"Richie." Duncan replied tiredly, the tears compelling him to respond to the boy's pleas. "I'm going to take you home. I just think we need to wait until."
"Anything you want. I'll do anything you want." Richie interrupted him; tears now pouring freely down his cheeks.
Duncan looked down at him, stupefied. "I want?"
"Anything." Richie repeated desperately in a trembling voice. "Just please take me home."
The Immortal stared down at him, completely at a loss about how to respond. The teen wouldn't listen to reason. He wouldn't even hear the reassurances Duncan was offering. The promises he had made to stick by him meant nothing to the teen. Not even when he made them legally binding. He had no idea what to do to reassure the boy. As he continued to gaze down at the terrified child, he finally remembered the only time Richie had ever been prepared to believe his reassurances. Only when Duncan held him, had the boy been even remotely willing to believe his words. Obviously, Richie was more trusting of physical affection than verbal reassurances. It was a mindset the ancient was willing to cash in on.
Gripping the boy behind his shoulder blades, Duncan pulled the child up and wrapped his arms tightly around the startled youth. A brief moment of panic overcame the man as he felt the teen stiffen in his arms. He hoped desperately that he had not misjudged the teen's needs. Holding firm for a few tense seconds, Duncan was more than a little relieved when he felt Richie melt in his arms.
"Richie, I only want what's best for you." Duncan told him gently, continuing to hold the boy tightly to his chest.
Richie, who was relaxing noticeably, finally responded in a very uncharacteristically serious tone. "Can I go home with you?"
"I promise you, Richie." Duncan began. "When I walk out of here, you'll be with me."
"You promise?" Richie parroted tentatively, wanting the reassurance repeated.
It was reassurance the Immortal was quite willing to repeat. "My word of honor, Richie. I won't leave this hospital without you."
"Can we go home today?" Richie replied, deciding to test the waters.
The response made Duncan smile. Richie had managed to bring them back to the topic the teen was most interested in, and the Immortal was most anxious to avoid, beautifully. "Richie."
"Please, Mac." The teen, who was immediately able to recognize that the man's tone was not in his favor, quickly interrupted. "I promise to listen to you."
"Listen to me, huh?" Duncan returned, smiling to himself at the idea of it.
"Whatever you want from me." Richie replied quickly. But it was the tone of his next few words that melted the ancient's resolve. "Please, just take me home."
"Richie, I." Duncan once again started to attempt reasoning with the teen. However, as the boy tensed in his arms, Duncan gave up on what he now realized was a futile argument. He wanted to take the teen home as much as Richie wanted to go. He finally replied. "Okay."
"Really?" Richie pulled away from the man just enough to look up at him.
The question provided Duncan the opening he was wanting. "You'll do everything the doctor says?"
"I swear." Richie replied immediately.
This immediate response allowed Duncan to quickly resume his line of questioning. "And you'll let Tessa and I take care of you?" When the teen nodded, Duncan pressed on. "You'll tell us how you're feeling? Let us know if you need anything?" As the teen continued to nod, the Immortal decided to throw in a last question to see how far he could take this unquestioned authority. "Let us baby you?"
As Richie froze, Duncan laughed out loud. "Okay." He finally said. "When the doctor says it's all right, we'll head out of here. Deal?"
"Deal." Richie replied.
Slowly, Duncan eased the teen back onto the pillow, hoping that he had handled the situation well. As he looked down at the boy, that train of thought disappeared, however. His attention was once again turned to the teen's present physical state. Richie was flushed and sweaty.
"Rich?" He questioned worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, why?" Richie replied.
Duncan frowned down at him and placed his hand on the teen's head. "You're really hot again and you're flushed."
"I've been pressed up against you, Mac." Richie calmly answered.
Duncan wasn't entirely reassured, however. "Still." He stood up to find a roaming doctor or nurse to provide him with some reassurance.
As if on cue, a nurse entered the partitioned area before the Immortal could even clear the bed. Duncan immediately settled back down again and waited for her to address them.
"Ready to get that IV out?" She asked the teen.
As Richie nodded readily, Duncan addressed her directly. "How's his fever?"
"I was just about to check. " She replied patiently.
Sticking the thermometer into the teen's mouth, the trio remained frozen in silence until the device finished its work. Frowning, the nurse announced the verdict. "You've definitely gone up."
"What now?" Duncan asked.
Giving the teen a tight smile, she replied. "A cool cloth soaked in ice water."
"No, nuh uh." Richie replied quickly, sitting up slightly as he spoke. "No way is this sadist attacking me again with her torture devices."
"Richie." Duncan admonished. "Don't be rude."
"She dumped me in a tub of ice." Richie argued. "And she held me under. She's evil."
"We had to bring down your fever." The nurse replied calmly. "And we're not going to do that this time. I promise. I'm just going to cool you down with towels. They aren't any bigger than dishcloths."
"No." Richie replied definitively. Then, for dramatic effect, he held up his arms in the shape of a cross in front of the woman. "You and your wicked torture devices aren't touching me again."
"Richie." Duncan replied sternly, fighting the urge to laugh. "Stop it."
"She isn't touching me." The teen replied.
Duncan sighed before turning to the woman. "How about if I do it?"
"You want to?" The nurse replied, doubtful.
"Would it be all right?" He questioned.
"Well, you'll have to deal with him at home, so you might as well start now." She replied, grateful for the reprieve. "I'll bring you a bowl and some towels."
"I thought you were going to listen." Duncan said pointedly as soon as the woman was out of earshot.
But Richie shook his head quickly. "I said I'd do what the doctor said and let you and Tessa take care of me. I never agreed to let her torture me."
"Do you know how bad you are?" Duncan questioned.
When the teen looked up at him worriedly, Duncan quickly buffered the comment by leaning over and ruffling the boy's hair. The Immortal was relieved when Richie broke into a grin.
"Mac, stop." The whine in the teen's voice made him seem years younger than he actually was.
As he once again pulled away from the man, Duncan gently grasped the boy's ankle and pulled his leg back as he continued to run the cool cloth across the heel of Richie's foot. "I'm almost done, Richie. Just one more leg."
"It's really cold." The whining had begun before the Immortal had even made his way down to the teen's neck. It hadn't ceased even momentarily since.
Duncan could only imagine how much Richie struggled when a group of strangers held him in ice water. No wonder the nurse was so willing to allow the Immortal to administer this care.
"Richie, give me your foot." The Immortal said calmly as the teen pulled away when Duncan attempted to switch legs.
As he grasped the squirming appendage, Duncan admonished the teen slightly. "If you'd just hold still, I would be done a lot faster, you know."
"Just stop now." Richie replied.
Duncan would have looked up at him, but was busy concentrating on keeping his grasp on the teen. "I'll be done in a minute and you can warm up, okay?"
"What's the point of making me freeze if I get to warm right back up?" Richie questioned poutily.
Duncan frowned, not really knowing the answer to that question. He, too, didn't really understand how this helped. But, hey, who was he to question the hospital's orders? He had seen firsthand how much modern medicine had improved lives. Fortunately, however, he didn't have to address the question.
"It'll make you feel better." Tessa replied, as she walked into the partitioned area. "And bring down your temperature."
Finishing up on Richie's foot, Duncan pulled the blanket back over the teen's leg and deposited the filled bowl on the side table before rising to greet the woman. "Hey, there."
"Hello." Tessa replied, returning Duncan's kiss.
Turning her attention to the teen then, she frowned slightly. "How are you feeling, Richie?"
"Better." He replied quickly, still unsure of how to handle the Frenchwoman.
With a slight nod, she turned her attention back to Duncan. "I ran into the doctor on my way in. He should be along shortly."
True to his word, the doctor entered the area for a final examination of the teen. After a few more pokes and prods of the now yawning teen, a slue of instructions to Duncan and Tessa and a mess of paperwork for the Immortal to sign, Richie was set to head home.
"Can I have those?" Richie finally asked Tessa.
Looking down at the bundle of clothing she was holding, the woman finally realized what the teen was referring to. "Oh, of course."
Leaning over quickly, she handed him the entire stack, including the coat. Looking down at the handful bewilderedly, Richie contemplated how to maneuver the pile and change while still maintaining his dignity. Fortunately, Tessa quickly realized her mistake and took the stack back from him. "Sorry, Richie. I forgot what I was doing."
She sorted through the pile and pulled out the logical first item he would need. "Here, start with these."
"Oh." Richie turned beet red at the idea of the woman handing him something so personal; then even redder as he attempted to change under his standard hospital-issued sheets.
Laughing, Duncan finally decided to intervene. Taking the pile of clothing from the woman, he exchanged a knowing glance with her. "Give us a minute, Tessa?"
"Of course." Stepping outside the small area, Tessa covered her mouth to stifle the giggles being induced by hearing the two argue as Duncan attempted to assist the overly proud teen. She took a deep breath and calmed herself as Duncan called out to let her know she could reenter the area.
As she spotted Richie, his eyes drooping as he sat on the edge of the bed, clad in a pair of sweats and Duncan's far too large but appropriately warm winter coat, she couldn't help but smile slightly.
The clothing she had selected however, did not amuse Richie. "You'd think it was mid-January, with this coat." He mumbled.
"You're sick, Richie." Tessa replied, serious once again. As an orderly stepped between them and calmly helped the boy into a wheelchair, the woman resumed her argument. "You cannot run around without a warm coat."
"You couldn't have brought my green one?" Richie countered as he was pushed through the short corridor to the entrance nearest the waiting car. "This thing is going to swallow me whole."
Tessa cringed slightly at the mention of the teen's hideous jacket. "Stop fussing."
Richie briefly remained silent, deciding to give up on an argument that he was never going to win. It was taking too much energy and the teen didn't have too much to spare. As they paused briefly while Duncan brought the car around, the teen came up with his next line of questioning "Can I have my shoes?"
Tessa didn't accommodate him entirely, though. Leaning over, she plunked a warm pair of slippers on his feet, much to the teen's chagrin.
"Tessa I can't walk around the parking lot in these things. And I'll probably get a metal rod through my foot in the back alley by the loft." Richie attempted to reason with the woman, in a much more whiny tone than he had meant to use.
Willing to give the sick, tired boy a bit more leeway than she normally would, Tessa ignored the tone. "You're still sick, Richie; and tired. Your father will carry you."
Taking the woman's cue, Duncan handed her Richie's paperwork. "Time to go, partner." Duncan told the boy as he gently lifted him out of the chair to transition him to the backseat of the car.
"I'm too big to be carried." Richie told them as he wrapped his arms around the Immortal's neck.
Duncan smiled and moved his head slightly aside to allow Richie to burrow his face under the man's chin. "Of course you are."