No need to get all mushy (PUF fanfiction | English version)

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Csónakos had already worked four hours of his night shift when his phone rang. As he saw Ernő's name on the display, he smiled: so Nemecsek had really comprehended what he had told him, and now he was calling to announce that he had found the groceries.

However, Csónakos had been wrong, because as soon as he heard his friend's voice on the other end of the line, he knew that something was wrong. If someone had asked him, he wouldn't have been able to explain what it was that he had discerned from Ernő's voice, but the gut feeling that this time Nemecsek wasn't ignoring his pain with a smile like he used to, and that maybe he was a little afraid too, was too obvious to ignore.

"Hi Csónakos! I'm really sorry to bother you, it's just that you said that I could call you, and frankly I'm at a loss right now because I've got quite a headache and I'm nauseous - well, that I was before too - but the point is that I have taken painkillers, but it didn't help, it just got worse, and this isn't something that usually happens to me, but, damn, even I can hear that what I'm saying sounds like some stupid yammering, and I'm probably just overreacting, so please just forget that I called you, and I really do apologize... "

"Woah, woah, woah, easy, man!" Csónakos interrupted his friend, "You did the right thing to call me. I'll leave right away and I'll be with you in twenty minutes"

"No, don't leave work because of me!"

"I'll be there in twenty minutes, period," Csónakos stated firmly, after which he hung up.

It didn't take a lot, just swapping his shift with a nice colleague whose work period was scheduled for the weekend, for Csónakos to be able to leave work. As soon as that was arranged, he sped along the lower Pest Quay, heading towards Rákos Street. He reached Nemecsek's house at record speed, and although he misclicked when entering the door code twice in a row due to the anxiety that was seizing him, he finally got in.

He found Ernő in the bathroom, curled up on the floor with his eyes closed, just like he had been a few hours earlier. When he heard the approaching footsteps, he turned his head towards Csónakos, but his eyes remained shut.

"Well, here I am, mate," Csónakos said quietly as he knelt down next to Nemecsek.

"Hi, thanks for coming," the blond answered, but barely finished the sentence before he moaned in pain and pressed his palms to his head.

Csónakos muttered some massive curses under his breath.

"Don't talk if it makes it worse," he said then, wrapping his arm around Nemecsek, "Listen, I'm gonna take you to the hospital. I don't care if you say there's no need, we'll go there and that's it. If it turns out to have been unnecessary, the worst thing that could happen is that they send us home."

Nemecsek gave a small nod before he winced in pain.

"I'll be right back, I'll just get the bag," Csónakos then said.

The bag was a sports sack containing a few items of clothing and a toiletry bag, standing in Nemecsek's wardrobe. It was reserved for situations like these, because it didn't happen too rarely that Ernő had to make a merry little trip to the hospital in Péterfy Sándor Street, and at those times one never knew for how long he would have to stay.

Csónakos returned to the bathroom with the bag on his back. Then, he carefully lifted Ernő off the floor.

"Csónakos," the blond muttered, "What if I throw up in your car?"

Csónakos couldn't help it to crack a smile. Unlike the others, Ernő always listened patiently when he raved about the red, second-hand, 2010 Skoda Fabia that he had bought with the money he had scraped together over the course of two years. Thus, the reason why the blond was so terrified at the thought of making a mess in the vehicle was probably the fact that he knew what that car meant to Csónakos, but right then, that was the thing that the owner of the little Skoda worried the least about.