Part Ten

Pairing: William/Reed
Implements: none (sorry no spankings in this one)
Series: Navigating the World and Relationships
Category: slash
Warnings: none

Part 10

William shivered as he entered the air-conditioned apartment.  The fine 
sheen of sweat that had glistened over his face as he walked home now felt 
like a layer of ice.  The apartment was silent in the early afternoon with 
all the inhabitants at work.  William could tell the low grade fever he 
had woken with had risen, and he wanted to take a fever reliever and get 
some rest before Reed came home.

William set down the laptop case that had grown heavier as he walked 
home, folded his cane, and walked to the bathroom. His hands ghosted over 
the various pill bottles in the medicine cabinet, trying to decipher which 
held the Tylenol.  Living alone he'd had a system for over the 
counter medication, but when he had moved in with Reed the few medications 
he had were mixed with Reed's.  Wishing desperately that he'd had taken 
the time to label the medication, William shut the cabinet door.  Instead 
of risking taking the wrong medication, he decided to take a cool shower 
to bring down his fever.

Shivering violently after his shower, William pulled on a heavy sweatshirt 
and sweatpants, not caring if they were his or Reed's.  All he wanted to do 
was lie down on their bed and sleep.  As much as William craved sleep, it was 
a restless couple of hours.  First he couldn't get warm and the shivering 
made his muscles hurt, then he felt as though his body was burning from 
the inside out. When he heard Reed come home, William felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

"William! What's wrong? Why are you in bed?" William sensed Reed's 
surprise when Reed walked into the bedroom and saw him in the tangled bedclothes.

"I wasn't feeling very well, so I decided to take the afternoon off."

William didn't flinch when he felt Reed's hand on his forehead, even though 
he hadn't heard him walk over to the bed.  The coolness of Reed's hand 
started him shivering again.

"William, you are running one hell of a fever. Have you taken anything for it?" 

Pulling the blankets tighter around him, William replied, "No, I 
couldn't figure out which bottle was the Tylenol. I never got around to labeling them."

William pushed himself to a sitting position on the bed as he heard 
Reed rummaging through the bathroom cabinet and water running.

"Before I give these to you, I want to know how high that temp is. Open up."

William felt the slim thermometer slide into his mouth. He opened his 
mouth for Reed to remove it as he heard the beep signaling the final reading.

"William, your fever is 103.4°! Here take two of these while I call 
the doctor.  A grown man's temperature shouldn't be that high."

William wanted to protest that he didn't need to see a doctor, but Reed 
was already talking on the phone.  William also realized he just didn't 
have the energy to argue with his partner.

"The doctor's office is closed for the day, but the answering service 
patched me through to the doctor.  He agreed that a temp that high is 
dangerous and said for us to go to urgent care immediately," Reed said.

William let Reed help him put on shoes and bundle him up in a blanket. 
Trying to use the cane and still keep the blanket on proved to 
be impossible. "Will you take me sighted guide?" William finally asked 
Reed after tripping over the blanket.

"Of course, hand me your cane, I'll fold and carry it. You just hold on 
and stay wrapped up as best you can."

By the time they got to the car, William was covered in sweat again.  He 
laid his head back against the seat and dozed the entire way to urgent 
care office. Once they were inside, he let Reed talk to the receptionist 
and the triage nurse. They were ushered into an exam room where William 
slumped down on the table. He didn't move as the door opened admitting the doctor.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Richardson. I'm Dr. Kimrey. What seems to be the 
problem today?" A brisk voice asked.

"Hello Dr. Kimrey, I'm Reed Chaffin, William's partner. When I got 
home, William was running a fever over 103°. I thought that was too high so 
I called his doctor.  He told me to bring William here." William heard 
Reed talking and instead of being upset at Reed for taking over he felt relief.

"Did he take anything for it? The nurse recorded his temperature at 101.8°."

"Yes, he took Tylenol about a half hour ago. He had heart trouble as an 
infant and had surgery when he was younger. I didn't want to take any 
chances," Reed explained.

"Here let's look you over, William."

William sat up and let the doctor poke and prod at him.  He opened his 
mouth when requested and gagged as his throat was swabbed.

"William, does your throat hurt?" Dr. Kimrey asked.

"Everything hurts," William said. "My muscles seem to hurt the most."

"Well by the look of your throat, I would say you have a severe case of 
strep throat. Which in itself isn't that dangerous, but with your history 
of heart troubles can become more serious. Let me run a quick culture 
test, then we will decide the best course of action," the doctor said.

"Reed, I don't want to go to the hospital," William knew he was whining, but 
at this point he just didn't care.

"I know you don't, let's not borrow trouble.  Just lay back and rest some 
more until the doctor comes back."

William let Reed guide him back down, and relaxed as Reed's hand rubbed 
over his back.  Reed's hand was soothing the soreness in the muscles, 
letting William doze again. He didn't wake when the doctor came back in.

"He's sleeping. Can you tell me what's going on?" Reed asked the doctor.

"It's strep.  That high of a fever isn't uncommon with strep, but I took 
the liberty of calling his doctor to check on his heart condition. He still 
has a small hole in his heart.  That complicates matters a bit. I will put 
him on an antibiotic, and he needs to take a fever reducer every four 
hours.  He also should stay in bed for at least a week.  He needs to come 
back here or see his regular doctor in a week. If you can't get his fever 
down he should come in earlier. If he seems to have labored breathing or 
chest pains, you need to take him to the emergency room right away. 
Strep throat can put a strain on the heart," the doctor explained to Reed.

William woke enough to take Reed's arm and be led to the car.  William 
dozed throughout the car ride and the stop at the pharmacy as Reed dropped 
off the prescription.   William thought to himself that he will probably 
kick himself for relying on Reed so much but it just felt so right for him 
to just let it all go.

The first couple of days, William slept, waking only when Reed brought him 
his medication or soup to eat. By the third day, William was staying awake 
for longer periods, and by the forth, he was feeling much better.

"You haven't worked this whole week. I'm feeling better; you can go 
back," William told Reed as Reed brought in his morning medication.

"I took the week off, and I let your boss know that you would be out at least a week."

After swallowing the pills, William said, "I feel guilty that you're 
taking that much time off for me."

"Don't. I've hated that you were sick, but William, this is the first time 
that you've let me take care of you." 

William felt the bed dip as Reed stretched out beside him. He felt sticky and 
a bit ripe, however, he didn't resist as Reed pulled him close.  

"I think our daily talks have helped. You've come to realize that you 
can trust me. We started with a mandatory half hour; before you got sick, 
we were talking for almost two hours." William felt Reed's lips on 
his own, "It's a precious gift you have given me, your trust."

William thought about that statement. He'd mouthed the word trust to Reed 
but until he had moved in and Reed's mandatory talks, he hadn't really 
trusted him. William knew that with their talks he had also been giving 
Reed more control over their daily lives.  William had begun to feel freer 
than he ever had before, within the boundaries and control Reed had over 
him.  It had been slow moving, but William could see the progress they had 
both made in their relationship.

"You know at work, I make all the decisions, it's nice to not have to do 
that here," William said.

"We'll keep growing together, William. We'll talk and argue and make 
love," William felt Reed's lips on his again. "And you'll snarl."

William laughed and snuggled deeper into Reed's arms. Yes, he'd snarl 
again, and Reed would call him out for it.  William had never felt so loved.