Spilling Guts

Part 86 - I'm Staying

Louis jolted from the wrinkle of muscle he had been wriggling in, spitting out water. "The fuck?"

Will's voice echoed on Sprecht and through stomach wall. "Oh, you're awake."

Louis reoriented himself back to the reality of being inside Will's stomach. And the weird-ass dream he'd had. A Will begging to be touched by him. The scenario had been...

He did not want to think about that.

"I'm awake now," Louis snapped.

"Good, I was wondering how long I would have to talk to myself."

Reconciling the calm, collected voice of Will around him with the heated voice of the Will in his dreams was like trying to push a bullet of sandstone through a straw. It made him feel off. Or it could be that strange chemical smell.

Wait. Louis breathed in and pulled at his collar, sweat collecting at the edge more than the moisture around him. "Will, you are really hot."

"As in...?"

"Your core temperature is higher than normal, fanboy. Have someone else evaluate your attractiveness." Especially after that dream. I cannot rely on my ability to think straight right now.

"Yeah." Will sucked in a breath and groaned. "That sounds about right."

"What's right?"

The trumpeting sound of a nose being blown came through the SkySprecht. "I think I have a cold. Rachel warned me about this. Not enough sleep means a depressed immune system. Thus, sick. I have such a sinus headache I feel like Ewoks are using my head for a drum wile toasting me over a bonfire."

"Well, shit," said Louis. A cold meant a runny nose, which mean swallowing a lot of snot, which would end up where he was right now. And a cold would likely mean a sore throat for Will, so Louis getting out would be an extra hassle. Great. "What time is it?"

***

Will tossed his tissue into the bin and looked at the tablet on the bedside table. "About five in the morning. Tuesday. A nurse already came in to replace my IV bag and gave me a few pills for my fever. Hence the water. Had to get them down. Sorry about that."

"Oh, that explains the weird smell," said Louis. "Did you have another nightmare?"

"I don't think so." Will took another sip, more to wet his mouth than to soothe his throat. It didn't help that water tasted weird when he was sick. "I didn't wake up as violently as I usually do. My brain still feels bruised, but not as much as usual. You?"

"Me?"

"Did you have a nightmare? I could feel you... burrowing, kinda." It hadn't felt bad to Will, in fact it almost lulled him back to sleep. Had it not been for the stuffy head and his mind slowly spinning into awake mode, he probably would have.

"I'm a...restless sleeper, sometimes," said Louis, words halting. "Anything else unusual, aside from the usual?"

"The most unusual thing about last night was how much longer I slept." Will plucked another tissue from the box, and it ripped. Figures. He folded it back together to rub at his raw nose. "As if my body is trying to catch up on hours lost. I'll be here all week if that's the case."

Will would normally do stretches or crunches after a bad night of sleep, but he couldn't while tethered to an IV rack. Not to mention his insides seemed to cave in on themselves, burning themselves thin with a need for food. They had been growling for the last twenty minutes like a zoo enclosure for large cats.

GrrrrooOOOOOowwwllLLLL.

And there it went again.

"Why don't you call the nurse to get you some yogurt or something?" snapped Louis. "Your insides are loud. Louder than me."

"I can't really eat with you in there. Especially not dairy."

"Then have some crackers. You need to eat. You can't sleep while this hungry."

What little appetite Will had mustered the day before he withered overnight. Will turned his head on the pillow, the sinus pressure sloshing from one side of his skull to the other. He mourned. "My tiramisu is probably a soggy mess by now."

"And those doughnuts you brought in are probably gone too." Louis sighed. "The last thing I ate was a granola bar. I want coffee."

A knock at the door. Rachel, shrugging on her white coat, hair wet. "Hey. Heard you were up early."

Will double checked the time. "Did you even leave?"

"Nope." Rachel reached the tablet and put on the SkySprecht headset. "How are we both doing today."

"I have a cold," moaned Will.

"I want coffee," said Louis.

Will attempted to sigh before a glob of mucus sucked down the wrong tube and put him into a coughing fit. He could feel Louis bouncing with each cough. Red faced, and miserable, he looked up to Rachel with his best puppy eyes. "He's getting out soon, right?"

Rachel bit her lip. "We don't always get what we want."

Louis piped up. "What you do mean? I can't stay inside a sick Will."

"Agreed," said Will. "Before you wanted him out right away, why the change of tune?"

"Doctor Harrison was not pleased with my partial data," said Rachel, as if biting a lemon. "He wants the test done and doesn't care who hosts. He even offered to send one of his own Watch One agents over to do it. You can guess who."

Will tried to parse what Rachel said through his snot-stuffed mind. Louis got there first.

"I'm staying here!" Louis declared.

"Louis?" Will could feel a tectonic shove from the inside that pushed at his lungs.

"No!" Louis snapped. "I'm drawing the damn line. Today, you're going to look inside yourself, ask "what are we willing to put up with?" and I'm gonna say not fucking this!"

Will's eyes widened in alarm at Louis' fervor. Rachel looked amused.

"I'm not going anywhere near Justin or his mouth," continued Louis. "I don't care if I end up hip-deep in a stomach full of snot, Harrison can shove it and wait until Will and I are good and ready. If Justin wants a piece of me, he'll have to go through Will and his runny nose."

Unbidden, the image of Justin trying to suck Louis out of Will with his own mouth came to Will's mind and made him cringe.

I'd prefer someone else do the face sucking.

Focus!

"I'm glad you feel the same," said Rachel. "Right now, as long as you are "stuck" in Will, Harrison can't do anything. Give me a day to work things out with Cetz and the committee."

"You tell that committee they can suck it!" roared Louis.

Will's stomach, pinched by emptiness, roared back.

Rachel winced in sympathy. "And I'll find you some broth."