STUPID BET!
Closing the first aid kit with a long sigh and shaking his head, Murdock declared it was finished. "There is nothing else I can do for you, Face! I'm sorry!"
Bosco grunted his disapproval in reply. "I still believe it would be better for him to go to the hospital!" his tone was rude but the worry was evident in his strong features.
From his prone position, wincing slightly as he moved to look at the Corporal, Face didn't agree with him. "He is in the room, you know? And I told you I'm not going to the hospital."
Murdock and BA exchanged a worried look but didn't try to convince the Lieutenant to follow their advice, they knew how stubborn he was. They hoped Hannibal would not be mad at them when he would discover what had happened to his lover.
"Is it bad?" Face asked then, his voice a little muffled by the cushion he was laying on with his head sideways.
"Yeah, it's bad. But I think you'll be fine in two or three days. You just need to take is easy for while." The pilot replied quietly.
"I don't have three days, Murdock! I have a training session on Monday and I need to be there with Hannibal…"
"I don't think you will be able to move, buddy. Besides, you're having a fever." was the pilot's soft reply. The Captain knew Face took his duties very seriously but he doubted the younger man could withstand a full two days training session in the mountains in that conditions, especially if Hannibal was personally going to direct it. Instinctively, he patted his shoulder in a caring gesture and Face winced and moaned softly in reaction. "Sorry, Face. I wasn't thinking. Try to get some sleep! We will be in the kitchen if you need anything?"
The lieutenant, already sleepy from the medication Murdock administered him, nodded slowly and closed his eyes, hoping not to wake up to an angry Colonel.
Some hours later (Face could not tell how many but it was already dark outside so it must have been almost five hours) the Lieutenant woke up from his drug induced sleep and blinked his eyes open, realizing he was not alone in the room. He was now covered from waist down with a light blanket; he was actually feeling better but his back and particularly his shoulders were hurting him, alternatively itching and burning. Resisting the urge to rub vigorously at them, he focused his attention on the man sitting in the chair near the bed, busy in the reading of some classic novel: he didn't seem angry, despite the scowled eyebrows told him another story. He didn't seem to acknowledge the fact his younger Lieutenant was awake and kept on reading, turning the pages of the book with his long fingers. Face, careful not to move in order not to make any noises and because if he laid perfectly still he didn't hurt that much, used this time to invent a valid motivation for his current situation but unable to find one he involuntarily let out a mall sigh. At that sound, Hannibal dropped the book in his lap and rubber his eyes with the back of his right hand before focusing his attention on the fallen man in the bed.
"Face, you're awake!" he stated. His tone was relieved and he actually smiled.
Face smiled back at him shyly. "Hi, Hannibal".
But the Colonel suddenly became serious and Face could read anger in his eyes, and disappointment. "I just have one question for you, Lieutenant. Why did you need to do this stupid thing?"
Face was ashamed: he knew he had been stupid, the Colonel didn't need to point it out. And since his reputation to the older man's eyes was what Face cared the most, he felt terribly defeated to admit it. He had hoped, at some point, to be able to con him but who was he kidding?
"I asked you a question, Lt!" Hannibal insisted, yet Face couldn't find his voice to answer him. Because, really, what was he supposed to say? The new Lieutenant of Miller's unit and him made a bet and Face won. But the Colonel was still watching him closely.
"I'm sorry, Hannibal. I didn't mean to worry you." Was all he could managed to say.
The colonel grunted and stood up, walking in the room; Face tried to follow his movement with his eyes, but from his prone position it was impossible. He could hear him messing around and searching for something in what he knew was his own bag at the foot of the bed. Then the noises faded and Hannibal materialized in front of him again with a bottle of lotion against skin burns.
"You're just damn lucky the training has been postponed to next Monday! That gives you a full week to recovery… otherwise you should have had two really rough days, kid, with your back in such a state! God, Face, what were you thinking? Didn't you know Taylor's mother was Arabic?"
Face laughed bitterly. No, he didn't know, otherwise he would had never accepted to make a bet with the man.
"I know you like to be in good shape and being tan but didn't you think exposing yourself to the midday sun of the Iraqi desert without protection was too much even for you?" Hannibal continued, his tone now lighter than before.
"Taylor bet against me I wouldn't had spent more than one hour in the sun with this heat. I won: he left after two hours and I did stay three." The younger man explained.
"But Kid, you're seriously in bad shape now! Sometimes I feel I am more your father than your lover!" Hannibal stated with an exaggerate sigh, pouring some ointment in his hands and starting to carefully massage the angry hot red skin of the Lt's back.
Between hissing and gasping, Face survived the experience, knowing it needed to be done anyway but not liking it too. As he was finished, Hannibal checked his temperature, finding the younger man a little hot but definitely better than a few hours ago.
"Try to get some rest, baby. I'll be back in a couple of hours." Hannibal whispered in Face's ear, desperately wanting to hold him but knowing he couldn't right now; so he kissed the tip of his nose and slipped out of the room.
"John?" Face called as the Colonel was about to step out. "I didn't mean to be such a pussy, I'm sorry. But it hurts."
"I know. You've learnt a big lesson today, I'm sure you won't repeat the performance anytime soon."
"I thought you would be mad at me."
"I was and I still think you've been incredibly stupid today but… I love you! "
"I love you, too, John!"
FIN!