5SOS Sickfics

Calum's Cold (ft. Mali)

Hehe, cheesy alliterative title. I couldn't help myself, I'm sorry. This one is for AshtonsOreos because she liked the Luke one. Bye! xx

Mali-Koa's POV:

I arrived home from work that Saturday, tired from mopping floors. It was around 10 AM, because I was working another night shift at the hospital. My job was to clean the waiting rooms and corridors and assist patients who could walk to their rooms. There was blood on my shirt and sticky vomit in my hair. I assumed Calum would be over at Michael or Luke's, or hanging outside KFC with the guitarists, waiting for Ashton to finish working.

I took a long shower and stuck my soiled scrubs in the washing machine, heading up to bed in some sweats and Calum's Kurt Cobain shirt that I found draped over the banister. Mum was out at work, and Dad has been away on business since Monday. It was just me and my whiny little brother. Great. This is going to be a fantastic day. I better get some sleep before he gets back.

I was turning my phone on silent and plugging it in as I heard a loud cough from the room next to mine. I jumped; I thought I was home alone.

"CALUM?" I yell. I hear a door creak open and someone shuffling down the carpeted landing. My door is pushed open, and I turn to see my little brother standing in the doorway. His puffy red eyes are half closed, his wild hair is all over the place from restless sleeping, his nose is pink and raw, his sweatpants are falling down, leaving his toucan boxers exposed. A loose Iron Maiden shirt that I'm pretty sure actually belongs to Michael is hanging off his skinny shoulders, bare forearms hugging his stomach. He shakes violently. He looks like utter hell.

"Mali... I feel gross..." He groans and starts to lean against the doorframe, but his knees buckle. I lunge forward and catch him in my weary arms. Cal's head lols (not laughing, it is actually a verb) by my shoulder as I pick him up fully, bridal style. He coughs weakly, but I can hear his breath rattle in his chest. Traipsing back to my brother's room, I feel his sweat seeping though his shirt, his body emitting heat faster than a hummingbird's wings.  I laid him carefully on his bed, trying to be careful and not make him any hotter.

"Medicine?" I pat his unruly curls. He nods, eyelids drooping sleepily. I see some Ibuprofen (pain relief) on the cabinet on the other side of the room sat next to a bottle of water; Mum must've left it there this morning.  I pop two tablets through the flimsy foil, Cal sits up a little and accepts the minuscule white oblong shapes, downing them with large gulps of water. He coughs and puts a hand to his inevitably sore head, whining in discomfort.

"You gonna be okay if I go back to my room?" I ask, rubbing circles on his chest soothingly. His previously limp arm grabs my shoulder and a tear falls down his cheek.

"Don't leave... Please, stay..." His voice tails off and he starts sobbing uncontrollably. I roll him a little further into the bed and kick off my slippers, clambering under the covers. We instinctively wrap our arms around each other, rocking back and forth and his tears dampen 'my' shirt. "I w-want M-m-mum!" He screams.

"Shhhh, shhhh... It's okay, you're gonna be okay. Try to stop crying, you'll make your throat sore," I pat his shoulder to try and calm him down but he isn't having any of it. "Baby boy, you gotta calm down. You're not helping yourself."

Calum quietens down a little, and looks up at me with wide eyes.

"B-baby b-boy?" His bottom lip is still trembling, and tears are sliding down his rosy cheeks at an alarming rate.

"Yeah, it's what Mum and I used to call you when you were tiny. We called you that because you were, hell, you still are our baby boy," Calum sniffs and buries his head in my soft chest.

"I love you, Mali."

"I love you too, don't ever forget it."