Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alan was slow to awaken, he groaned when he saw the time. He’d only been asleep for an hour, so why in God's name was he awake? Rolling over to lay on his back, Alan stared at his ceiling and wished he could be like Fermat and sound asleep.

As Alan lay there, he started to realize that his stomach felt kind of funky. He laid in bed for another moment longer until he recognized his mouth was watering and he knew what that meant. Sitting up hurriedly, the fourteen-year-old was quick to try to get to the bathroom. He didn’t anticipate his feet getting tangled in his duvet and he tripped in his haste to get to the bathroom. Barely managing to stay on his feet, Alan covered his mouth when he felt his stomach lurch.

Quickly and as quietly as he could manage Alan closed the door to the bathroom and turned on the vanity light just before lifting the lid of the toilet and kneeling down. This was shaping up to be a long night was Alan’s first thought as he retched.

“Oh god, this is disgusting.” Alan muttered as he reached up with his right hand and used his thumb and middle finger to wipe the corner edges of his mouth. He balled up a fist, clutching at the hem of his shirt just as he retched again and brought up a majority of his dinner. Alan thought to himself that he could have probably been fine if it had been the only time that he was sick, but Alan never really had the best luck and so he felt dismay when his stomach lurched again, and he continually brought up more of his stomach contents.

Panting as he came up for air, Alan gave his head a brief shake as he stood up to go wash his face when he felt his stomach settle for the moment. His hands were shaking as he turned on the faucet and just before he went to wash his face. Pushing up the sleeves to his long sleeve Henley, Alan bent slightly as he cupped his hands in the cool water then splashing his face.

He already wished this was over and he could be done with this but knowing his own body pretty well, Alan knew that not to be the case.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fermat came awake, his vision was blurry and he reached across to his nightstand to grab his glasses. Looking at the clock that hung over their shared doorway, Fermat felt surprised to see that it had only been four and a half hours since he had gone to bed. The young genius took notice of Alan’s bed being empty and he looked at the sleeping space to see that Alan’s sheets were tangled up and hanging from the edges of the bed like he had been in a hurry to get up. Looking around, he took notice that their bathroom light was on and the door was closed.

He shrugged believing that Alan probably just needed to use the bathroom even if it was unusual for him. Once the older boy was asleep, he didn’t typically wake up until the next morning. Fermat started to lay back down when he heard a gurgling sound coming from the bathroom. The young genius slowly sat back up from his bed and stood to go to their shared bathroom. Standing on the other side of the door, Fermat could hear better when the gurgling sounds came back and he was able to identify the noise. Vomiting. Alan was sick. Feeling like he needed to at least check on Alan, Fermat knocked on the door.

“A-Alan, are you okay?” Fermat knew his friend wasn’t, but what else was he supposed to ask? He waited for a moment before he got a weak response in return.

Alan who was kneeling on the floor lifted his head from where he’d been resting on his arm which was bracing across the toilet bowl, misery clear on his face. He couldn’t understand why he was still throwing up. He didn’t know the human body could contain so much. Feeling his stomach twist in preparation for another round, Alan spoke up, hoping to keep Fermat from coming in. The youngest Tracy didn’t know if he was contagious and didn’t want to make Fermat sick too.

“I’m sick Ferm…don’t come in here. I don’t want you to catch it.”  Alan spit after talking, prolonging the inevitable just before he threw up again. He reached up with a shaking hand and pulled the lever to flush the toilet and he panted as he felt the breeze from the swirling waters below. He was absolutely miserable.

“Is t-there anything I can get for you?” Fermat asked through the door. He didn’t immediately get an answer, but heard a couple strangled gagging sounds followed by more spitting.

“Can you call Virgil? I haven’t been able to stop throwing up for maybe the last three hours and I don’t want to bother dad if he’s busy.” Alan asked, his voice taking on a whine as he voiced the request which really blew Fermat out of the water. Alan never asked for help and if he was asking for one of his brothers then he really was truly sick.

“Y-Yeah, give me a second.” Fermat stepped away from the door just in time to hear another round of vomiting, this one sounding all the more unpleasant than the last. No doubt that if Alan had been sick the last three hours, there probably wasn’t much left to bring up.

Grabbing his cell phone, Fermat turned on the lights in their room so he could see to walk around. He walked over to sit at his desk before dialing Virgil’s number.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Virgil was sitting out on the edge of the pool, enjoying the scenery with his legs in the water when he felt his pocket begin to vibrate. Reaching in his pocket, Virgil grabbed his phone to see who was trying to call and found it odd that Fermat was calling considering that both he and Alan should be in bed. Virgil went ahead and answered the call, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Hello? Fermat is everything okay?” Virgil swung his legs in the water for a moment, enjoying the cool liquid. If Fermat had turned on the video feature of his phone, Virgil would have seen how bedraggled the young genius was especially after being woken up so early in the morning.

“H-hi Virgil…no Alan is sick and he ask-asked me to call you.” Fermat explained.

“Really? What’s the matter? The kid usually never wants help when he feels bad, unless of course he thinks he’s dying.” Virgil frowned as he leaned back against his palm that was resting on the ground behind himself.

“He h-hasn’t been able to stop t-throwing up in the last three hours and he’s s-still sick as a dog.” Fermat explained as he could make out the echoes of Alan’s ragged breathing even from a distance.

“Oh poor kid. I don’t know what I can recommend that could possibly help other than a trip to the school infirmary. He probably needs some anti-nausea medicine, but only medical staff can give him something. If you would like me to, I can call the school and make sure there is a record to authorize treatment, but there is unfortunately nothing much I can do from here.” Virgil offered as he pulled his legs from the water and stood up to go to his dad’s office to find the number for the infirmary. He didn’t have it pre-programmed into his phone like the rest of his family because usually Alan didn’t like to call him for medical maladies unless it meant stitches. If it wasn’t something he could handle he’d call their dad or Scott usually.

“Would y-you, please? He’s just thrown up a-again and it’s been seven times j-just since I woke up fifteen m-minutes ago.”

“Sure thing, I’ll call you back when I’ve gotten ahold of the school. Hang tight.” Virgil walked past his dad who was in the middle of a phone call on his work phone and Virgil mouthed to his dad he needed a number from Alan’s school file. His dad gestured at his own personal cell phone and Virgil took the device and looked through the contacts before writing the number on a pad of paper that his dad slid to him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile back at Wharton’s, Fermat’s shoulders slumped as Virgil hung up. He pursed his lips when he heard Alan throw up again and he winced when it sounded painful towards the end. He didn’t know what he could possibly do to help Alan right now, but he was willing to get detention to go get a soda from the vending machine for Alan. Maybe that would help.

Fermat grabbed his slide card for the vending machine and he stepped out of the room to go down the hall. When he returned, a horribly pale faced Alan exited the bathroom just long enough to make it to his bed before turning tail and racing back into the bathroom after clapping a hand over his mouth. Fermat felt terrible for his roommate and he placed the can of ginger ale on Alan’s bedside along with a couple packets of soup crackers he’d swiped from the snack island where some small food items were kept if students didn’t want to go to the cafeteria for meals.

Alan exited the bathroom again after a few minutes, his eyes were bloodshot and his face looked clammy and had a fine sheen of sweat. He leaned against the bathroom door frame for a few moments before he groaned. Turning back around Alan stepped back into the bathroom and he softly closed the door behind himself. Seconds after Alan returned to the bathroom, Fermat’s phone rang and the younger boy was quick to answer it.

“H-Hi Virgil.” Fermat said as he put his phone to his ear.

“Hey, I called the school. Hang tight…the nurse is actually recommending that we come to get you and Alan.” Virgil said.

“B-but I’m not sick.” Fermat said.

“Not yet…but when I called the nurse he said that he’s already had over forty students exhibiting the same symptoms as Alan come in and he’s run out of accommodations for anymore students. He put in a call to the headmaster and he’s going to close the school and send everyone home. It’s not like you’ll be missing much, just the last two weeks of classes. The nurse said that with Alan exhibiting symptoms of what he thinks might be a stomach virus, that he anticipates you’ll begin showing signs yourself within the next two or three hours if not sooner. So, I’ve already asked Gordon to go tell our dads and I’ll be coming with Scott to pick you both up.”

“B-But if you’re around us, w-won’t that spread the v-virus?” Fermat asked.

“Probably, but it’s better if we’re all dealing with it at home though. Can you pack a bag for both you and Alan? Your laptops, books, anything you’d need for home correspondence. Scott and I are going to be heading your way in just a few short minutes.” Virgil relayed just before asking Fermat if Alan was doing any better since the last time he and Fermat had spoken.

“N-not in the l-least little bit.” Fermat replied as he heard Alan begin dry heaving, the bathroom echoing his misery. The more he had to listen to Alan, the queasiness he felt only increased. Fermat let out a slow breath. “Just l-listening to him getting sick is making my stomach t-turn.”

“I’d hurry and pack those bags if I were you, this could be virus symptoms setting in for you. I know you and I know you don’t get queasy easily.” Virgil advised. “It’s probably going to be four hours before Scott and I can get there, so hurry and do your best to stay healthy.”

“Okay.” Fermat said as he and Virgil disconnected the call and Fermat went to first Alan’s armoire then his own to get their travel satchels. He flew around the room packing everything he could think of into each bag until there was nothing left to pack let alone enough room to stuff one more iota in either bag. Fermat moved both bags by the door and soon Alan rejoined him in their room. The older boy was as pale as a ghost, his floofy blonde hair sticking up in an array of crazy directions more than likely from Alan raking his fingers through his hair and he was holding his midsection with both arms as he went to lay on his bed. Fermat could see the tile impressions on Alan’s knees when his basketball shorts shifted with Alan pulling his knees to his chest. He pulled his blankets up over his shoulders and gave a shudder. As Fermat watched Alan, he felt his own stomach give a roll. Problem was, he didn’t know how much was because of sympathy on Alan’s part and how much was truly virus symptoms manifesting. Not seeing much point to staying awake, Fermat went back to his bed and laid down also.

He managed to fall back asleep and only woke up when he felt something was off. Sitting back up, Fermat looked across at Alan’s bed to check on his roommate to find the older boy curled up in his bed. Wondering why he woke back up, Fermat soon got his answer when he felt his stomach roll and lurch. Hurriedly climbing from his bed, Fermat flew into the bathroom where he also began surrendering everything his stomach held.

The young genius squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed resolutely as he tried not to be sick anymore. Fermat took off his glasses and set them on the bathroom counter as he knelt on the floor so he was closer to the toilet bowl. As he knelt, panting on the bathroom floor, he heard a shuffling sound from the sleeping quarters and knew Alan had woken up.

“You’re sick now too?” Alan asked miserably from the doorway of the bathroom as he looked in at Fermat who in his haste to get to the toilet before he threw up, forgot to close the bathroom door.

“Y-yeah. Don’t look, or you’ll j-just get sick again.” Fermat warned as he tried to angle his body to block Alan’s view as he felt his body preparing for the inevitable.

“I don’t think there is anything left, short of stomach acid.” Alan replied, his statement making Fermat double over the toilet bowl as he too got sick again.

“I h-hate you so much sometimes.” Fermat said after he came up for air when his nausea subsided a little.

“What are we gonna do? We can’t go to class like this and tomorrow’s our test prep.” Alan stated which once again took Fermat by surprise despite feeling sick. Alan must be the more sick of the two of them, he was worried about test prep when ordinarily Alan couldn’t give most of his classes the time of day. That’s not to say that Alan wasn’t smart, he was very bright. He just didn’t apply himself in class and always barely managed an A- in all his classes because he almost always passed his tests with a 97-99% accuracy. Most of the time, his homework results carried the lowest scores but then again homework just didn’t interest Alan.

“S-Spoke to Virgil. He a-and Scott are coming to pick u-us up. Headmaster is c-closing school because a lot of other s-students are sick like us.”

“Oh, okay.” Alan said as he slowly turned from the room when Fermat lurched over the toilet again. “I’m going to go lay back down.”

“Try t-to drink that ginger-ale. Maybe I-it’ll settle your s-stomach.” Fermat advised after the latest bout ended. He stood and rinsed his mouth in the sink as he took in his reflection. He was about as pale as Alan. He was caught off-guard however when Alan walked into the bathroom carrying a Dixie cup with some of the ginger-ale to share with Fermat and a soup cracker packet. “T-thanks, but I got those f-for you.”

“Thanks, but I figured we could both use these since neither of us are really in any condition to be leaving the dorm.” Alan said as he slowly glided back into their room leaving Fermat to flush his mess and return back to bed where they both slowly nursed their cups of ginger-ale and nibbled on their salted crackers. Enough time passed and soon they both fell back to sleep and were reawakened by Scott and Virgil who used the general override door code given to guardians of the students to enter the boy’s room.

Upon entry to the dorm, the two older Tracy brothers noted that a lined trash can lay directly next to both Alan and Fermat’s respective beds and they knew from previously seeing the layout of the room that those didn’t ordinarily belong where they were currently placed.

“Hey kiddo,  neither of you look like you feel very good.” Scott said softly as he crouched to Alan’s level as the pale teen slowly sat up from where he’d been laying.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I feel great. Like a fresh pile of crap.” Alan remarked with a slight roll of his eyes which he instantly regretted when the action of rolling his eyes made him dizzy thereby making his stomach give a lurch. Virgil thought fast and he grabbed Alan’s waste basket and shoved it into Alan’s arms who in turn buried his head into its opening to bring up what little he managed to consume in the time since he and Fermat were last awake which in retrospect was maybe the last half-hour. Virgil sat on the bed by his youngest brother and rubbed his back as he gagged and choked up his meager stomach contents, his knuckles turning white from the tight grip he had on the can in his arms. Scott walked over and gently jostled Fermat, waking him and taking note that the young genius put a hand to his stomach and bit back a groan.

“Come on, let’s get you two back home.” Scott said as he shouldered both satchels and guided Fermat from the room. “Don’t worry about getting dressed.”

The walk down the stairs was bad, as there was nowhere to go if the boys suddenly felt the urge to toss their cookies. The two older brothers expertly guided the two younger boys down the stairs and outside expeditiously so neither would make a mess.

The walk across the quad was absolute torture for both boys. They’d both had to stop on several occasions to be sick and wasn’t that just humiliating? Scott and Virgil both shared a look over the heads of the two sick teens as they waited for them both to straighten. Alan took ill first, stumbling off the walk path into the grass before he doubled over and brought up bile. Fermat tried to keep control, but Scott had to stop on the tips of his toes when Fermat just ralphed where they’d been walking. He narrowly missed having his shoes decorated.

Once they made it to the jet at the school’s private air field, Scott promised he’d be right back. He still needed to go sign the two younger boys out and he asked Virgil if he needed help getting the boys situated. The medic shook his head and he coaxed the two sick teens into the jet. He’d brought towels to lay out on the floor and seats in the event of an accident and he wasted no time in grabbing airsickness bags and handing them to both boys as they stood next to one another. Both pale, sick and miserable as could be. When Scott returned to the jet he went to the bank of seats where Virgil was sitting directly between both Alan and Fermat. He’d put towels on the floor around their feet and on the seats where they were sitting. While Scott flew the jet, Virgil saw to their needs.

“It’s okay guys, it sucks being sick but imagine how much better you’ll be feeling soon.” Virgil sat between both boys, one hand on each of their backs as they both surrendered what was left in their stomachs to the sick bags they held.

“This sucks…” Fermat groaned before retching silently into his own bag.

“Kill me now.” Alan moaned moments after he threw up only to throw up again barely a minute after. Ordinarily he didn’t ever get sick whilst flying, but this time his sensitive stomach took advantage of the flip-flops that Alan’s stomach typically did during take off.

“You don’t mean that Alan.” Virgil murmured before he took the used bags from both boys only to tie them off and put them in the disposal bin in the jet. He retrieved two more bags, handing them to the boys before helping them lay back in their seats. “We’ll be home soon and then we can get you boys down to the infirmary.”

“If you don’t kill me I’ll save you all the trouble.” Alan groaned as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. “Please just kill me now.”

“Shut up Alan…God.” Fermat moaned before he pulled a pillow over top of his head. Virgil looked between both boys before he glanced up to see Scott peeking through the cabin door. Both brothers shrugged to the other before they returned their attention back to their designated tasks.

“Okay, ETA is four and a half hours until we get home. You kiddos get some rest for the time being, try to sleep.” Scott suggested from the front cabin before he gestured for Virgil to come up and talk to him. When Virgil crouched in the doorway, they carried out a silently whispered conversation. “So, what do you think?”

“What do I think about what? The boys being so sick?” Virgil asked before he glanced over his shoulder when one of the boys groaned painfully. “I think it might be a 24 hour bug at worst 48 hours, though I have to wonder who they came into contact with to catch such a nasty bug.”

“Yeah, think the scanner might be able to detect anything when we get home?” Scott inquired softly, referencing the scanner that Brains built that is claimed to have the ability to scan the human body and pinpoint present maladies.

“I don’t know…if nothing else there isn’t much that can be done for them except to get it out of their systems. It’s better out than in to be honest and I can deal with puke for a couple days, what I can’t deal with is gravely ill little brothers because they refuse to let their bodies expel the virus from their systems.” Virgil said, referring to Alan earlier, fighting the urge to purge. He kept muttering he wasn’t going to throw up anymore and it took Virgil talking about food to finally make Alan hurl after which he felt a modicum better. Though by default, Virgil talking about food to make Alan hurl also made Fermat do the same since they were in proximity to the other.

“Well, I know dad and Brains were busy when Gordon told them the boys were sick…so let’s hope they’ll be able to help us with them once they’re home and resting.” Scott said as he placed the jet on auto pilot and turned his pilot’s chair to look back at the boys. Alan had moved across the aisle to lay in the opposite row of seats, both boys laying with pillows over and beneath their heads. “Want to stay back there with puke boy one and two or do you want to stay up here with me to chat?”

Virgil quickly glanced back to note that both boys seemed to be resting finally. He watched them for a moment before turning to face Scott. “I think I’ll stay up here as long as I’m not needed. They could use the sleep.”

“Good plan.” Scott murmured as he sat with the door to the cockpit open. Virgil remained crouched in the doorway, content to stay in that position. Both Scott and Virgil had their ears trained to listen if either boy needed them or anything. They both kept glancing back intermittently at the boys, particularly when they’d hear a catch of breath.

“I just want to get them home and bundled away into bed.” Virgil whispered as he watched the two boys sleep fitfully. Alan had since curled into a ball, bringing his knees to his chest and clutching his arms around his midsection. His face was ashen and carried a greenish tint to it. Fermat on the other hand had bruising beneath his eyes and his face was a sallow color. Neither boy looked well nor did it comfort Virgil, it just reaffirmed how badly the younger boys needed to be back home.

“You aren’t the only one who wants to get them back to the island dude.” Scott said before he turned back to the controls. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, well in the meantime I’m going to go get a few more barf bags ready for the boys. Judging on how often Alan keeps holding his breath, I’m guessing he’s going to be blowing chunks again here soon.” Virgil said with a sigh before he stood to go get ready for round two. He was a big brother, he knew his little brother’s habits and Alan was a marathon puker. He’d spew and rest for a bit then go for round two, three and sometimes four or more. It depended on what was ailing him and since it was likely viral in nature, Virgil anticipated there to be lots of puke during this flight.

“Virge…I don’t feel so good.” Alan groaned as he came awake with a start. Virgil who had just grabbed a fresh bag went to sit by Alan. When the teen sat up, he let his head hang down while sucking in deep breaths. “Virge…”

“I know…take a few deep breaths, you’re alright.” Virgil murmured as he helped Alan lean forward while depositing a fresh bag in Alan’s hands. “There’s a baggy all ready for you if you need to let er’ rip.”

Alan groaned as he swallowed two to four times in rapid succession. He started puffing breaths out and panting as he tried to resist his body’s natural need to purge the believed virus from his body.

“Don’t fight it Alan, if you need to puke just…”Virgil was saying until Alan leaned forward and did just as Virgil started to suggest. “There you go kiddo.”

“This…sucks…” Alan groaned between heaves. When he was finally able to relax, he felt like he’d just brought up his whole stomach.

“I know, but look on the bright side. You should be over this more than likely in a day or two.” Virgil said as he took the used bag from Alan and tied it off. Standing up, Virgil deposited it in the trash receptacle before reclaiming his seat by Alan. He encouraged Alan to lay back and try again to rest. It wouldn’t do either boy any good to stay awake in between bouts of sickness. He took a seat next to Alan and let his youngest brother curl up into his arms, falling asleep with Virgil there to offer support. Virgil looked up towards the cockpit and saw the troubled look adorning Scott’s face.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In no time at all it seemed, the jet they were in was on approach to the island. They were given clearance to land by Gordon. It would appear that their dad and Brains were still busy, though that wasn’t a big deal. The older brothers could handle the two sick boys.

Gordon met Scott and Virgil in the silo after giving the okay for their landing and he watched on as the two pale teens exited the jet. He took one of the satchels from Scott and walked beside his oldest brother, whispering about the two sick teenagers in their midst. The group drew up short when they heard a retch and they all with the exception of one turned to see Alan bent over at the waist with his hands on his knees as he brought up minute stomach contents over the storm drain grating in the floor. Virgil turned to go help Alan before he fell over from the force his body was exerting with every retch, while Gordon who preferred staying on the sidelines when it came to anything related to stomach contents turned back around; intent on getting far away from his little brother while he was barfing. He passed Fermat who was shuffling ahead.

Scott stayed where he’d stopped, watching from a distance as he saw Virgil talking to their youngest brother after he’d managed to stop throwing up and saw Alan nod his head before he stood up straighter and turned back around, keeping pace with Virgil who guided him to the house with a hand on his back.

When they all walked in the front door, Virgil immediately redirected both ill teenage boys straight to the infirmary. Neither boy gave much argument as they both felt horrible and just wanted to be over this bug. Scott took the satchels to each boy’s respective rooms meanwhile Gordon disappeared from the immediate area as he didn’t do well when his brothers got sick. Give him blood, or gore and he had an iron stomach. Make him deal with vomit from one little brother and a second boy that was like a brother and he was quick to forfeit. He just didn’t do vomit. That wasn’t his thing. He was more than happy to let their older brothers handle that kind of content.

When Virgil got Alan and Fermat into the infirmary, his first order of business was to get them situated in a bed so they could be comfortable. If it was just one of the boys that was sick, he might have allowed them to stay in their bedrooms. But with both boys being under the weather, Virgil figured it was better to play it safe and keep them both in the infirmary so they’d be kept isolated from the rest of the household.

Virgil went to the sink and washed his hands, and went to retrieve some exam gloves, his stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. He needed to take the boy’s vitals and document their symptoms though he was sure it was just a run of the mill stomach virus.

He started with Alan, and used his foot to drag over a rolling chair to perch on so he could do his exam on his brother. Sitting, Virgil donned his stethoscope and took a listen of Alan’s heart and took his pulse before writing it all down. He watched his brother’s face for any sign that he was about to be sick again and then he wrapped Alan’s arm in the blood pressure cuff and started compressing the bulb. After he let the air out of the cuff, he wrote down Alan’s blood pressure and then went to dig through his supply cupboard when he saw Alan’s face pale a little more and he knew without a doubt that Alan was going to be sick again.

He produced a pink basin and handed it up to Alan who reached for it with wide eyes. Looks like Virgil’s intuition was right because Alan started dry heaving, barely producing anything. Virgil sat on the bed by Alan and ran his gloved fingers through Alan’s hair in an effort to soothe his brother who just couldn’t seem to stop trying to turn his stomach inside out. After the spell ended, Virgil took the basin and dumped what little contents out in the toilet and rinsed the basin before returning it within Alan’s reach.

He next went to check Fermat who had surprisingly fallen asleep almost from the moment his head touched the pillow. He hated to wake the boy but he needed to get an idea of the youngest boy’s vitals before he allowed them both to rest. Fermat glared at Virgil when he woke him and he sat up to allow the medic to take his vitals. His color was a little better than it had been on the jet and Virgil wanted to have hope that Fermat was on the mend. Perhaps Fermat hadn’t yet caught what Alan had and was showing sympathy symptoms. Virgil however doubted it. It would be too good to be true to have to only deal with one truly sick boy. Only time would tell and Virgil was ready to tough it out with both boys.

“Virgil, my stomach hurts.” Alan groaned from his bed and Virgil stood to go see to Alan after Fermat fell back asleep.

“Do you think you want to be sick again or just like it’s cramping?” Virgil asked as he sat beside his brother. The boy was doubled over, arms wrapped around his torso.

“Like someone keeps running a knife into my stomach over and over.”

Alan groaned before one hand flew to his mouth as his empty stomach made many attempts at turning itself inside out. Virgil felt like he was at a loss. He wanted to encourage Alan to eat something small or try to drink something. If nothing else than to give his brother something to bring up so he wasn’t abusing his body with dry heaves. Those were always the worst.

Standing, Virgil went to his cupboard and looked through the medicine he had at his disposal and he didn’t have anything other than low dose meclizine. It was an anti-nausea medication, but wasn’t especially powerful. He knew what he’d need if either boy didn’t start feeling better, but he wasn’t a doctor. He’d need a prescription of a stronger antiemetic which he didn’t have. He could probably reach out to the distributor he got the medical supplies for IR and see if they had an off brand that would work better than dissolving tablets. He feared that as soon as the bitter flavor of the meclizine reached the taste buds of either boy that they’d get sick instantly without giving it time to work.

Figuring he’d take his chances, he went to his phone and called out to a doctor friend that provided their whole family annual physicals as opposed to the distribution company. Needless to say that this friend had been a blessing. He’d agreed that with Alan in particular being as sick as he was that he might need a dose of stronger medicine to combat the debilitating effects of the supposed virus. Based on Virgil’s description of the symptoms their family practitioner agreed that it had likely been a particularly virulent strain that had reached many parts of the eastern seaboard. A lot of people had been hospitalized because of dehydration and paralyzing nausea. A lot of the sufferers that the family doctor had been treating had been teenagers or children in particular.

He offered to provide a prescription of the medicine and asked if Virgil had a supply of intravenous drip bags. This medicine was best given intravenously and didn’t stand the risk of being brought back up orally as it was administered straight to the blood stream. Virgil stood with his handset and went to check what he had on hand in the infirmary. He had enough, it was rarely used and Virgil had just had a shipment come in about two weeks ago. The doctor had also suggested suppositories but Virgil was quick to negate that. He loved his baby brother, really he did. But he drew the line at administering that kind of medication.

It was even better when this family doctor agreed to send the medicine via air currier and it should be there in a matter of hours. Virgil wasted no time in getting things set up.

While he was doing so, Fermat came awake and he looked around. He sat up and Virgil spotted him.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Virgil asked as he looked at the younger boy.

“I d-don’t feel as sick as I did earlier. Now I’m j-just tired.” Fermat said which made Virgil feel a little better. He hoped Fermat would feel better with some more rest. “H-how’s Alan doing?”

Virgil shook his head. “Unfortunately he’s still pretty sick.”

Both the older brother and the young genius looked at Alan as he restlessly slept. His face was horribly pale and his forehead reflected the light in the room due to the perspiration building up.

“I-is he going to be alright?” Fermat asked as he watched Alan draw his knees up.

“I don’t know…but I hope so.” Virgil said before he encouraged Fermat to lay back down. Both boys needed sleep if they were going to kick this bug.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was later that evening that a plane was spotted on radar, Scott went down to the airstrip and retrieved the package dropped off by the courier. He saw a small box, addressed to Virgil from their family doctor and the older brother decided he’d take it to the infirmary.

When he arrived, he saw Fermat sound asleep and heard retching immediately upon entry. He looked to his left then his right but didn’t immediately see either of his brothers. Seeing the bathroom door pulled partially closed, Scott ventured over and peeked in.

Alan was kneeling in front of the commode, his head hanging down and Virgil was crouched down beside Alan, murmuring to the younger boy and rubbing his back. A couple more retches before a breathless Alan whispered “I can’t.”

Virgil stood up and got a bottle of water that he’d set overhead on the sink counter and handed it to Alan who took a couple small sips. His heavy breathing echoed in the room and soon Alan set the bottle of water aside and leaned forward. Virgil started rubbing Alan’s back and then Alan gave another retch, successfully bringing up what he’d just drank.

“There you go bud, I know you don’t like to but you need to keep pushing fluids or crackers just so you can throw up if you need to. Its the only way you’re going to get over this.” Virgil said pausing when his youngest brother leaned forward to spit. Virgil picked up the bottle of water and encouraged Alan to rinse his mouth. When that was done, Virgil reached up to flush the toilet and he then helped Alan up. The youngest brother looked like he’d had better days. He allowed Virgil to guide him from the bathroom and back to bed.

Scott frowned when he watched Alan curl up with his arms wrapped around his stomach. He wished he could take this for Alan, but he couldn’t. All he or anyone could do at this point was just be there and try to keep them comfortable. Scott walked over and crouched beside the bed Alan was in and gave a small sad smile when Alan opened tired eyes to gaze back at him. Scott reached up and gently pushed a lock of hair out of Alan’s eyes.

“Feeling any better yet kiddo?” Scott asked in a whisper. He frowned when Alan shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry bud. Why don’t you try to get some rest. Hopefully you’ll feel better after getting some sleep.”

Scott stayed by Alan’s side until he fell asleep at which point Scott stood to go talk to Virgil who was sitting at his desk in the corner of the room. The medic kept looking at a device that was sitting on his desk and when Scott stopped in front of said desk his gaze was drawn to the same device that Virgil was looking at.

“What is that?” Scott asked in a whisper.

Virgil looked at his older brother and then picked up the device.

“It’s the medical diagnostic scanning device Brains made. Brains offered to let me use the device to see how well it worked. I’ve been debating on using it.” Virgil explained.

“So, why don’t you want to use it? Wouldn’t it be nice to know what kind of bug Alan is sick with?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, but I’m sure it’s just a run of the mill stomach virus.” Virgil said.

“To be fair though Virgil, Fermat seems to be on the upward slide. How come Alan isn’t getting any better? He’s been sick longer than Fermat.”

“You know how finicky Alan’s immune system has always been though. If he’s not sick with a cold or ear infection, then it’s a stomach virus. The kid is almost always under the weather. That’s why I’m not too worried.”

“But what if this time is different Virgil?” Scott asked as he turned to look back at their youngest brother. Even at a distance, Scott could tell Alan wasn’t feeling well. The kid’s face was incredibly pale.

“Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to know what’s up with the kid.” Virgil said as he toyed with the diagnostic device before standing and breezing over to Alan’s bedside. Virgil turned on the device and aimed it at Alan. Pressing the button on the side, a beam of green light shone out and scanned over Alan from head to toe before a loading icon came up on the screen. After a couple seconds, it read Cryptosporidium. Virgil at first didn’t know what to make of it but a quick web search on his phone told him what he needed to know.

“So, what are we dealing with here?” Scott asked as he didn’t get the opportunity to read what the diagnostic scanner said before the screen went back to blank.

“Alan somehow drank contaminated water. The scanner indicates that Alan has cryptosporidium. Which after reading up on it shows nausea and vomiting as one of the primary symptoms along with a few other symptoms often associated with gastric distress.”

“Really. What do you think it says if we scan Fermat?” Scott asked as he watched the younger boy roll over and settle back into sleep.

“I’d imagine the same thing…but lets give it a try.” Virgil said before he walked across the room and scanned the youngest island resident. After a few moments it was determined that the young genius had just a touch of food poisoning since he wasn’t as sick as Alan.

Not believing what he was reading, Virgil went over to his phone and called Brains down in his lab. After speaking with their resident scientist, Virgil felt a little more bothered.

“Okay, so after talking to Brains, he’s absolutely certain this scanner is 100% accurate. So, if that’s the case then after reading up on the cryptosporidium, I think it would be a safe bet to hook Al up to a saline drip just to be safe. This could take a week or two to go away and if that’s the case and Alan’s going to be sick through the most of it, it would probably be better to err on the side of caution.”

Virgil rambled on as he went to his med cabinet and pulled out his supplies before he went about getting Alan prepped for IV placement. He worried that if Alan followed the symptoms listing or just kept on continually throwing up, he’d be getting dehydrated and that wouldn’t help him recover at all. Virgil washed his hands and put on a new pair of gloves before he went to sit on Alan’s bedside. Virgil had complete focus as he placed the IV in the back of Alan’s hand. Once the saline drip was started; Virgil went back to his desk to continue his report. Scott stood by, torn between quizzing Virgil on this new condition Alan had developed and staying by Alan’s side even though he was asleep. Though a thought occurred to him and he walked over to Virgil’s desk.

“How would Alan have drank contaminated water, he was at a school with sufficient plumbing. They’ve never had a problem before.” Scott inquired and watching Virgil’s face for an answer.

“Your guess is as good as mine. What I can’t understand though is how Alan and Fermat both have two completely different illnesses. Fermat has a common malady meanwhile Alan has a parasitic infection.”

“Whoa, hold on. Time out.” Scott held up his hands in a T pose before getting Virgil to stop talking. “Parasitic infection? Didn’t you tell me that the dean was closing the school early because multiple other students were ill?”

“Yeah, but the nurse suggested that all the boys had a stomach virus.”

“What if he didn’t know that there was contaminated water and misdiagnosed the boys? I mean, he’s a nurse…not a doctor.”

“I suppose anything is possible.” Virgil said before he gave it more thought. He was trying to figure out how Alan or any of the other sick boys might have come into contact with contaminated water when the school had a state-of-the-art water filtration system. “I should probably call the school and tell them that we took Alan to a doctor and he was found to have cryptosporidium so they can check their water lines. Maybe there’s a break in the system somewhere and contaminants are getting into the water after the filtration system. It’s the only thing I can think of.”

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Virgil heaved a great big sigh after he got off the phone. It took him a little longer than he expected because the school officials insisted there was nothing wrong with their water. Virgil may have gotten into a heated argument, albeit trying to keep the volume down so as not to disturb the two sleeping occupants in the infirmary. He had to threaten a lawsuit if Alan became anymore sick before the school realized that Virgil was being dead serious and to not take this lightly. Virgil could be intimidating when he wanted to be and when it concerned his family there were no hold’s barred.

A sleepy snuffle sounded from across the room and Virgil perked up to see who was waking. He got his answer when he saw Alan curl into a tight little ball on his bed. Standing swiftly, Virgil went to go check on Alan. The kid was slow to open his eyes and he frowned when he spotted the IV in the back of his hand. His gaze tracked over to Virgil who sat on the side of the bed. The older brother reached out a hand and felt his brother’s forehead for a fever and then trailed his hand down to Alan’s neck in order to check Alan’s pulse.

“Hey, how are you feeling kiddo? Still a little puny?”

“Puny? I feel like crap.” Alan muttered after he thought about how he wanted to answer.

“Think you can stomach any food or drink?”

Alan gave a shake of his head as his face paled at the thought of consuming anything. He was still feeling incredibly sick. Just the thought of trying to eat made his stomach roll.

“Are you okay Alan?” Virgil asked when he watched his brother put a hand to his belly and grimace.

Alan didn’t speak, he remained silent apart from breathing through his nose. But after a moment Alan opened his eyes and gagged. Virgil grabbed the basin on the side of Alan’s bed and handed it to him. All Alan could do was gag over the basin. After a few agonizing moments, Alan’s gagging subsided but in place of that came a bad headache. Alan laid down and curled up with the slightest of whimpers when his head gave a particularly painful throb.

“Alan, let me at least get you a gelatin or a piece of toast. Maybe that’s all your body needs at the moment.” Virgil tried again to convince Alan to eat even a bite of food, but Alan wasn’t having any of it.

“I can’t Virgil…” Alan started before his stomach lurched and Alan was quick to cover his mouth, anticipating this to have a bad outcome. “Please don’t…”

Alan gagged again and when he felt like he was actually going to truly be sick, he tried to get it into the basin Virgil gave him but being sick didn’t exactly give him lightning fast reflexes and as a result; Alan accidentally threw up down his shirt. Virgil winced when he saw the color of Alan’s emesis and figured now was a better time than any to administer the anti nausea medication.

“Don’t mention food.” Alan said as he grimaced when he looked down at his shirt. Alan chanced a look up at Virgil, mortification written loudly on his face. “Aw, great.”

“It’s alright Alan, I’ll go get you a different shirt. Accidents happen.” Virgil reassured though it did nothing to make Alan feel less embarrassed. “Let’s get that shirt off you now.”

Virgil helped Alan pull the soiled shirt off and he walked it over to the sink to rinse. No need to leave it for Onaha to deal with. She didn’t deserve that. Stepping from the infirmary, Virgil went down to his bedroom just down the hall and grabbed one of his sleep shirts to loan to Alan. He didn’t see a point in going all the way upstairs to get his younger brother a shirt when his own fit okay. They were a little oversized but it wasn’t that big a deal to Virgil. They all shared clothes when push came to shove.

When Virgil returned, he was surprised to see Fermat awake. The younger boy had gotten out of bed and went to sit at the foot of Alan’s bed.

“A-are you feeling any better Alan?” Fermat asked as he looked at the IV placed in the back of Alan’s hand.

Alan shook his head slightly and Virgil went on to explain.

“Alan’s probably not going to be feeling very good for a little while. That’s why I put him on a saline drip, to ward off dehydration and it makes it easier to administer anti-nausea medication.”

“What’s wrong with me? I can’t remember ever feeling this bad before.” Alan inquired as he allowed Virgil to help him with the borrowed shirt. Virgil had to thread the saline bag through one of the sleeves so Alan could wear the shirt comfortably.

“You’ve got a parasitic infection, Sprout.” Virgil said, watching both boys eyes bug out.

“A what?” Alan asked as his face paled. Virgil didn’t know if it was the shock of finding out what he was sick with or the possibility of becoming sick soon. But he nudged the basin closer to Alan should he need it.

“A parasitic infection, I used the scanner Brains built and it indicated that you picked up some parasites from a contaminated water source. Can you recall any time in particular where you drank water from anywhere but a bottle?”

Alan paused as he tried to remember where he was at the last time he’d had any water besides his room. Fermat’s eyes widened as he recalled something. He didn’t wait to say anything but just blurted it out.

“The gym…usually w-we all drink bottled water and A-Alan got thirsty in class after r-running suicide drills. E-Everyone was.” Fermat explained.

“So how come you aren’t sick?” Virgil asked as he looked at Fermat carefully before realizing that Fermat seemed almost 100% in good health.

“I d-didn’t drink any of the water. I h-had a bottle that I b-bought during lunchtime.” Fermat said as he looked at Alan. “R-remember, you s-said the water tasted f-funny.”

“It tasted funny? How did it taste? Can you describe it?” Virgil asked as he watched Alan as he gave a wary look back. Figuring that Alan just needed to think about it he returned his attention to Fermat. “You had a touch of food poisoning, the scanner indicated that much. What did you eat to make you sick?”

“I had a chicken s-salad sandwich. B-But it was mystery m-meat day and I thought I w-was playing it safe.”

As soon as Fermat said chicken salad Alan’s face paled and when he heard mystery meat he covered his mouth with an ‘urmph’. Fermat mouthed ‘sorry’ to Alan as the older boy scrambled forward to try to reach the basin. Unfortunately he caught the edge of the basin and it clattered to the floor and skittered away. Not seeing any other receptacle nearby, Virgil muttered a “damn it” under his breath as he made the split second decision to take one for the team and he asked Fermat to go get the basin as he cupped his hands in front of Alan’s mouth, lowering his voice so only Alan could hear.

“It’s okay, go ahead if you have to.” Alan gave his brother an apologetic look before his stomach decided for him and Alan was forced to throw up in Virgil’s upturned hands. Virgil grimaced and looked away to offer Alan the illusion of privacy as he continued throwing up miserably. Alan had raised a hand to grasp Virgil’s arm, more than likely to not only keep Virgil there but to ground himself because this was absolute torture. The door to the infirmary opened with a ‘woosh’ sound right about then and in walked their father and Scott to a humdinger of an event.

“Oh, god.” Scott muttered under his breath as he watched Fermat bend down to grab the basin and hurry back over to the brothers and when Alan managed to gain control over his fitful stomach, Virgil felt it was safe then to step away. Alan coughed and covered his mouth.

“I’m sorry Virgil.” Alan coughed again when the urge struck.

Jeff walked over to his youngest son and rubbed his back as Alan hung his head. His face was much too pale and Jeff did what he could to help, even if it was just being there for emotional support.

“Don’t worry about it Al, it’s fine. Can’t help it if you’re sick. Scott, can you please turn on the tap?” Virgil asked as he held his hands together but away from his body and went to the sink to dispose of Alan’s latest emesis. Before he washed his hands, Virgil pointed in Scott’s direction and growled lowly. “Not. A Word. About This. To Anyone.”

“Can you just wash your hands?” Scott asked as seeing Alan’s sick made him wrinkle his nose. He thought it was absolutely disgusting what his younger brother had just done for their youngest brother but he knew desperate times called for desperate measures.

Virgil shook his head with dark muttering as he took extra soap from the automatic dispenser and set about washing his hands.

“Why did you do that Virge? That has got to be the most revolting thing I’ve had the misfortune of ever seeing anyone do.” Scott asked as he watched Virgil shut off the tap with his elbow before he set about drying his hands.

“And you think that was enjoyable for me? I’ve never had to do that before and I hope I never have to do it again for a long time, but it was either that or have to change Alan’s shirt again and he hasn’t even been in that new one for twenty minutes. I did what I had to do. Either that or clean it up off the floor which I can guarantee would be an even bigger mess.” Virgil wasn’t exactly happy about it but what was done was done, even if it was humiliating for both Alan and Virgil. The two older brothers walked back over to the bed and watched as Jeff pandered to Alan

“Are you boys feeling any better?” Jeff asked. He frowned when Alan slowly shook his head meanwhile Fermat wobbled one hand up and down to indicate his stomach was so so.

“Fermat’s got a touch of food poisoning and Alan’s got a parasitic infection.” Virgil said as he walked over to stand in front of his dad and youngest brother’s infirmary bed. He put his hands in his pockets as he explained. “I called the school and spoke with the dean and principal, told them what our findings were and they tried to deny that Alan got ahold of bad water. I threatened to get our lawyer involved and they both backpedaled and swore they would get a crew out there to check the water lines. Now all we can do is wait it out. Unfortunately I anticipate Alan won’t be feeling on his A-game for several more days. I was going to see about getting him some antibiotics to kill the parasites but I may have to take him to our family doctor to get him tested.”

“Can we not travel anymore, the flight was awful because of my stomach being upset.” Alan asked as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. Most of his gathered family looked at their youngest family member in pity, knowing that if Alan didn’t want to travel then he definitely didn’t feel good. The boy loved to fly every chance he got and always had a blast doing anything involved with speed.

“It’s gonna be my last resort, but even if you don’t feel like it, I want you to at least try to eat or drink something. A cracker here and there or some ginger ale. I want you to try because otherwise I’m going to be forced to take you to the hospital.”

Alan dropped his head back against the pillow and rolled his head to look at his middle brother. “Can I at least wait a few more hours, I know anything I try to eat or drink won’t stay down right now and I’ve been throwing up since midnight. My stomach and ribs hurt.”

“That’s all I’m asking for kiddo, just try when you think you’re able. I know throwing up isn’t pleasant by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s better that than needing your ribs taped or a trip to the ER because you tore a vein in your throat from straining to bring up nothing.”

“That can happen?” Scott asked, shocked that something like that is possible.

“Yes, but I’ll spare you all the details unless we want a repeat of Alan’s getting sick.” Virgil remarked before he stepped forward to feel Alan’s forehead. “You’ve got a bit of a temp, but I want you to try to get more sleep. The more rest you get the better you should begin to feel. Same goes for you Fermat, back to bed with you.”

The young genius slipped off the edge of Alan’s infirmary bed and trudged back to his across the room. Jeff tucked Alan’s blankets around him and ran his fingers through Alan’s hair as he encouraged his youngest to get some rest. He leaned forward and kissed Alan’s clammy forehead.  Alan humored his dad and closed his eyes, hoping the continuous nauseous feeling would go away.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A few hours later, Virgil figured it’d be safe to go check on not only Alan but Fermat. He’d left the infirmary when both boys fell asleep to keep the room quiet. When he re-entered the room he first looked to his left and went to Fermat. The younger boy was sound asleep, his color looked much better and Virgil was pleased to see that he’d managed to eat his apple sauce and drink almost all his water. Barring future complications, Fermat would probably be okay to go back to his bedroom at bedtime or at the latest, the following morning. After feeling sure that Fermat was recovering adequately, Virgil went over to check on Alan. The youngest brother still was really pale and he lay on his side with his knees drawn up to his chest, one arm wrapped around his stomach and one hand extended as if to grab the basin which was sitting thankfully unused recently on the bed right next to Alan.

Virgil frowned when he saw that neither the crackers, Gatorade, or apple sauce had been touched at all. As if on a timer, Alan woke up and inhaled deeply with a groan. Virgil sat on his bed and waited for the younger to become more alert. When Alan was able to keep his eyes open longer than a couple seconds, he looked at the basin and pulled it closer. He stared at the basin and groaned before pushing it away. Looks like the youngest was unsure exactly what his stomach was up to.

“Still not feeling great, huh?” Virgil asked as he reached out to feel Alan’s forehead. He still seemed to have a low grade fever, but his skin was clammy.

“Can someone please just kill me? This is the worst pain I think I’ve ever felt.” Alan muttered as he gulped.

“No can do kiddo, unfortunately you’re just gonna have to ride it out.” Virgil replied, wishing he had a magical cure-all to make Alan’s infection go away. “Want to try a sip of Gatorade or some crackers?”

Alan shook his head, knowing his stomach still would revolt if he tried to consume anything.

“Can you try one cracker? I promise if it doesn’t stay down I won’t keep pestering you, but you’ve got to try at some point.” Virgil asked again to which Alan gave him the puppy pout. “Nope, not falling for it kiddo. I want you to try at least a bite. If you can’t manage that, I will leave you alone.”

“Fine.” Alan said with a sulking tone of voice. He was truly miserable and he hoped if he did get sick again that would get the point across to Virgil that he couldn’t stomach much of nothing.

Virgil grabbed the tube of crackers and opened them, handing one cracker to Alan and nabbing one for himself. Scooting back, Virgil crisscrossed his legs and faced Alan who couldn’t even fathom sitting up. The pale boy looked at the cracker and gulped before taking the world’s smallest bite and gagging on the salty flavor. Alan covered his mouth as he made himself eat the cracker and once he’d swallowed, he looked around the room hoping he’d be able to keep the cracker where it belonged.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Virgil asked as he eyed the half eaten cracker in his brothers hand.

Alan fixed a heated glare at his brother before groaning again. He set the cracker down and wrapped both arms around his midsection with a hiss.

“What’s the matter?” Virgil asked as he moved to slide off the bed.

“I’ve got to go to the bathroom.” Alan groaned as he doubled over. Virgil could hear his youngest brother’s stomach grumbling and he unhooked the empty bag of saline from Alan’s IV in the back of his hand. Alan scrambled from his bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Virgil heard Alan lock the door and he visibly deflated.

Of course Alan couldn’t have just the nausea and vomiting, he had to go through the whole gamut. Figuring he’d do a bit more research, Virgil crossed the room to sit at his desk and brought up his tablet. Typing the cause of Alan’s illness in the web search he got a more scientific response. Cryptosporidiosis. Virgil sat reading everything for the next twenty minutes and soon he heard the flush of the toilet and looked up to see his kid brother exit the bathroom with a hand on his stomach, looking as pale as could be. He stood and met his brother as he reached his bed.

“Are you okay?” Virgil questioned to which Alan shook his head with the look of abject misery. Virgil ran his fingers through Alan’s hair and pulled his ailing little brother into a hug. “I wish hugs could make it better for you kiddo.”

“I wish they would too.” Alan mumbled as he crawled back into bed, holding his arm out for Virgil to hook up his IV again. The older brother got a new bag of saline and connected it to Alan’s port and retrieving two syringes. He pulled the caps off and put them in Alan’s port and once that was done he recapped the syringes and dropped them into a sharps container. Taking a seat, Virgil leveled a look at Alan.

“The medicines I gave you are for the nausea and other gastric distress. They should calm your stomach, so I want you to try to eat and drink while things are settled.” Virgil said to which Alan finally nodded his understanding. “You might begin feeling better.”

Alan laid down, and stared around the room as he waited for the medicine to begin working.

“Will you be okay if I go have a bite of dinner?”

“Go ahead. Not like I’ve got much to say.”Alan replied with a humorless chuckle.

“Okay, well call me on my watch if you get in dire straits, but otherwise I’ll be back down after I finish dinner.” Virgil said before he did a last minute check to make sure Alan had everything he needed for the time being.

“I’m probably just going to sleep a little.” Alan said as he tucked his arm beneath his head in an attempt to get comfortable.

“Well, if you can manage to try to eat just a few bites of some crackers. Those may help to settle your stomach.” Virgil said before he took his leave from the infirmary.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Virgil sat down at the table and smiled up at Onaha as she handed him his plate before passing him the bowls of food so he could serve himself. Once everyone had their helpings, they all settled in to eat. After a few minutes of silence, Gordon paused mid bite to talk to Virgil.

“How are Fermat and Alan doing? Any better than earlier?” The prankster wanted to know primarily if it was safe to visit the two younger boys. He didn’t particularly care for dealing with stomach contents, but he still would like to visit with the boys.

“Fermat’s doing better, he managed to eat all of his applesauce and drink his bottle of water and keep it down. Alan is another story, though I’ll spare you all the gritty details.” Virgil said as he took a bite of his mashed potatoes. “I finally had to give him some of that medicine that was sent via air currier to try and make Alan at least somewhat comfortable.”

“Do you plan on spending the night in your room Virgil?” Jeff asked to which the middle son shook his head.

“No, I’m going to hang out tonight in the infirmary so I can be there if Alan and Fermat get more sick. I anticipate that Fermat will probably be able to go back to his room tonight, but Alan’s going to stay in the infirmary until he’s over the worst of this. Might be overkill on my part, but with Alan needing intravenous solution and being unable to eat or even so much as hear talk of food, I think it’s better than sending him back to his room and then have no choice but to make him move again. Thankfully he isn’t contagious as long as nobody shares eating utensils or water bottles with him.”

“Is it possible that is where he got sick from? Maybe he let someone share a water bottle with him?” Scott asked to which Virgil shook his head a second time.

“No, I think he took ill after drinking from the water fountain. Alan apparently thought the water in the gym tasted funny, but he got sick before he could tell me how it tasted.”

Virgil asked to be excused and he stood with his empty plate to go rinse in the kitchen. When he exited the kitchen he was stopped by Onaha who had a small plate with mixed berry cobbler. Virgil smiled at their matronly house keeper and went on his way back to the infirmary.

When Virgil arrived he noticed Alan wasn’t curled up like he had been previously and it looked like Alan had attempted to eat some more crackers and drink some water. Virgil went to sit at his desk and he unwrapped the slice of cobbler and dug in despite feeling full. Just as he set his fork down, Alan came awake, only it was a repeat of earlier. Alan woke up and grabbed the basin Virgil had given him before staring into its shallow depth. Almost debating whether or not he needed to use it.

Alan looked around and his eyes met on the IV bag. Virgil could see a tic in Alan’s jaw as he debated which he needed more, the bathroom or the basin. Once more the basin won the popularity contest.

Virgil walked over and paused when Alan held up his hand. “Please don’t come any closer, I can smell what you ate.”

Virgil groaned as he watched Alan bring everything he had just eaten back up. Virgil didn’t know what to do for Alan short of taking him to the hospital, he hoped with this being just day one that Alan would begin to feel better as he got rid of the sick.

“You can smell what I ate?” Virgil asked shocked at his brother’s heightened sense of smell. Of course when you had an upset stomach, smells of food could typically throw you into a nauseous state of being. “If I go brush my teeth, do you think you can stomach the smell of cinnamon?”

“Cinnamon has got to smell better than what’s on your breath currently.” Alan groaned before he named the smell that was making his tenuous stomach revolt. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat garlic or onions ever again.”

Virgil covered his nose and mouth and breathed into his hand and took a sniff, he could barely detect the smell of those things Alan named off. But he shrugged and went to go to his bedroom down the hall to brush his teeth so Alan could tolerate being around him.

As he was in his bathroom brushing his teeth, his watch started ringing, indicating he had a video call coming in from John. He answered his watch, but kept on brushing his teeth.

“What in the world are you doing?” John asked his younger brother as he saw Virgil brushing his teeth.

 “What does it look like I’m doing?” Virgil asked around his toothbrush.

“Like you’re brushing your teeth entirely too early.” John said as Virgil spit his toothpaste out and got some water to rinse. “What gives?”

“Alan won’t let me come near him until I brush my teeth .” Virgil said after spitting his rinse water out.

“And you’re taking orders from our kid brother because…?” John asked and then it occurred to Virgil that John didn’t know.

“He’s sick as a dog with a parasitic infection and can smell what I last ate like it’s amplified by 1000.” Virgil explained. “Vomiting more than he can take in as well as some other unpleasant symptoms. Poor kid keeps asking me for a mercy killing.”

“Oh, wow. Poor guy, did you need me to come down to give you a hand? I can see about Brains swapping me out.”

“No, Fermat’s home sick as well. Only he’s got food poisoning, so I’m sure Brains wants to be here for him.” Virgil said as he held his arm up to talk to his other older brother.

“Wow, a double whammy. It’s been a long time since both boys had to be sent home together because of illness.” John said to which Virgil nodded. “I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”

“It’s alright. I mean I’d rather help the boys through this than leave them at school to ride it out. At least here I can monitor their health.” Virgil said as he walked out of his bathroom and into his bedroom. He stopped by his desk and grabbed some stuff that he could use to keep himself busy while he waited to fall asleep. He picked up a book and his sketch pad before he picked through his dresser to grab some sleep clothes and an extra shirt in case Alan or Fermat had an accident, soiling their shirts. He and John continued talking and when Virgil returned to the infirmary, Virgil walked over to Alan so John could see their little brother as he slept fitfully.

“Poor kid.” John said, feeling bad for his little brother and his friend. Being sick was no fun, but in Alan’s case this was the worst it could possibly be.

“Yeah, so I told dad I was going to sleep in the infirmary so I’d be close if they needed me.” Virgil said as he grabbed the basin once more and went to the bathroom to empty the contents, sighing when John groaned in disgust. “Sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s fine, not the first time nor will it be the last. Well I’ll let you go then so you can keep on watching them. Call me if you want to chat.” John said to which the medic nodded. John signed off the call and not a moment too soon, Fermat woke up and he slowly sat up, scratching his head and stomach with a great big yawn. Virgil went over to the younger boy and grinned when he noticed Fermat looked like he felt much better. The youngest island resident had regained his color and his eyes seemed less dull and more bright.

“How are you feeling Fermat?” Virgil asked as he crouched next to Fermat’s infirmary cot. The young genius sat for a moment, giving it some thought before he spoke.

“H-Hungry.” Virgil couldn’t stop the chuckle from escaping when he heard Fermat. It was a really good sign that Fermat was on the road to recovery.

“Okay, let’s you and I head down to the kitchen to see if we can’t rustle you up some grub. I’d bring it to you, but Alan’s sense of smell is incredibly sensitive right now and I don’t think the smell of food will make him feel very good.

“Okay.” Fermat said as he crawled out from under his blanket. The medic and the young island genius left the infirmary. When they made it to the kitchen, Virgil was surprised to find that his dad was in the kitchen making soup.

“Dad?” Virgil asked, surprised that his dad was cooking. He rarely cooked, usually burning everything he made because he was always reading emails.

“Oh, hi Virgil.” Jeff asked as he glanced over his shoulder before spotting Fermat. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

“B-better, but I’m h-hungry.” Fermat said to which made Jeff give a chuckle.

“Well then, I guess you’re in luck. I made some soup that my mom always used to make anytime I was under the weather, usually perked me right up.” Jeff said before he grabbed a bowl and spoon, dishing some of the soup up and handing it to the young boy.

“Thanks M-Mr. Tracy.” Fermat said appreciatively as he went to the table and sat to eat his soup.

Jeff paused in stirring the soup some more as he glanced back at his middle son. “Do you think Alan might want some or is his stomach still pretty upset?”

“I would not recommend taking food into the infirmary right now. Alan is absolutely miserable and the smell of food just makes it worse.” Virgil said with a sigh. “I’m going to go ahead and head back, be there if Alan needs me. Fermat should be okay to go back to his room though.”

“Okay, I’ll make sure he gets there.” Jeff said softly as he turned off the burner on the stove and started cleaning up where he’d been chopping vegetables.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Needless to say that neither Alan nor Virgil got much in the way of sleep that first night. Alan was up and down all night, nauseous and in pain. By 6am the following morning, Virgil was nearly at his wits end. Ordinarily he didn’t mind caring for his brothers, but this parasitic infection was the pits. Alan was either too nauseous to move, content to stay in bed and cradle his basin or waking Virgil to remove the intravenous line because he had to go to the bathroom right that second. Virgil had his arms folded on the desktop and his head pillowed on top as he cat napped. Alan was quiet for the moment and Virgil was going to take advantage of the quiet time to get a short snooze in.

He woke up when he heard a ‘woosh’ sound. He lifted his head to see his oldest brother with a mug of coffee.

“I wouldn’t be bringing that in here if I were you.” Virgil intoned as he looked up at his oldest brother. “The smell will only get to Alan.”

“He’s sick anyway, I highly doubt the smell of coffee could make Alan feel any worse than he already does.” Scott replied to which Virgil grudgingly agreed. At this point the kid was so sick that the only time he got a break was in slumber. Scott sat in the seat across from Virgil and looked carefully at him. “Did you get any sleep at all last night?”

Virgil yawned with a shake of his head. He looked at his oldest brother tiredly. His eyes felt gritty, like someone had just thrown a handful of sand in his face. “Not much, I was up and down with Alan all night.”

“Why don’t you go get a nap then? I can watch him for a little bit.” Scott offered, which Virgil declined.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine. I’ll just sleep when he sleeps.” Virgil said as he took a drink of the coffee Scott brought him. “Thanks for this.”

“Don’t mention it, I just wish there was more I could do.” Scott said as he crossed one ankle overtop his knee. “I feel so bad, not just for Alan but you too.”

“Don’t feel bad for me, I’m holding my own.” Virgil said as he took another drink of his coffee.

“How long do you think Alan will be sick for?” Scott asked as he looked over at his kid brother, pale faced and sound asleep. He was curled up on his side, one hand outstretched towards the basin, which seemed to be Alan’s modus operandi for this sickness.

“The information I read up on suggested that it can take 1-2 weeks for the infection to clear up. I’m hoping Alan can withstand a few more days of this before he begins to feel better.” Virgil said before he went to the sink and wet a hand-cloth, going over and went to put it on Alan’s forehead. Alan wasn’t running a high fever, but any fever could wreak havoc especially when it came to Alan.

“Oh, looks like we’ll need to keep some bland foods on hand that Alan will be able to stomach.” Scott said. He walked over to Alan’s side and he took in the bruising under Alan’s eyes from the effort of vomiting.

“Yeah, Alan has been resisting eating anything. I managed to get him to eat a couple crackers, but they didn’t stay down very long. Not enough to offer him nutrients anyway.” Virgil said as he felt another yawn coming on. “ I anticipate Alan is going to be losing some weight whether he has much to lose or not.”

“After you finish that cup of coffee, why don’t you lay down and try to sleep. I can sit in here and run interference if Alan wakes up while you’re dead to the world.” Scott said as he watched his younger brother drain his mug of coffee in one go. The medic gave his head a shake but his fatigue won out.

“Okay, you win.” Virgil said softly as he stood up, stretching his hands up overtop his head with a great big yawn. “Wake me if Alan needs me.”

Virgil walked over to the infirmary cot that he used the night previous and he crawled under the thin top sheet. The moment his head touched the pillow, Virgil was out for the count. The oldest Tracy son took his cellphone from his pocket and took to reading for the next hour. He pocketed his phone when he watched Alan shoot up from a sound sleep and look around frantically.

“What’s the matter Al?” Scott asked as he went to go see how he could help his brother. He walked over just in time to see Alan grab the basin

“Gonna be sick.” The youngest groaned as he gagged behind his hand. Several more gags proved to be fruitful and Scott went to put his hand on Alan’s shoulder to offer support.  “Oh god.”

The teenage boy’s head sagged as he finished his latest bout and Scott grabbed the damp cloth that had been folded on Alan’s forehead and used the corner to wipe the edge of his kid brother’s mouth.  “It’s going to be all okay kiddo, you just got to get it all out of your system.” Scott said in hopes that he sounded reassuring.

“Why do I have to have the worst luck out of all of us?” Alan asked as he pushed the used basin away. Scott’s nose wrinkled as he knew it wouldn’t be very fair to make Alan endure having to lay next to his sick. He looked around for some gloves and was taken by surprise that Virgil had walked over and took the basin without donning gloves. He looked pretty tired, that much Scott had to admit.

“Because bad luck is better than no luck at all.” Virgil said before he went to the bathroom, He left the door open as he emptied the basin into the toilet and he rinsed it before he went to put it back by Alan’s side. He brought a couple tissues from the counter by the sink, handing them to Alan. “Humor me and blow your nose.”

“Uh, Virgil…you realize you hadn’t used any gloves.” Scott said with a grimace.

“Yeah, I’m not too concerned. Alan’s not contagious and he did puke in my hands yesterday, so theres that.” Virgil remarked as he went to the sink to wash his hands. He vaguely heard Alan blowing his nose in the background.

“Please don’t say puke.” Alan asked as he put a hand to his stomach. Scott and Virgil both sat on the younger’s infirmary cot, Virgil looking at his brother’s pale features.

“I know you just got sick, but do you think you can manage a couple sips of sports drink? I don’t want you getting too dehydrated.” Virgil tilted his head in question. Alan looked like he wanted to refuse but he reluctantly accepted it giving the excuse that it’d probably make his mouth taste less disgusting.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Almost two weeks to the day; Alan was finally able to leave the infirmary, but was sworn to say something to any of his brothers or dad if he still felt bad. Alan was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching a movie with Gordon. His older brother entered the room with a bag of popcorn. Alan had told Gordon he probably wouldn’t eat any, but he didn’t mind if Gordon brought it near, not at all like these last two weeks where Alan felt sick at even the hint of food being in his presence. They were both watching their selected comedy movie when Alan’s smile fell. He swallowed and clamped his mouth shut, willing the sudden sick feeling to go away. When that failed, Alan stood up and covered his mouth as he walked towards the hall.

“Al, where you going? It’s just getting good!” Gordon called after the younger, but he didn’t get a response from his brother as the latter hastened his pace from the room.

He saw his father coming up the hall carrying his coffee mug and as much as he wanted to stop and talk to him, Alan knew that would be a very big mistake. He didn’t feel like throwing up down the front of his dad’s outfit. Alan walked to the ground level bathroom and tried the door knob, which was locked. Alan gave the knob a jiggle, desperation making him frantic. Next he hit the door with an open palm several times, in hopes that whoever was inside would understand that the person outside the door needed to get inside immediately. Jeff seemed to sense there was a problem and he walked over and put a hand on Alan’s shoulder, redirecting him around the corner and into the kitchen. Onaha thankfully wasn’t in there, neither was Kyrano and Tin-Tin. Alan had one hand over his mouth trying to prevent anyone from being collateral damage if they had the misfortune of stepping into his path and the other arm around his stomach.

“Come on, let’s get you to the sink.” Jeff said as he pushed Alan ahead of himself and reached out to turn on the tap when Alan gave a particularly violent retch, bent double over the sink. Jeff rubbed Alan’s back as he brought up his breakfast from that morning. He’d managed to eat some crackers, juice and apple sauce. Jeff stayed right next to Alan as he struggled to contain his sick. When Alan was able to, he came back up with a cough. “Stomach still a little iffy son?

“Yeah, I don’t know what happened. Gordo and I were watching a movie and the next thing I know, I’m about to throw up.” Alan stood next to his father, hands on his stomach. Jeff cleaned up the sink as he waited for Alan to decide what he was going to do. A moment later Hiram came around the corner and he paused when he took a look at Alan.

“W-Was that you t- trying to open t-the bathroom d-door?” Hiram inquired to which Alan nodded. “S-sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Alan groaned. He raised both hands and used the heels of his hands to wipe at his eyes which had begun watering from him clamping his eyes shut as he was retching. “I’ll be so happy when I can go at least a day without reintroductions with my food.”

“You think you’re okay for the moment son?” Jeff asked as he checked his son over. He put the back of his hand on Alan’s forehead, feeling for a return of the fever that had been plaguing him during his recovery.

“Yeah, the nauseating feeling has gone away.” Alan said.

Alan walked out of the room after his dad gave him a bottle of sports drink to equal out his electrolytes. Jeff suggested that as a possibility for why Alan took ill again so suddenly.

The youngest Tracy went back into the living room and sank onto the couch with Gordon. The older brother looked over at Alan. He’d paused the movie just after Alan exited the room as he guessed Alan wasn’t well.

“You feeling alright?” Gordon had finished the popcorn in the time it took Alan to hustle out of the room when his stomach revolted.

Alan tipped one hand from side to side, offering an “Eh.”

“Do you think it was the smell of the popcorn that did it?” Gordon asked, guilty about making his brother sick. Alan shook his head though.

“I don’t think so, I think my stomach just does what it wants to do right now.”

“Did you want to continue the movie or did you want to put it off until you’re feeling better?”

“Continue it, I’m fine. I’ll let you know if I’m not.” Alan said as he changed positions and drew one leg up to sit on while the other leg dangled off the couch. The two brothers continued watching the movie and by the end credits, Alan’s eyes were drooping and he was imitating a bobble head figurine. Gordon vowed to Alan that he’d deny ever allowing Alan the opportunity to pillow his head on his lap, but to keep his brother comfortable Gordon urged Alan to lay down. Alan’s eyes fell closed after he lay down and Gordon smiled as he did like their older brothers and played with Alan’s unruly blonde mop of hair.

“What ever am I going to do with you kiddo?” Gordon whispered to Alan as he caught a light doze.

The End