Keith was a stubborn type of person who never told how was he was truly feeling, but when he became the pilot of the red lion, he wasn't able to keep those feeling secret anymore because his teammates could see right through his lying act. Keith had just woken up, but as he did he had felt an odd feeling creeping in his throat but he ignored it the best he could and got up from bed, got dressed and headed to the others in the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen he got greeted by everyone, and he went to sit down so they could begin eating. After some time Keith noticed Shiro looking at him, himself getting the odd sensation he did something wrong or that something was wrong with him. " Shiro...?" Keith began but as soon as he started speaking Lance and Pidge who had been nudging each other the whole time, started yelling at each other, and Shiro had to bring back his focus on those two, telling them to grow up and stop fighting. " I don't appreciate this behavior at the table, now eat your breakfast and go train or something-" Shiro said, pointing to their food telling them to sit back down and do as he says. The black paladin sighed and went back to looking at Keith, which made him feel uncomfortable once again. " Guys, what are you doing?" Hunk asked, looking over at the two of them seeming kind of confused. Hunk got his answer by a nasty glare from Shiro, so Hunk, Pidge, and Lance went off to the training deck leaving the two paladins at the kitchen table. " Shiro, whatever you are doing just stop I don't like it-" Keith began once again trying to tell the black paladin to stop glaring at him in such an odd way but he was cut off with himself having a coughing fit and within seconds, Shiro was at his side trying to calm him down. Panting, and sweaty, Keith tried to walk away from Shiro before the idea came to his mind about why Shiro now was glaring at him the whole breakfast. " Oh, I get it now... I'm not sick Shiro I just got something in my throat-" Keith said, and then he started walking towards the training deck. Shiro was following silently right behind himself, and it made Keith uncomfortable knowing the black paladin would rest until Keith admitted he was feeling sick, but Keith wouldn't give in that easy and started walking faster until he got to the training deck.

The others had already started sparring with each other, so Keith threw a glance over his shoulder to see if Shiro was there which he was, so Keith hurried to get his armor on so Shiro couldn't get the chance to stop his training session. 20 minutes into the training session Keith had started feeling tired and went to sit down and rest. Shiro of course noticed and he went over to where the red paladin was sitting and sat down next to him waiting a moment before speaking. " I know you aren't feeling like yourself and I don't want you to train anymore because you are worn out already..." He said, turning to face Keith. Keith felt like this conversation was stupid, so he started to get back up only to get yanked back down by Shiro who hadn't done any more to try to stop him from that. " I would recommend you to go to your room and rest, otherwise I have another alternative which you won't like at all but-" Shiro said, but Keith ignored him and went to the others to spar, never looking at Shiro again until lunchtime knowing he was going to have to face the consequences that came after. At lunch Keith felt horrible, his throat was killing him and he had a really hard time to speak to the others but pushed through. When he was going to eat, he felt as if the food was clawing the inside of his throat on its way down, but Keith tried his best to look normal and alert to his surroundings. " What do you think Keith?" Pidge asked, sending a jolt of awareness through Keith's body who hadn't been listening to the others conversation due to himself thinking about other stuff. " Oh sorry Pidge I didn't hear what you said, can you repeat it?" Keith asked, slightly embarrassed but tried not to show it. " I asked how you feel about the food, Hunk went to the kitchen to get more and he wanted to know your thoughts about it." She asked. Keith didn't know what to answer but tried to answer as honestly as he could, feeling his voice change by every sentence... " I don't know, I just ate it without thinking about the taste-" Without being able to finish his sentence he started coughing, setting everyone on edge and Shiro by his side once again. " I'm fine, I just got something in my throat that's all..." Keith said, looking up at the ceiling to get the itching sensation in his throat to stop, but it didn't. He noticed Shiro was glaring at him again, showing signs in his face making it obvious that he wanted Keith to follow him somewhere. The two of them got up and headed out without a word, except Shiro who thanked Hunk for the food, then they went out in the hallway.

" You wanna tell me what happened in there wasn't just some coincidence, or do you wanna tell me you are sick?" Shiro asked, trying not to get angrier than he already was. Keith could stand having the older boy standing there yelling at him so he just turned around and started speed walking to his room to be alone. He soon noticed Shiro who had caught up to him, and second, later yanked the back of Keith's jacket so the red paladin fell on the floor.

" Shiro, I told you I am fine if I now am sick I was gonna go to my room and rest or whatever, leave me alone," Keith said, standing back up, looking the black paladin in the eyes and left. " Keith, before you leave can you just help me with something first...?" Shiro asked, getting Keith's attention. Keith slowly walked back to the older boy and stopped a few meters in front of him, wondering. " Come with me," Shiro said, and so he started walking so Keith had to follow. They walked for a few minutes until they reached an area Keith only had been in once before but he couldn't remember when. " Coran, can you come to our location right this second? I need your help." Shiro asked over the intercom device in his pocket, which the rest of the paladins also had in case of emergencies, but this wasn't an emergency so-. A few minutes passed and Coran finally showed up, looking at Shiro and then Keith with confusion but as he got closer he could tell why Shiro had summoned him and didn't say anything. He unlocked the door and waited for Keith and Shiro to go in before he went in himself, locking the door for some reason and stood there for a minute before turning on the lights to the room. Once the room was lit up, Keirt felt a surge of betrayal and anger knowing where the three of them were right now.

" Shiro, why are we in the infirmary?" Keith asked, feeling his hands turn into fists, ready for a fight. He obviously could tell why they were here, but he didn't want to, knowing bad things might happen to him if he stayed. " Just let Coran check your temperature and such, then you can leave unless its something worse than a fever," Shiro said, motioning Keith to get on the bed and stay put. Keith went over to the bed and sat down, seeing Coran go over and getting a scanner of sorts. When he came back, Keith felt himself getting nervous, feeling almost scared of what would happen but he didn't say anything or move to let Coran check his temperature so he could get out of there as quickly as he could. " Um, is 38 degrees fever?" Coran asked Shiro, as Keith felt himself sink into the bed with dread. " You are so staying here until your fever is down, otherwise I will strap you to it," Shiro said, already making a move to block the red paladin's path of escape. Keith didn't say anything, just letting himself feel ashamed for not listening to Shiro's recommendation before during training. " I wouldn't be in this situation if I would only just have stayed in bed-" Keith thought, as he flopped down on the bed ready to just sleep or something. " Ok, we aren't done yet, it seems you have an infection in your throat as well so you will need to get treated for that as well," Coran said, walking over to the cupboard at the edge of the room to get something. " Great, just great..." Keith thought to himself, feeling how heavy his body was getting.

"Keith?" He heard his name being repeated a few times, slowly opening his eyes to see Shiro trying to wake him up. " Come on, you can sleep soon but you need to change and get into bed first," Shiro said, helping the red paladin onto his feet. Keith was handed something that looked familiar to hospital clothes, from Coran, but he didn't want to change into it. " You have to Keith, its gonna feel better once you do..." Coran said, smiling so Keith had to change and get into bed. Once in bed, he wanted to sleep so badly but something in his brain was keeping himself awake.

" Keith doesn't freak out now, but you're going to have to stay here for a while because of your infection. I also need to give you medicine but because I don't want you to swallow stuff for a while-" Coran started talking but Keith already knew where this conversation was going to lead to. He felt like shit, and he wanted to get better but not the way Coran was planning, so Keith tried to argue about it but got cut off. " Remember this Keith, if you don't cooperate with this I will strap you down and I don't want to do that to you, but I will if I have to..." Shiro said, looking down at Keith who was trying to get out of the situation he put himself in. While Shiro had talked, Keith saw what Coran had gotten out of the cupboard and was now feeling himself getting anxious. " Give me your arm," Coran said, waiting a long time before Keith finally did as he was told. Coran wiped the back of his hand and stuck in the IV needle, but before the needle had gotten to his skin he flinched, and tried to struggle but remembered what Shiro had said earlier. Once done, Coran turned on the drip and Keith felt the medicine go into his skin and it felt weird. After a few minutes he fell asleep and Coran and Shiro went to the other paladins to tell them what was going on.

" I knew that Mullet was sick, he isn't good at acting anyway-" Lance was the first to speak but given the glare he got from Shiro, it told him enough to shut up. "I and Coran would appreciate if you guys waited till tomorrow to visit him because he has to sleep now, but tomorrow you can go visit him." He said, and the others agreed to it. Allura came into the room just as Shiro and Coran were discussing this with the paladins, seeming very confused. " Keith is sick, he is in the infirmary but you cant visit him until tomorrow..." Shiro said, turning to Allura as he said this, her reaction was beyond traumatized. " I was asleep the whole day and I missed such a thing... I'm not fit to be a leader if I can't even keep my paladins healthy-" She said, feeling the guilt creep up on her but before she could worry anymore Shiro comforted her. "It's not anyone's fault, he made his decision at the training deck, I told him to rest but he refused so this is his fault," Shiro said, seeing if anyone was going to argue about it. " I guess all we can do is wait until tomorrow..." Hunk said, and then half an hour later everyone was in bed. Coran went to the infirmary to check on Keith once more before he went off to bed.

The next day when Coran came in to check on Keith he was still sleeping, but he knew he had to wake the paladin up to check he was still alive. " Keith, wake up buddy..." Coran said as he was gently shaking the red paladin to wake up. Keith woke up with a jolt and started coughing, sending Shiro running as he was on his way to the infirmary and was just about outside. " I'm f-fine..." Keith said, breathing pretty heavy, doubled over in the bed in case he had to throw up or something. " Keith, I could help you with this problem but you have a choice here so you could say no..." Coran started, getting Keith's attention, as he seemed to want to know what he had to say. " I could fix up so you can have a breathing mask on, just if you want to-" Coran said, laughing nervously. Keith did feel the urge to say yes but thought about later when the paladins were going to come and visit... " I'm not sure, can you decide, I want to say yes and no but I feel like I can't decide so I'm giving you permission to choose," Keith said, pointing to Shiro who was surprised by the sudden change. " Well if you insist on me choosing then I would like you to have it on, at least for today, maybe tomorrow depending on if your breathing will get better or not because of it," Shiro said, walking over to Keith's bed. Coran was quick to get it ready and just after 15 minutes, Keith sat holding the mask in his hands. " I'll help you, stay still," Shiro said, grabbing the mask from Keith and placing it onto his face, tightening the strap at the back. Keith immediately felt his burning chest, fill with cool air and it felt pretty nice to be able to breathe properly, so he just had to deal with having the mask on his face for two days or so. " I will give you a new dose of medicine now, so we have to change the drip I'm afraid..." Coran said, ready to pull the needle out of Keith's hand and replace it. Keith was freaked out by the sudden change in action and tried backing up against the bed frame but got stopped by Shiro who just placed his hand on Keith's shoulder preventing him from escaping.

" Keith, just get it over with." was all he said and Keith had to calm down before Coran pulled the needle out. He felt a tugging sensation, then came relief and then a pinch, then it was over and he calmed down again. " The others are outside, can they come in now?" Shiro asked, waiting for Keith's response. He nodded, and Shiro let the others in, including the princess who looked very worried. " What happened Keith, we were all worried-" Lance started but then he saw that Keith wasn't looking at them, probably because he felt guilty. " You know, you should talk to us more about these things at least because then we can help you. I noticed already at breakfast something was wrong..." Hunk said, then he went over to hug Keith, which made both he feel better but also Keith. After talking and hanging out for an hour or so, the others went to eat lunch, and Coran and Shiro stayed with him, giving him food as well. Keith wasn't super hungry but Shiro gave him the same glare from the day before so he forced himself to eat all of it, and when he was done Shiro smiled at him as a reward. " Ok Keith, I would like to do some tests, will you cooperate with me?" Coran stood up and asked the red paladin. Keith felt unsure about the word " test " but didn't have a choice so he nodded. Coran got some supplies and soon he was sitting with Keith in front of him, legs dangling over the edge of the bed, and the mask is taken off because Coran was going to check his throat first.

" Open wide," Coran said and Keith obeyed opening his mouth as wide as he could, some pain stopping him to open all the way and Coran noticed. Coran checked his mouth, throat, nose, and ears to only see the abnormality in his throat. " Its swelled up, but you'll be fine. I only need to do one more thing but it will be uncomfortable..." Coran said, and Keith froze. He felt the word " uncomfortable " only could mean one thing: Pain. " Come lie down here," Coran said, as he was pointing to a bed which looked a bit different than the bed he was in now, but he went over to it and lied down. " I'm gonna put this down your throat, that's why I said it would be uncomfortable-" Coran said, holding up a tube with some sort of claw at the end to grab something with. Keith felt scared and refused to open his mouth, trying to get up only to have Shiro push him back down again. " You c-can't put that down my throat, I'm gonna choke!" Keith exclaimed, still trying to get back up only to get pushed down by Shiro again and again. " Ok, that's it!" Shiro said, pressing a button on the side of the bed which activated restraint to hold Keith down. " You don't have a choice at this point, just do it," Shiro said, looking at Keith with annoyance. Keith still refused, making even Coran annoyed at how he was acting but Keith didn't feel like having someone shove down a tube down his throat at all. " Ok, if that's how you want to do it-" Shiro said, walking over to Keith's head and started prying his mouth open, only to have Keith try to bite him. " S-STOP!" Keith exclaimed, still trying to get Shiro's hands away from his face, but soon Shiro had a good hold of his jaw and Keith started to panic. " What the hell is happening here!" Lance asked as he entered the room to just stop in disbelief. " What are you guys doing to him, your fucking torturing him!" Lance said, his voice raised high as he hurried to help Keith out the mess. When he got to Keith, he saw the red paladin had tears in his eyes and he just felt the whole world sink under him, with fear and anger towards Shiro and Coran. " Let go of his jaw Shiro, I wanna talk to him-" Lance said, and Shiro let go. Coran put the tube on the table next to him, then he and Shiro left the room to give the two of them some time to talk, hoping for cooperation when they came back. " What the hell were they thinking..." Lance muttered to himself, turning back to Keith who was in shock of what just had happened. " Hey it's ok, I'm not going to let them hurt you but you know, you still have to do it," Lance said, taking the red paladins hand, trying to comfort him. " I don't want a fucking tube shoved down my throat, Lance..." Keith said, tired after all the commotion that happened. " Can you do it for me, if I stay here the whole time?" Lance asked. Keith thought about it and he wanted the blue paladin to stay with him during the procedure. " Ok, but I want you to sit right here," Keith said, motioning for a spot right next to himself. " Ok, if that's what you want-" Lance said, smiling and calming the red paladin down. Seconds later, Coran and Shiro came back, seeming pleased that Lance's comfort had done something good to the situation. " Ok, let's try this again then," Coran said, grabbing the tube and Shiro grabbing Keith's jaw. Keith opened it himself this time, and Coran started, feeling the tube slither down his throat.

He must have blacked out or something but when he awoke again he found himself in the other bed, tucked in and comfortable. He noticed Lance, who was sitting on the other side of the room talking to Coran and Shiro. He noticed he had the mask on again, and he still felt the slightest discomfort from the IV in his hand, but otherwise than that he was fine, and his throat felt fine too even thought just moments ago Coran was shoving down a tube.

" You're awake!" Lance had noticed and skipped over to Keith who was generally confused. " How am I still alive, what happened?" Keith asked, surprised to hear his voice so raspy even though it felt fine. " Well, you did pass out but it didn't affect the procedure so we kept going. We found a Pirby bug sitting on the inside of your throat, which was why you got an infection but I took it off so you will be out of here by tomorrow of all goes well..." Coran said, leaving Keith stunned and slightly shocked. " How did it get there?" Keith asked, already having an idea of his own. " Well, they hide in food so its pretty simple to get the answer from there," Coran said. Keith thought about the meal he had a few days ago, wich Hunk made... "It's not Hunks fault, don't you dare Mullet-" Lance shot up a glare at the red paladin but Keith looked away to avoid the confrontation. " Anyway, you did a good job keeping calm when I was there... you were crying throughout the procedure though, even though you passed out-" Lance said, feeling unsure about Keith's reaction to his comment. Keith was thought shocked by this and blushed, not needing anything more embarrassing to happen to him than had already happened. " Anyway, I'm going now, see ya tomorrow..." Lance said, and then he was out the door. Keith felt tired, so he tried to sleep some more but got interrupted by Coran trying to silently sneak in, but he failed. " I just had to check your temperature again..." He said, grabbing the scanner and moving towards the bed Keith was in. Coran did a quick scan, to see that Keiths' temperature had gone down and he decided that Keith was allowed to leave, but still have the IV in for the night. Keith got a bit annoyed but got dressed to pajamas and left to say goodnight to the others before they went to bed. When he got to the lounge everyone was happy to see him, and Shiro said he was going to help Keith get into bed a such. A few minutes later, he found himself in the bathroom getting help from Shiro to get himself clean and so on. Not long after that, they left for his room and he helped the red paladin to bed, adjusting so the IV wouldn't bother him during the night. " Goodnight Keith..." He said, smiling and then he left leaving Keith in the darkroom. " This is so uncomfortable..." He thought, running his free hand along where the needle was. Soon Keith fell asleep, feeling free from all the tension he had in the infirmary and he drifted into a peaceful sleep. The next day, the first thing Keith did when he woke up was to go the infirmary to have Coran take the IV out, but he wasn't there so he had to go to the kitchen where everyone else was. " Coran?" Keith said, motioning his hand so Coran would understand. The altean went over to him and made Keith sit down before he grabbed his arm, to remove the IV. The other paladins watched in awe making Keith feel uncomfortable but once done he felt so relieved. " Who is ready to spar?" Keith asked, but no one answered already knowing what was going to happen. Shiro had been standing behind Keith the entire time and now he whacked the poor boy in the head for the comment. Keith understood the sparring had to wait a few more days but was finally happy to be out of the infirmary and back with his friends.

THE END