Disclaimer: I do not own anything of CSI. If I did, then things would be a lot different.

A/N: All of my thanks to my Beta Alethea27. This was just an idea that popped into my head last month. I hope you like it. Nurse Ratchet and Annie Wilkes are the creations of Ken Kesey and Stephen King. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GEORGE EADS WHO TURNS 47 TODAY!

Groping You Through the Vicks

Nick Stokes knew he was dying. There was no other explanation for the way he was feeling. Despite his grogginess, Nick could still recall when everything started to go bad for him. Three weeks ago, he had been assigned to investigate an apparent car accident at Lake Mead which later turned out to be a homicide investigation. Nick ended up working through the night retrieving body parts and other evidence from the lake. The cold lake water combined with the cool weather brought on the first case of the sniffles and shakes which Nick did not pay much attention to.

"You've got the flu," Greg told him four nights later as he watched Nick toss his sixth tissue of the night into the trash.

"I'm not getting the flu G," Nick answered from his office desk where he was going over the results from the Lake Mead case. "I don't get the flu."

"Trust me, you're going to have the flu," Greg replied as he took a sip of his beloved Blue Hawaiian.

"And how exactly can you tell?"

"I talked to my Nana this morning and she told me you where going to be sick with the flu."

Nick could not help but smirk at his lover's statement about his beloved grandmother's gift of second sight. While he may believed the women possessed such a power, the Texan was a bit more skeptical. "Well I hate to tell you Greg," Nick began as he tapped his pen against the desk's surface "but I think your Nana got her tea leaves wrong."

"My Nana doesn't read tea leaves," Greg replied with a roll of his eyes and stepped out into the lab hallway. Nick just shook his head. Before he could turn his attention back to his work, he heard a sarcastic voice call back, "She's clairvoyant not a fortune-teller."

Nick now realized he should not have brushed off Greg's concerns. In the days that followed, his sniffles and sneezes eventually turned into a constant
coughing and running nose. Greg tried to get Nick to go to the doctor but the stubborn Texan in him still refused to listen. A couple of days later, Nick was talking to his mom and she go involved.

"Sounds like you got the flu, honey," Jillian Stokes said after hearing her son's coughing and stuffed-up tone.

"Now you sound like Greg. According to him and his Nana that's what I have.

"Well it sounds like their right. You need to get to bed and stay there."

"Ah come on Ma, I've never had the flu in my life. Why would I get it now?"

Jillian silently nodded to herself. Nick calling her Ma was something he unconsciously did only when he was sick. "If you want Nicky, I can come out for a few days and help take of things."

"You don't need to 'cause I'm fine Ma. I'm fine, Greg's fine, everything here is fine."

'Stubborn and whining. He's defiantly sick,' Jillian thought to herself but she decided not to push it. "Alright dear. Well, I'm here if you two need anything. I'll talk to you later Nicky."

"Alright Ma, I love yah. Bye."

"Bye dear." No soon had Nick hung up that Jillian pressed the auto-dial for Greg's cellphone.

Nick continued to get worse. His friends soon joined Greg in voicing their concerns for his well-being but Nick continued to state he was not sick. It was not until Grissom finally told him if he did not go see the doctor that he would be pulled from fieldwork; Nick finally relented and allowed Greg to take him to the doctor's. After a short examination, the doctor diagnosed Nick was indeed suffering from the flu. Nick was too tired to acknowledge the I-told-you-so look Greg gave him.

Now days later, Nick was certain he was indeed at death's door. His body felt sore and his joints ached. Nick could not move his arms or legs without feeling a dull pain causing him to stay in a huddled position in his bed. His forehead burned, despite the cold sweat that formed, and the rest of his skin felt like it was burning up all the while his insides felt ice-cold. At times Nick would go in and out of conscious, unaware of how much time had passed between shutting and opening his eyes. His breathing was a slow labored wheeze that was hampered by having only one working nostril. The worst of it was the coughing fits that attacked him every few minuets. Each attack made his lurch up and arch over as his body tried to expel both of his lounges by hacking them out. Medicine seemed to have little effect fighting it, making Nick more and more irritable.

Worst of all, he was separated from Greg. He was all alone in their bedroom while Greg was sleeping in the spare bedroom. It had days since they held each other and kissed. It had been even longer since they had sex. Greg appeared to be handling it pretty well, but that was only because Nick had noticed the box containing all their sex toys was missing from under their bed. All of a sudden, Nick felt a tickling feeling building up in his nose and he was able to reach for a Kleenex before a series of powerful sneezes shook his entire body.

"I hate being sick," Nick said after blowing his nose and tossing the tissue aside.

"I told you where going to have the flu," Greg said as he walked into their bedroom with a tray. "My Nana is never wrong."

"Well, you can be sure to tell her at my funeral," Nick groaned as he tried to push himself up against the pillows.

"And who's fault is that may I ask?" Greg asked as he set the tray down and helped Nick. "Your mother, my Nana and I all told you where sick but did you listen to any of us? No. And why? Because you're a stubborn pack mule."

Nick narrowed his eyes at his husband. "You've been talking to my mom haven't you?"

"Of course. How else would I have gotten the recipe for this?" Greg asked with a smile as he set down the tray which had two bowl of hot soup in-front of the sick CSI.

"Is that my mom's turkey noodle soup?"

"Yep. I got the recipe from her yesterday," Greg answered as he helped himself to one of the bowls. "I still think it's wired she made you turkey noodle soup instead of chicken."

"Well she's always said that turkey did a better job at getting us well than chicken did," Nick answered as he brought up a spoon full of the soup to his lips and blew it before placing it in his mouth. The warm and rich taste of the soup brought back many memories of his youth as it warmed him up.

The two ate their soup in silence with only the occasional sniffle from Nick. Once they were done, Greg took the bowls and tray away. When he returned he was carrying a glass of water and Nick's flu medicine. After he took his medicine and drank the water, Nick was ready to lie down and sleep but Greg suddenly pulled back his covers.

"Arms up."

"What?"

"You heard me Mister, arms up," Greg motioned.

Nick did as he was told and Grey yanked his shirt off and tossed it towards the laundry basket. Nick could feel the cool air against his warm skin and felt his nipples starting to harden. As he was about to ask Greg what he was supposes to do, he saw the younger man pull a blue jar out of his pocket and his face broke out in a grimace.

"Oh no G, not that," the Texan moaned.

"Oh yes...this," Greg replied as he started to take off the lid to the Vicks Vapo Rub. "It'll help with your coughing and aches. My mom would put this on me every time I was sick and it always worked for me."

When the strong scent reached his nose, Nick winced and felt his eyes starting to water.

"I don't know why you're complaining. You told me both your mom and grandma would rub Eucalyptus leaves on your chest when you and your siblings had colds. That's exactly what this is."

"No it isn't That stuff is terrible. It burns your eye and lips."

"You're not supposes to eat it Nicky," Greg chuckled.

Nick crossed his arms against his chest and narrowed his eyes. "I don't care what you say. There's no way in hell I'm going to allow you to put even a bit of that goop on me."

"Fine. If that's how you want it," Greg said as he leaned in close, "but let me tell you this Nicky, if you don't allow me to put this on you; I will call my mother and have her come out here to take care of you."

At first Nick was sure Greg was kidding but when he saw the steely look in his husband's eyes, Nick knew he was serious. "All right," he said in defeat. Having Greg or his mom there to take care of him while he was sick was one thing, but Greg's mother was a totally different thing. When it came to care-giving, Irene Sanders was a combination of Nurse Ratchet and Annie Wilkes all rolled into one.

Greg smiled as he sat down behind Nick. Scooping out a great deal of the Vicks, he started to rub the ointment over Nick's body. First Greg started with Nick's back and he worked his way up to the broad shoulders and neck. Once he had finished, Greg got up and moved to sit in-front of Nick. The Texan closed his eyes and tried to hold his breath as he felt the ointment being rub all over his chest. After a while, Nick felt something was off. Fist off, Greg was spending more time on his chest then he did on his back, shoulders and neck. And secondly, Greg was now using two hand instead of one. Suddenly, he felt his left nipple being tweaked. Opening his eyes, he saw Greg was looking directly at his chest with a hungry and longing look in his eyes.

"What the...Greg, what are you doing?"

"I can't help it. I miss these," Greg moaned with lust as he squeezed Nick's pecs.

"I'm lying here sick with the flu and you're groping me with your Vicks covered hands," Nick declared as he swatted Greg's hands away.

Greg looked at him with a deflated look. "It's been so long since we've had sex. You have no idea how much I want to roam all over those massive pecs of yours. Feel that smooth skin. Lick every inch of that skin. Bite those nipples till you scream -"

"So you decided to feel me up while you where putting Vicks on me?" Nick asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Greg shrugged his shoulders. "Well I had originally thought about going for something else but like you said, this stuff can burn on more sensitive areas."

Nick could only shake his head. "Only you," and he leaned in to lightly kiss Greg on the cheek and then on the lips where he managed to work his tongue into Greg's mouth. "There."

"There what?" Greg asked as he wiped his mouth with his arm. "Are you trying to get me sick too?"

"At least that way we can have nasty sick sex together," Nick answered in a classic Kinky-Greg Sanders-way.

"That sounds like a plan," Greg answered gleefully as he moved in to return the kiss but was interrupted by a cough and then a yawn. He could tell the medicine was taking hold of Nick. "I guess that'll just have to wait for another time.

Nick nodded as he laid back against the pillows and closed his eyes. Greg replaced the lid to the Vicks and got up to leave Nick to rest. But before he covered him up with the blanket, he allowed his eyes to roam over Nick's muscular chest and could feel his mouth starting to water.

"Well, at least I have our toys and the nude pics I took of Nicky on our last camping trip to get me through the next few day," Greg quietly said with a sly smile as he covered up his slumbering husband.

-Author's Notes-

Hoped you enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to what you thought.

Nurse Ratchet is the tyrannical nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Annie Wilkes is the sadistic stalker from Misery. I thought they would be hilarious for Nick to think of those two characters when threatened with the prospect of being taken care of by Greg's mom.

I've had this done for the past two months and have only now had the time to put it up but I think this is a great way to celebrate George Ead's birthday, don't you? School's started up again so this may be the last thing I post for the next few weeks but rest assured that I'm working on the next chapter for California and Enigma.

As always, I look forward to hearing back from you.