Warmth - A BFDI Puffball Fanfiction

~Sickness~

Sadly, things cannot stay perfect forever.

Her long-forgotten days of illness had returned, and this time, they were really giving her the runaround.

Her stomach ached, her head pounded, and her entire body felt as if it had been spun around in a washing machine.

And poor Fries would have to help her.

~~~

~Content Warning: Vomiting/Illness/Gross Content~

It was flu season again in Goiky, and unfortunately for Fries, that also applied to Puffballs. Her illness started pretty subtly- a stray headache or stomach issue here and there, but nothing much to worry about, right?

Well, within a few days, the true scope of this illness was realized.

Puffball had become extremely lethargic, spending most of her time curled up on the sofa, groaning softly in pain from the twisting sensation radiating from her stomach. She had stopped eating as much, as she desperately tried to keep her stomach contents inside of her body. Fries sat next to her, holding a bowl and rag, ready to clean up anything she may cough up.

And well, that surely didn't take long.

"Shh...I know, I know...it's ok, let it out..." The potato box gently patted the puffling's back, trying to soothe her as she retched violently, coughing up phlegm and bile into the small bowl, her entire frame shaking from the expulsion. Tears and bile stained her fur as she continued to heave, emitting pained squeaks between fits of retching. Fries felt horrible watching her, knowing the pain she was going through, and not being able to do much more than offer words of comfort.

"It...hurts..." Puffball pulled her face up, fat tears rolling down her fur as she shivered, occasionally hiccupping and wincing from the pain in her stomach. She had caught some sort of nasty bug, and it was really doing a number on her.

"I know...I'm sorry you have to go through this-  but I promise you'll feel better soon." Fries gently wiped her fur with the rag, making sure to remove any of the vomit that was still plastered in the soft fluff. The last thing she would need during this is a skin infection from dirty fur. The smell was awful- the stench of rotten fruit and bile, a sickly-sweet burning scent that made Fries' eyes water.

But unfortunately, that wasn't all.

Her body temperature was extremely high, headaches wracked her brain, and possibly worst of all, she was having quite a few accidents. Fries had to wrap her in an old towel just to try and keep everything as clean as possible, as well as having to bathe her every few hours to keep the vomit and other grime from matting into her fur. And even with the extensive cleaning, she was still constantly covered in sweat and mucus, to the point where Fries had to simply focus on removing any rotting matter and not worrying about getting every bit of soilage on her fur.

Keeping her comfortable was more important than keeping her spotless.

She hadn't been eating at all, and despite her high temperature, she continued to shiver violently, especially while she was trying to dry off after a bath. The potato object tried to offer her some bland food- applesauce and boiled chicken, but she simply refused to eat, whining and retching as he pushed the spoon toward her face.

"Can't eat...tummy hurts..." Without warning, Puffball heaved again, vomiting up more bile, which was worryingly pale, with barely any rainbow substance present. She needed to eat soon, or she would just get worse. Fries frowned as he pulled away the spoon, looking down at Puffball as she hacked and coughed, shaking violently and whimpering. The blankets she was laying in were damp, the bile soaking into their fibers and staining the fabric.

Time for another bath.

~~~

Fries sighed and leaned back on the couch, wiping his forehead and exhaling. He had finally gotten Puffball to sleep, partially helped by a high dose of cold medicine and a heated blanket. The poor thing was still refusing to eat, as she kept crying about her stomach pain and retching whenever he offered food, and he was now seriously concerned about her nutrition. The only thing she would take in was water, which seemed to help her cool down a bit, but did lead to him needing to change out her blankets more often.

But that wasn't the main problem for Fries.

The pain had been causing Puffball to become more aggressive, lashing out in fear whenever Fries tried to pick her up, snapping at his hands and hissing, her eyes wide with pain and fear. The overwhelming discomfort had seemingly clouded her judgement, and she distrusted her caretaker, despite his pleas for her to stay calm. The potato box rubbed his arm, feeling the bandages wrapped around a nasty bite she had given him while he tried to place her in the bath.

She was scared. In pain.

Untrusting of anyone.

~~~

"Hey...good morning! Are you feeling better?" Fries reached out to the pink ball of fur, who had just woken from her nap, her eyes clouded over with mucus from her illness. As his hand approached her, Puffball hissed weakly, trying to back away from him, fear overtaking her senses. 

The pain was so intense...she saw Fries as a predator, ready to attack her in a vulnerable state. She could only think of survival.

Using every bit of her strength, the puffling tried to spit at him, making a horrible sound in her throat before ultimately coughing up a small, pale glob of rainbow substance, her mind searing with a deafening pain.

Fries felt horrible, he was only trying to help. And she saw him as an enemy, blinded by the twisting of her stomach and the headaches fogging her thoughts. Luckily, however, he had recently remembered he had something stowed away:

Her old medicine from when he first found her.

It took a bit of effort to not get bitten, but Fries had managed to shove a few of the chalky pills down her throat, following it up with some of the leftover formula he found in the same cabinet. Sure, she was weaned and really shouldn't be on milk replacer anymore, but it was a quick way to get a bit more nutrient in her body.

As he pulled back with bated breath, he watched her cough on the substance, squinting in discomfort as she tried to swallow. But miraculously, she soon felt the searing pain subside. Her thoughts slowly cleared as she looked upward, slowly blinking as she felt the fog dissipate.

"...Better...I feel...better."

She would be ok after all. She was nowhere near out of the woods yet, but after that, he was actually able to get her to eat a bit, and even better, she kept most of it down.

Now for her to rest up and heal.

~~~Author's Notes~~~

when ur friend sick n u use her pain as inspiration >:)

anyway thank you ice for letting me use your illness as a jumping off point (thankfully its nowhere near as bad as what puff's dealing with lol)

but yeah i was looking for ideas then went "oh shit i can make her sick"

so she is now sick

ye

i dunno why i update everything all at once then go silent for weeks it just be that way sometimes

but yeah puff sick rip

-Fire