Work Text:
In the home of the Matthews-Lipschitz family, there were four simple rules.
Rule number one: Under no circumstances are you to smoke any weed in the house. But if you are, then do it secretly so that Paul can live in blissful ignorance.
Rule number two: If you are attempting to cook something in the kitchen, have 911 on speed dial just in case there is a repeat of the Mozzarella Sticks Incident.
Rule number three: If Ted Spankoffski is coming over, nobody is answering the door, nobody is inviting him inside, and nobody is helping him with whatever new scheme he has.
And finally, rule number four: Don’t be someone else’s alarm clock. Especially on the weekend.
However, this particular Sunday morning saw that last rule being broken, when a horrible sputtering was heard throughout the house. Paul immediately woke up, blearily rubbing his eyes as the coughing continued. He turned and glanced at his alarm clock. Nearly 7 AM, so not the worst time to get a rude awakening.
As Paul threw off the blankets and stuffed his feet into his slippers, the coughing had died down. Paul kept an ear out, hearing for anything else concerning. Best case scenario, maybe one of the boys was just drinking water that had gone down the wrong way. Then came the scratching at Paul’s door. That’s when he knew something was up.
Paul opened the door to find the family cat standing in front of the doorway. Paul raised an eyebrow at the ginger tabby.
“Good morning, Calcifer. What-” Paul yawned before continuing. “What’s the problem?”
Before Calcifer could reply, another wave of coughing and sputtering echoed throughout the house. Paul glanced down the hall, and noticed something. One of the boys’ bedroom doors was open. Emerging from Richie’s room was a series of coughs, each one sounding worse than the last. As the realization dawned on him, Paul opened his eyes fully and headed down the hallway towards Richie’s room, Calcifer following after him. He fully pushed open Richie’s door and grimaced at the sight.
“Oh, Richie…” He said, taking it all in.
There, weakly sitting up in his bed, was Richie, face covered in a fresh coat of sweat. He was red, eyes half-lidded, and clearly struggling to keep himself up. A tiny mountain of tissues was beginning to form in front of the bedside table. He was heaving in a few deep breaths, wheezing. He stared up at Paul, who was probably staring at the room like it was a warzone.
“Morning, Paul-” Richie started, before choking out another cough. Calcifer rushed inside the bedroom, stepping around the tissues to climb onto Richie’s desk chair. The cat meowed at Paul, as if saying ‘Well, what are you going to do about this?’.
Paul crossed the threshold and went over to where Richie sat on the bed. He knocked a few tissues aside with his foot, kneeling down next to Richie. He pressed a hand to Richie’s forehead. As suspected, he was burning up.
“How long have you been coughing for?” Paul asked. Richie shrugged, clearing his throat.
“Just started this morning…” Richie said, voice hoarse. “I’m fine, Paul. Probably just my asthma.”
“Hmm, and what about the tissues?” Paul questioned, opening the bedside drawer to get out the inhaler.
“…Allergies.” Richie weakly suggested. Paul tiredly sighed and uncapped the inhaler, shaking the device just to prime it.
“Alright then.” He then got out the spacer and attached the inhaler to it. He handed it over to Richie. “Remember, four puffs, four breaths in between.”
Richie nodded and began the process. His breaths became slightly less wheezy with each puff. Paul watched him, checking for anything else of immediate concern. It looked like it was just a simple fever that was also triggering his asthma. However, Paul will have to keep an eye on Richie just to keep it from becoming anything worse.
“So, do you want me to text work and let them know you’re not coming in today?” Paul asked. Richie’s eyes widened and he pulled away the spacer.
“What? No, no, I need to go to work today.” Richie said, beginning to push himself back up. He immediately regretted that decision as the sudden movement made him groan and close his eyes. “I can’t miss today…” He murmured something underneath his breath that Paul couldn’t hear. He leaned closer, still keeping his distance so that Richie wouldn’t cough on him.
“What was that, Richie?” He gently asked.
“I said I need to go in so Ruth and I could watch that new horror movie…the name of which I would remember if I wasn’t extremely congested.” Richie confessed.
Ah, right. Richie frequently bragged about the benefits of working at the Cineplex, the main one being getting free access to new movies. While Paul didn’t approve of Richie slacking off at work, there were worse things the kid could be doing. Unfortunately, it seems that today will have to be skipped. Paul stood up.
“Sorry, Richie. I think you’ll have to see it another day. Right now, you just rest.” Paul said. Richie groaned, but was quick to flop back down onto bed. Paul gently pulled the blankets over him.
“I’ll text work and get some medicine from the kitchen. Do you need anything else?” Paul whispered. Richie reached over towards Calcifer, who was still sitting on the desk chair. Paul picked up the cat and placed him at the end of Richie’s bed. Calcifer curled up into a little ball and began to purr, causing Richie to sink deeper into the bed.
Paul headed back to his room just to get changed into more simple clothes. While it was a little early to be getting changed, Paul wanted to wash his clothes after they had been exposed to Richie’s room. It seemed a bit germaphobic, but he wasn’t going to risk an outbreak. After changing, he quickly went to Trevor and Daniel’s bedrooms. Trevor was still fast asleep, his sleep mask still resting over his eyes. Daniel, meanwhile, was just waking up when Paul opened the door.
“Mmm, good morning, Paul.” Daniel said.
“Morning, Daniel. Richie’s got a fever, so I just wanted to see if you were feeling alright..” Paul said. Daniel pushed himself out of bed and stretched.
“I’m fine, don’t worry! Do you need me to do anything?” Daniel asked, concerned. Paul smiled and ruffled his hair.
“Just clean your room and have some breakfast, okay?”
Daniel nodded. “Okay.”
As Paul headed downstairs towards the kitchen, his phone started buzzing. Looking at the caller ID, he was surprised to see that it was Ruth. He answered.
“Uhm, hello, Ruth. Is something wrong?” He asked. He could hear Ruth huffing and puffing on the other end, like she was in the middle of running.
“Is Richie okay?! He-He hasn’t been answering my-” She paused and took a quick breathing break before resuming. “Hasn’t been answering my texts!”
“Oh, he’s fine, Ruth. He just woke up with a fever today, so he’s skipping work. I do think he’s taking visitors, though.” Paul said.
“Perfect! I’m nearly at your house now!” Ruth replied then hung up, before Paul could ask Ruth why her next course of action to Richie not responding was running five blocks to his house at 7 in the morning. Nonetheless, he left the front door unlocked for Ruth to barge in easier.
The kitchen was thankfully stocked up with enough cough drops and tissues to help Richie in surviving. However, Paul may have to do the groceries later today just to get ingredients for chicken noodle soup.
The front door burst open, and in walked Ruth, dressed in her black Cineplex work uniform. She looked around the house wildly, before pointing at Paul in the kitchen.
“PAUL MATTHEWS!” Ruth declared.
“Ruth, inside voices, I don’t want the neighbors to wake up.” Paul chided.
“Paul Matthews!” Ruth repeated, voice now a few octaves lower. “Where is my friend?”
Paul pointed upstairs. Ruth gave a nod of thanks, before she bolted up the stairs two at a time. He could hear her yelling out something to Richie. Probably chastising him for thinking he could go to work with a temperature of 100 degrees.
As Paul got to work with gathering up all the medicines and tissues, and finding a plastic bag for Richie to throw all his used tissues into, he decided to make an amendment to the fourth house rule:
Don’t ever be someone else’s alarm clock, especially on weekends. Unless you are sick, and need to be told to not go to work today.