Disclaimer - I do not own degrassi. I wish I did though.
Clare and Eli were seated on the sofa in the Goldsworthy living room talking about books while Adam lay down in the corner trying to concentrate his newest comic. He wished they would stop talking as it was making him feel dizzy.
"See, but I think it was romantic." Eli said, louder than Adam's head could take.
"No. It was clearly sexist and wrong. I think what it was meant to symbolise…"
Clare and Eli were speaking much too loud for Adam's liking and he groaned in an attempt to get them to stop.
"Be careful, I think Adam's gonna die of boredom. I bet he wishes he was this sophisticated," Eli joked to Clare, who had sensed her comic book loving friend's uncomfortableness and didn't laugh.
"Shut up." Adam snapped, not meaning to sound as harsh as he did.
"Gee, I was just joking. What's your deal today? Why are you so crabby?" Eli replied, then decided to change the subject and turned to Clare who was eyeing Adam suspiciously, "You want a drink?"
"Yes thank you. Do you have any soda?" Clare replied.
"Adam?" he questioned, "you want anything?"
"Ibuprofen?" he called.
Eli mentally groaned and said, "What's wrong with you?"
"I have a killer headache," Adam groaned.
"Knowing you, you're probably just hungry" Eli jabbed.
"Shut up asshole and get me the freaking medicine." demanded Adam.
"Yes your highness," the older boy laughed and bowed.
"Wait a minute. If I'm the king, does that make you the court jester?"
"You're pushing it, Torres." Eli seethed
"Then don't be such a smartass and give me the damn medicine."
Muttering profanities, Eli got his girlfriend and bestfriend their requested items from the kitchen.
"Thank you." Clare said sweetly when Eli passed her a can of pepsi, unlike Adam who just glared at him. The raven haired boy put his hands up in surrender.
"I'm putting up my white flag." he announced.
"Good. You would've lost anyway." Adam muttered.
"Eli, could you be a little quieter?" Clare said, gesturing to Adam who had started to get more pale.
Adam gave a nod of thanks to Clare, "Yeah. No seriously my head is killing me."
Eli whispered something to Clare who then dragged him out the room.
"He's faking, obviously." Eli smirked, "he's been lazy all day."
"Eli, I honestly don't think he is. Adam never gets sick."
"Exactly my point. This is why he's faking." the boy protested
"Urggh my head!" the two heard their best friend in the other room.
Clare raised one eyebrow at Eli who sighed, "I'm telling you, he's faking." Eli went back into the room where Adam was massaging his temples, half asleep. Clare turned on a movie and Eli snuggled up with her.
"You know, Clare," Eli said between kisses, "My parents are out of town so you could stay over if you want."
"I'd like that," Clare smiled, "but I'm sleeping down here. You know my rules, Elijah."
"Please, I don't want you to be down here alone." her boyfriend pushed.
"I'll be fine. Besides, Adam's here."
Eli glanced to the corner of the room where his best friend was snoring louder than usual. He sighed, gave Clare a kiss goodnight and retired upstairs to bed.
-Misfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfitsmisfits-
Clare woke up unexpectedly at 3am. After checking the time on her phone, she realised what had woken her up. On Eli's beanbag Adam was thrashing about, a low moan escaping from his lips followed by half screaming half shouting; he was having a nightmare. The young Edwards slipped off the couch and sat next to her best friend.
"Adam, it's okay. Wake up for me." she soothed.
He continued thrashing as Clare put her hand on his forehead, which was boiling.
"Adam!" she said a little louder, he was getting more and more distressed now, and, as Clare leaned over to turn on the lamp, she noticed beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Adam, it's Clare. You're okay, you're just dreaming. This isn't real, you're okay."
The thrashing continued and Clare knew if she couldn't stop him he'd hurt himself. She shook him hard and said his name even louder, wondering how Eli was still asleep through all the noise she had caused. Adam shot upright, his breathing jagged, looking around with frantic eyes and trying to take in the surroundings.
"It's okay. You're at Eli's house, it's the middle of the night, you were just dreaming."
Adam's breathing slowed and he leaned on Clare for support due to the dizziness, clinging to Eli's old tshirt she was wearing.
"It's okay. You're alright, deep breaths."
He was just starting to relax when his muscles started to tense up again.
"C-C-Clare" he started, a look of panic on his face, his eyes darting around the room.
It took Clare a moment to realise what he was searching for. Just in time, she grabbed the bin from underneath Bullfrog's desk and held it under his chin. He looked her, his eyes watery and apologetic, before heaving into the bin. He took a deep breath and the girl thought he might be finished but he vomited again and again for what felt like hours (but was more likely a few minutes). The youngest Edwards child place her hand on her friends back and began rubbing it in circles slowly.
"Shh. You're okay, just get it out Adam, you'll feel much better."
She sat their watching him as he was struggling to catch his breath, panicking himself so she was momentarily relieved when the vomiting stopped for a little while. Adam remained over the bin with his head in his hands, panting while his eyes watered from the burning stomach acid.
"Are you done?" Clare asked quietly.
Adam just shook his head and as if on cue gagged once more, which was followed by a round of vomiting. When he finally finished, he flopped against the couch, exhausted. Clare reached out and felt his forehead again, his fever was still raging.
"How long have you been feeling bad?" Clare asked.
"Just since my head started hurting after school, but I've been tired since I woke up this morning." he croaked.
Clare, suddenly feeling motherly towards the ill boy, pulled him to close to her chest.
"Now," she said, "is this a normal headache or a migraine?"
She got a shrug in response and took it as a migraine. She continued to question him but all she got was shrugs and soon she realised she wasn't going to get a full description of his symptoms any time soon, but his uncharacteristic quietness showed he was feeling pretty bad.
"Lie down on the couch, okay," Clare whispered, not wanting to make his head any worse or wake up Eli, "I think you're able to have another ibuprofen tablet now. I'll be right back."
He grabbed on to her hand, he was clearly still shaken up from his nightmare to show this much clinginess. She was about to turn the main lights on when Adam muttered not to and covered his eyes. Clare rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the ibuprofen tablets, a glass of water, a thermometer and a bucket; she knew Eli would be angry about Adam even being in his house while ill let alone filling his bin with his stomach acid. Eli had a thing about illnesses and he wouldn't even speak to Clare when she had a small cold. She crept back into the room, hoping Adam had gone back to sleep and not wanting to risk waking him.
However, Adam was no longer on the couch.
"Adam?" she called as quietly as she could.
Suddenly, she heard the unmistakeable sound of retching coming from the bathroom. She winced. This was going to be a long night.
She knocked gently on the door, "Hey, can I come in?"
"I'll be out in a second." Adam said between gags.
The vomiting continued and Clare wasn't sure what she could do for her best friend. The splashing stopped and she heard a groan that sounded a little like cursing.
"Adam?" she repeated herself.
He sounded like he was going to say something but was cut off by the next round of vomiting. Clare decided she had heard enough and reached for the door handle. She sighed. It was locked. She heard Adam hiss in pain.
"Can you open the door for me?" She asked.
She didn't get a response but a few minutes later she heard the lock click back, quickly followed by more retching. Clare pushed open the door. Adam was hunched over the toilet in front of him, body visibly shaking and struggling to hold his head up with one hand while clutching his stomach with the other. Clare hardly ever saw him so fragile and it broke her heart. She sat down beside him and placed her hand on his back. She sensed the the redness on his cheeks wasn't just from the fever but embarrassment as well, he couldn't look at her.
"You don't have to be here, Clare." he said shakily, his eyes fixated on the toilet.
"I'm not going anywhere," the girl sighed, "You're too ill for me to get you home and I doubt Eli's gonna help out, plus you can't be by yourself right now."
"Yeah, but…" he started but was cut off by yet another round of retching but there wasn't much left now. His head started to drop and Clare gently pulled it back, cupping his burning forehead in her hand. She noticed he'd stopped vomiting and had just begun to dry heave, his face screwed up in pain.
"Adam, breathe. Come on, it's okay, deep breaths."
Eventually, Adam's body softened.
"You done?" Clare whispered.
All he could do was nod slowly.
"Sorry." he croaked as his best friend flushed the toilet. Clare shushed him.
"You think you'll be able to make it to the couch?" she asked.
He looked a little uneasy for a second and glanced at the toilet.
Reading his mind, Clare added,"Don't worry, there's a bucket in there already."
As Adam got closer to standing he squeezed his eyes shut in pain. Clare slid her arm round his waist and guided him forwards. He steadied himself, leaning on Clare for support.
Adam looked down at the floor. It was bad enough that Clare had to hold him up in the bathroom and he really didn't want her to see him more miserable. When he tried to stand up then was when he realised this was more than a bug, or at least it was a really bad bug. His migraine was radiating down his spine, the pain making him more nauseous and he could barely see for the spinning in front of him. When the two sat on the couch, Adam instinctively covered his eyes with his hands, shielding them from the lamp.
"Is your head really that bad?" Clare asked, her voice dripping with concern.
Adam tried to respond but a low moan just escaped his lips. This wasn't normal, he wasn't normally the type to get really sick, he could usually just shake it off. If he was going to be honest with himself, he was getting quite scared. He just wanted to curl up and sleep off whatever it was.
By the time Adam was seated properly on the bed he was dripping with sweat. He was clearly trying to conceal how much pain he was in and Clare thought she ought to drag him straight back home to Audra Torres in the morning. But then she remembered how controlling Adam's mother could be and decided against it. The two sat on the couch together and Adam almost immediately lay back into the cushions. Clare thought for a minute about letting him sleep but she knew if she didn't get some medicine into him to bring his fever down then they'd both pay for it later.
"Can you stay awake for another two minutes?" the girl asked.
He fluttered his eyes open, squinting again as she placed a thermometer into his mouth.
"102.9" Clare remarked, "no wonder you had a nightmare."
At the word 'nightmare' Adam tensed. Shoot! She'd reminded him that falling asleep might not be the respite he was hoping for.
"Don't worry, Adam." the girl said quickly, "I'll be in the room and I promise to wake you up if you so much as even flinch.
Adam smiled slightly at this and then shivered. Clare passed him a blanket which he snuggled into. Adam was so quiet and it was worrying Clare. This was not like him, Adam Torres didn't do quiet. But at least he was compliant. He took the ibuprofen and, much to both of their relief, didn't puke it up. He was shivering so violently and pulling the blanket around him, despite dripping in sweat. Clare hoped the ibuprofen would kick in soon. She climbed on to the beanbag as Adam had taken her space on the couch and checked her phone. 5:45 am. Eli would be up in a few hours and she wasn't sure if he'd make Adam leave or not. Eli Goldsworthy was usually a sweet, caring guy, Clare had fallen deep in love with him after all, but he got really strange around sicknesses, especially in the morning.
"Clare" Adam croaked, his voice barely a whisper.
"You ok?" she asked worriedly.
"C-Can you…" he gave up, a combination of exhaustion and embarrassment, and rolled up in a ball.
Clare had no idea what he was saying but, concerned, she curled up the over side of the coach.
The next time Clare woke up she saw that Adam was drenched. His hair was stuck against his forehead and when she brushed it of his face she could feel the heat radiating off it. He was clearly not feeling better. He shifted uncomfortably, starting to shiver again. The girl watched her best friend's chest rising and falling too quickly as if he's having a hard time getting oxygen in. He looked so vulnerable.
Clare was making herself some coffee in the Goldsworthy kitchen when she heard a faint cough in other room which quickly turned into a more chesty loud hack and by the time she got into the living room Adam was in a full blown coughing fit. His eyes were squeezed shut in pain and he was gripping his head with one hand and his head with the other - gasping for breath between coughs.
"C-Clare I'm" he began.
Clare noticed him panic as he couldn't get his words out, "Shh, don't try to talk just breathe, you're okay."
"N-no I," He was broken off by another painful sounding cough,"I'm gonna be sick."
He spluttered it out just in time for Clare to grab the bucket from next to the T.V and hold it beneath his chin. His head is bent low over the bucket and with each cough a stream of vomit poured out his mouth, his back arching each time. Clare wasn't sure what to do, he was shivering violently and struggling to breathe.
"Adam, you need to calm down. Everything is going to be okay."
His vomiting had turned to dry heaving by then.
"There's nothing left, Adam. Just breath."
The girl shifted herself in front of the boy. He was looking down, his face stained with tears, still coughing and dry heaving but slightly less.
"Adam, look at me. It's going to be alright."
Tears were still streaming down his face but his breathing had slowed down.
"Are you feeling better now?" Clare asked hopefully, but she felt like she knew the answer already.
His eyes cast down, "No. Not one bit."
Then Clare realised. Adam Torres. Her best friend who had already been through hell was terrified. He literally felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Every muscle in his body ached.
"Right then, I'm waking up Eli." Clare announce as she walked towards the stairs.
Eli was in his room reading a comic he'd borrowed from Adam. When Clare entered the room he smiled.
"Hey, Clarebear. Have a nice sleep?" He greeted her.
"The little I did have was very pleasant, thank you." she smiled.
"The couch wasn't comfortable enough? I told you to sleep up here with me."
"No, that wasn't it," said Clare, "It's Adam. He's really ill."
Eli groaned, "don't tell me he's still faking that headache."
"He woke up at around 3 and he's been vomiting a lot. He has a fever of 102, Eli!"
Eli suddenly looked concerned, "Really? What has he done without Cece or his mom?"
Clare yawned, "I've been up with him all night."
"Wow, you really are Saint Clare," Eli said, before his small smile turned to a frown, "I-I can't get sick, I have my NYU interview. I'm sorry, Clare. I can't go near him."
Clare held Eli's hand comfortingly. She understood that he couldn't risk getting ill before his interview the next day but he also wanted to stay with his best friend.
"I understand," Clare looked up at her boyfriend, "I can't really move Adam out of here right now but you can go if you want, I'll stay with him like I did last night. Don't worry."
By the time Eli left the house, Adam could barely stay awake long enough to take his ibuprofen. His cheeks were flushed red and his eyes were heavy. Clare handed him a glass of water and he moaned softly but took the pills.
"Audra knows you're unwell." Clare said quietly.
"Clare, I don't feel like getting up right now."
"I know, I know. Your mom actually was convinced that this was the right place for you."
Adam raised his eyebrows in shock, "How did you do that?"
"Well, it was mostly Cece, Bullfrog and Eli - it is their house after all."
Adam smiled. His best friends had done so much for him; Clare had been with him through the night and Eli had managed to get him to stay until he was better. As he drifted into sleep, he felt incredibly lucky to have met these people and smiled a little.
The end. Finally! I was working on this for a really long time. It was going to be my first official fic but it took me quite a long time to do so you get it now!