It's Just Flu! {Minizerk}

It's Just Flu!

'I feel like shit.' Simon thought. 'This can't just be flu.' He's had flu before, however this one seemed worse than the last time.

The last time Simon had flu was back in December 2009. It was a pretty mild case of flu he had caught; headaches, fever and muscle pain, but now he had fatigue, chills, aches all over his body and he vomited earlier just to add to his misery.

In present day, Simon is led in bed, sweat collecting on his forehead and under his armpits. He knew he needed to shower but he just couldn't bring his body to move. Another thing he needed was plenty of sleep since he hadn't slept in days. He was tired all the time and getting out of the covers was a chore in itself. Occasionally Josh or Vik would drop by to check up on him. Josh would usually bring a wet flannel to put on his forehead while Vik would sit by his bed for ten minutes feeding him an endless supply of pain killers and medicine. No one had checked up on him today though; Josh was busy recording and Vik was visiting family for the weekend.

He wished his laptop could walk over to him so he didn't have to get out of bed on his sore muscles but unfortunately Simon had to slowly saunter over to the laptop, using the wall as support. Once the laptop was in his hands, Simon trekked back to his comfy bed and sat down. Upon logging in, he searched the web for normal flu symptoms. The blond came across forum posts and news reports on people who had died from flu and as a consequence he suddenly became paranoid. 'I could die. I could die from flu, this is not how I want to go!' Simon's breath hitched as his heart skipped a beat.

Fuelled from pure anxiety, he walked numbly over to Josh's room and barged in without thinking of knocking.

"Go back to bed, Simon. You're not well." Josh looked away from the game he was playing and towards the nervous man. He stood up, slid the headphones from the top of his head to the desk and reached for Simon's shoulders. His legs buckled and Simon fell into the other's arms. "Simon! Shit, Simon, when I say stay in bed, stay in bed, you mong."

"I'm gonna die."

"What? No, you're not Simon. It's just flu." The older man bent down and put his arm around Simon's torso, making a disgruntled sound when he found out he was sweating a lot. Pulling the arm closest to him over his shoulders, he held his wrist and practically dragged the barely conscious man across the hallway to his bedroom. Kicking the door open (and nearly fell in the process) they entered the room and Josh helped Simon get back into bed. The laptop that was balanced on an uneven quilt almost dropped onto the beige carpet. Josh curiously glanced at the screen expecting porn or a half-naked picture of Beyoncè to be plastered across the surface, but instead found an article entitled 'Flu – The Deadliest Virus?' "Simon, don't look at this stuff! Please don't worry yourself."

"It says I'm gonna die."

"How many times, it's just flu!"

"It's bad, Josh. I'm-"

"For the last time, Simon, you're not going to die. You'll be fine in a few days just give it time." Josh closed the web page, shut down the laptop and placed it against a wall. "I'll get you some more water and a cold flannel, do you want anything else?"

Simon thought for a second. "More time to live."

Josh angrily sighed. He pondered whether he should repeat what he keeps saying or turn it into some witty joke but was interrupted.

"And a get well soon kiss."

Josh smiled and walked over to Simon, squatting down beside him. Leaning forward slowly, he planted his lips onto the pale man's chapped ones. After a few seconds though, it was over.

"I don't want your disease, that's why I didn't kiss for longer," Josh stood. "back in a minute."

It was times like this that Simon enjoyed being ill. He liked the fact that Josh appeared to love taking care of him. It wasn't rare that Josh's fatherly instincts would kick in. This caused him to spend more time with the younger man, pamper him with kisses and breakfasts in bed as well as warmth and comfort.

Josh eventually showed up at Simon's bedroom door. In his left hand a glass of water, over his shoulder a damp flannel and in his remaining hand a small navy blue box.

"What's in the box?" Simon asked, grabbing the water and gulping it down.

"I saw this in town the other day and I thought you might like it. Open it whenever you like-"

"I'll do it now." The box was given to Simon's eager hands. Inside the box he found a miniature oval coated in gold, a clean chain cushioned behind it. Once opened, its contents revealed an engraving and a picture. The photo was of Simon and Josh laughing with each other's arms over their shoulders in a side hug. The engraving read: 'For my dear boyfriend, Simon. I love you.'

"I love you so much, Josh. Come here." Simon pulled Josh down to his face more violently than he would have liked, but then kissed Josh's smooth lips whilst caressing his face gently.

"You're welcome. Now get some sleep, you haven't slept in days." Josh said once they pulled away.