Angst Bingo 3.20

[telaryn]

Title: TLC
Author: telaryn
Word Count: 614
Fandom: Leverage
Characters: Nate & Eliot
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: No ownership implied, no profit obtained.
Summary: As Eliot tries to recover from a fever, he has an unexpected nurse.
Author's Note: Written for angst_bingo, for the prompt "fever".

It was one of life’s little ironies that Eliot Spencer was eminently practical when it came to dealing with the physical injuries his body incurred on a frighteningly regular basis – and when it came to illness, he typically only realized he was getting sick when it was already too late.

He’d already started feeling woozy during the victory celebration after their latest job, but Nate had checked him for a concussion and pronounced him “fine”. It was only when he was back in his apartment later that night, locks securely in place, that the possibility of a fever occurred to him. Thermometer, he thought muzzily as he stumbled to the couch. The room was starting to spin around him as he collapsed onto the comfortable dark grey cushions.

I’ll just rest a moment, he thought, grabbing one of the patterned throw pillows and hugging it to his chest. Then thermometer, juice and bed.

It was the last coherent thought he would have for another eighteen hours.
**********
When he regained consciousness, he was in his own bed. His clothes from the job had been stripped away, and replaced with a pair of soft cotton shorts from the drawer where he kept the clothes he typically slept in. His curtains were drawn, but bright sunlight showed around the edges.

A soft snore drew his attention; Nate was sleeping in a chair next to the bed. The mastermind looked pale and drawn, his head bowed over his chest. Eliot shifted, and realized that his skin was still hot and uncomfortable, and his joints ached horribly. “Nate.”

The sound was soft and broken; his throat felt like raw hamburger when he tried to swallow. Stubborn to the end, Eliot reached out and tried to tap the older man on the knee. “Nate.”

The mastermind shifted and groaned, his eyes finally opening. “Hey there,” he said, his smile as sleepy as the rest of him. “You feeling any better at all?” He straightened up, pouring out water from a sweating pitcher on the bedside table.

Eliot made a noncommittal sound. “’m not hallucinating you, am I?” he croaked.

Nate measured out a dose of pills, then moved from the chair to the edge of Eliot’s bed. “If you’re going to hallucinate, I’d hope your brain can come up with something better than me.” He helped Eliot sit up – bracing the hitter against his own body. “It’s past time for your pills.” The back of his hand pressed briefly to Eliot’s forehead. “I don’t like it,” he said. Eliot squirmed reflexively against the feel of the other man’s hand, and Nate resumed giving him the dose of medicine.

When Eliot was settled again, Nate grabbed a thermometer from the chaos on the bedside table, and took Eliot’s temperature. “I bought it,” he said, in answer to Eliot’s unspoken question.

After a minute, he pulled the thermometer out and checked it. “Better,” he said, “but if this dose doesn’t start helping, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

Eliot started to laugh, then winced. Nate was unmoved. “Do you even have a regular doctor?”

Eliot’s limbs suddenly felt heavy, and his body was still much too warm. “In my phone,” he whispered. “Cesare.”

Nate sat on the edge of the bed again; his palm smoothed sweat-soaked hair back off Eliot’s forehead. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I should have stopped you – should have said something before you left the bar.”

Eliot tried to protest that it was fine – that he hardly ever got sick anyway – but it felt so good to have someone else worrying about his physical well-being for a change, that he let go with a sigh…drifting off to sleep.

Comments

[jesco0307.livejournal.com]

That's something I would like to see on the show, Eliot getting sick, lol.

Sweet, Nate went out and bought a thermometer and Eliot has a doctor called Cesare? Wonder what he's like :).

[telaryn.livejournal.com]

I figure it's probably not a he. :-) Cesare could also be a last name. *g*

[jesco0307.livejournal.com]

Makes of course much more sense :-), it is Eliot we're talking about after all. *g*

[whiskyinmind.livejournal.com]

Aww! This is adorable!

[telaryn.livejournal.com]

Thanks!