50 Sentences Expanded
An NCIS Fanfic.
42. Bother - Sick in bed, Tony couldn't put up much of a fight when Gibbs fed him chicken noodle soup.
His whole body ached; literally from head to toe. There was this pain behind his eyes that throbbed every time he moved, and occasionally when he didn't. His toes were a bit numb, from lying so very still for so long, and he had an itch on his right inner thigh that he didn't have the energy to scratch.
Tony stretched as much as he could without moving his head. It wasn't enough. And he was hot. But every time he threw the blankets off he was freezing.
A humidifier hummed from a chair next to the bed, but Tony swore it wasn't actually helping. His throat was still painfully dry, his nose stuffy, and his cough the same as it was three hours before.
All in all, a bad day.
The only thing that could possibly add to his misery was Gibbs, who was coddling him worse than a mother ever could.
Every so often he would stick his head in the door and ask Tony if he needed anything. It was part of the compromise they had made. Earlier Gibbs had been sitting in a chair in the corner, reading. The hovering was driving Tony crazy, and so they had made a bargain. Gibbs would leave Tony alone unless he needed anything.
Tony hadn't managed any real sleep in six hours. He would drift off for a while, but a coughing fit would wake him. Or his roiling stomach. Or an ache in his back (or leg, or shoulder, or…).
It was the first time Tony had ever had the flu, like, in his entire life. Of course, the first thing Gibbs had done when Tony awoke in the night with a fever was rush him to the hospital. Any sickness that affected his respiratory system was always a greater danger to Tony than it would be to a normal person. But after battling and defeating the plague, Tony felt that tackling the flu would be a piece of cake.
So after getting a prescription for Tony to take to help with his breathing and coughing, they went home, and Tony went straight to bed.
Despite his insistence that Gibbs not stay home with him, Gibbs had called Ziva and McGee (at three in the morning) to tell them he wasn't coming in.
It was now nine in the morning. And they had been this way ever since.
Tony almost got to three hours of sleep at four in the afternoon. But the smell woke him.
"Tony?" He opened his eyes slowly. Gibbs sat on the bed beside him, holding a tray.
"Wha'?" His dry mouth and sleepy voice barely managed a reply.
"You need to eat something." Gibbs gestured to the tray. A bowl with some kind of steaming liquid sat in the center.
Tony knew there was no way he was sitting up, attempting to hold a spoon, and eating by himself. Not when he felt like he'd been run over by a bus. He pushed Gibbs's hand away and tried to roll over but his head protested, so he just shut his eyes.
"Tony? You need to eat." It was hard for Tony to reconcile his normally coarse boss with this caring, gentle caregiver before him. Especially when Gibbs spoke next.
"Look, I will feed you myself, if that's what it takes. But you are going to eat something."
Tony's eyes snapped open and he glared at Gibbs, his look clearly saying 'come near me with that spoon and I'll kill you.' he wasn't sure he would ever be able to look at Gibbs the same way again. He shook his head.
"Fine. Open up, little Tony." Gibbs voice took on a tone of mockery, as if talking to a child. Tony continued to glare. But Gibbs, ever insistent, did manage to get the spoon over to his mouth, inside, and back, without spilling a drop of the hot liquid.
It burned slightly on Tony's tongue, but it tasted amazing and settled Tony's stomach.
And so, sick in bed, Tony couldn't put up much of a fight when Gibbs fed him chicken noodle soup.
Hours later, after finally getting some decent sleep, Tony woke to find Gibbs lying next to him, an arm thrown protectively across his waist.
Tony couldn't understand why Gibbs would risk catching the virus. But then he laughed to himself. No disease in its right mind would dare approach Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
A/N: I really like how this one turned out. I tried to keep both of them in character as much as possible. Not sure how that turned out. But here you are, another sentence expanded. And this is all nice and tidy with no loose ends.
So Gloworm41, I hope you like the way it turned out!
Please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts! I love hearing them!
Disclaimer: NCIS is the property of Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill.