-Why Don't We Sickfics-

- Zach - Stomach Bug. (ot5)

The boys were finally off tour, given a few weeks off for some much deserved rest before they headed into their studio sessions for the next album they were working on.
They made the decision to stay together at one big house like they used to, pre-debut. It was by choice to leave their families who had moved down to California with them, to live in a band house and occasionally go out on their own. Their tour had been grueling and taken a toll on all of them in one way or another : the first day of the break was just spent resting. Each one of them slept so soundly, one would think they had been deprived of sleep for years!

It was around two in the morning when Jack came downstairs from his room, his stomach growling with hunger. He looked through a rather disappointing pantry, making a mental note that they needed a grocery run badly. He sat down on the couch, turned on some Netflix and waited for the others.
Soon enough, Jonah and Zach sleepily came stumbling downstairs one after another and joined him.
They sat with a rather odd, but not awkward silence, until Jack's stomach set off a nasty roar, which sent the trio into a fit of laughter.
Zach finally spoke up, his entire face red from the laughing,
" Can we please get some food before my stomach starts doing the same ?"
The two elder boys nodded, and Jack started looking through UberEats on his phone, in search of some open restaurant.
" There's only pizza and chinese available at this time, " Jack told them, " I really don't wanna have pizza after this tour. We've eaten it every second day. "
" I agree. Let's just get Chinese for all five of us instead. " Jonah responded, earning an enthusiastic nod from Zach.
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The food had arrived. It smelt absolutely delicious and they could not wait. Having no luck in waking up Corbyn and Daniel, the three sat down to eat together.
Zach was the only one who had ordered seafood, the others had stuck to the classic chicken and vegetable dishes instead. He picked up a deep fried prawn and sniffed it, the scent appealed to him and he devoured them all one by one, not noticing the the raw pink colour and smell they had beneath the thick coating. He thought it was just how they were supposed to be. After a dozen prawns, some fish gravy and rice, Zach was stuffed.
He then left for his room, feeling a little under the weather after eating. He brushed it off as a result of over eating and got ready for bed again, at 3.30 AM, and lay down, scrolling through his social media, till his eyes could not stay open.
He did not know when he slept, but woke up at 8 thanks to his alarm that he forgot to shut off.
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He couldn't go back to sleep but he was still tired : he felt drowsy. He felt nauseous and uncomfortable, his stomach growling and cramping. With each contracting cramp, Zach felt worse.
He tried laying down, clutching his stomach, he tried sleeping on his back, on his sides, but it was fruitless. He knew there was no chance of him sleeping with the constant waves of cramping unless he did something about it. He could've just asked one of the boys, but not wanting to be a bother, he decided to be a little more grown up. He painfully rolled off the bed, got up and limped down the stairs to the larger bathroom where they kept medications and other paraphernalia of the type.
He plugged in the electrical heating pad to charge whilst he found some Nsaids, painkillers and some stomach settlers in the first aid box. He swallowed them dry, not feeling upto traveling all the way to the kitchen to get water. And grabbing the heating pad, he hobbled to the couches and made himself comfortable amongst the fluffly blankets and pillows.
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Early the next morning Jonah came down for his usual cup of coffee and saw Zach curled up into a ball underneath several blankets looking adorable. Smiling to himself, he snapped a picture and went on his way.
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Zach woke up to himself rolling off the couch and landing on the floor with a thud. On impact, he let out a fart causing laughter to erupt from the dining room, where he assumed, the others were.
Then he was hit with the sudden wave of nausea- stronger than the ones before and grasping his mouth tightly shut with his hands, the panicked boy sprinted to the bathroom.
He made it just in time for another huge tidal wave of uneasiness swept him off his feet.
He lurched, bringing up all of yesterday's dinner. Puke gushed out of his mouth. He heaved again, bringing up more of the gross green vomit. The stench caused him to gag, and triggering his reflex again set him off into another cycle of puke. Another ten minutes of his were spent, mustering up the strength to get up. He washed his face which was extremely pale and sweaty, he rinsed his mouth with some minty wash, brushed his teeth and re did his hair. After deeming himself fit enough to be presentable, he walked out of the bathroom as if nothing had happened.
For the time being, his stomach only growled, letting out an occasional sound here and there, but the tempest inside had seemed to settle. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he must have released all the unwanted contents from his body and was all good now.
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He made his way to the dining room and sat down beside Corbyn who was busy texting his girlfriend, Christina.
His internally smacked himself as his stomach made the most inhumane sound yet again, causing him to turn an even brighter shade of red from the embarrassment. Corbyn chuckled and gave him a look. To brush it off, Zach told him it was from hunger and slowly went to the fridge to get some juice.
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He returned to his room, slowly sipping the juice. The cold, fruity liquid trickled down his throat, soothing it and Zach decided to shower. He was still a little pale, and uneasy but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
Just as he was getting changed, they hit again. The cramps- "Oh great ! " he thought to himself internally, but "AARGH" was what he screamed on the outside. As if planned, he heard a knock on the door.
" Don't come in, I'm changing," he yelled in response.
" C'mon Zach, seriously? You're acting if we totally didn't film the Unbelievable lyric video together."   Jack pointed out. "Are you alright tho, why were you screaming ?"
"Just fine, couldn't find my pants" Zach lied right out of his teeth.
"Kay." Jack replied, unsure.
With a click, Zach unlocked the door, fully clothed.
"Aha, Zach, we're heading off to SixFlags for today. Do you wanna come ?" Jack asked.
" No thanks. I'm just gonna stay here and sleep some more. Still pretty tired." he said, faking a yawn to make it seem more believable.
"Ohh. Are you sure ? We can get Chipotle on the way if you want ?" Jack said, sounding slightly disappointed at the younger's disinterest.
" I'll pass. Thanks though. Have a good time guys. " was Zach's only response.
"M'kay. We leave in ten if you change your mind." Jack informed him before he trotted downstairs.
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Zach laid down, scrolling through Instagram, ignoring the sloshing in his stomach that was picking pace rapidly.
"We're leaving" the boys announced and soon departed banging the front door.
The boy with rosy cheeks sat glumly.
He did not want to miss out on the amusement park, but he didn't want to go there while feeling under the weather and ruin it for the other four too !
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Then he left out a sickly burp. He rushed to the ensuite bathroom, tossing his phone on the bed in his haste.
In the bathroom he fell in front of the toilet. A belch left his mouth and a stream of regurgitation followed. He retched and heaved after which streams of bile poured out of his mouth, his body having nothing else to get rid off.
He couldn't even hold himself up and laid his head against the porcelain bowl for a few minutes.
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Just then, his phone began buzzing - an indicator that someone was calling him. Zach did not have the energy to move but did not want to risk the boys finding out any of this. So he gathered himself and stood straight up. His vision blurred and he stumbled two steps back, falling onto the floor due to instability and darkness took over.
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Jack's POV
This was the third time i was calling Zach and he wasn't picking up. It was afternoon and he was tired so I thought he could be napping, but his Instagram still read "active 15m ago" which was slightly surprising. I guess he was just asleep. I wanted to ask him what he wanted from Chipotle since we were going there instead of SixFlags due to the overcrowding there - we decided to head there another day with Zach too.
"He isn't picking up" I told Daniel who was waiting patiently in the driver's seat to order.
" I'll just get his usual order then," he replied and proceeded to order.
                  - end of POV -
T

he boys arrived home calling out loudly for Zach to come join them in this feast.
Getting no response, Jack decided to head upstairs and wake him up before he ruined his sleep routine and  mood.
He walked into the room full of a terrible odour, the bathroom door ajar and Zach laying there in a heap on the bathroom floor.
" Guys get over here, Zach is unconscious ! " he screeched.
The boys galloped upstairs and managed to place the boy back on his bed with ice packs on him to help him wake up.
Jonah also rang up Zach's physician who came by to check on the stupefied boy.
By the time the doctor arrived, Zach had thrown up twice more while unconscious and the boys struggled to lay him on his side to prevent him from choking. He diagnosed Zach with a severe case of the stomach flu, gave him a few shots to help him recover faster and shortly after leaving a prescription, left.
Zach became alert after a few hours. He felt a lot better already, but he did not remember the events prior to this that had caused him to wake up on his bed covered in cooling packs.
He shifted around, and deciding that he felt well enough, padded downstairs, coming face to face with four very concerned bandmates.
They ended up telling him what had happened, and urged him to tell them the entire story - which he couldn't contain any longer. He received the warmest of hugs after spilling the beans which made him realize that thesd four were his brothers, his best friends and he could rely on them to nurse him back to good health in times of need. They assured him that they would always be there when he needed them and from then on, he never hid his illnesses, or at least tried not to !
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The end.
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Author's Note :
This brings us to the end of our second oneshot of the book. It did take  me a lot longer to write so i apologize for that. But thank you for the wonderful request Allison__2
I hope you like it !
Word count : 1950 words
Dated : 3/23/2020.
Stay safe & happy y'all. Loads of love
~H