Carlos awoke to the sound of groans coming from the other side of the bed. He looked at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was past the time he usually gets up for work, but then quickly realized that it was, in fact, Sunday. He groaned and then rolled over to be greeted with a groan in return.
Cecil, as far as Carlos could tell, was still asleep. Yet he was moaning and shifting around slightly, so Carlos decided to wake from from what he presumed was a bad nightmare. Once Cecil awoke, he looked around for a second before his eyes fell on Carlos and he smiled.
"Good morning," Carlos mumbled, smiling in response. Cecil slowly closed his eyes and parroted the greeting.
"Are you okay? You were groaning in your sleep."
Without a response, Cecil opened his eyes and looked at Carlos before kissing him on the nose. "It's nothing," he assured.
"Are you sure?" Carlos asked concernedly, to which Cecil nodded his head. "Okay, do you want breakfast then?"
Shaking his head, Cecil politely refused, muttering something about nausea and having no appetite. Carlos understood his request and threw another blanket over his boyfriend while telling him to rest before heading to the kitchen to make himself something to eat.
Usually, because they both had Sunday off from work, Carlos and Cecil would go out and do something, like catch a movie or eat a fancy meal or go bowling. However, when Carlos asked what Cecil wanted to do, he merely replied that his stomach wasn't feeling up to doing anything except lie in bed for a little while. When Carlos became once again concerned, though, Cecil played it off as eating something that his stomach hadn't agreed with and promised that they would do something after work one day this week.
But Carlos didn't give up. He went out into their shared study and grabbed his laptop and power cord before returning to the bedroom.
"Now we can catch our Sunday movie in the comfort of our own bed," Carlos said as he fired up Netflix. Cecil smiled and fluffed up both of their pillows for them to be able to see the screen whilst leaning back comfortably against the headboard.
Throughout the course of the day, the pair watched two movies and got through a couple episodes of a television show that was queued up on both of their lists. Overall, Carlos thought, a pretty productive day.
Although, as the day went on, Carlos also noticed that Cecil was becoming more and more fidgety. At one point Carlos asked if Cecil was alright, to which the man in question had responded that his stomach was just still upset.
At the end of the night, which wasn't actually very late, the couple snuggled down under the blankets, allowing Carlos to notice that Cecil was extremely hot and most likely sporting a low-grade fever.
"Are you hot, Ceec?" Carlos asked. Cecil looked up at him and smirked.
"You tell me."
Carlos rolled his eyes with a small smile. "No, I mean, do you feel hot right now? You may have a fever."
"Oh. I don't know. I feel fine. Well, except for my stomach," Cecil told him nonchalantly. But Carlos insisted that he take something to help with the pain and fever overnight. Cecil agreed and Carlos brought him some pills and water before the both of them drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Cecil was not in bed when Carlos awoke to the sound of his alarm. Usually, Carlos would wake up first, do a few things around the house, and then wake Cecil.
This is odd, Carlos thought. I wonder if he is still sick.
He walked out of the bedroom and down the short hallway to the kitchen before he heard a retching noise coming from the bathroom. Carlos went back the way he came and knocked on the door twice before opening it to reveal a disheveled Cecil sitting on the ground in front of the toilet. Carlos dropped down to his knees and put his hands on Cecil's back and arm to try to sooth him a little.
"Ceec, what happened? How long have you been here?" Carlos asked.
"Not long. A few minutes. Nothing's coming out anyways, so I'm fine," Cecil stated.
"I don't think that you're fine—" Carlos started, but Cecil cut him off by standing up with the help of the back of the toilet and also Carlos's arm.
"I promise you, Carlos, that I am fine, that I will be fine enough to go to work, and that you do not have to worry," Cecil stated very matter-of-factly. Carlos just shook his head.
"I don't know, Ceec. . . ." he trailed off, but Cecil's features just softened as he put his hand on Carlos's.
"I'll be okay, Carlos," he insisted. "I promise. You'll be listening to the show anyways, right? You will know instantly if anything goes wrong. And, if it does, I give you permission to drag me out of there and I will stay home until I'm better. Okay?"
"Okay," Carlos agreed reluctantly, not wanting Cecil to go to work at all. Cecil nodded and left the room to get ready for the day as Carlos went out to the kitchen and made them breakfast.
When Cecil came into the kitchen, however, he quickly said that he was going to skip eating anything and tried to run out the door, only to be stopped by Carlos's grasp on his arm.
"You didn't eat anything yesterday, though," Carlos pointed out. "You have to eat something."
"And I will," Cecil countered. "But not right now because I have to get to work. I promise that I'll eat later. You can even quiz me on what it was tonight to prove that I actually followed through."
Carlos slowly let go of Cecil's arm and the latter kissed Carlos goodbye before turning and closing the door behind him. Carlos sighed and went back to eating his breakfast before he got ready for his day.
Cecil seemed to be doing much better that night. He told Carlos that Dana had picked him up some lunch during the weather and he managed to eat it all. He also ate dinner that night and then they both went to bed a little earlier than usual after stressful days at work.
The next morning began with their usual schedule of Carlos waking up first and then waking Cecil up later. Although, Carlos noticed the sweat dripping down from Cecil's forehead and his constant shifting and groaning much akin to a couple nights ago.
Carlos wrinkled his nose in concern and proceeded to wake Cecil up. The man in question looked around blearily for a second before closing his eyes and groaning.
"Ceec," Carlos called quietly and he looked up at him. "Are you alright? Is it your stomach?"
Cecil shook his head, "No just a headache. It's really bright in here."
Even though Carlos didn't believe his boyfriend, he let it go and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Although, the morning progressed much the same as the one before, with Cecil dashing out the door before eating and promising that he will eat later.
Carlos once again sighed and sat down to a lonely breakfast.
Later at work, Carlos sat down to his on-going experiment and switched on the radio. Cecil's show was just about to begin and Carlos always listened to it everyday. Although, Carlos noticed that today's show sounded different. Cecil was speaking slower and it was more breathy, like it was hard for him to breathe.
Carlos listened intently until Cecil announced the weather. Immediately, Carlos called Cecil's cell.
"Cecil, I'm listening to your show. Are you alright? You sound like you can't breathe!" Carlos told him.
"I'm fine, Carlos," Cecil answered. "I'm just tired. Dana's gone to get us lunch again, so maybe that'll wake me up."
Carlos paused and then said, "Okay, but I think that you should go to a doctor after work. I can drive you there. I'll get out early and meet you at the radio station."
"I'm fine, really," Cecil insisted, but Carlos wouldn't have it and eventually got Cecil to agree to see a doctor about it after work.
"Alright then, I'll see you after the broadcast," Carlos said, trying not to sound condescending, but being really glad that Cecil agreed to go to a doctor.
"Okay," Cecil answered. "See you later. Love you."
"Love you, too," Carlos said immediately and they both hung up.
The weather ended and Cecil came back to the broadcast. With only a few more minutes left, Cecil's breathing had gotten worse, to the point of his words becoming slightly slurred and hard to understand.
Carlos told Rachelle, his sort-of second-in-command, that he was leaving right away to pick Cecil up from work.
"Yeah, he sounds awful right now," she told him, as she had been listening to the broadcast as well. "But I'm sure he'll be okay once you guys get to the doctor's," she amended.
At that moment in time, Cecil's voice came back on Rachelle's radio, but it sounded different. Quiet and slow, Cecil attempted to read the first sentence on his news report, but suddenly stopped. Carlos leaned in to try to hear what was going on. Wheels on his desk chair could be heard sliding backwards right before a thump.
Eyes wide, Carlos spun around to look at Rachelle, who was staring right at the radio with her jaw slack, before he ran out the door to his car. He sped down the road towards the station while using his cell phone to call an ambulance.
It took a couple minutes for Carlos to get there, but the ambulance hadn't arrived yet, so he ran inside to find Cecil on the floor in the recording booth.
"Cecil!" Carlos called as he dropped to his knees on the floor beside his boyfriend. He didn't respond so Carlos shook his shoulder and called out again. He heard sirens coming up on the radio station.
Quickly after he heard the sirens, two paramedics burst into the room and began working on Cecil. Carlos just took a step back, shocked. It all went by in a flash and then the EMTs were moving him, one of them asking if Carlos would like to ride in the ambulance with him. He just nodded and followed them out to the parking lot.
Carlos had been sitting in the Waiting Room of the hospital so long that he lost track of time. Finally, after hours of just sitting and thinking, a doctor came out to inform Carlos of Cecil's situation.
He sat down next to him and said, "Has Mr. Palmer been complaining of pain in his abdomen within the past few days?"
Carlos nodded. "Yeah, I was going to bring him to see a doctor today," he informed quietly and monotonously.
The doctor nodded back. "Yes. Unfortunately, Cecil had appendicitis, which can cause the appendix to burst quite quickly, which is what happened. He's being treated for peritonitis from the bacteria that caused the inflammation in the lining of his stomach."
Carlos merely stared at the ground in front of him.
"If you would like to come see him now, you may."
Looking up at the doctor, he stood up and followed him through the double doors and down the corridor to Cecil's room where he was lying down on a pristine, white bed with multitudinous machines hooked up by various wires connecting to Cecil's body.
Carlos sat down in a chair next to Cecil bed and watched his chest slowly rise and fall. He touched his boyfriend's arm and watched as Cecil's eyes slowly opened and looked over at Carlos.
As Cecil weakly smiled, Carlos leaned down close to his face and whispered, "Hey. You're gonna be okay."
Cecil slowly nodded his acknowledgment before letting his eyes drift shut again.
Don't imagine Person A of your OTP randomly having pain in their abdomen.
Don't imagine them belittling it for the sake of Person B for months since it doesn't seem that bad.
Don't imagine Person A collapsing one day during work and being rushed to the hospital.
Don't imagine Person B finding out and dropping everything to get to Person A.
Don't imagine Person B getting to the hospital room and barging in and throwing their arms around Person A.
Don't imagine Person B talking in worried whispers to Person A.
Don't imagine Person B then getting irritated by the unbroken, high-pitched noise in the room.
Don't imagine Person B then realizing… it's the heart monitor.