How To Take Care Of A Sick Ex-Con Man | White Collar [COMPLETED]

Take Care, step 4

In the previous chapter...

(...)The fed squeezed his shoulder gently then went back to the kitchen, but what he didn't notice was the small smile creeping onto Neal Caffrey's face...

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The rest of the night was pretty stressful for Peter. He had gotten zero hours of sleep because he kept hovering over Neal for the entirety. Even if he tried to sleep, his mind wouldn't give him peace so he decided to just drink some coffee and get sleep another night (when he was alone with his wife again). The whole time, he was checking if Neal's temperature was deducing and making sure he wasn't cold. The boy seemed like a pretty heavy sleeper (it would take some time for him to awake fully), but Peter was glad because of that for it meant that he didn't have to be too quiet with the coffee maker.

The reason to being a heavy sleeper was probably because of tiredness. The agent noticed a couple of times that Neal would often (almost) fall asleep when he was very tired. On the contrary, when the ex-con had something worrying and bothering on his mind, he couldn't sleep, which Peter was also aware of. In conclusion, Neal Caffrey was a mix between a heavy and a light sleeper, it depends from time to time.

While the fed was caring for him, the said man would awake from time to time. He would open his eyes half the way, suddenly, taking an interest in Peter and his actions, but the older man would reply with a "Go back to sleep Neal." and he would only nod slowly before falling back to sleep. It was quite fascinating actually...

When the night reached it's morning hour (one o' clock), the FBI agent had just finished reading a few case files that had been from the previous day, changing the small wet towel that he kept on Neal's forehead at all times (to help with lowering his fever), checking his temperature every hour to see the progress and emptying the last of the coffee. There wasn't much work although it did seem like it. Peter was very much unoccupied most of the time, except for checking on the boy of course so he kept himself busy by doing what he was supposed to be doing the missed evening which was work.

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Morning finally rolled around, or at least the normal time when people would wake up for work and Peter was sleeping on the kitchen chair that he had pulled next to the couch so that he would be closer to Neal for better monitoring. Speaking of the man, Neal Caffrey had just awoken from his slumber. His eyes slowly fluttered open to reveal baby blue orbs that shined almost as brightly as the sun, but brighter.

This particular morning though, his eyes weren't so shiny. They were a bit more dull and still sleepy. Soon, he adjusted to the light and scanned the room to find that he wasn't in his house which slightly confused him. Just then, the memories came crashing back; supposedly he was sick, by Peter's judgement, he had argued, but gave up on it, he had made dinner for both and was asleep for a large period of time though he could clearly remember a few moments, when he had accepted to take the pill and when Peter would tell him to go back to sleep again.

The man himself wasn't fully sure why he had even obeyed the older male, but nonetheless, he shrugged it off for now because he had found that it is much more amusing to watch him sleep in the chair. The agent's head was tilted to the side and the files were still open, sitting in his wing with his glasses on the paper's and an empty cup of, what smelled like coffee, on the table.

Neal readjusted his position, but didn't dear to get up - he wasn't even sure if he could. Suddenly all the sick feelings from yesterday came back and he felt sick (as in wanting to vomit). His head started spinning and aching greatly, he felt his fever crawl back and choke him as he was unable to breathe or think. He closed his eyes tightly trying to concentrate on his breathing and trying to distract himself from the immense pain he had felt. He hadn't even realized that he had started to panic.

As if on cue, Peter awoke from his «nap» and rubbed his eyes glancing at Neal instinctively. "Peter..." the said man managed to choke out in a low whisper. "Neal?!" he jolted worriedly to his side. "What's wrong?!" he asked noticing the ex-con having trouble to breath, taking quick sharp breaths, panicking. "You gotta tell me what's wrong, I can't help you if I don't know!" the fed said hurriedly. "Everything... spinning..." he breathed out shutting his eyes tighter and shaking his head. "Hey calm down, buddy! It's gonna be okay. Just breath slowly..." he said in his most calming and soft tone.

The ex-con man was scared that he might pass out if he did so and shook his head. "Trust me Neal. It will be alright." he took a hold of Neal's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze to reassure him. The blue-eyed male opened his eyes for a moment to meet Peter's as if scanning him to find out the truth. The fed nodded in return, squeezing his hand tighter. Neal closed his eyes again and concentrated on slowing his breathing instead of his racing heart.

Slowly, he managed to calm down as both of them sighed in relief. "I'll get you some water." Peter said letting go of Neal's hand, but felt a tug at his wrist. He turned around and saw the boy gripping onto his hand with a worried expression. "Don't worry. I'll be right back." so he let go and watched the man do as he said he would. The FBI agent helped him sit upwards and he drank the glass of water then set it on the table.

After that, Peter collected the files that he had carelessly dropped on the ground when he had ran to Neal's aid. "New case?" the boy asked watching him. "It's the one from yesterday." Neal knitted his eyebrows together. "Are you reading my report?" "...well it is my duty to..." the young man smiled softly. "No, it's okay. I'm just..." "Bored?" "Curious... but that too..." Peter took the thermometer from the table and motioned for him to open his mouth. He did so, resting his head on one of the pillows that the older man had placed on the couch yesterday.

Meanwhile, the fed had neatly placed the case report on the kitchen counter and went to write some stuff down. He actually did have a list of Neal's symptoms (mentioned in chapter 1) so that if he had to go to the hospital with him or simply ask his wife for advice, he would know what to say (he also liked to keep track of Neal's condition himself). His sickness was in weird intervals. One moment the boy was fine, happy and normal, but the other he was in pain and misery.

Peter didn't really understand that, but he doubted that Neal would let him take him to the hospital. It was a miracle itself that he even let the man himself take care of him so he didn't want to push the boundaries any further. He wouldn't mention the hospital until absolutely necessary. For now, both of them could cope with his current state although the dizziness and headache was sudden. The only reason why Neal couldn't breath was because he went into panic mode which Peter had enough brains for to realize.

He went back to the blue-eyed male and checked the thermometer. "High?" it became a habit for him to ask. He wanted this over, quick. "Better than before..." "You didn't answer my question." "Yes Neal, it's pretty high." "How much?" "Enough for you to keep resting." "Peeeteeerrr." the man groaned (in irritation...). "If you thought that you'd magically get better in half a day than you're mistakin' pal..." Peter deadpanned. "I'm bored..." "I'll ask Diana to bring you some case files later." "Tell her to bring me the good ones." "She'll bring you what's on my desk." "I swear if they're all mortgage fraud..." The fed laughed as Neal smiled in return.

They took a moment to gaze into each other's eyes. "It's gonna take some time Neal" he sat next to him and squeezed his hand gently. "but you'll get better." the boy smiled and squeezed back. "I know." "But you gotta promise to take proper medication." "I will." "And I will have to leave you alone a few times so you better behave." "I will..." "Oh and-" "Peter... I got the message." the older man smiled back. "Good."...

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Author's note: aaaand hello chapter 4 uwu. This one is sweet too. Also idk where I was going with describing what kind of a sleeper Neal is??? Like wtf me😂Anyway, I'll do my best to try and update as much as I can. Vote and comment, if you'd like and don't forget to archive the story so that you get notified about the next chapter! Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more <3