Coronavirus 2
One day after Yuuri and Viktor sequestered themselves, Yuuri felt weak suddenly. He lost balance and his boyfriend caught him.
"Yuuri?"
"I-I don't feel good..."
Alarmed, Viktor helped Yuuri to sit on a kitchen chair. He felt Yuuri's forehead and pulled his hand away immediately.
"So hot!"
Yuuri looked worried and Viktor patted his hand.
"Don't look like that. You are young and extremely healthy."
"You can't guarantee th..."
Viktor put a finger to his lips. "Nope, no negativity. Fortune is on our side. You also have the best stamina I've ever seen in my life. Only a person with superior lungs..."
Viktor was interrupted by Yuuri's fit of coughing. He covered his coughs with the crook of his arm, turned red, and wheezed. Viktor froze in place. He wanted to hold his boyfriend, but he really should jump away. He felt conflicted between his desire to hold Yuuri and what he should do in this time of crisis. Finally, Yuuri stopped coughing.
"I'm sorry Viktor. I probably infected you now."
"Don't worry my dear. You probably been contagious for some days now." He stood up. "I must inform Coach Yakov that you are sick so the others can get tested. Speaking of tests, I must call our doctor." Yuuri nodded and followed Viktor to their bedroom. He felt better just from Viktor's confident plans. After a few minutes, Yuuri was changed into his pajamas and in bed under a pile of blankets. He felt Viktor's love as he fussed over him.
"There should be some cold packs in the bathroom and my masks should be in the bottom of my underwear drawer." Said Yuuri.
Viktor fetched the items. Yuuri took one white mask and Viktor stuck on the cold pack.
"These cold pads are a neat invention."
"Yeah. They take the place of the wet cloth. They stay on really well and keep the forehead cool without medication. Some medications can interfere with the immune system."
Yuuri wanted to say more but he had another fit of coughing. It felt like he inhaled razor blades.
Viktor wanted to hold him but Yuuri stiff armed him.
"No! Put the other mask on and go call the doctor!"
"Alright dear."
Viktor placed the mask and blew a kiss.
The doctor was called, and he informed that a nurse was scheduled to come to their building that week but Yuuri's apparent condition put them at the head of the line. Viktor felt guilty that their celebrity was a factor, but the doctor said the whole building would get priority. Viktor felt a little less guilty.
It was hours before the nurse could come. Viktor spent the time fussing over Yuuri like he had the flu. Yuuri slept and Makkachin napped with him. Yuuri refused to let Viktor stay.
"They found out it can be spread through breathing."
Viktor used up his nervous energy cleaning.
Finally, the nurse came. He was dressed in a hazmat suit and Makkachin was scared of him. The poor dog hid under the bed. He administered the test to both of them and promised results the next morning. They were given a list of instructions. Most of them Yuuri and Viktor were already following. The nurse gave Viktor a supply of pills for the cough and congestion and a prescription for more. In the end, Yuuri slept very well and Viktor not at all.
The next morning, Viktor received the results. Viktor was negative and Yuuri was positive. Viktor's doctor lectured Viktor to not slack off just because he was negative.
"This virus is new. We don't know a lot about it and there is no treatment. But I feel optimistic. Yuuri is exceptionally healthy. He should sail through this without a problem. 80% of the patients never see a hospital. That doesn't mean you can slack in the care or cleaning. Wear the mask and don't speak to Yuuri. You have a smart phone?" Viktor said yes. "Use it! Text don't talk even with the mask. You don't want to take any chances." The doctor sighed. "We don't know enough to risk anything." Viktor agreed. "Anyway, if you are still negative after two weeks, someone may come to take a blood sample?" Viktor gives an enthusiastic "Yes". "Great! If Yuuri sails through this with no problem, them they probably want his blood too."
"I'm sure Yuuri will agree if it helps people."
"Excellent."
After a few more reminders, the doctor hung up.
They settled into a routine. First thing in the morning, Viktor brings in a bowl and sponge for a sponge bath. The first time they tried it, Viktor got too excited and Yuuri kicked him out. Coughing fit and all. After Viktor relived himself, he found the bowl outside of the bedroom door and a text explaining how things were going to go from then on.
After Yuuri bathes himself, Viktor brings in the breakfast of rice portage and apples sliced to look like bunnies. In time, Viktor got good at both. Yuuri made sure to encourage him. Along with some hints from Yuuri's mom it was fine. Then Viktor assists him with the toileting and brushing of teeth. He does fine except for some weakness and coughing that splats toothpaste all over the mirror. But with good humor, Yuuri rolls into bed and falls asleep before Viktor finishes tidying up. Viktor then sneaks a mask covered kiss to Yuuri's forehead. It is all he can do to relieve the tension.
In the afternoon, Viktor enters with a bowl of his mother's chicken soup. It's quite good. Yuuri eats by himself but not alone. The door is thin enough that they can hear each other. Yuuri talks about his worries, dreams, and ideas. Viktor sits on a low stool and listens, asks questions and talks about his feelings and plans. Yuuri doesn't respond much except by text. When he's finished, he texts. Viktor comes to collect the tray still covered in mask and gloves. Then he sends in Makkachin. Makkachin is pleased to have them home the whole time but misses Yuuri after not seeing him since last afternoon. He realizes master number two is sick and quietly flops down for a nap. The dog is like a portable space heater and Yuuri cuddles him.
The evening meal is more chicken soup and more apple bunnies. The boyfriends chat through the door again. In the evening, Yuuri gets bored of sleeping and Viktor knows there is only so much dog walking and cleaning one can do in a three-bedroom apartment.
That night there is a movie they both like on tv. Yuuri turns on the bedroom tv, and Viktor rigs the smallest set in the hallway. They watch together while still apart and text back and forth mocking the acting, the campiness, and the historic inaccuracies. Yuuri ends up falling asleep seconds after the movie ends. Viktor goes in the bedroom to turn the set off. He sighs and puts everything back the way it was.
Viktor passes the time by playing with Makkachin. They flop on the couch and he watches a program that makes him bored enough to want to go to bed early. Makkachin joins him in Yuuri's old bedroom.
So, the days passed in endless cycle of bedrest and eating for Yuuri and cleaning and dog walking for Viktor. Their only joy came from talking to one another through the door. Both longing to hold the other. The fever lasted longer than any fever ever has before in Yuuri's experience. When he had fevers before, they would burn themselves out in a few hours or at most a day. After the germs burned out of his system, he would always feel weak but normal. Other symptoms would drag on for a while and fade away. This virus liked to linger. If the fever hung around this long, the violent coughs likely to drag him down for a long time. And yet, the doctor suspected he had a mild case. Yuuri spent a lot of time praying for the very sick and the dead.
One day, Viktor walked into the bedroom with Yuuri's lunch. As usual Makkachin followed. Viktor dropped the tray in shock. Yuuri was thrashing about, out of his mind with fever. Viktor ran for the stash of blankets they had ready. He piled them on top of Yuuri. Yuuri seemed to calm under the added heat and weight of the blankets. Viktor got the ear thermometer and crawled on top of Yuuri. He soothed Yuuri with calming words and by stroking his hair. It worked. Yuuri calmed but still panted and sweated. Viktor took his temperature. It was high but not dangerously so. They talked about this. Yuuri advised Viktor to stay calm and watch him closely. To not give the fever a chance to burn the germs out, might do more harm than good. If it reached a certain number, then call the ambulance.
Man, and dog waited. The fever raged but didn't spike higher. Yuuri rolled and moaned. Viktor took his temp every ten or fifteen minutes. Makkachin laid quietly at his feet and watched.
Viktor couldn't stand it. He draped himself over his lover and prayed to God:
"Please God, save him. I love him so. I never loved anyone like I love him. From the moment he jumped into my arms I knew; he was the one and I was in love. We have been a couple for such a short time. I'm so lonely without him. I changed for him! I thought you wanted us to be together so I would change and be a good person and less of a man whore. I need him to stay on the straight and narrow. And he needs me! He said so. We need each other for our mutual happiness. Why bring us together only to pull us apart soon after? Please God, I know I am being selfish but please spare Yuuri. I'm nothing without him and he needs my strength and encouragement. PLEASE!"
Just then Yuuri began to shake violently, suddenly he stiffened and fell back onto the pillows with a sigh. Viktor thought he was going to have a heart attack. He jumped forward to check Yuuri's vitals. His head was cool, and he breathed. Then Viktor breathed. Yuuri's eyes opened. He croaked:
"Viktor?"
"Darling! You're ok!"
"What happened."
Viktor told him what he observed. Yuuri sighed and smiled.
"Yes. That has been my experience with other fevers, but minutes not an hour or longer."
"What a frightening virus."
"I'm sorry you had to go through it."
"I just glad you are alive."
"Me too. But I had a feeling I would be ok. We all must trust our feelings."
"My terror over your illness made me forget that. I love you."
"My only love."
They stayed in the glow of love until Yuuri got over heated and begged for three or four blankets taken off him and a bath.
The break in the fever was the turning point in Yuuri's recovery. The coughs that felt like a knife stabbing his lungs lingered for weeks. Medicine for the illness was still months away. The cough medicine only weakened the coughs, it did not cure it. The doctor declared him no longer contagious and Viktor was still negative. They could once again be a couple. No longer able to resist Viktor kissed him passionately, Yuuri responded desperate for his touch. A minute later Yuuri pushed him away, panting. He raised his mask in self-defense.
"Please Viktor." *pant* "I love you." *pant* "I want you." *pant, cough* "I just can't..." *pant* "I don't have...the breath." Yuuri breathed hard.
"I'm sorry..." Yuuri stopped him with a finger and shook his head. Viktor sighed: "I love you."
Yuuri smiled and pointed at himself, made a heart with his hands, and pointed at Viktor. His boyfriend just smiled, adoringly.
ceo
Remember this is a fan fiction not a documentary.
I'm not a doctor, so do as your doctor tells you to do when sick.
However, I've had some personal experiences with fevers. Yuuri is me. I avoid fever reducers (Tylenol) like the plague. (there has to be a better phrase) I've recovered from fevers by using old-fashioned methods that work and fever goes away in few hours. For healthy, normal people, this is the best method. Here's why. In high school, I learned about the immune system. We also learned about the power of the fever to kill germs. Tylenol ads in the US show miracle cures after a single dose. But it defies logic and science. If the fever kills germs, then a fever reducer stops the fever from doing its job. This is what our teacher taught us. A few months later, a dear friend of mine got the flu. She was a normal healthy 17-year-old girl. She ended up in the hospital and died. Her parents came to our school for the memorial service. They thought they were doing the right thing giving her all of that Tylenol. Every time the meds wore off, her fever spiked. The fever spikes because the germs spread because the fever was down. I suspect a percentage of people in hospitals with complications from fevers used fever reducers. But are we even allowed to speak of it? I got viciously yelled by a nurse who has been (in my view) brainwashed by Big Pharma. I can see now how big of a hold the drug manufactures has on every part of our healthcare system or else I believe Tylenol would not be allowed to advertise as a fever cure. Fever IS the cure. I believe that in other countries it is sold only as a pain reliever. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my dear, gentle friend and her parents who loved her and thought they were doing the right thing.
I am only presenting the facts as I know them.
Stay well. Stay home.
Love, Karin.