Dedicated to my second-favourite Fiyero, Rob Mills, who, at the time of writing, was ill with the very same affliction.
Tonsillitis
Fiyero clutched at his sore throat as his involuntary groan of discomfort caused his tonsils to feel as though they were on fire. He had been struck down with tonsillitis nearly a week ago and he appeared to be showing no signs of improving any time soon. He pushed the heavy covers off himself, suddenly feeling hot. He passed a hand over his sweat-coated brow. How he wished to be inside an ice-cream freezer at that very moment.
"Fiyero?" a voice whispered.
Fiyero turned his head to see his girlfriend quietly enter the room, a bowl of soup in her hands. He smiled at her weakly.
Elphaba shut the door behind her and moved to stand beside the bed. Taking in the scene before her, Elphaba frowned and set the bowl on the nightstand. "Fiyero, you know you're supposed to keep yourself warm," she chided gently, tugging the bedspread back into place. "You don't want to make yourself worse."
Fiyero reached toward his nightstand and grasped a notebook and pen, then quickly scribbled down, 'I AM warm. I'm so warm, I'm HOT!'
Elphaba read it and raised a brow. "You can write!" she exclaimed in mock surprise.
Fiyero glared at her as best he could, the meaning clear in his eyes: "Ha-ha, very funny."
"Okay," Elphaba said, changing the subject, "let's see if you can get some lunch down." She picked up the bowl and, once Fiyero was comfortably sitting upright, began spooning the warm liquid into his mouth. "You know," she began casually when Fiyero had finished, "it's odd having you so quiet. It's kind of nice. Well, almost nice," she amended. "Although, and I never thought I'd ever hear myself say this, but I kind of miss hearing your voice." She set the bowl aside and picked up a cool, damp cloth, smoothing it over her boyfriend's clammy forehead.
Fiyero sighed, nodding in agreement. Tonsillitis was so not fun.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own either of the characters mentioned in the above story; they belong in their entirety to L. Frank Baum and Gregory Maguire. I DO, however, own the story, which is protected in my name under Australian Copyright Law dating back to 2012.