Sick Day

There's a bug goin' around my house… so this came out. SD Gundam belongs to Bandai, by the way.

At first it just sounded like someone coughing, and Shute was only woken up for a second. The coughing persisted, however, and he found it had to fall completely back asleep.

"Shuute…"

"Huh?" The boy lifted his head from the pillow. "What was that?"

He was answered by more coughing, now louder and wetter than before. Shute scratched the spot on his back where his pajama tags were tickling him and rolled over. "Almost sounded like my name-"

"(Cough! Cough-) SHUU-HUU-HUUTE!"

Captain's voice smacked the boy awake. Shute raced down the hallways, past the now-awake Bakunetsumaru and Zero, straight to Captain's room. He stopped himself on the first solid object he hit-

There was Captain's recharging station, a large metal cylinder not unlike the plastic containers at the bank that reached from the floor to the ceiling. It was specially designed just for Captain, with special restraints to keep him from leaving the tube until he was fully charged (Captain had a problem with sleepwalking),

And there also was Captain, slumped in his recharging station. His eyes were framed with red and had lost their usual luster. Even as Shute walked in, the Gundam would double over in violent coughing fits, restraints groaning in protest. Everything that wasn't a cough was a heart-wrenching, choked attempt at a breath. It almost sounded as if someone was trying to strangle the Gundam.

"CAPTAIN!" Shute clutched his friend's head protectively. His Gundanium was hot to the touch, so much it nearly hurt, but Shute didn't let go. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Shute…" Captain attempted to squeeze out between coughs. "I am (cough cough) experiencing a pre-HES-sure in my chest, and I (cough) I ca-HAN'T breathe-"

Another coughing fit nearly wrenched him from the tube, the bolts on his left arm clamp cracking out from their nook. Shute panicked and tried to cradle Captain on his shoulder, hoping to calm him down; meanwhile, Zero and Baku had rushed into the room and were pushing against their leader, hoping to calm him down.

"Calm… down… Captain…" Zero groaned.

Baku, pushing with his back, grunted in between shoves. "You… just have… the flu…"

"I (COUGH COUGH) can't breathe!"

Shute shouted over the Gundams, "CAPTAIN, YOU DON'T NEED TO BREATHE!"

Immediately, Captain stopped. He kept coughing, of course, but his panicked flailing was now replaced by nervous shivering and a blank expression on his face. Captain sunk back into his recharging tube. "You are right… I don't…"

Zero and Baku both growled and turned to leave, Shute staying next to Captain.

"You're not gonna leave him, are you?"

"Shute, it's three in the morning!" Zero cried with a dramatic roll of his head. "If we do not sleep, we will suffer the same fate as Captain!"

"W'll that doesn't mean you can just leave him all alone!" Shute defended.

"Yes it does. Watch us." Bakunetsumaru signaled to Zero to walk out with him. Just as they reached the door-

"I bet your parents never left you alone when you were sick."

They froze. Captain coughed again.

Zero sighed, shoulders falling. "By Maana…"

Baku turned back. "This is gonna be a long night…"

&&&

Shute went over Captain's favorite Pokemon comforter one more time, checking to make sure he hadn't missed a single place to tuck Captain in. "Now you stay all bundled up like that, and we'll find something to watch on TV, okay?"

Captain nodded, his body still shivering like a scared Chihauhau but his coughing finally subdued. "Thank you, Shute."

Shute settled himself on the other end of the sofa, tucking his knees under his pajama top. The break room of the Gundamusai was eerily quiet, not helped by the piercing darkness that came from every window. The only light now was the warming television set and the miniscule glow of the Gundam's eyes. Shute laughed to himself, remarking how much it was like a gag in an old Looney Tunes cartoon, but the Gundams didn't get it and the matter was soon dropped.

"This is ridiculous," Baku grumped, tucking his legs into the armchair with him. "Why are we even awake? We're just going to get sick too!"

"Self-sacrifice is a pillar of friendship, my dear Bakunetsumaru." Zero bundled a collection of pillows around him and settled into the armchair on the other side of the sofa.

Baku shifted his weight. "You look like a bird."

"Shut up."

"Okay, let's see what's on…" Shute began to flip the channels. "Lessee, infomercial, infomercial, infomercial…" His voice became slightly less chipper. "Infomercial, infomercial, public access, static, static, informercial- What the-?"

"WAH!" Zero turned the TV off with a snap of his fingers. The room went pitch-black save for the Gundam's eyes.

"What was that?"

"Uh- nothing!"

"Zero, why do we have that channel?"

"That's none of your business, Bakunetsumaru!"

"You know that channel is supposed to be blocked!"

"Oh, is that the one that's always scrambled and stuff?"

"You have an addiction, Zero-"

"OKAY! Okay! I know! I-I-I just caught it by accident, I know it's wrong, but I can't look away! I just can't!"

"Zero, no! Shute's right here!"

Zero immediately snapped the television back to QVC. "Look at it! It's a neck exerciser! It gets rid of double chins and neck fat!"

It was quiet.

"YOU DON'T HAVE FAT!" Baku screamed. "YOU'RE A GUNDAM!"

"… Ow…"

Baku jumped in his seat. "Sorry, Captain."

"Loud noises hurt…" Captain began to lift himself from the sofa. "I am not sleepy anymore. Maybe I should eat something…" He promptly collapsed again, curling into a quaking ball.

"Aw, Captain…" squeaked Shute in a decent imitation of his mother. "You just stay here and we'll cook you something, okay?"

It was quiet again. Zero and Baku gulped. "Cook?"

&&&

Captain was lured into the kitchen by the smell of Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup.

Captain was chased out of the kitchen by the smoke alarm and Zero screaming, "HOW IT IS POSSIBLE TO BURN A SOUP?!"

&&&

"There's nothing better for a stomachache than crackers and Sprite," Shute assured his Gundam friend, handing him the plate of Club crackers and a can of soda.

"But it is my respiratory tract that hurts," Captain stated. "And this is not Sprite, it is lemon-lime Shasta."

"Captain, please, just go with it," Shute pleaded, "RAIMI's not gonna cook for us for another hour."

The Gundam nodded. "Thank you, Shute."

The two waited in the break room for Zero and Bakunetsumaru to finish cleaning the kitchen. The silence was uncomfortable, unusual for the two, and Shute tried to break it many times.

"How do you feel now, Captain?"

"… I do not wish to distress you, Shute."

"Why would you?"

"I feel like I am going to die…"

Silence again.

"Hey, Captain?"

"Yes, Shute."

"Why do you like that blanket so much?"

"It smells like you."

"… ew…"

"Sorry."

Uncomfortable silence. Shute wiggled in his chair.

"Shute?"

"Yeah, Captain?"

"Do you wish to turn the television back on?"

"… I'm kind of afraid to."

"Point taken."

Easier silence. Captain was still shivering.

"Hey, Captain?"

"Yes, Shute?"

"Who was the blonde lady from 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks'?"

"Angela Landsbury."

"I thought that was the woman from 'The Sound of Music'."

"No, that was Julie Andrews."

"Oh, okay…"

Better silence. Shute put his head on Captain's hip.

Zero and Bakunetsumaru ran through the room. Bakunetsumaru was wearing a bucket on his head, sopping wet, and laughing his head off. Zero chased after him, brandishing a mop and a Swiffer and screaming various obscenities in French.

Then it was quiet again.

"Shute?"

"Yeah, Captain?

"Thank you for taking care of me."

"Your welcome, Captain."

"I think I am going to fall asleep here, if you don't mind."

"That's okay."

"Good night."

"G'night."

Comfortable silence.

…

"(COUGH COUGH COUGH)!"

"Maybe we need to get you some medicine, Captain."

&&&

Captain eyed the red, gooey liquid Shute was pouring from the bottle suspiciously. "It looks like blood."

"It's not." Shute turned his nose away from the ghastly-smelling liquid. "Hold your nose."

"Why?"

Shute put the tiny cup up to Captain's face, inviting him to take it-

The smell! The undeniable reek! It stabbed itself into Captain's air vents and filled his head, somehow sucking everything else out of his cavity. He cupped his hands over his mouth, and his red-tinged eyes quickly went green.

&&&

"I do not like that 'medicine' you gave me, Shute, and I would rather you never let it into my olfactory range ever again." Captain looked down at his feet in the shower. "Vomiting is painful…"

"Yeah…" Shute groaned. "I kinda know."

"If it makes you feel any better, I am not sick anymore."

"Well, whoopee," Bakunetsumaru growled from his shower stall. "Maybe we should have thought about making him throw up all over us EARLIER!"

"Bakunetsumaru, please!" Zero whined from the other side of the room. "Just- don't, you'll start a chain reaction of… vomiting, eeeueuuggghhh…"

Shute tried to stand up for his friend. "It's not so bad once you wash the smell off…"

"Oh yeah, the smell is nothing compared to the little bits of ramen noodles and BILE that stick into the crevices of your armor-"

"Oh- Maana! BAKU!"

There was a sound of water splashing, followed by Zero retching in the other bathroom. Captain lowered his head guiltily. "I am sorry."

"Let's just go back to bed," Shute groaned. "We'll feel better in the mor-hor-(Cough cough!)"

Deathly quiet.

"NOT AGAIN!" Zero wailed.

Baku grabbed a towel and left the shower. "I'll go rinse out the bucket…"

"Oh, Maana- ga- (blearghch!) I am going to kill you, Bakunetsumaru!"

Sick nights are not a fun experience at my house.