Chapter 4: Sick

Dib groaned as he laid in his bed. He felt nauseous, he was sweating and it has been like this for a couple of days now. The poor teen couldn't go to school in this state so he has been kept in his room feeling like he's dying. At least his sister Gaz brings him soup and grilled cheese made by Foodio. She does have a heart... Even if it's VERY hard to see it.

At least he can sleep in more until he gets better. He also didn't have to deal with Zim bothering him.

"DIB-WORM! You think you can hide from Zim?!" He heard the familiar voice of the space bug as said alien entered his bedroom from his window. Of course, he would come when he was getting used to peace and quiet.

"Go away, Zim," Dib replied as he rolled on his side and pulled the covers over his head.

"And leave you to your hiding? NONSENSE! I will not accept your defeat in such a cowardly way!" Zim told him as Dib glared at his wall through his blankets before feeling a tug on his blankets.

"Zim, I'm not in the mood for this. Please, just go." Dib told him tiredly just wanting some rest.

"Tell Zim why you won't get up! Why I haven't seen you for days!" Zim ordered continuing to play tug-a-war on the blanket with Dib before falling back once Dib let go of the blanket.

"I'm sick, you dumb cockroach!" Dib shouted before placing a hand on his forehead. All of the screaming was giving him a headache as he kept his focus on the ceiling, hoping the pounding would stop.

Zim didn't say anything as he processes what Dib has told him. Now taking a better look at Dib when he got back up he noticed how awful Dib looked. His flushed cheeks, the sweat dripping from the sides of his head, how pale the human was.

The alien quickly snapped out of it as he glared at the human. "No excuses! You should've told Zim, illness or not!" Zim told him, pointing down at him as he stood on Dib's bed, seeing Dib flinch.

"Zim, can you speak quietly? My head hurts." Dib told him, covering his eyes with his arm.

Zim frowned as he realized Dib wasn't faking. "You're... Not faking?" Zim asked him with a softer tone.

"No! I'm... Oh, god." Dib muttered before leaning off his bed, taking his garbage can, and throwing up the contents from his stomach, tears pricking his eyes as his head pounded.

Zim immediately jumped back with fear and disgust. He couldn't stop the germaphobe in him as he immediately thought of all the germs on the human worm from this illness.

Realizing how serious the situation was (To Zim) Zim immediately headed to the window. "I will be back, Dib-worm, and prepare to be cleansed," Zim told him after Dib laid back down from puking his guts up.

Dib really didn't want to know what Zim meant as he saw the alien left. He just wished he could be left to rest but he did take this time to finally get some rest with Zim being gone as he closed his eyes.

The sick teen let out a groan when he felt something poke his cheek as he woke up from his lap. His eyes fluttered slightly as he looked up seeing Zim over him, wearing goggles, a shower cap, and big, yellow plastic gloves over his arms as he wore a mask. "You're awake, Dib-stink. Now we can wash the germs from your body." Zim told him, hardly giving Dib any time to process before he was pulled up by the alien using his mechanical legs.

"W-Woah, Woah, what are you doing!?" Dib exclaimed as he tried to move away though with how weak he felt it didn't do much to stop Zim.

"Isn't it obvious? Zim's taking care of your illness, I will not have my rival be inflicted with those germs." Zim shuddered as he carried Dib to the bathroom.

It took quite a bit to get the human stripped and cleaned. Zim wanted these germs off of his human so he won't continue to be sick. The alien made sure that the human was all clean, helping the human get out of the shower and wrapping him up with a towel. "Stay here, Zim will return with your sleep clothes." The alien told Dib as he headed back to Dib's room.

Dib let out a sigh as he held the towel around him as he sat on the toilet. He had to admit he did feel a little better after he got clean. He just wished he cleaned himself. Zim saw everything. The alien may not have felt embarrassed about the whole thing but he sure did. His cheeks flared a bright red as he hugged the towel tighter. "Dumb, cockroach." He muttered before looking over, seeing Zim come back with his pajamas, underwear not included.

"Change before I make you, dib-thing!" Zim ordered before heading back to Dib's room, rustling being heard soon after. Dib didn't want to know what Zim was doing to his room but he was glad he was able to get changed on his own. Yes, it took a bit due to how weak he felt but overall that bath helped.

When Dib left the bathroom he saw Zim making his bed and basically cleaning his room. That's all what Zim did for the remainder of the day when he was forced back to bed. He honestly never thought his room could be so clean, though he was missing a trashcan now. It wouldn't have surprised him if Zim incinerated the thing to not deal with his vomit.

For the rest of his time being sick Zim was constantly around him, and basically became his nurse. It was both annoying, yet he felt good how Zim did nothing but make sure he was alright and getting healthy. Too bad the alien got sick a week after him and blamed him for it, not letting him go to his base at all for the time being and would call him constantly to complain about it and yell at him for making him get sick until he got better.