Work Text:
Oliver felt awful. Absolutely awful.
He was currently bundled up in the covers of his bed, feeling simultaneously too hot and too cold and his nose was so clogged he had to breathe through his mouth, which wasn’t helping his sore throat.
He was just feeling miserable. He also hated that he couldn’t go into the hospital like this which meant he couldn’t help his patients like this.
Another sneeze broke him out of his brooding.
Did he mention how awful he felt?
Then some footsteps sounded on the stairs. Josh.
Josh was the one who insisted Oliver was too sick to go to work (which he begrudgingly agreed he was) and had also taken off to take care of him. Last he saw him, he was heading downstairs to make some tea and soup for him.
Josh entered the room carrying a mug of tea and a bowl of soup, placing both of them on the nightstand before reaching over to Oliver and placing his hand over Oliver’s forehead to feel his temperature. It hadn’t gone down much since taking some tylenol earlier. He then brushed some of Oliver’s damp, limp hair out of his face and gave him a soft smile. Oliver tried to smile back but it probably came across as more of a grimace.
“Feel like eating?” Josh asked, helping Oliver when he started to sit up, stacking pillows behind him and making sure the blankets were still around him. Oliver took stock of himself for a moment. He wasn’t currently feeling nauseous so he should be fine.
“I think so,” he replied, not fully sure if he was hungry or not but knowing his body needed the energy. It also smelled really good.
Once he was propped up with pillows, Josh grabbed a small collapsible bed tray they had and set it up over Oliver’s lap to place his bowl of soup and mug on. He smiled and left the room, presumably to grab his own mug of tea and/or bowl of soup.
Lifting a spoonful of soup up to his lips, he blew on the steaming liquid to cool it down enough to eat. He was actually able to taste it, since his nostrils had cleared up just enough. From what he could tell, it tasted delicious and was warming him from the inside out. The steam was also helping clear his nose out even more. The bits of chicken in it and the noodles were perfectly cooked and brought a level of comfort that vaguely reminded him of his mother when he was much, much younger. A level of comfort he’d only felt with Carol and Josh in more recent times.
He’d eaten a few more spoonfuls of soup when Josh came back, indeed carrying his own bowl of soup and mug of tea. He placed both on the nightstand and sat back down on the bed next to Oliver.
“Does it taste alright?” he asked, watching Oliver eat some more of the soup. Oliver smiled at him, hopefully succeeding in it not being a grimace this time.
“It tastes wonderful. You didn’t have to stay home to take care of me, by the way. I know you’re busy at the hospital-”
“I’m going to stop you there,” Josh interrupted. “First of all, we both know you would not have taken care of yourself if left alone here for the day. You’re notoriously bad at it when you’re not sick. Second, there’s nothing more important to me than being here for you and helping you. There was nothing I couldn’t put off or have someone else cover for me. And third, I wanted to stay home and nurse you back to health. I love you and that’s not going to change.”
Oliver felt a blush that had nothing to do with his fever spread across his face. He knew Josh noticed it too because of the smirk that graced his lips after he placed a kiss on his cheek. He ran a hand through Oliver’s hair before grabbing his own bowl of soup and starting to eat. Oliver took the time to take a break to sip at the tea he also had. He knew there was honey in it to help soothe his throat.
Taking a sip confirmed the presence of honey and some lemon. The honey coating his throat started to soothe the ache that had been plaguing him. After taking a couple sips he returned to his soup.
He and Josh did talk a bit while eating, but Oliver was already tired and finishing his soup and tea had sapped away what energy he’d been able to muster. Once he’d finished, Josh collected his bowl and mug and put the bed tray away. He then helped Oliver lay back down after a few blinks took longer than they were supposed to.
Oliver was asleep after barely laying his head on the pillow.
~~~~
Josh watched Oliver fall asleep after eating some soup and drinking some tea. It seemed to help him some, though sleep would ultimately be the most help. He made sure Oliver was covered with his blankets, placed a kiss on his head, and then took the mugs and bowls he’d put on the nightstand and brought them downstairs to clean.
After he’d washed the dishes, he grabbed a new medical journal he’d been meaning to read and brought it upstairs. He gently got into bed next to where Oliver was sleeping and sat, settled against the headboard, and started reading. Oliver tended to sleep better with Josh nearby (by his own admission), so he figured he’d sit with him and get some reading done that he was behind on. He and Oliver needed to take more days off together to just sometimes do nothing or just relax. They didn’t do it nearly often enough and that was sad.
As he read, Oliver turned towards him and ended up with an arm thrown over Josh’s lap and burying his face into Josh’s side. Josh just smiled at the cute scene his sick boyfriend made like that and continued what he was reading, reaching one hand down to comb through Oliver’s hair.
Hopefully he’d be better soon and they could have an actual day off where neither of them had any sort of injury or ailment. Though even if Oliver felt pretty awful, Josh still loved spending time with him and taking care of him.