Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 1 Blood on the Window ❯ In Sickness and In Health ( Chapter 18 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I woke slowly, uncomfortably warm, moving away from Heero and wondering if I had a fever-before realizing that I wasn't the one who was hot.

I frowned, pressing my lips against his forehead.

"Good morning," he muttered, stirring and smiling up at me before frowning slightly, "Ow."

"You have a fever." I muttered, pressing my hand against his face before spreading his arms and tossing the blankets off us. Our room was lit only by the half-light of fall pre-dawn. I crossed the room and moved silently into the hall, shutting the bathroom door behind myself and flicking on the light. It only took me a moment to find what I was looking for-fever-reducers.

"Here." I muttered when I moved back into the room-he was huddled in the middle of the bed.

"I'm cold." he informed me, reaching for the blankets.

"The room is probably seventy-five, and your body temperature is more along the lines of a hundred. Take these."

He stopped himself from covering, sitting up and taking the pills from me, meeting my eyes, "My throat hurts. I can't take them dry."

I sighed, moving back into the bathroom and getting him a glass of water.

He'd covered himself by the time I got back.

I giggled slightly, pulling the covers off as he protested, then gave up and took the water from me, swallowing the pills and whining at me.

"Go back to sleep." I ordered, curling up to his side again and covering us, "And next time Alex gets sick, don't share your drinks with her."

"Hmph." he curled against me.

I grinned, wrapping my arms around him-men were such babies when they were sick.

.

I watched as Miguel did a crossword in the newspaper wordlessly. My throat ached and I was cold again. The blanket I was curled up in helped some, but not a whole lot. Relena had made me another glass of steaming tea, informing me that it would help my throat to drink it. I'd drank the first glass she'd made and it hurt. It did help it feel better when I'd finished it, but it was more painful to drink it to begin with. I'd decided not to touch this second glass.

"Tio?" Alex asked, moving around the end of the couch to look at me seriously, "Did Daddy give you syrup?"

I blinked at her, "Huh?"

"Leave him alone, Alexia," Trowa muttered, coming up behind her and shooing her away from me, "Tio's sick."

"Daddy, give him the syrup," Alex muttered, turning to look at Trowa, "It made me better."

"Yeah, but Tio doesn't like syrup, so he won't listen to me when I tell him it'll make him better."

I glared at him.

He chuckled, seeming all too amused, "Come on, precious." they disappeared upstairs.

Miguel was watching me now.

"What?" I demanded, feeling pain in my throat.

He shook his head, tossing me the remote and focusing on the paper again.

I growled at him-growling didn't hurt as much as talking, but he ignored that, too.

"So what do we do if we get a job?" Duo asked appearing from the kitchen and moving to sit next to me on the couch.

"Shut-up."

He ignored that, grabbing the cup of tea and blowing on it, "You need to drink this."

I grunted at him, grabbing the remote and turning on the television.

He shoved the cup in my face.

I gave him a look, pushing his hand away.

"Drink it." he ordered.

"I don't want it."

"Heero."

I gave him a look.

"Now."

"No."

"Do you think I'm not capable of pouring this down your throat?" he asked me levelly.

"I'd like to see you try."

He set the glass on the table, then met my eyes again, "Really?"

"Really." I focused on the screen again.

Before I could react, he had me pinned to the couch, studying my eyes seriously.

"Knock it off!" I shouted, and instantly regretted that.

"Miguel, do me a favor and bring me the glass, please?"

"He doesn't want to drink it." Miguel replied.

"That's beside the point." Duo turned to level him with a look.

"Fine!" I muttered, realizing that I couldn't actually shove Duo off.

"See, now that's much more pleasant." Duo muttered, crawling off me.

I rolled off the couch and darted into the kitchen.

"Heero!"

Relena was blinking at me from bit of the newspaper she'd been reading, "What's going on?"

Duo came up behind me, putting the cup in my face.

"I don't want it." I muttered, swallowing and wincing.

"Oh just drink it." Relena said irritably, giving me a look, "Or you can take some medicine…which will knock you out."

"I don't want medicine." I snapped back at her, ducking away from Duo.

"Duo, can you help me give him some?" Relena asked professionally, rising to her feet.

"Of course."

I glared at them both sullenly.

"Drink the tea or take the syrup." Relena said evenly to me, "Or we will make you take the syrup and drink the tea."

I glared at her, taking the cup from Duo and sipping at it.

"It'd go much faster if you took large drinks."

I growled at them, turning from them as I did that.

"Now go lie down and cover back up." Relena added, "And maybe you should lay in the room."

I glowered at her and stormed back into the living room, glaring at Wufei who'd come downstairs at some point and was blinking up at me from the end of the couch. Before he could say anything to me, I'd lain across the couch and had my head in his lap.

"Hi." he muttered, blinking at me.

"Shut-up."

He chuckled, running his hand through my hair.

.

"Okay, now that's picture worthy," I muttered as I came into the living room to see Wufei sitting on the end of the couch with Heero's head in his lap. Heero was sleeping.

Wufei grinned at me, shaking his head.

"Where's your camera?" I asked Miguel.

He gave me a level look, focusing on the photo-envelope that had been sitting on the table for two days since Wufei had put them there.

There was a light tap at the door, so I moved around the couch to pull it open.

"Hey, you guys want to come with me to La Frawn?" Jesse asked as he moved in, "It's pretty much expected that I go, but I don't want to have to go alone."

"Heero's sick, it probably wouldn't fly." I replied, shutting the door after him as he focused on Heero.

"That's…new." he muttered, looking at all of us in turn.

I shrugged, gesturing for him to follow me.

"Hey, Jesse!" Relena said happily, looking up at us, "You probably shouldn't stay too long or you'll get sick."

"No, I'll be fine." he replied easily, sitting next to her at the table, "I wanted to take the guys to La Frawn tonight, but Duo says Heero's sick and probably wouldn't appreciate it. What do you think?"

She smiled at him then glanced at me a moment, "Duo's right. Heero's the victim right now, and if you all decide to leave him behind, it'll be even more so."

Jesse sighed, thinking, "I don't want to go alone."

Relena considered that, "Well, you could take one of them…and Miguel. I don't think he'll be upset if say…Wufei and Miguel…went with you."

I snorted as I poured the water I'd been boiling into cups.

"What?" Relena asked me.

"Yeah, what?"

I turned to look at Miguel, smirking slightly at him and indicating the water, "Nearly a burn."

"Okay…" Relena muttered, turning back to Jesse as both Jesse and Miguel studied me and I continued making the cocoa. "Anyway, I think you'll have to leave Duo behind no matter what."

Jesse sighed, "I thought so." he shifted back in his seat, "How about tomorrow night?"

"Until Heero's over this, he's gonna be the biggest baby in the world." she replied easily, "Which means that next weekend they'll be free…probably by Monday, but for the next couple of days Duo is pretty much consigned to the house."

Jesse turned to look at me, "You're okay with that?"

I laughed, "I volunteered at a clinic for two years, I think I can handle Heero being a pain in the ass."

"You did?" he seemed curious.

"Yeah, I went back into space with a nun named Lanni after the second war. She needed an assistant and I needed something constructive."

"Do you miss her?" Relena asked quietly.

I shrugged as I carried the glasses back to her, "Not really, not anymore. When I was living alone after two years with her, though…" I set the glasses down in front of them and pointed to the third, meeting Miguel's eyes, "You can have that one."

For a long moment he looked like he'd refuse, instead, he nodded and crossed the room, picking it up before disappearing into the living room again.

"Thanks." Jesse muttered, blowing on his slightly before taking a sip.

"No problem."

"You never talk about her," Relena said finally, thinking, "I have no idea what type of woman she was."

I snorted, "As if Heero would let me."

"I was under the impression that you have no leader." Jesse muttered in amusement.

"We don't," I replied, rolling my eyes, "But Heero gets annoyed with me for being too Christian."

Jesse blinked at me.

"It's not about you being too Christian." Relena muttered, folding her newspaper back up, "It's about you being someone you're not."

I turned to raise an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged at me, sipping her cocoa.

"That's a burn if I ever heard one," Jesse muttered, his eyes sparkling.

Relena kicked him-not hard, of course, but she kicked him.

He looked amazed.

I laughed, refilling the pot with water, "Fei, you want some cocoa?"

"Yes, please…and I'll love you forever if you dose it with Kahlua and Irish Cream."

"Lush." Jesse replied, getting over his shock.

Wufei laughed.

"What was that about Kahlua and Irish Cream?" Trowa asked curiously as he and Alex came back into the kitchen.

"Hi, Jesse!" Alex said happily to him.

"Hey, baby." he replied, winking at her.

Trowa smacked vaguely at him before meeting my eyes.

"Why are you here?" Alex asked, moving across the room to stand next to Jesse, glancing at Relena.

"I want to kidnap your tios." he replied easily.

"Are you gonna put'em up for ransom?"

We all looked at her, then Trowa.

Trowa laughed, blinking at her, "What?"

Alex started giggling, climbing onto Jesse's lap, "I saw a movie where a girl was kidnapped and held for ransom."

Jesse blinked at her.

"But you can't kidnap Heero. He's sick. You'd have to have a bed for him to lay in and make sure Duo would take care of him."

"And what about me?" Relena demanded in feigned defense.

"He said he wanted to kidnap my uncles, Tia, not my aunts."

Relena laughed.

"Can you make her some?" Trowa asked me, pulling out a glass.

"I'll make you some too, if you say you love me." I smirked at him.

"What?" he asked, staring at me in shock.

I started laughing.

"That's my line, come on…" Wufei sounded vaguely petulant.

Trowa started laughing, smacking my arm and getting out a few more glasses, "Maybe you should douse Heero with Kahlua and Irish Cream." he muttered, moving to the liquor cabinet and digging through bottles.

"They're both on top," Wufei informed him, "I don't think they've been opened yet."

"All right." Trowa muttered, pulling out the Kahlua bottle.

"So how have you been?" Jesse asked Alex.

As so often was the case with the six year old, one question of interest into her life opened the floodgates. Throughout it all, I could see that Jesse was at a loss as to what to think about this. Alex had hugged him once before and that had confused him, but her climbing onto his lap seemed to strike him dumb.

He had, however, been hanging around for about five months, and Alex was nothing if not affectionate. She knew that we liked Jesse, so she trusted him.

I was startled when Trowa mixed the Kahlua and Irish cream in all but one of the glasses he'd gotten out, and amused when he only had me fill Alex's cup half way, and topped that off with milk before adding a dab to each of the others.

"Thank you, Tio." Alex said to me at Trowa's prompting, climbing off Jesse's lap to sit at a different chair and start sipping.

"No problem, Angel."

.

Heero was uncomfortably warm by the time he woke up. He lay there a long time, staring at the television, then looked up to me, "You're not a very good pillow." he muttered.

I snorted, shoving him off my lap and standing up, giving him a look and grabbing my empty coffee cup.

He laughed slightly, shifting on the couch, "Can you get me some more ibu?" he asked, and when I looked back to him he looked absolutely pathetic.

I snorted, rinsing out my cup before getting him a glass of cold water and grabbing the bottle of pills off the top of the fridge, tossing those at him when I went back into the living room and waiting for him to take the cup.

"Thanks." he muttered when he passed the bottle back to me, looking around, "Where is everyone?"

"Upstairs." I replied, putting the bottle on top of the fridge again before starting up myself.

"You're gonna leave me here?" he protested.

I turned to blink at him.

He frowned at me.

"It's boring down here with you sleeping, and if I'm not a very good pillow, there's really no reason for me to stay." I stuck my tongue out at him.

He laughed, then swallowed, "Ow…wait up."

By the time I was in my room, he was a step behind me. Duo blinked up at us as I sat on the bed-and when Heero laid next to me again, I had to wonder what was with him.

Duo ran his hand over Heero's forehead with a frown, "You're hot. Wufei, did you give him something?"

"He got me ibu." Heero informed him matter-of-factly, resting his head on my lap again.

"Relena's in your room," Duo reminded him.

"Is she?" Heero didn't seem too interested in this bit of information.

"You're gonna put my leg to sleep." I informed him.

He pouted at me, sitting up some.

I sighed, shifting position so I had one leg on either side of him-and of course, he used my thigh as a pillow, "I thought I wasn't a very good pillow?"

"You're not, but your hands are cool." that was slightly pointed.

I laughed, running a hand through his hair.

"How ya feeling?" Duo asked him after ginning at me.

"I feel like shit." he replied easily, closing his eyes.

Duo gave me an amused look.

I rolled my eyes at him.

.

"Attention whore."

Heero glared at me, "So I'm feeling better, who gives a shit?"

"I can't believe you tried to get Wufei and Duo to stay home from mass." I muttered, stirring the packet of cocoa into my cup. I really preferred Duo to measure out the powder, but it was Sunday.

"Why?" Heero asked blankly, blinking at me. He was wearing a pair of gray sweats and a matching sweatshirt with white socks, and was standing by the fridge with a sincerely curious expression.

I gave him a look, sipping at my cup, then realized Alex would probably want some and turned to the cupboard

As if my thought summoned her, Alex came down the stairs. She had one of her Barbie Dolls clutched in one hand as she looked at Heero curiously.

He smiled at her-taking in her gray sweats and sweatshirt, "My socks are prettier." he informed her, lifting one foot to wiggle his toes at her.

Alex giggled, "Nuh-huh!" she pulled one of the legs up to show Heero the lace around the top of her sock, "See?"

He laughed, picking her up and kissing her cheek.

She giggled at this, sitting back in his arms and showing him her doll, "I don't think this outfit matches."

He blinked at the doll, then shrugged at her, "It looks cute enough."

"But if it doesn't match, then her friends will laugh at her."

"Would your friends laugh at you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but they don't know when things match."

Heero laughed at that, kissing her cheek again and setting her down.

Alex spotted the box of hot-chocolate packages and moved across the kitchen to me, studying the box curiously, "I like Uncle Duo's hot-chocolate." she informed me.

"So do I," I replied, "But he's not here, is he?"

"No." she considered it a long moment, then met my eyes, "I'd like it if you made me some, Apa."

"Would you really?" I replied, smiling at her.

She nodded, "Yeah…and toast?"

"Hm, I think that's asking too much." I muttered, looking around to the toaster.

"I'd like if you made me hot-chocolate." Heero muttered, grinning at me, "Though Duo's is my favorite."

Alex giggled.

"I might make you some," I muttered to Heero, putting on a show of thinking about it for my daughter, "But nah."

"He could make the toast!" Alex offered, eager to get her way and Heero some cocoa while she was at it.

"I could," Heero agreed, nodding at her, "But I'm sick."

"But you had what I had," she replied, meeting his eyes curiously, "Dad said I won't get it again for a while."

Heero looked up to me.

"I'd appreciate it." I muttered, pulling out another cup.

.

"Are you done stealing my boyfriend?" Relena asked me curiously, sitting next to me on the couch.

"I didn't steal him!" I protested, "He was following me around."

She giggled, her serious expression becoming amused.

I gave her a look.

"He's been up and around since you left for church," she muttered quietly, leaning closer to me, "So if he begs you for more attention I'd appreciate you sending him my way."

I laughed at that, "I told you, it's not my fault."

She rolled her eyes, "He gets weirder by the day." she agreed, rising to her feet, "What do we want for supper?"

"I was going to make steak," I muttered quickly.

"Ooh, with that marinade?" she asked excitedly.

I nodded.

"What do you put in that, anyway?"

I shrugged, "The barbecue sauce, some soy sauce…some chilli powder," I thought a second, "Whatever seems right from the cupboard."

"I'll do that then." she decided, turning and moving into the kitchen.

I blinked after her.

"Hey, Wufei." Miguel muttered, coming down the stairs behind me.

"Hey, Miguel." I replied, thinking about things. I wasn't sure how I felt about him anymore.

"Did you…get a chance to look at these?" he asked, finally moving the envelope from where I'd set it.

I met his eyes.

He sat next to me, studying my eyes, "Do you see what I meant?"

He'd been giving me a look throughout mass and I had to wonder how curious he was about his damn pictures.

"I did." I replied easily, deciding to be a gentleman and discuss the topic instead of dismissing it and him.

He looked confounded a moment.

"I'm not in love with Duo." I said quietly.

He frowned at me, opening the envelope.

"I don't know what else I can say to you," I muttered, taking the thing from him, "I wish you could just trust me on this."

He looked away from my eyes and I could tell he was thinking about that.

I smirked at him, leaning close to his face, "I could prove it to you."

He sat back slightly, looking startled.

"You want me to?" I added, dropping the envelope next to myself and leaning forward to kiss him.

"I saw you two that night," he said quickly, blinking at my eyes, "I saw him kiss you…"

"You don't speak Chinese." I informed him, "How would you know what we said?"

That thought startled him.

I kissed him lightly before rising to my feet and offering my hand to him, "Let me show you."