Chapter 2: Why Goblin Kings and the Flu Should Never Mix


Body slick with sweat, Sarah did her best to put all sense of physical consciousness out of mind, but without result. No matter her position or how many sheets she wound herself around in, sleep evaded her. She couldn't remember what it was like before this. Before the aching pain that plagued her body and the bloating numbness that caused the relentless pressure in her head. Sarah sensed there was a time before this feeling of dull torment. A time when she didn't have to worry about passing out from exhaustion or feeling like she was going to vomit whenever she moved.

She was hollow. Utterly drained of will and power. She lacked the strength to do much besides wallow in her own misery and hope that it would not completely consume her.

The silent vibrations of a cellphone brought her out of her somber reflections. Sarah glanced over at her nightstand from the corner of her eyes and gave a huff of annoyance. She was sitting dead center in her bed, comforter and blankets tucked all around her to keep the chill air at bay.

With a dramatic groan she pushed off the covers and scooted over to the edge of the bed, snatching her phone off the wood.

"What?"

"Do you want grape or cherry flavored?"

"Cher- Jareth, I told you just to get some cough drops and NyQuil. I even wrote down the names and showed you pictures on the computer before you left. You've been gone for almost thirty minutes. What are you doing?"

"Yes, yes. I know. But there are all these different remedies, Sarah. This one says extra strength and this one says double strength, and there's another that has a guarantee that you'll feel better the instant you use it. I was thinking instead of just taking the pinquill medicine, you mix them all together. That way you'll receive double-extra strength and get better in no time."

"Just get what's on the list, Jareth!"


Sarah was sound asleep by the time he returned home. Jareth loomed over her, assessing her condition by putting a hand to her forehead. She was still hot, and her skin was clammy.

Humans had such delicate bodies. The tiniest thing could upset the balance of their physical condition in an instant, and they could drop without any warning sign and there wasn't a thing anyone could do.

She looked so frail lying there, something Jareth was not used to. Sarah was always resilient. But these last couple days, she'd been so burned out despite her constant assertions that she wasn't as bad as she looked. He caught her several times vomiting in her washroom and on the brink of fainting. Even then she continued to insist she was fine.

Watching her tangled up in bed sheets, sprawled out, and breathing through her mouth like a winded dwarf made him feel distant and powerless. There wasn't a thing he could do to help her besides gather a bunch of medicine like some insignificant errand boy. He didn't even know how the medicine worked much less what kind to get her without Sarah telling him exactly what she needed.

It was a shame they weren't in the Underground. At the very least he could protect her there. She wouldn't have to worry about disease or illness or any of the thousand of other bothersome things mortals had to put up with every day that threatened their lives. But even if he could whisk her away to his kingdom at this precise moment, he wouldn't be able to heal her. He had no power over her. And as long as Sarah deemed it so, he could do nothing but wait and watch.

How utterly pathetic I am, he thought, while proceeding to dump the entire contents of a paper bag on the bed.

Sarah started awake, ready to begin a string of curses until she caught sight of the Goblin King standing before her with a smug look on his face.

"Oh, good. You're awake. I've returned from the pharmacy with your items. You should probably take your medicine before you fall asleep again. You are welcome."

"What's all this?" Sarah asked, picking up a jar of some kind of aromatherapy oil.

"Don't worry I got your pinquill," he said, handing her a dark plastic bottle. "One of the workers was decent enough to help me out. I told her I wasn't familiar with this whole 'sick' thing, and she helped me pick up a few things that should be of use for invalids like you who are bedridden with disease. I'm not quite sure how this device is supposed to help, but I took her word for it," Jareth commented, inspecting a packaged thermometer.

"So what else do you two talk about?" Sarah said, glaring at him. Jareth smirked inwardly, pretending not to notice.

"Oh, well, she asked me what kind of product I used to get my hair this way, but people are always asking me that. For some reason they never quite believe me when I say it's like this naturally." Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yes, they usually do that. But, she also kept pestering me about my martial status. She was very persistent. Kept going on about how incredible it was that someone like me was single, and while I agree with her, I in no way-"

Thwack.

"You are not single, you glitter-coated fae whore!"

"Did you just throw a bag of cough drops at me?" Jareth asked incredulously.

"Damn straight! You were supposed to be getting me medicine, not adding names to your grab bag."

"I cannot believe you threw a bag of cough drops at me."

"I can't believe you were flirting with someone while you were supposed to be getting me medicine and then come home and talk about it like it's no big deal!"

"I did not flirt with anyone, Sarah," he said through his teeth. "The woman who I was referring to asked if I was married, and when I replied that I wasn't, she proceeded to pawn her many available granddaughters off on me."

The fury etched in Sarah's face began to fade, and Jareth nodded approvingly.

Thwack.

"What the hell was that for?"

"For making me think you were hitting on some other girl, you jerk! You're just lucky it was a pillow and not this bottle of multivitamins," she snapped.

"You drew your own conclusions about what happened. It's not my fault you assumed the worst." Jareth sat down on the side of the bed and glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Don't you pull that crap. How did you expect me to react? Oh, she sounds just lovely, Jareth dear. And for the record, I was more upset about the fact you didn't bother to mention to her that despite you not being married, you are in fact unavailable."

"Yes, well, it's rather difficult to explain that to an overly aggressive woman who can't take no for an answer and who's greatest ambition in life seems to be the bearing of hordes of great-grandchildren."

Sarah's lips gave the barest of twitches, but Jareth seemed to catch it anyway.

"Oh, go ahead — laugh. The Goblin King brought down low by yet another mortal woman. It's all very funny, isn't it? You know if you were Goblin Queen, you wouldn't have to put up with all this annoying human sickness or pesky women who desperately fawn all over me. You could just turn them into some small, slimy creature or dump them in the bog — which ever suited your fancy at the moment."

Sarah gaped at him. "Y-you did not just say that," she said.

He sighed, put out. "Well, I can understand how you would be more adverse to those kind of activities — being the good-hearted heroine and all that — but you'd be surprised about how satisfying it is to turn your enemies into tiny vermin when your feeling down."

"That is- that is not-," Sarah huffed, looking around desperately, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Goblin Queen?" she asked him warily.

Jareth stiffened noticeably.

She sighed, looking at him, eyes full of pity. "I know it's not easy being away from your kingdom and having to leave everything that's familiar behind," she said softly, "but…I thought you were okay with this?"

When he didn't answer, Sarah leaned back against the headboard and shut her eyes.

Jareth grimaced as a sab of guilt shot through him. She looked utterly exhausted. Her brow was furrowed in a way that told him she was in serious discomfort. Sweat was beading at her hairline and her breathing was harsh.

Honestly, it was so easy to get under her skin. He usually loved to tease her. Her face would get red, and she'd always pucker her lips in that adorable way when she got angry. But here Sarah was, already feeling miserable, and all he did was add to her pain by stressing her out even more. If he didn't think so highly of himself, he would probably believe himself to be an idiot.

Reaching out to brush the hair from of her face, Jareth leaned in and looked her in the eye. "I did not mean to upset you so," he whispered. "Forgive me?"

Sarah looked at him for a long moment, and then let out a harsh breath through her nose. "On one condition," she whispered back, leaning her forehead against his.

"Anything."

"You have to go with me to the doctor," she said, smiling far too pleasantly for him to feel comfortable with.


Jareth despised going to the doctor. When Sarah asked him to go with her yesterday as a condition for her forgiveness, he thought nothing of it. It seemed like a simple enough request, but he quickly found out that he had made a terrible mistake.

"How much longer must we wait in this infernal place, Sarah?" he grumbled, crossing his arms.

"They said it was a twenty minute wait," she replied crisply, smirking at his jiggling foot.

"And we've been here for thirty-seven minutes and sixteen seconds. Can they not tell time, or are these people so remiss that they cannot keep track of those in their care?"

"That's American healthcare for you. Why don't you read a magazine? Here," Sarah said, handing him a two-year old issue of Glamour.

"Don't touch that," he growled, swatting the magazine from her hand, earning surprised looks from the other patients in the room. "There's no telling what kind of diseases have accumulated on it from being handled by all these disgusting, sick-ridden people. You're health is fragile enough as it is."

"I suppose that's your odd way of worrying for me."

"Hmph."

"It's too bad I left my iPod at home. You could have listened to some music while we waited."

"And deprive myself of the melodious sound of all the hacking and wheezing around me? Don't be ridiculous," Jareth sniped, leaning away from an elderly woman who began another round of harsh coughing.

"Sarah Williams, Doctor Grewal will see you now," a nurse called, sticking her head out the door.

"Thank the stars," Jareth said, dragging Sarah from her seat and out of the waiting area.

The eyes of the nurse who had called for Sarah lit up as Jareth approached. "Hello, sir. Sorry for the wait," she said, smiling brightly.

Sarah frowned at being so blatantly dismissed.

"Well," Jareth intoned, "perhaps if the staff here were competent enough to get their jobs done, you wouldn't have to apologize, now would you?"

"I-" the nurse faltered.

"It's not like any of you should bother living up to the time standards you set for yourselves or your patients. But as long you say your sorry, I suppose that makes everything all hunky dory, doesn't it?"

The nurse stared at him with wide eyes, clutching her clipboard to her chest. Her lower lip began to tremble, but before Jareth could carry on with his self-inflated tirade, Sarah pinched the skin of his hand that was holding her own, causing him to yelp and leap back.

"Sorry about him," Sarah said consolingly, ignoring the glaring Goblin King. "He's not very patient. Why don't you take us to the examination room. I promise he won't cause any more trouble."

Glancing uneasily back and forth between the couple, the nurse nodded her head with dubious assent.

"This way," she spoke, indicating the hall to her left.

Sarah followed along readily, while Jareth lagged behind, doing his best to make his obvious displeasure with the present circumstances known.

The nurse stopped at a door halfway down the hall and let the patient and visitor inside a small white room, tagged with posters displaying anatomy charts and CPR procedures for general reference.

"In here. Please take a seat," she stated curtly.

Sarah gave an exaggerated sigh of resignation and hitched herself up on the examining bed. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Jareth plopped down onto the thick, stiff fabric of the waiting chair and hooked his legs over the edge, giving the impression he was more at ease than he actually was.

"All right, why don't you tell me what's wrong Mrs. Williams," the nurse said, situating herself in front of the computer.

"It's Ms. Williams actually," Sarah told her. "I'm not married." Jareth shot her a bland look but said nothing.

"For the last two days, I haven't been able to keep much down besides some liquids. My temperature has been fluctuating from around 100, and I've had a pretty bad cough."

"Any phlegm, stuffed up nose?"

"Just the cough." The nurse clacked away at her keyboard.

"Any pain? Anywhere that's been causing you discomfort?"

"Well, it feels like my whole body is aching, and I'll get these headaches every so often."

"Hm." The nurse continued to type, the only sound in the room was her tiny nails against the keys.

Jareth's foot resumed its jiggling from where it left off outside, and he strummed his fingers impatiently against his folded arms. He started to say something, but Sarah cut him off before he could speak.

"So, busy day at the office?" she asked pleasantly.

The nurse got up from the desk and walked over to where Sarah sat. "Yes, we've had quite a string of flu patients. The last few days patients have been filling up the waiting room with all the same symptoms," she said while wrapping Sarah's arm up in a blood pressure cuff.

"I would say you should've come in sooner, but you were lucky enough to get in when you did. Our appointments have been booked up, and we've been trying to squeeze in as many people as we can manage. Blood Pressure is 123, normal," she said, tearing the velcro from Sarah's arm.

Sarah flexed her upper arm and watched the nurse walk over to the cabinets and pull out a chunky thermometer. She pushed away her patient's dark hair and placed the device by her ear, both of them still and waiting.

"Temperature 101," the nurse said aloud, pulling away to go back to the desk and enter in the information.

"All right," she said, soon after sliding from her chair, "Doctor Grewal will be with you shortly. Feel free to browse the magazines and pamphlets while you wait."

"Wait?" Jareth said, turning on Sarah the moment the nurse stepped out the door. "What does she mean wait? That's all we've been doing is waiting. When are we going to stop waiting and actually get some help?"

"Jareth," Sarah hissed, and he promptly slumped in his seat.

Sarah leaned back against the bed and shut her eyes. Another headache was threatening to come on. She could feel the dull throbbing start up at the base of her head, and tried to concentrate on something else to divert her attention.

She could hear Jareth get up and begin to move about the room, his shoes clacking against the linoleum. Sarah peeked out at him and followed his movements around the tight space as he went from poster to poster, studying the graphs and illustrations.

He seemed fascinated. His long fingers traced the pictures with deep concentration, while he silently muttered to himself. She wasn't sure, but it almost seemed like he was trying to memorize the information.

When the posters seemed to lose his interest, he moved on to the desk where the computer monitor sat. He promptly situated himself in the rotating chair, and started to swivel around, creating a rhythmic squeaking sound.

Eeeeee-ehhhhhrr, eee-ehhhhhrrrr, eeeeeeeeeee-ehhhhrrr.

No sooner was he humming along in a jaunty tune, rocking back and forth.

Eeeeee-ehhhhhrr, eee-ehhhhhrrrr, EEEEEEEEEEE-EHHHHHHRRRRRR.

"Stop," Sarah told him, rubbing her temples.

He ceased his humming and rocking, but his eyes scanned the room for something else to distract him.

The computer at the desk gave a ping and Jareth's eyes lit up. He reached for the mouse with a slight grin on his face.

"Don't touch that."

He breathed out harshly through his nose, but turned away from the workstation.

His attention quickly settled on the cabinets in the corner, and with a kick, he rolled over towards them.

Sarah watched him intently as he inspected the contents, opening and closing the little drawers and doors. Just when she was about to berate him again, Jareth pulled out a carton of cotton balls. He gingerly poked and prodded at the mass of cotton, trying to determine its essence. The tips of his fingers grasped at the soft white fluff, pulling it apart as he peered at it, fascinated. But when he brought the cotton up to his nose to inhale its scent, it shot up his nose, and Sarah had to turn away to hide her laughter.

Once the items in the drawers lost their novelty, Jareth started to wander again.

A row of hanging medical instruments caught his eye by the bed, and he went over to inspect them. Jareth picked one off its hook and fiddled around with it in an attempt to figure out what it did. He examined it closely, and when he accidently flicked a switch, a light flashed on into his eyes, starling him.

"Put it back. You're not supposed to messing with anything."

"Then perhaps they shouldn't leave their patients alone for so long. What do they expect us to do while we wait in here with nothing to occupy our time?"

"Weren't you listening?" Sarah said, bored. "The nurse said to read magazines."

"Read magazines," he mocked. "What a splendid idea. Have the patients waste their miniscule lives away by spending what little time they might have left, reading about the latest trends in weight loss and home decor."

A knocked sounded from the other side of the door and a new presence entered the room. "Hello, sorry for the wait," the doctor said, closing the door behind him.

"That's quite all right," Sarah said, a smidge too sweetly.

Jareth turned towards the man to tell him just how all right it wasn't, but Sarah placed a well-aimed kick at the king's rear, shutting him up instantly.

The doctor turned around noticing the two glaring at each other, quite oblivious to their earlier quarreling. "Excuse me, uh," he said, glancing at the clipboard and then nodding at the otoscope in Jareth's hands, "Mr. Williams, I'm afraid only the staff are allowed to handle the medical equipment."

Jareth blinked, and slowly, a grin as genuine as anyone had ever seen stretched across his face.

"Oh, he-"

"Is very sorry and promises not to touch any more of your little tools, doctor," Jareth said, cutting Sarah off smoothly.

He placed the device back on the wall along with the other instruments and sauntered back over the chair, where he resumed his previous sprawled out position. Both Sarah and the Doctor watched him; one cross, the other at a complete loss.

"Well, do get on with it," Jareth said magnanimously. "My wife has been waiting quite a while now, and I'd hate to push her too much, you understand?"

"Of course," Doctor Grewal replied, collecting himself.

"Let's see," he said situating himself in front of the computer monitor, "Fever, vomiting, aches, and coughing. Is the vomiting frequent?"

"Just the few times I've been able to get food in my stomach; it never stays down. And it's only been the last two days. I was able to keep everything down today, but that's probably only because I've eaten cream of wheat," Sarah replied wryly.

"And you're coughing? Any pain, sore throat?"

"No, neither."

"Well, it sounds like you have a mild case of the flu, Sarah," the doctor said, walking over to her. "Nothing to worry too much about," he told her as her gently probed the underside of her jaw for swollen lymph nodes. "Just drink plenty of liquids, and you'll have to miss class and call into work sick for a few days while you recover."

"How much longer is this going to last?"

The doctor turned around, peering over his crescent frames at Jareth. "The worst of it will pass in the next couple of days, however, some milder symptoms could last for at least another week."

"A week!" Jareth repeated, incredulous.

"A least," the doctor replied, turning back to Sarah. "The aches could well last her up to two whole weeks."

He whipped his stethoscope off from around his neck. "I'm going to listen to your lungs now," he told her, placing the chestpiece under her shirt, on her lower back.

Just then sparks from the lights overhead popped viciously, letting darkness fall. A muffled, high-pitched scream sounded out from somewhere in the building — most likely some unfortunate child who had been promised a harmless visit to the doctor's and their worst fears had just been confirmed.

Sarah sat still and rigid, clenching her teeth. Neither Jareth nor the doctor had made any sounds since the power went off. A sick feeling settled deep within the pit her stomach that had nothing to do with the flu.

She turned and narrowed her eyes at where she remembered Jareth was sitting. "Goblin King," she hissed.

There were a few moments of silence and then the lights slowly flickered back to life. However, the fluorescents were no longer the sterile white she remembered; they now cast an eerie orange glow over the room making the surroundings even more gruesome.

Jareth had not moved. Despite him still being cloaked in his mortal disguise, he looked far from human. His bangs fell over hooded eyes, the angles of his face made sharper, more alien by the shadows. His cheeks were sunken in, giving him a hollow, gaunt appearance. The result was ghostly and terrifying, and something that would've caused the bravest of warriors to run screaming in the opposite direction, damsel be damned.

Drama Queen.

"What the hell was that?" Sarah asked him. "And what did you do with the doctor?" she added, noticing the other man's lack of presence.

That is until she looked down and saw a chicken blinking up at her from the ground.

"You didn't…" she breathed, staring down open-mouthed.

The chicken let out a confused squawk.

"I am at my limit, Sarah."

She ignored him and ran a shaky hand over her face. "What were you thinking?" she said, her voice cracking with panic.

"That man declared he could not heal you properly," he shouted, foisting himself up on his feet, "and then he had the audacity to touch you intimately right in front of me! Did you actually expect that I would sit by compliant while another man has his hands all over you?"

Sarah looked up at him, her anger winning out over the bubbling hysteria.

"Okay, first of all, that is not what happened. If you had bothered to listen, Jareth, you would have heard him say he was only checking my lungs. It's a regular procedure for patients. He was not trying to feel me up."

The barest hint of tension slid out from Jareth's posture, but he kept silent.

"Secondly, I know illness is a new concept for you, but you have to realize that I am mortal and not all of my problems can be poofed away by wishes and Goblin Kings."

"I am aware you are mortal. Do not speak to me as if I were a child, Sarah."

"Then stop acting like one!"

His eyes narrowed. "Are you calling me childish?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.

She gave him an unimpressed look.

"You just turned someone into a chicken because you got jealous. And you know what? I can't tell if this is worse than you sending Hoggle and me to the bog because I kissed him. I suppose you want me to thank you for being generous and not turning me into a chicken as well?"

"Don't tempt me," he told her nastily. "I just might consider it. All of this would be a whole lot simpler if you weren't coughing your lungs out every few seconds and looking as if the faintest breeze might send you toppling over."

Sarah's jaw dropped at his words.

"Granted, I'm not overly fond of the idea of have a chicken for a lover — we would have to remain strictly platonic — but it's a hell of a lot more appealing than having a dead mortal as my mate."

He frowned when Sarah didn't respond to his remark. She just stood there looking at him with some kind of odd emotion he could not place. Perhaps he had gone to far with that last comment.

He suddenly found the paper on the examining bed extremely fascinating and began to poke and tear at it anxiously.

Then without warning, Jareth felt Sarah grip his waistband, pulling him towards her and enveloping him in her arms. Her hands fisted the back of his shirt, and she squeezed him tightly, knocking the air right out of his lungs.

Jareth stood there for a moment, blinking. And then Sarah felt him relax, his long arms snaking around her, pulling her in close.

She drew languid patterns on his back with her nails, making him shiver and heart beat faster under the soft fabric of his shirt. Jareth nuzzled his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. His mind slowly calmed as he felt her breathe against him. She was here, warm and alive. That was all he could really ask for.

With a sigh, Sarah pulled back. Jareth only held her tighter in response. She laughed softly against him, the sound muffled by his chest.

"Jareth."

He gave a sigh of his own, both equal parts pleased and reluctant, as he let her go.

Sarah noticed the lights and walls were back to their original stale white, and the shadows had fled along with the sinister orange glow. Doctor Grewal was sitting, sprawled out on the floor. His glasses were askew, and he looked in terrible danger of letting loose another frightened squawk despite his return to a relative human state.

Sarah kneeled down next to him and gingerly rested her hand on his shoulder, causing him to start.

"W-what happened?" he said, looking around wildly.

"The power went out and you tripped," she told him consolingly. "Are you okay?"

He looked right at her, leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "I have the strangest urge to peck at something."

Sarah reflexively leaned away from him.

"Well," came a crisp voice from behind them, "you can't expect there to not be some ill effects after fowl like that, doc."

Sarah shot a sharp glare at Jareth, who was back, lounging indolently in his chair and watching the two with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Shut up," she mouthed at him.

"Come and make me," he mouthed back.

Refusing to rise to the Goblin King's bait, Sarah ignored Jareth and carefully helped the doctor off the floor and over to his swiveling chair.

"Terribly, sorry. Most unprofessional," he muttered in a trance. "Now, uh — where was I?"

"I believe you were just about to prescribe my lovely wife some of your best medicine to help her get well," Jareth said helpfully. Sarah rolled her eyes but said nothing, indulging him.

"Ah, yes," the doctor said, attempting to gather himself. "Let's see, uh — do you have any allergies, Mrs. Williams?"

"Only to Penicillin," she said, eyeing Jareth.

"Good, good. I'll prescribe you Tamiflu. It's an antiviral, should help ease your symptoms. What's your regular store?"

"The pharmacy on J Street."

The doctor quickly typed up her prescription and then returned his attention to her once he finished.

"All right then. Your medicine should be ready in a few hours for you to pick up. Drink lots of fluids and get plenty of rest, and you'll be better in no time."

"Thank you, Doctor Grewal," Sarah said, gathering her things.

"Yes, thank you, doctor," Jareth said, walking over to the man and sticking out his glove-covered hand. "You are a good man, taking on such a heavy bird-en. But I'm sure for someone who has been in this business for so long, your responsibilities seem light as a feather."

"Jareth," Sarah said from behind him.

The Goblin King smiled good-naturedly at the doctor's wide-eyed expression.

"What's wrong, doc? Egg on my face?"

"No, not at all," the doctor said, shaking himself. "Have a pleasant day, Mr. Williams."

"Oh, I plan to," Jareth said, walking away and steering Sarah to the exit.

The doctor watched Jareth open the door and he and Sarah walk out into what was clearly not the beige colored hallway of the office, but the interior of a brick-walled apartment.

"Take care of yourself, doctor. I hear falls like that can take a while to re-coup from."

Jareth stared at him over his shoulder with glittering eyes. And then he stepped over the threshold, the door swinging shut of its own accord behind him.

Motionless, the doctor sat staring at the door. Minutes ticked by, until he finally turned back to the computer, silently muttering to himself about concussions and weird-eyed freaks.


A/N: Forgive the lateness. Hopefully, during summer I will be able to post these more frequently. This one was much longer, so that should make up for the wait.

FYI Sarah has been introducing Jareth into a lot of Aboveground culture and that does include music, specifically Bowie. Jareth's favorite albums so far are Scary Monsters, Station to Station, and — that's right, you guessed it — Hunky Dory (hope you caught the reference.)