It had started with Carlos clearing his throat a little too frequently for TK’s liking on the morning December 24th while they were both getting ready for their shifts. TK liked to think that after being together as long as they had been that he knew his fiancé’s tells when he was starting to get sick. When Carlos actually starts coughing into his arm as they eat breakfast, TK’s mind instantly switches over to paramedic mode. Without a word, his hand goes to Carlos’s forehead as the cop stands beside him, a low hum escaping him.
“No.”
TK blinks at the single word that leaves his fiancé, turning to face him better, “Huh? I didn’t even say anything….”
“Don’t start, TK,” Carlos sighs over the rim of his coffee cup before he puts it down on the counter, considering his fiancé for a long moment, looking the other up and down. “I know where your mind is going and I’m not sick.”
This was a familiar discussion, whenever one of them truly didn’t feel well. They both denied it as long as they possibly could, until they were truly so miserable they could deny it no longer. Usually, however, TK was the one who was falling ill, and Carlos was the one starting the argument, but the tables had suddenly turned, it seemed. It was extremely clear to TK, however, that Carlos planned to deny how he was truly feeling as long as he possibly could.
To TK, Carlos had felt a little warm, but that really never was a true indicator to TK whether Carlos was sick or not as Carlos always ran warmer than he did. Especially after the hypothermia. But that was neither here nor there. He was not currently the one showing signs of potentially being sick.
“You keep clearing your throat,” TK points out softly before he presses a kiss to Carlos’s forehead and taking half a step back, looking Carlos up and down curiously, as though he might be able to physically see if something was causing Carlos to feel unwell. “And you’re coughing.”
“I just have this tickle in my throat I can’t get rid of,” Carlos insists softly, his eyes meeting TK’s, his gaze determined. “Really, TK, I’m fine. And unless I want to wind up on everyone’s shit list the day before Christmas, I can’t take today off. This is the first year I finally have enough seniority to actually get Christmas off.”
“But it’s going to be such a long day, baby,” TK sighs, arms crossed over his chest, clearly this was going to turn into a case of which one of them was more stubborn, and TK truly wasn’t certain he was going to win in this case. “We both have shifts and then we have to be at your parent’s basically the moment we finish work for Nochebuena—”
“I can handle it,” Carlos responds before TK can even finish his sentence, the paramedic quirking a brow at Carlos in response. Carlos’s patience was definitely always shorter when he didn’t feel well, never a good sign. “I will take something if I start to feel bad during my shift, but I really cannot call out today, babe, especially at the last second, and especially not over a small tickle in my throat. Also, if I’m not well enough to go to work, I really shouldn’t go to Nochebuena, and you know how much this means to me.”
TK knew Carlos had a point, but that didn’t mean that he had to enjoy any of it. Reluctantly, he lets the subject drop for the time being, making a mental note to try and check in as much as he could with Carlos through the day once they were at work. Sure enough, when he’d checked in on Carlos multiple times throughout the day, the short answers he got in response to every text he sent were indicative enough to him that Carlos was clearly trying to preserve whatever bits of patience he had left. At some point, TK just stopped asking how he was feeling, worrying that he might truly be shortening Carlos’s fuse and not wanting to cause him unnecessary stress on what was likely already a chaotic day.
When the work day ended, however, TK wondered if he had imagined all of it, as Carlos was smiling and happy as they headed off to the annual Reyes Nochebuena celebration, any mention of the tickle in Carlos’s throat from that morning faded to a distant memory while TK found himself lost in conversations with Carlos’s relatives and playing games with the nieces and nephews, where Tío TK had quickly become the children’s favorite.
It wasn’t until TK was woken before the sun had even risen on Christmas morning by the sound of a soft groan beside him that he even remembered the conversations from the morning prior. They hadn’t even gotten home from the Nochebuena celebration until nearly two in the morning, so to hear Carlos waking up so early triggers something in TK that has him instantly sitting up and alert, his brow furrowing slightly. He reaches over, gently rubbing Carlos’s back
“Carlos…?”
The groan he earns in response only serves to add to TK’s concern. If he wasn’t awake before, he definitely was now, blinking any trace of sleepiness from his eyes, “Baby…?”
“What the hell was in Tía Lucy’s coquito this year?” Carlos groans softly, curling up on himself a little more as TK continues to rub his back. TK doesn’t miss how weak his fiancé’s voice sounds, nor how warm Carlos’s skin feels to his touch. Carlos almost always felt warm to him, but this felt next level, “I feel like a truck hit me.”
“Babe, you’re burning up,” TK shakes his head as he brushes his fingers through Carlos’s hair, realizing in that instant that Carlos was sweating, despite the fact that it was neither warm nor cold inside the loft, but at the same time, he was also fairly certain that Carlos was shivering ever so slightly. “I don’t think that this is the result of too much rum in the coquito.”
“Oh, god only knows there’s much more than just rum in Tía Lucy’s coquito….”
Without much more ado, TK gets up from the bed and heads for the bathroom. It was an inside joke between him and Carlos that he had a much better stocked first aid kit than anyone, having maybe walked off with a few things from the rig or around the firehouse over the years out of an abundance of caution. It was under the sink that he found the thermometer, along with an old stethoscope that he didn’t even necessarily remember walking off with, but he was fairly certain he had brought it home by mistake one day and just never returned it to the firehouse do to simply forgetting that it existed. He debated the blood pressure cuff, but figured that might be a little bit of overkill and if he was going to go that far, he might as well ask for a rig to drive by with a LifePak, which would certainly be overkill, though he was definitely tempted.
By the time TK returns to the bedroom with the thermometer and the stethoscope, Carlos is sitting up, his curls somewhat unruly, and his gaze unfocused as without his contacts or glasses, Carlos himself was as blind as a bat. He seems to track all of TK’s movements, however, his brow furrowed slightly as his eyes following TK across the room.
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“Yes, my love?” TK responds without hesitation as he sits down on the edge of the bed. He swaps the plastic ear piece cover from the thermometer for a fresh one before gently turning Carlos’s head so he could take his temperature.
“I think I’m dying.”
TK can’t help the soft chuckle that escapes him as the thermometer beeps and flashes red in the darkness of their bedroom, “Well, you have a fever of 102, baby,” He says softly, dread slowly starting to well up inside of him, “But you’re not dying on my watch.”
Before Carlos can respond, his cough from the day prior returns with a vengeance, and more out of habit than anything, TK instinctively recoils from the sound of it before he remembers himself. He was a paramedic, dammit. He could more than handle his fiancé being sick. In sickness and in health; that’s what they were going for, right?
TK puts on his stethoscope and listens for several moments. While Carlos’s heart sounded good and his lungs sounded clear, that cough of his was definitely concerning, “Baby, have people in the station been sick recently?”
“It’s December,” Carlos groans, rubbing at his face for a moment before he sneezes once, twice, thrice, and once again TK has to remind himself that right now, Carlos is just another patient who needs his help, “Everyone gets sick in December. If it’s not someone at the station, it’s someone on a call. It’s kind of unavoidable this time of year”
TK definitely can’t argue with that logic, even if he tried. Hell, every other call he seemed to get at this time of the year was to someone, usually elderly, who was showing bad flu symptoms and needed to be taken care of. He himself had gotten his flu shot in November, so he wasn’t overly concerned. His fiancé, however….
“I think you have the flu, baby,” TK shakes his head, brushing his fingers through Carlos’s hair again, his heart aching for how miserable Carlos had to undoubtedly be. “Which means you are staying in bed today, and I will make sure you get lots of rest and fluids.”
The paramedic was already making a mental list of how he could make things easier for Carlos, and whether he had any favors he could possibly call in. He was fairly certain he knew of at least one ER doctor who owed him a favor he might be able to phone in, but getting what he needed on Christmas morning would be a bit of an ask. He had to try, though.
“TK?”
“Hmm?” TK’s gaze flicks back to Carlos after a beat.
“Merry Christmas.”
TK’s gaze goes soft as he looks at Carlos, who clearly looked so miserable and so uncomfortable, but was still thinking about him. He smiles, pressing a kiss to Carlos’s burning forehead, “Merry Christmas, baby,” He responds. “I’m going to make a quick call to some of the doctors I know over at West Park and see if I can’t get some Tamiflu prescribed for you so hopefully we can get ahead of all of this. Surely there has to be at least one pharmacy open in all of Austin on Christmas.”
“We’re supposed to go to your dad’s today for lunch,” Carlos frowns at TK, and TK’s heart melts in response as he reaches for his phone. “You should still go. No reason for both of us to be stuck here and miserable.”
“We are not going anywhere,” TK insists with a shake of his head as he gets up from the bed. “Right now, taking care of you is my first priority, Carlos, and I’m not leaving you alone all afternoon just so I can go over to my dad, who I see every day anyway. My dad will understand.”
“Are you sure…?” Before TK can even answer, Carlos is overtaken by another coughing fit, and TK just sighs, shaking his head.
“Stop worrying, Carlos,” TK insists softly, dropping another kiss to the top of Carlos’s head before ruffling his curls affectionately, his gaze still soft. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
By some miracle, TK manages to reach one of the doctors he has a direct line to and gets a promise to call in a prescription for Tamiflu to one of the few CVS Pharmacies in town that’s open on Christmas. It’s a small relief for the chaos that had been running rampant through TK’s mind since the moment Carlos’s groan had woken him up. He looks through the fridge and freezer, checking what they have, and he’s grateful when he finds all the ingredients he needs to make a fresh batch of chicken soup. Before returning to the bedroom, TK pours a cup of orange juice and hits the start button for the coffee maker.
“So, good news,” TK announces as he walks back into the bedroom and puts the orange juice on Carlos’s side of the bed. His heart aches just a little more as he hears Carlos’s answering grunt. “I managed to reach one of my emergency room doctor friends, and I’m getting a prescription for Tamiflu called in. I should, hopefully, have it for you within the hour. And we have everything I need to make a fresh batch of chicken soup for you, so we’re on the right track to getting you better already.”
“I feel like I’m dying,” Carlos whines softly, and TK sits back down on Carlos’s side of the bed, rubbing his back and scratching gently at the back of his skull. “I’m hot and cold, my body hurts in every way imaginable….”
“I brought you some juice,” TK tells him softly, pressing a kiss to Carlos’s shoulder. “You should drink. Maybe I can bring you some toast and I can give you ibuprofen for the body aches?”
TK can all but hear Carlos’s brain whirring for a moment before Carlos finally nods once, “Okay… I can try it.”
TK smiles against Carlos’s shoulder, knowing it wasn’t easy for Carlos to be feeling so weak, “There’s my Carlos,” He says softly before he gets up from the bed again. “I’ll be right back.”
The morning wears on like this, TK coaxing bits of food and drink into Carlos, while Carlos slowly accepts it all from him. He manages to get the soup up as well before getting the call form CVS that the prescription is ready to pick up, knowing that will take a few hours until it’s ready. He’s hesitant to leave Carlos alone, but the meds won’t just appear in the loft on their own. He makes sure Carlos is tucked into bed and resting, his phone right beside him, just in case, and leaves the loft.
It’s a small mercy that the streets of Austin are empty, aside from the few people likely heading to their own holiday plans. It’s on the way to the pharmacy that TK shoots his dad a message that he and Carlos aren’t going to make it for lunch. His heart sinks when he finally reaches CVS, only to find that the drive thru line is completely backed up. So much for making it back to the loft quickly.
There’s an obscene amount of swearing that goes on in TK’s head by the time that he finally returns to the loft. He’s so wound up and annoyed at how long the drive thru line took, that he doesn’t realize at first that Carlos isn’t actually in bed at first.
“Sorry that took so long,” TK says after tossing his keys into the bowl by the door and heading straight for the bedroom, tearing into the paper pharmacy bag to get to the Tamiflu, “The line for the drive thru was insane. I felt so bad for the poor girl working that I—” TK’s voice trails off as he realizes he’s talking to himself and the silence that had been answering him was not because Carlos was fast asleep in bed, but rather because he was not currently in bed. His heart suddenly jumps to his throat when his mind finally processes that Carlos is missing, “Carlos?”
“I’m right here,” Carlos’s weak voice answers from behind TK. The paramedic turns on his heel and finally notices that Carlos is on the couch rather than in bed. He breathes a sigh of relief as he returns to the living room after grabbing the now-empty cup from Carlos’s nightstand.
“Why didn’t you say something when I came in?” TK asks, shaking his head, his heart aching at the sight of his fiancé curled up under a throw blanket on the couch with one of his pillows from the bed. His concern only grows as Carlos shivers ever so slightly and TK moves to adjust the thermostat just a little higher.
“I did,” Carlos insists softly as he pushes himself up with a wince and a sigh. “You didn’t hear me.”
“Sorry,” TK scrunches the left side of his face for a moment. “I think I was a little wound up over the drive thru situation. I don’t know what I expected, considering it’s Christmas, but not that, apparently. Anyway, I got the Tamiflu, so we can get this into your system and start getting you on the path to getting better.”
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” Carlos sighs as TK goes to refill his orange juice. “I’m sorry I ruined Christmas. I should have listened to you when you said that there was something wrong with me yesterday.”
“Shut up,” TK rolls his eyes as he kneels down next to the couch with the orange juice and the pills. “I don’t think I need to remind you of how you nursed me back to life after I fell in that frozen lake, or the way you took care of me after I was concussed by getting hit in the forehead with that gun or any of the countless ways you’ve taken care of me since we met. I’m usually the one getting sick or hurt or something. It’s about damn time I get the chance to return the favor.”
Carlos just scoffs softly as he takes the pill from TK and downs it with more orange juice, “This isn’t a competition, baby,” He insists softly, handing the cup back to TK, who puts it down on the coffee table.
“Maybe not,” TK relents with a sad smile. “But I don’t like seeing you like this, so I’ll do whatever I can to help you get better faster. What are you doing on the couch anyway? You should be in bed.”
“I was trying to get comfortable,” Carlos says after a moment. “But, honestly, I think I just wanted you back. If I go lay down, will you stay with me?”
“Oh,” TK’s insides turn to complete goo once again and he presses another kiss to Carlos’s still warm forehead, “Of course, baby,” He says softly, his thumb brushing Carlos’s cheekbone lightly. “Come on, let’s get you back into bed for a while.”
It’s a small relief that within a few minutes of TK tucking him back into bed, Carlos is softly snoring away. TK finds himself almost obsessively listening to the sound of Carlos breathing. He is fairly certain Carlos hadn’t been sick sick in the entirety of their relationship while he had been sick more times than he cared to think about. His immune system had definitely gone to hell over the last few years, despite his best attempts to stay healthy.
It's listening to the sounds of Carlos’s snoring that TK drifts off, still tired from the late night the two of them had due to the Reyes family Nochebuena celebrations. When finally they both wake, TK coaxes Carlos into the shower with the promise that once they’re both in clean, warm clothes, TK has fresh soup for him that they can eat on the couch together.
While showering together normally means lots of making out and wandering hands, Carlos somewhat reluctantly allows TK to take care of him, cleaning him from head to toe before wrapping him in a thick, fluffy towel, and instructing him to get into the pajamas he’d laid out on the bed. TK cleans himself in record time before returning to the bedroom and changing into his own clean clothes. Getting Carlos to the couch has a dual motive for TK, really. After getting Carlos settled on the couch, he takes a few moments to quickly strip and change the bed, figuring that maybe fresh sheets will help Carlos rest a little easier.
When he finally returns to the living room, Carlos has the TV on, the end credits of some movie rolling rapidly across the screen, “What’s coming on?” TK asks as he finally starts ladling out two bowls of soup and adding some noodles he had just boiled on the stove as well.
“How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” Carlos answers after blowing his nose. “The original cartoon version.”
TK can’t help the smile that comes to his face as he hears Carlos’s answer, “A true Christmas classic,” He chuckles softly.
“Don’t laugh,” Carlos whines in response. “I already feel horrible about ruining Christmas. I thought this is something cute that we could watch together.”
“I would love to watch The Grinch with you, baby,” TK says sincerely as he walks over to Carlos with a bowl of steaming chicken noodle soup, “We didn’t have what I need to make matzah balls, but this will hopefully help you feel at least a little better.”
“Your mom’s recipe?”
The smallest jolt of sadness passes through TK’s chest at the mention of his mom before he nods once, “Yeah,” He says softly, drawing a slow, deep breath before the tension eases just as quickly and he manages to smile sadly at Carlos.
Carlos takes his first sip from the bowl of soup and smiles up at TK as best he can with how horrible he feels, “Well, this tastes amazing, baby,” he says softly. “I think she would be very proud of you.”
“Thank you,” TK responds in an equally soft tone, dropping a kiss to the top of Carlos’s head before getting a bowl for himself. He sits on his favored end of the couch, tucking his feet under him as he eats and the movie starts, “Mm, you’re right. Definitely not bad. I’m not sure it’s as good as my mom’s, but it’s definitely not terrible.”
The two eat and watch the movie in a comfortable silence, slowly but surely shifting closer together. It’s not long before they’re both finished and cuddling closer together.
“You know I’m going to get you sick,” Carlos rasps as TK wraps his arms around him and holds him close, Carlos leaning back against his chest. He wasn’t going to let a little sickness keep him from cuddling his fiancé as he liked, and as he knew would help Carlos relax too.
“I got my flu shot,” TK reminds Carlos, rubbing Carlos’s stomach gently. “Which I also told you to get weeks ago.”
“That lessens the effects of the flu, it doesn’t necessarily prevent it,” TK can hear the pout in Carlos’s voice, and it only serves to make TK smile bigger in response as he presses another kiss to the back of his head.
“Well, then you will just have to take care of me when it hits,” TK responds simply. “Maybe you and I can both wind up off until the new year if we both wind up with the flu.”
“You think this is hilarious, don’t you?”
“Not even a little, actually,” TK admits with a shake of his head. “But babe, we live in the same space, we share basically everything, and it’s not like you don’t know that I have a weakened immune system. But what do you expect, for me to move out and leave you alone to suffer just because you have the flu?”
“No, I know you better than that,” Carlos sighs, rubbing one of the arms TK has wrapped around him gently. “You’d never leave me alone whether I have a common cold or the flu or something worse. You’d always stay by my side.”
“Exactly,” TK hums softly, “And you know why?”
“Because you love me,” Carlos answers without hesitation and TK feels a rush of affection toward the man in his arms. Much like the Grinch in the movie, TK swears his heart frequently grows three times its size in Carlos’s presence.
“So very much,” TK tells him, craning his neck to press a kiss to Carlos’s cheek, a soft, content sound escaping his lips.
“I’m sorry I ruined Christmas,” Carlos murmurs softly, pressing a kiss to the back of one of TK’s hands. “I was really looking forward to spending the day with you. We didn’t even get to do our gifts today.”
“Baby, none of that matters to me,” TK insists softly. “You’ve given me the best gift ever.”
“Oh yeah?” Carlos sniffles, reaching for the box of tissues on the coffee table, but the box proves to be just out of his reach. “What’s that?”
TK laughs softly, leaning over and grabbing the box of tissues, passing it over to Carlos before pressing another kiss to the top of Carlos’s head after he blows his nose, “You letting me take care of you.”