When Thomas woke up that morning, he knew instantly that something was wrong with him.
His head felt cloudy, a dull throb causing him to squint away from lights and sounds that seemed several thousand times stronger.
His stomach churned and the room seemed to tilt and spin as he rushed to the bathroom, wincing at the crash of the door slamming behind him.
Breathing raggedly through his dizzy spell, the brunet collapsed in the cold bathtub with a thud.
He focused on the colorful shower curtain despite fuzzy vision that mashed the vibrant colors into a mess.
Minutes passed, but they felt like hours dragging by to Thomas.
“Tom? Are you alright?” A small voice sounded from behind a knock on the door, interrupting the silence.
Thomas groggily looked over to see his younger brother Chuck peeking past the door frame.
He mustered a weak smile. “Doing great bud.”
The young boy frowned, pushing open the door further.
“You sure?”
Before he could respond, Thomas felt his throat begin to burn, causing him to lurch over the side of the tub, grasping for the trash can
“I’m going to call Newt. You need someone to help.”
Thomas’s head snapped up, regretting the quick movement immediately.
His boyfriend was training for the medical field, and as much as he wanted to have him come over, the brunet didn’t want to bother him, or worse, get him sick too.
“N-no, he’s busy, I can’t b-bug him.” he coughed roughly, sinking back into the tub.
Chuck shook his head, curly hair bouncing. “You need someone to take care of you.”
The boy turned on his heel and Thomas could hear his footsteps echoing down the hall.
He sighed, burying his face in his knees and waited for Newt to arrive.
When the bathroom door cracked open again, Thomas had resorted to sprawling out as much as he could in the bathtub, tired eyes staring up at the off-white ceiling.
He wearily turned his attention to view a worried blond crouching beside him.
Thomas noticed he still wore the burgundy scrubs, and he felt guilty that he must’ve interrupted his work.
“Hey Tommy,” Newt whispered, his hand reaching to comb through the boy’s messy brown hair, “How are you feeling?”
“Horrible.”
A frown spread across the blond’s features, hand moving down to rest on Thomas’s forehead, who gratefully accepted the coolness of the boy’s palm and let his eyes flutter shut.
“Bloody hell, you’re burning up!” He exclaimed, “We need to get you to your bed, do you think you can walk?”
Thomas shakily shook his head no, knowing that standing alone would tip the small room on it’s side.
He felt Newt snake his arms behind his back and under his legs, lifting the brunet out of the tub.
Thomas rested his head in the crook of his boyfriend’s neck, mumbling a thank you as the other boy carried him to his room.
Newt pulled the blankets over his Tommy before running his fingers through the boy’s hair, biting his lip in dismay of how warm Thomas’ skin felt.
“Are you comfortable? Do you need me to bring you anything right now?” The blond asked, sitting on the edge of the mattress.
“Could you bring the waste basket over here, just in case?”
Newt nodded, rising to his feet to grab the can that sat in the corner by Thomas’s desk.
“'M sorry.” he murmured, burying his face in the pillow.
“For what, dear?”
“For being a bother.”
“Oh Tommy.” The other boy returned to sitting beside Thomas, setting down the basket before placing a hand on his boyfriend’s back. “You couldn’t ever be a bother.”
“You had to leave work because I couldn’t even assure my brother that I was alright.”
“But you aren’t alright. I’m glad Chuck called.”
Thomas only sighed, appreciating the slow circles Newt rubbed on his back.
“I’m going to get you some medicine.”
Newt stood up and left the room, glancing back at the tired boy, smiling sadly.
When Newt came back in, he had a box of saltine crackers under one arm, holding a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol in his hands.
He set them on the nightstand and placed a hand on Thomas’ shoulder, shaking him slightly.
“I need you to sit up for a minute, Tommy.”
The brunet groaned and pushed himself up slowly, rubbing his eyes. Newt handed him a pill and a small cup of water.
Taking them, Thomas closed his eyes,slipping back under the covers. The blond intertwined his fingers with his boyfriend and kissed his forehead.
When Thomas woke up, Newt wasn't in the room. Chuck sat at his desk and reading a book.
He looked up and beamed. "Hi, Tom! Newt's in the kitchen, he's making soup. He asked me to sit here in case you needed help."
"Thanks, Chuck." Thomas said groggily and sat up, holding his head.
He stood up and hobbled his way to the kitchen, Chuck following close behind.
Newt stood at the stove, humming a song. He had changed out of his scrubs into a pair of Thomas' sweatpants and one of his flannels.
He turned around and smiled.
"How you feeling, Tommy?"
"Better, thanks."
"Well that's good," He ladled out a bowl of soup."You up for something to eat?"
"Yeah."
Thomas took a seat at the kitchen counter and Newt set the bowl in front of him. He kissed his cheek and hugged him before going back to the stove.
He gave a bowl to Chuck and sat down with his own beside Thomas.
"You sure you're not gonna get in trouble for leaving?" Thomas asked.
"I'll be fine. Vince understands and I got Brenda to cover for me."
"That's good, but I still feel bad."
"Don't worry about it, Tommy. I don't mind taking care of you."
He threw his arm around his shoulders.
"Thanks, Newt."
hi guys! so this has been a draft in my docs for a while and i decided to post it! its kinda unedited, but i hope you liked it anyway!
