Dib Is Sick Chapter 51: Protector

Zim: Sassafrass002

Dib: Me

Beta: Sassafrass002

Warnings: Extreme OOCness

Rating: M for later chapters

Disclaimer: We do not own Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from it. We do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Enjoy~ =3

Still fairly upset despite Zim's words to him, Dib shook his head, not so sure he could believe the Irken. "I can't believe that! Because...Because...You know that your being here is the only reason for me agreeing to come here in the first place! And you're the one thing keeping me from getting up out of this bed and leaving to go home! So it IS my entire fault for putting you through all of this!" He exclaimed, breaking down all over again.

Again, Zim frowned. "Lies, nothing of this is your fault...Zim doesn't do anything for anyone unless Zim WANTS to do it. You think I'd rather not be here with you right now?" He hugged Dib to himself and lightly nuzzled the side of his face to calm him before speaking softly. "I want...to protect you...And I've never wanted to do that for anyone else, so...don't be sorry about anything, Dib." He said, planting a small kiss to his forehead.

Breathing still shaky, Dib closed his eyes at the gentle kiss. "E-Even if I just continue to get worse? Y-You still want to be here with me?" He asked, trying to calm down now.

"Yes! Of course Zim will stay." Zim nodded slowly and closed his own eyes, still hugging Dib closely as he mumbled. "...You still don't trust me..." He said, just loud enough for Dib to hear in the otherwise quiet room.

Snapping his head up to look at Zim, Dib's eyes grew wide at those words. "That's not true! I...I just..." He felt himself beginning to panic as he all too suddenly shoved Zim away and curled in on himself, coughing into his hands and breathing heavily.

Eyes wide at having been shoved away so suddenly, Zim sat up startled before looking down at the other scared now. "Dib, wha-" He put a hand on Dib's arm and rubbed at it gently. "What's wrong?!" He asked in a small panic of his own, thinking that perhaps he'd caused Dib's condition to grow worse somehow.

Letting out a small cry at the touch, Dib tried to pull away. "Ow! D-Don't touch me! I-It hurts!" He pulled his hands away from his mouth, blood dripping from them. "I-I all of a sudden f-feel like I c-can't breathe..." He gasped out before noticing Zim going to reach for the call button again and grabbing ahold of the other's arm. "N-No! I-I don't want any doctors or nurses in here! No more! Not again!" He looked up at Zim with panic-stricken eyes as he swallowed and tried to calm himself down enough to breathe more normally.

Debating on whether or not to hit the call button, Zim stared down at him before lowering his hand, deciding not to as Dib would only panic again. Looking down, he then slowly nodded his head in defeat. "...Fine." he agreed but couldn't help feeling worried still.

Closing his eyes and trying to calm down enough to fall back to sleep, Dib hesitantly released Zim's arm and hugged himself instead, feeling horrible now as he knew all he was doing while being awake was frustrating Zim even more. "I'm sorry..." He whispered quietly to the other.

Lazily smiling a little, Zim lifted his head to look back at the other before gently running a hand over Dib's hair. "Don't be." He said, flopping himself down onto his back beside the other before sighing and staring up at the ceiling.

Slowly turning himself over onto his side so he could face Zim, Dib rested his head in the other's lap.

Eyes widening before falling half-lidded again, Zim smiled down at Dib lazily and fiddled with a lock of his hair.

Letting his eyes fall half-lidded also as Zim played with his hair, Dib sighed gently, finally beginning to calm down somewhat. "Can you keep doing that until I fall asleep?" He asked, not wanting to cause the other anymore unnecessary stress.

"Heh, okay." Zim ran his fingers through Dib's raven-black hair and over his scythe-shaped lock, carefully playing around with it for a while.

Letting his eyes slip closed, Dib slowly drifted back off to sleep and curled up with his head resting in Zim's lap comfortably.

After a while of playing with Dib's hair, Zim's vision went blurry from how tired he felt. Looking down at Dib for a moment, he then eventually just closed his eyes and drifted back off to sleep himself.

Several hours later, a nurse walked into the room just as the sun was beginning to shine through the window, a tray of food in hand. Placing it to the side, she then pushed back some of Dib's hair to feel his forehead.

Letting out a small whine at the feel of someone pressing a hand to his forehead, Dib blinked his eyes partway open before noticing the nurse staring down at him.

"Sorry to wake you, Dib, but I wasn't sure whether you'd want to try eating some breakfast this morning or not." the nurse held out a small plate of toast to him just to have him shrink back in the covers and shift over onto his other side, obviously not the least bit interested in the food. She sighed. "Alright, Dib, I guess you're still not feeling well enough to eat." She looked up at Zim who was still fast asleep with Dib resting in his lap. "But if your friend is at all hungry when he wakes up, go ahead and tell him I brought a little food up from the cafeteria." She left the plate of food there and took the tray with her, turning down the lights on her way out. "I'll be back to check in on you in a little bit." She said, deciding to let him sleep a while longer before they started any tests on him for that day.

Merely nodding his head slightly before looking up at the sleeping Irken, Dib's mind remained in a sleepy haze as he closed his eyes and returned to sleep.

After about another five minutes or so, Zim let out a small whine once he started to come around, rubbing his eyes and blinking down at Dib. Looking over at the food now in the room for a moment, he then remembered that he hadn't eaten anything in days. Shrugging it off however, he merely returned to fiddling with a lock of Dib's hair for a bit, not trusting the food that the nurse had left there for them.

At the feel of Zim playing with his hair, Dib blinked his eyes partially open again and lifted his head up to look at the other above him as he spoke in a tired voice. "The nurse was in here earlier. She brought you some food from the cafeteria if you want some." He said before closing his tired eyes again and yawning to himself.

"Hmm? Oh." Zim looked at the food with uncertainty for a moment. "Ehm...But...Aren't you having anything?" He asked, not wanting to eat anything he was unfamiliar with.

Dib shook his head. "No...I'm not hungry...I think she thought I might be able to eat some toast or some other bland food, but I don't even want that..." he turned over on his side again, facing away from the food to keep from getting sick again.

Shuddering a bit, Zim looked over at the food. "Ugh...How can humans even call that FILTH food!?" he looked at it just a bit longer. "Well...Maybe I could try-" he hesitantly reached a hand out to grab a piece of toast, looking at it with uncertainty before taking a tiny bite of it. "...Augh!" He coughed, putting it back onto the plate before rolling onto his front and mumbling into a pillow. "Disgusting, filthy human food..." He said, irritable over the fact that he couldn't leave to grab some of his Irken food from home.

Dib looked over at Zim. "Y-You could always try one of the snack machines they have out in the hallway. Those usually have pretty good stuff." He suggested, knowing Zim preferred snacks over most regular foods.

After a moment, Zim grunted and turned his head to look at Dib. "Well...Nah. It might just poison me like most food...Plus I'm not going to leave you in this room alone." He said, not wanting to break his promise to the other.

Dib frowned. "It's alright. I'm fine now. I don't want you starving yourself because of me. So just so long as you promise to come back, I'll be fine if you leave to get food." he said, too tired to care whether he was left alone for a moment or not.

Until next time~