The Things We Do for Love
a Supernatural story
by froggyredfraggle
Cough, cough.
Sam rolled over in the bed, rubbing his aching chest and sniffing.
Dean moved back into the room, looking at his brother, concerned. He put a glass of water down on the side table next to the box of tissues and perched on the edge of the bed. Reaching over, he felt Sam's forehead. "You've still got a fever," he said, fussing round the edge of the covers and plumping up the pillows as best he could. "It's time for some more Tylenol, do you want some o.j. with that?"
Sam tried to clear his throat and nodded, sinking into the pillows. His ribs were aching and his brain was still muddled with fever. Not to mention his nose, which alternated between being a tap and a plug. A cool cloth was placed on his forehead, stirring him from his thoughts, bringing Dean back into focus.
Dean gently lifted his brother into a sitting position so he could take the tablets. Supporting Sam while he swallowed the meds and seeing him grimacing at the pain in his throat, he wished the roles could be reversed. He hated seeing his brother sick, it took him back to the times he'd nursed him as a child, when his dad had been out hunting who knows what. All part of the mission.
Sam had come down sick two days ago. They'd gotten wet on the last job, and even though Dean had insisted Sam went in the shower first to warm up, Dean's body had more experience of being cold and wet. So here they were, two days later, Dean nursing Sam, feeling guilty it wasn't him lying in the bed.
He was a little worried about Sam's condition, his fever had been fairly high at times, and he was coughing a lot, not to mention the countless boxes of Kleenex he'd gotten through. Hopefully it would all blow over in a couple of days, he was normally a healthy person, plus they didn't have time for any complications right now, the monsters weren't going to wait for them to take sick days.
He'd have to stop worrying so much, the stress and lack of sleep were giving him a headache. Combining that with the lack of sleep and the ache in his muscles from inactivity, he was a wreck. He was hoping it was just fatigue anyway, as much as he wanted to spare Sam the sickness, he sure didn't want Sam playing nursemaid to him. After all that near-death stuff, the last thing he needed was more fussing over. Much too `chick-flick' for his liking.
Feeling a sudden itch in the back of his throat, he moved quickly into the bathroom, leaving a semi-conscious Sam in the bedroom. Closing the door, he sat down, suddenly exhausted from the nursing. He tilted his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Clearing his throat, he tried to get rid of the itching, but only succeeded in making it spread upwards. Now his nose was itching, and it started twitching, resisting the urge to sneeze. The harder he tried to resist, the stronger the tickle grew. Finally it grew too strong to resist, "EHKTchhhhh! Ehh-HEHKTchhhh!" The sneezes came out strong and loud. He held his breath, straining his ears to hear if he'd disturbed Sam's slumber.
When he heard no sounds from the bedroom, he allowed himself to relax, exhaling and dropping his head against the wall again. The tickle had moved down now, causing him to cough quietly, muffled by his fist. That done, his arm flopped back down by his side, and he nodded off gently.
Sam awoke, needing the bathroom. He was surprised when he couldn't see Dean, even moreso when he didn't appear at the sounds of Sam sitting up. `Oh well,' he thought, `He must have gone out to get something.' Once he'd taken a deep breath, well as deep as he could manage at the moment, he swung his legs round and put his feet on the floor. Taking another breath he braced himself and pushed up from the bed. Swaying dangerously, he managed to get to a wall, and leant on it heavily. Panting, he waited for the room to stop spinning, then edged to the bathroom. He was surprised to find the bathroom light on, and pushed the door open gently. When he saw his brother on the floor, he rushed over and put his hand on his brother's forehead. "Dean, are you ok?" His voice was hoarse.
Dean awoke suddenly when Sam's hand made contact with his forehead, confused as to why he was in the bathroom. He looked up at Sam, who was looking concerned. "What's going on?"
Sam looked down at him. "I opened the door, and there you were. I think you have a fever, you must be getting what I've got. God I'm sorry Dean, I didn't mean to. I should've made you stay away, I don't want you sick again…" The words all came out in one breath.
"Sammy," Dean barked, "Snap out of it would ya, I'm not made of glass, and in our line of work you can't wrap me up in cotton wool. You know I'm fine now, so stop worrying about me. I'm not dying anymore, you made sure of that."
Sam looked at his brother. "What's that supposed to mean? Would you rather I'd let you die? You know I couldn't just stand by and watch that happen."
Dean almost growled at his brother, "Was there a reason you came in here, or was it just to disturb me?"
"Shockingly, I came into the bathroom because I need to use the bathroom. Look, you're obviously coming down with what I've got, so why don't you get into your bed to sleep, you'll feel better." He extended his hand to help pull Dean up, leaning on the doorframe for leverage.
Once Dean was on his feet, he shuffled off to bed, leaving the bathroom free for Sam to use. When he was done, he returned to the bedroom and was pleased to see that Dean was already sleeping. He turned out the lights and returned to bed.
Sometime later he snapped awake, wondering why he was awake, then the noise came again.
"EHCH-huhhh!" Sniff, "EHSHOOOO! ETCHOOOOO!" The sneezes were unbelievably loud in the silent room.
Sam could hear the sniffling, then heard his brother get out of bed, heading for the bathroom so he could blow his nose. He allowed himself to drift until Dean returned, then he could go back to sleep. He rolled over while he was waiting, his ribs were still a little sore, and he was having trouble finding comfortable sleeping positions. Unfortunately, the shifting triggered another bout of coughing, deep harsh coughs that he thought would never end. He was gasping for breath by the end and wheezing.
Dean re-emerged from the bathroom, the edges of his nose beginning to turn pink. Hearing the noise from the other bed, he turned on the main light so he could get a good look at Sam. He rushed over when he saw his brother struggling for breath and the edges of his lips were turning blue. Jumping onto the bed, he yanked Sam into an upright position, leaning him against his own chest and began patting him on the back, applying more pressure each time. Finally, Sam coughed up the gunk that was blocking his airway and took his first deep breath. The gunk went over Dean's shoulder and spilled all over the back of Dean's shirt. Colour immediately returned to his face, and Dean breathed a sigh of relief when he gently lowered Sam back down onto the pillows.
Crisis over, he knew he'd have to start the clean-up. He gingerly unbuttoned his shirt and carefully removed it. That done, he folded it up to prevent any of the gunk from spilling on the floor. He'd have to decide later whether it would wash, or if he'd have to just bin it. `Ah well, another shirt ruined,' he thought to himself, `I'd better remember to buy some more on our way out of this place.'
Once the excitement was over, all his energy disappeared, leaving him even more exhausted than before. `The rest of the clean up can wait till the morning,' he thought as he sank onto his bed. He stayed awake for a while, listening to Sam's breathing, which was sounding much easier now. Relieved, he dropped off to sleep.
My first fic, so be gentle please guys. Set just after Reaperman, where Dean almost dies and is healed by a reaper, fairly short on references other than that. Just a sneezefic with some tlc and a slight discussion of life and death. No slash or Wincest is intended, but I guess I can't control how you read it. No sex/violence/vomiting. I'm not a doctor, so don't kick off if something's not right, and I'm English, so don't kick off if you don't like the spelling or grammar. That said, feedback would be nice.