Tanya POV

Within the hour Carlisle was throwing up everything he swallowed. Although he tried to fight dehydration by forcing down water, it all just came straight back up. Nothing he did seemed to help and he was sick at least once every fifteen minutes. To make it worse, none of us could stand being near him for too long; him throwing up definitely wasn't helping my nausea any.
"How are you doing?" Zafrina asked cautiously, standing in the doorway of his room while he sat on the bathroom floor, hugging his legs and resting his head on his knees.
"…okay…" he mumbled, surprisingly calm considering the situation.
"Liar," she chuckled. "Tell me the truth."
He hesitated, shrugging. "I'm kind of hoping I might pass out soon…"
She sighed and moved to crouch in front of him. "Why are you so warm? They never said this would happen." She pressed her fingers against his face and she unintentionally leant against her hand. "Do you feel hot?"
He shook his head. "…Really cold…"
"Why don't you lie down for a while?" she suggested. "Maybe if you sleep you'll feel better…"
In response he scrambled forward to be sick, one arm wrapped tightly around his stomach while he used the other to push his hair off his face.
"Jesus, Carlisle. What are we going to do with you?" She leant her head back against the wall, blowing out a breath.
"I want to go home," he managed between breaths.
"Soon," she promised, pulling him back against her. "Soon enough."
Squeezing himself a little tighter, he only just smothered a moan, struggling to sit up again.
"You want to get up?" she asked skeptically.
"Hmm…" he nodded timidly, letting her pull him to his feet.
"Careful," she warned, steadying him as he stumbled.
Even going the ten steps to bed seemed like an intense effort for him, and his relief to be lying was obvious.
"Be good," Zafrina told him as she passed me, pushing out the door. "You're rather pale too, Tanya. Don't you start on me," she teased, briefly squeezing my hand.
I followed her back up the hallway, unable to stand being around Carlisle like this.

I had the same dream again, and was equally as terrified. The hallway seemed like a dark and scary option, but the faint glow of a light made it seem like my best bet. It frightened me a little to realise it was Carlisle's, but at the same time I was relieved.
"Carlisle?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady as I pushed his door open. "What are you still doing up-" I stopped when I realised that he wasn't actually awake in the first place, but had rather fallen asleep with the lamp on. Unable to keep from smiling now, I quietly took his book off this bed before he knocked it onto the floor, marking his place and setting it on the bedside table. Even in the faint light I could see how horribly unwell he was; he was so, so pale and had partially curled up, trying to stop the pain in his stomach. His hair stuck to him in the tell-tale sign of fever and his face was flushed. As I reached over to pull the blankets over him, he mumbled something unintelligible, stirring slightly. "What's this?" I asked him, sitting on the edge of the bed when he glanced up at me. From his expression I couldn't tell whether he approved of my actions or not.
"W-what time…D-do I h-have to get up..?" he stammered quietly, unsurely.
"It's two o'clock in the morning, Carlisle," I chuckled, running my hand across his back. "You have to stay there at least another four hours before its acceptable to get up.
"W-what are y-you doing t-then?"
"Remember last night what happened? That."
His fingers found mine and he squeezed my hand but stayed silent.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, repressing a shudder at the temperature of his skin. I could faintly hear his heart, although it was irregular and muffled.
He didn't reply, his hold on my fingers tightening.
"I wish I could help you," I sighed, hugging him the best I could while he was lying down.
"Y-you are h-helping," he mumbled to humour me.
"Move over," I instructed, pushing him a little. Once he had done as I'd asked, I lay beside him, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him against me again. "You're so warm," I told him again.
Already starting to fall asleep again, he moulded his body to the shape of mine, resting his cheek against my shoulder. It seemed to comfort him as much as it did me.
"So," I teased. "Carlisle Cullen is secretly cuddly."
"S-shut up." He laughed quietly despite himself. "You g-got into b-bed with me. Y-you started it."
"Fair enough." I hugged his waist, grateful for the contact.

When I woke up, I wasn't immediately sure of the reason why. And then I realised; I was boiling hot. Trying to move away from Carlisle before I disturbed him too, it suddenly hit me. I wasn't hot, it was him. His temperature was way too high and I knew there was absolutely no way he was comfortable at all, although still unconscious.
"Carlisle, wake up," I nudged him gently, needing him to speak to tell me what to do.
He didn't respond to me at all.
"Carlisle!" I shook him again, a little more rough this time.
"Esme?" he asked sleepily.
"No, it's me," I corrected, waiting for him become coherent enough for me to have an actual conversation with him.
"W-what are you doing here? I-I didn't know you were coming," he mumbled, sounding confused and a little dazed.
"Carlisle, we're in Volterra. You know this. Me, you and the others, remember?"
"D-did Garrett come with you?"
"What?" Now I was as confused as he was, if not more.
"G-Garrett…"
"Is in Alaska. With Kate."
"B-but y-you said…Volterra…"
"We're in Volterra. My coven is in Alaska, and yours is in Forks."
"…W-why? B-but you said the others…E-Esme…" He rubbed his hand across his face, and just by his movements I could tell he had a headache.
Holding the back of my fingers against his forehead, I called out to Zafrina.
"What's up?" she asked, looking around the door. "It's too early…"
"Carlisle's sick."
"I know."
"No, I mean like really, really sick. His temperature is really high and he's not thinking properly. I don't think he knows what's happening…"
"Dammit." She pushed me out of the way and forced him to sit up, making him whimper at the sharp movement.
He immediately tried to curl up again, whatever pain he was in becoming unbearable. His whole body trembled violently.
"Sit up, Carlisle," she told him, forcibly holding him straight.
"Esme-" he started but she cut him off.
"No. You're going to drink now, alright? And we're going to get Heidi back in here to see what's happening to you." She left the room and returned with a glass of what I assumed to be water. "Swallow this, please."
"What is it?" I asked, unsure now.
She chuckled lowly. "It's only water, don't panic. But it's cold. I was hoping if we could cool his core temperature enough he might be able to tell us how to help…"
"If he can keep it down long enough," Amun muttered cynically from the door frame.
She frowned. "You still feeling sick?"
He just looked at her, dazed.
"Amun, go and ring Heidi please," she sighed.

The Volturi vampire didn't offer much help at all, really. She just forced some pills into him and sent him back to bed. At dinner time he came and sat with us but he didn't eat, no matter how hard Siobhan tried to coax him into it. The food really did taste good this time, just like they'd promised. I also noticed that I could no longer break things just by squeezing them. But of course, the boys just had to test the limit of the 'indestructible' furniture.
"You have to turn the screw the other way, idiot," Amun chuckled, watching Carlisle fail. The pair of them had the couch lying on it's side, trying to pull it apart.
"Shut up. I'm a doctor, not a mechanic," he retorted, smiling despite looking like he might pass out any second.
"A doctor that should be in bed," Siobhan muttered. She stood next to while we watched them, Zafrina staring at the TV to try and ignore them as best as possible.
"I'm fine."
"You look like death."
"Thanks," he rolled his eyes. "What a compliment."
"Carlisle," she sighed. "You're making me nervous."
"I feel better than this morning. Maybe it's working properly now."
"You're just loaded up on drugs," she teased.
"I promise you, if I'm going to throw up, I wont do it near you."
"I don't trust that," she laughed. "There's no way you can move that quickly."
"I didn't say I would make it to the bathroom," he smirked. "I just said I would be away from you."
"Cant you just go to bed?"
"Nope. I need to break something."
"That's such a guy thing to want to do." She rolled her eyes at him.
Before he could offer a reply, one of the nails gave way and the wood shifted a little, causing Carlisle to yelp and jump back and making the rest of us laugh at him.
"One down, about fifty to go," Amun laughed. "Give me the screw driver. You're doing it wrong anyway."
"It's for screws, not for nails," he grumbled, but gave it to him. "Cant we just jump on it?"
"Oh please," he teased. "You're so light it would break you."
"Let's try, then."
"Carlisle, no." Zafrina shook her head at him, proving she was listening after all. "And he's supposedly got a medical degree," she snickered.
He stayed quiet, not pushing his luck, and came to stand beside me. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay, actually," I smiled, happy my best friend was next to me rather than on the brink of getting injured by a misused tool. "But you're still warm…" I slid my arm around his waist, pulling him against my side and resting my head on his shoulder.
"I don't feel that bad though," he told me. "Just a little weird."
"You always a little weird," I giggled.
"So shoot me." After a minute or so he pulled away, pulling his phone out of his pocket. I could guess what he was doing without asking; calling Esme. Both Amun and Siobhan had rung their mates earlier, Zafrina called Senna to tell her how things were working out, and I rang Eleazar, happy to hear someone from home. Still though, when he came back to us a while later, he didn't look happy or comforted like everyone else did after their conversations. Instead he nervously bit the inside of his cheek, watching the ground. He didn't go back to helping Amun, and eventually excused himself to go back to his room.

"I think someone is home sick," Zafrina murmured, glancing at the door and then back at us.
"That's actually kind of cute," Siobhan giggled.
"He hasn't been away from her like this before," I realised suddenly.
"He'll get over it," Amun assured us. "I go over being away from Kebi after a while, and Siobhan doesn't look to be moping."
"I'm moping inside," she pouted, electing a bout of laughter from the rest of us.
"He'll cope," he insisted. "Carlisle is not a child. The three of you need to stop mothering him. I guarantee you he's uncomfortable with it."
"He's not well, Amun," Zafrina scolded, frowning at him.
"So? Leave him be. Smothering isn't going to help. Just let him have some personal space."
We nodded, seeing the sense in it, but still I didn't like the thought of not checking on him continually.
"If something happens to him, I'm blaming you," Siobhan growled, stalking out of the room.

An update after over a year…Gee, aren't I organised (not)