Mrs. Forman had decided that it was the flu.
Jackie had noticed something was off days before it was official, sitting in her boyfriend's lap while they and their friends sat around the basement. With her back against his chest, she could feel his breathing, and unlike always, it had felt a bit heavy and uneven, as if he couldn't get enough air in. He'd been a bit isolated from the rest of the group as well, preferring to stay in Eric's basement rather than catch a movie or get some fries at the Hub. He denied it, of course, though with every "I'm fine, Jackie." he looked a bit less confident than before.
It was strange to feel so protective over her boyfriend. She had always thought it should be the other way around, the boy caring and protecting the girl while she pleased her man. It wasn't that she felt she had to, but every time she walked into his drafty bedroom and caught him sleeping, she became just a bit more heartbroken than before. She wanted to care for him. She needed to care for him.
There were times when the two just stayed together, Steven laying in his cot and Jackie sitting on the floor beside him. Lying next to him was too risky; Mrs. Forman could run down at any minute with some more medicine or soup. Jackie would sometimes run her hands through his hair, and she could feel the warmth from his fever radiating off her boyfriend's scalp. His face would be towards her, his nose pink and the rest a ghostly pale. Steven wasn't one to get sick, other than the occasional runny nose or headache, but he had spent the past four days laying in his bed doing absolutely nothing.
Their friends hadn't been around much since Kitty had announced that Steven was ill. They figured that he wanted his privacy, rightfully so, and preferred to find out what was going on by asking Jackie or Eric's mom how Hyde was doing. Jackie didn't blame them for not doing anything, if this had happened to, say, Eric, she probably would've done the same, not helping and occasionally asking Donna how that stick boyfriend of hers was doing.
And while it was nice to spend some time completely alone with her boyfriend, not even having to worry about looking nice or sexy or anything because the chances of them doing it were about one in a million, Steven just seemed to be getting worse and worse. At one in the morning, when everyone was telling her to go home (well, to Donna's house), she found her boyfriend pleading for another few minutes together. Donna didn't believe Jackie when she had told her this, saying something about Hyde's fever making him delusional. And as much as Jackie didn't think that that was true, it was entirely possible considering that the lowest Steven's fever had dipped in the past week was just a bit over one hundred, and even then he looked no better than before. Mr. Forman had completely given up trying to make Steven go to school. The first three days he had tried, but Steven could barely stand, much less walk on his own.
The worst of it was probably on the sixth day of Steven's bedridden time. On top of his rare insomnia, their friends hadn't gone out that day, making the basement noisy for the first time in days. Mrs. Forman kept checking on Steven and trying to get him to eat something, despite him making it clear he wasn't hungry. He nearly threw up after just one spoonful of Kitty's chicken soup, and she still seemed to think that it would be a good idea to feed him more. Jackie found herself comforting him as the day went on, a complete change of roles in their relationship. Steven had always been there for her, comforting her, even before they were together, and now she had to do the same for him.
Steven didn't complain too much, always asking nicely when he needed another blanket or some water. And when Eric would occasionally pop in, Steven would jokingly order him around, but everyone understood. That was a part of their friendship. If Steven were to ever sincerely say "Forman, can you please get…" Jackie would have driven him straight to the hospital.
It wasn't until nine days after Kitty had declared Hyde sick that he actually began to feel substantially better. Even then, he was still sneezing every few minutes and suffering from coughing fits, but he was better. His head felt less heavy and he no longer had the urge to sleep for twenty four hours a day. Jackie was sitting by him, as she had been for the past week and a half, taking his temperature and talking to him as if nothing were wrong. Funny, he had always hated sympathy, he had trouble letting even Mrs. Forman take care of him, but he didn't really mind Jackie babying him. It wasn't like he planned to spend the rest of his life in bed, but it was cute how Jackie was trying to be nice when he wasn't feeling well.
Jackie had never felt more relieved in her life. Steven finally seemed to be doing alright, enough that he would leave his room and actually communicate with people other than her and Mrs. Forman. It wasn't perfect; Steven told her that his head still kind of hurt and their friends wouldn't leave him alone, but she felt so much more comfortable now than she did when she was worrying about whether or not Steven would be rushed to the hospital while she was in school or asleep. He held her close when she sat on his lap; at first they'd been a bit nervous since Steven was still sick and all, but the two had spent basically the past two weeks in the same room together. The damage was done. She was just glad that Steven was okay.
Jackie did end up feeling a bit ill a few days later, nothing too bad, just a cold. Steven told her that it was her fault for spending so much time with him, and she just smiled, remembering how he'd begged for five more minutes while he was sick. Steven denied it, hell, maybe didn't even remember it. Maybe he had been delusional after all. Or maybe he knew exactly what she was talking about.