He knew. He had calculated the cycle of his body. He just forgot.
With a deep, careful breath, Viktor grabbed his crutch, trying to find the energy to get up and get himself ready. The pain was coming to him at full force. The ache in his bones at every movement, his lower back screaming with a constant dull pain, and the cramps. The cramps were the worst part.
It just started, but the terrible pain in his guts was making him feel sick. Viktor already knew that he took a breath in the wrong way or if he even took a sip of water, it'd be over for him.
Armed with courage, Viktor gripped his crutch with both hands and slowly pulled himself up. The movement made a wave of sickness wash over him, nearly making him gag, but Viktor closed his eyes to breathe slowly and waited for the room to stop spinning.
Now that he was standing, his legs felt even weaker. His bad one was in the worst pain it could ever be in, and his good one was having troubles to keep him stable on his feet.
Viktor gripped his crutch tightly, so much that his knuckles went white, and he slowly made his way to the bathroom. Even if he just felt like rotting in bed, he had to still get ready and get to work in the lab. He was already being late, and he was sure Jayce was waiting for him with the usual cup of warm coffee and a sweet pastry to have breakfast together while talking about how to start the day.
Viktor found the idea of eating absolutely repulsive in that moment, but he pushed the sickening thought of food away and started to get undressed.
Managing to not faint in the shower was an actual goal Viktor was proud of. He kept the water a little too hot, letting it fall and caress his sore muscles, trying to wash away his pain along with the soap.
It worked just partially. As he got dressed and ready for the day, at least Viktor didn't feel like throwing his guts up anymore. Kind of, since he still felt the nausea lingering over him. The cramps had calmed down just slightly, now reduced to a constant pain in his abdomen.
While checking in the mirror to make sure he wasn't looking like a corpse and was just feeling like it, Viktor noticed his whole face was pale while his cheeks were red and hot, just like the tips of his ears.
Viktor decided to shrug it off and give the whole fault to the hot water.
Viktor finished his outfit with the red tie of his uniform, but the moment he tied it to his neck he already felt suffocated by it. So he decided to leave it aside and if anyone had to say anything about it, he'd just kick them with his crutch. Yeah, that was a good plan.
With a deep sigh, Viktor grabbed his little work bag and walked out of his apartment and slowly, very slowly made his way to the lab. Every step was pure aching to his legs and whole body. He was drenched in sweat after barely making it half way there. Viktor had to lean on walls and anything he found on his path for support, he was feeling so weak and so pathetic that he actually thought he was going to faint there in the middle of the street at some point.
His mind blacked out for a while, his body moving through the pain and pushing forward, and when Viktor blinked again he was in front of the lab door. Feeling like a complete, miserable wet dog, but he gripped the handle and opened the door.
As expected, Jayce was already there, giving Viktor his back as he was standing in front of one of the black boards and analyzing what was written on it. At the sound of the door opening and Viktor's heavy steps entering the room, Jayce turned towards him with a smile.
“Good morning! Couldn't wake up today, mh? What time did you get home last night?” Jayce's loud voice ringed in Viktor's ears, the sound echoing in the big lab, and making his head pulse terribly.
“The usual.” Viktor found his voice lower and weaker than he thought. He sighed deeply and reached his desk, letting his bag fall to the ground and heavily dropping himself on the stool.
Viktor let out a breath at the momentary relief. He closed his eyes for a second, but when he opened them again Jayce was closer - too close - and inspecting him as if he was a very hard equation to solve.
“Are you okay?” he asked, softly, and for some reason Viktor felt everything weigh down on his shoulders even heavier.
He shifted his gaze away, grabbing the cup of coffee that Jayce fetched for him and left on his desk. “Yeah, yes I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well.” Viktor hid behind the cup, gulping the coffee down as if it could miraculously make his issues disappear.
But Jayce's eyes were still on him, and Viktor was getting uncomfortable, as if Jayce could actually see him through his soul and know what was going on. “Are you sure? You don't look..”
“Jayce, leave me alone, please. I'm doing fine. Can we just, get to work?” he avoided Jayce's eyes, knowing that if he met his kind gaze, Viktor would crumble down.
Jayce was silent for a few seconds, then Viktor saw him take a step back with the corner of his eye. “Alright- yeah, yeah sure. I'm sorry, didn't mean to get into your personal space.” his voice was so gentle, that Viktor felt bad for the hard tone he used.
“It's just-” he pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a soft sigh. “It's okay. Let's just get to work.” he said lowly.
The first hour went pretty well. Aside for the deep ache in his bones, and his head spinning every time he dared to look up too fast, and his whole body feeling so hot yet shaking with cold chills.
The stool was killing his back and legs, and the position he was forced to keep was making his cramps more painful every minute that passed.
As he looked through papers and books, Viktor felt as if his head was filled with cotton. The words were dancing around on the pages, he couldn't concentrate enough to finish reading a whole sentence, and he had read the same paragraph three times now, still not understanding what it said.
“Vik?” a muffled voice, but Viktor's eyes were closing on their own, his head so heavy that he had to hold it up with both hands on his forehead. “Viktor?” the voice was louder now, closer, and when he suddenly felt his shoulder being shaken gently, Viktor squeezed his eyes shut for a second and turned slowly towards Jayce, trying to focus his gaze on him.
Jayce was at his side, holding some papers with a hand while the other was on Viktor's shoulder. He was looking down at him, eyes filled with concern. “You're not feeling fine.” he stated, setting the papers aside on the desk. “I'll get you to a doctor.”
“No-” Viktor said fast, forcing his lungs and throat too much, and a wave of sickness washed over him again, making him gag dangerously.
Viktor immediately felt his mouth fill with saliva, rapidly. Every heavy breath he took was a dangerous threat to his stomach, that was now rebelling against the pain and the bad choice he took with that coffee earlier.
Viktor pressed a hand on his stomach, trying to massage away the pain, while the other came up to his mouth, in hope of not letting anything out.
“Are you feeling sick?” Jayce's worried voice reached his ears a couple seconds later, and Viktor could just nod, eyes squeezed shut.
Every breath was a danger now. He knew it was going to happen, but he couldn't move. Viktor heard Jayce move quickly through the lab, then he felt Jayce's fingers sink through his hair gently, and Viktor opened his eyes to see he was holding a trash can out for him.
“Here, it's okay. Don't fight it if it'll make you feel better after.” Jayce said softly, brushing his hair back in a soothing way.
Viktor looked up at him, but his vision was blurry and he couldn't focus on his partner's face. “Jay, I-” Viktor made a mistake.
The effort of letting out those two little words, made his eyes roll back with a forceful gag, his head falling forward, Jayce quickly moving the trash can closer as Viktor coughed out the saliva that was rising up in his mouth rapidly. He felt a particularly sharp cramp hit him, and he felt his stomach finally give up as its contents rose through his throat rapidly.
Everything happened too fast. Viktor had only the time to grip the side of the trash can hard, the other hand gripping Jayce's arm for support, as the other held his hair back and caressed his head gently. Once his stomach was empty, Viktor was left coughing and breathing heavily, thin tears on the corner of his eyes threatening to slide down. It was a horrible experience.
Jayce set the trash can aside to take care of later, and gently cupped Viktor's cheeks to look at his face. “There you go, it's okay. How are you feeling?”
If Jayce wasn't there to hold him, Viktor would've already been on the floor. He let out a shaking breath, dealing with too much all at once to be able to give a coherent reply. And Viktor trusted Jayce more than anyone else, so he let his eyes fall shut, the little tears escaping down his cheeks when he did, and he let out a shaking breath as he let himself fall forward against Jayce's warm chest.
Jayce's arms immediately embraced him to support his weight, while Viktor felt his head filled with even more cotton. “God, you're burning.” Jayce gasped lowly. “Alright, it's all good. I'll take care of you.” his words were confused in Viktor's mind, but his warm arms were so comforting on his aching body, his big chest so cozy to hide his face in.
Viktor fell asleep right there. Or better, he fainted in Jayce's arms, after all that horrible pain.
When Viktor woke up again, he had to blink slowly to get his eyes focused. He was staring at a familiar ceiling, but it wasn't the one of his room. When he was sure the world wouldn't start spinning if he moved, he turned his head slightly to look around.
Viktor realized he was in Jayce's room, and he was sitting on a chair next to the bed, head bent down and held between his hands. “Jay..” even if his voice was low and raspy, the other man's head shot up, eyes wide with surprise.
“Vik, hey. How are you feeling?” he asked immediately, reaching out to grab and hold his hand.
Viktor shifted carefully in bed, turning on his side to look at Jayce, and he noticed the ache in his body was gone. “Unexpectedly good. I.. I'm sorry, for earlier. I should've stayed home.” he said lowly, shifting his eyes away from Jayce's.
“No, no don't apologize. It's all good, really. At least I know you're okay.” Jayce's smile was warm, making Viktor's heart turn softer.
But then he looked away again. “You.. You brought me to a doc?” he asked, afraid of the answer now.
Jayce squeezed his hand tighter. “Well, yes. You were literally burning alive with a fever. And, uh, she said you are.. Going through that week of the month. She gave you painkillers and fever meds.”
Viktor closed his eyes and pulled the blanket up to his nose, trying to hide away in shame. “I'm sorry you had to find out like this.” he whispered, trying to pull his hand away from Jayce's, but the other man persisted and held it even tighter.
“No, wait, I don't care about that. I don't care about what's between your legs, you're my partner and will always be.” Jayce's words made Viktor open his eyes to look at him surprised, and he saw the gentle look Jayce was giving him.
“I just want you to know that I don't mind if you take a couple of days off to take care of yourself. The work can wait, it won't run away. I don't want to see you push yourself over the edge like that ever again, mister. Got it?” Jayce's scolding expression wasn't matching at all with his gentle voice, and that just made Viktor chuckle out loud.
His heart warmed up with his words, his chest filling with a warm feeling now, knowing that Jayce wouldn't look at him differently, and that he was so understanding. “I got it.. Thank you Jayce.” he smiled softly, squeezing his partner's hand back.
“Of course. Now, you should eat something while you're feeling okay. I'll go get you some water and food. You can stay here in my room, so I'm closer to reach in case you need me, alright?”
Viktor smiled softly, feeling his whole body warm up, but not for the fever this time. “Okay.” he nodded, watching as Jayce stood up, still holding his hand, and leaned in to leave a soft peck on Viktor's forehead.
He gave him a warm smile, then left the bedside to get out of the room. “I'll be right back.” he said, and Viktor followed him with his eyes until the door closed behind his back.
He sighed deeply, cuddling himself in those soft sheets that had that gentle and sweet scent that Jayce always carried around. Viktor smiled softly, enjoying the warmth and comfort of the bed, basking in the way his heart beat faster from Jayce's attentions.