Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 characters but I do, however, use them because I think they would make a cute couple.
Happy Reading~
Down with the Sickness
"GWEN!"
As Ben entered the rust bucket, he saw Gwen, who had seemingly collapsed, slumped over the sofa. Her face was completely white, and her breaths were short and painful.
"Hey, Gwen! What's wrong! Hey, wake up…!" As he shook her, he was surprised by how hot she was. She was burning up. Ben was honestly surprised. Before he left for the general store Gwen was completely fine.
"B…Ben…" Gwen gave him a blank stare. Speaking seemed to be really painful for her. She must have had an intense fever. Ben almost burned his hand on her forehead. What the heck?
"You idiot! Why'd you put up with it until it turned out like this? You could have just told me about it you know!" Ben panicked.
"I…I'm fine, so…I just…got a little dizzy, and tripped…there's no need for you to worry…at all…"
Even in this shape, she was trying to act tough.
"Ahhh, just be quiet! I'm carrying you to your bed!" Ben picked up her scorching hot little body and carried her off to their room. Ben looked back and forth. His grandpa had 'gone out' for the day leaving them alone (again).
It's not like I need him or anything…Ben gritted his teeth. He felt so useless at that moment. He was still reliant on his grandfather, something he wanted to stop completely. He looked down to Gwen and cleared his head. If he was going to fix this he had to calm down.
Alright.
…
Splash.
Ben placed a cold washcloth on Gwen's forehead. It had been an hour since he gave her some medicine, and she finally managed to fall asleep. Her breathing showed no signs of getting less painful though.
"Huff…haah, ah…huff…"
Ben had been keeping her moderately cool for hours. He had lost track of time. With Gwen, in the shape she was, he couldn't think of anything but her. In order to stop her from rolling around because of the pain, Ben put her on her bed. She was breathing roughly with waves of sweat running down her face.
Ben sighed and relaxed into his chair (something he hadn't done in hours). He closed his eyes letting his mind slip for just a moment. Soon he found himself drifting off into a sweet slumber.
"Ah…" As Gwen arched her back in pain, the washcloth fell off of her forehead. Ben's eyes flashed open and he was back to his feet. When Ben picked up the washcloth it was already hot from absorbing her fever's heat.
Man, it's because she pushed herself too hard. I can't believe she didn't tell me she had like a forty degree fever. Ben wasn't just worried about her anymore, he was really angry. When she got better he was really going to 'discuss' this with her. Thinking about that, he looked at Gwen's face. She seemed to be in such pain.
The ticking of the clock was the only sound that could be heard in the room. It was surprising how quiet it could be with the two of them alone. Ben became uneasy when Gwen didn't mouth off at him. It made him feel like if she didn't nag at him it wouldn't be normal.
I wonder how long I've been sitting here…Looking at the clock, it was already 2am.
Thankfully because of the medicine, Gwen looked a lot better than she did before. That was a small relief at least.
I'll just have to check how she feels tomorrow, and if it looks like the fever comes back, I'll have to think about taking her to see a doctor.
Splash.
Ben cooled off the towel again, and just as he was about to put it on her forehead…
"Ben…" He could feel Gwen's warm hand on top of his.
"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?"
"…No."
"You ok? Well, I know you're probably not feeling well, but…"
"…I feel a lot better."
"That's good." He put the washcloth back on Gwen's forehead.
"What time is it?" She asked.
"I think it's about 2am."
"I see…" she fell quiet. Well he had certainly been doing this for a long time. He hadn't taken a break since he found her. He was afraid that she would get worse if he went to bed so he didn't bother.
Gwen was about to say something, but stopped. She did it a bunch of times before she finally decided to say nothing at all.
"….Hey, Gwen?"
"What is it?"
"I just…I'm sorry for not noticing the fever any sooner. If I did you'd probably be sleeping peacefully….maybe you wouldn't have the fever at all."
"…Don't worry about that." Gwen was speaking more gently than usual "But Ben…don't you need to sleep?"
"I'm fine. You're the one who needs the sleep, not me."
"Ben…"
"No whining."
"Well couldn't you at least switch shifts with Grandpa?"
"He doesn't know you're sick. I don't plan on telling him either." Ben's cold attitude towards his grandfather hadn't change. How could it? It had only been three days since the whole Cherry incident and Grandpa still didn't make any effort to talk to them. Ben didn't mind. He liked it that way.
"Ben you can't take care of me by yourself."
"I'm doing it now aren't I?"
"Then why do you look like you could pass out at any minute? There are even bags under your eyes." Ben didn't answer. He knew he was tired, incredibly tired. All he could think about was helping Gwen; whatever happened to him didn't matter.
"Ben you can't avoid Grandpa forever…" Gwen coughed "Please if you can't go to him for yourself, do it for me?" Gwen looked up to him with pleading eyes. Ben thought for a moment, what if he fell asleep and Gwen got even worse because of it? Scared of the thought, he shook his head and gave a reluctant reply.
"…I'll think about it."
"Thank you."
Gwen looked up at the roof, and didn't move a muscle. Slowly her eyelids began to droop and she drifted off into a deep sleep. Ben took the opportunity to refill the basin of water but he couldn't get up. It wasn't that he couldn't but there was something latched onto his arm. Gwen, now asleep held Ben's arms.
Who knew she was this cute…
"Grandpa…" Ben spoke softly and the old man woke from his sleep.
"Oh Ben…" Clearly surprised to see his grandson walk up to him, he had nothing to say. Max racked his brain to come up with a clear response. "Um, what's up?"
The grave look Ben gave Max immediately told him something was wrong. Ben crashed against the wall next to him unable to support himself anymore. The sleep was getting to him and he was afraid something might have happened to Gwen. Ben explained to him how Gwen had somehow gotten a high fever that just wouldn't go down no matter what he did. Max quickly rushed to the cousins' room and saw Gwen's painful condition.
When Max had a clearer look at Ben he gasped. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep for the entire night. Max looked over to the clock which read '5:00 am'.
"Ben how long have you been up?"
"I never fell asleep."
"You should get some rest sport. I'll take care of things from here."
"No. You'll do something weird."
"Ben I won't do anything, trust me." Ben glared when he said the word 'trust'. Max sighed and scratched his head. How was he going to explain this to Ben without stressing too much on the past incident?
"Ok. How about this, you watch whatever I do."
"Fine with me."
Ben wasn't exactly in a position to argue anyway. Ben watched Max closely as he did what Ben had been doing all night long. So far Max didn't seem to be up to anything so Ben relaxed in his chair. As much as Ben fought it, his body craved sleep. As much as Ben forced his eyes to stay open he was eventually going to fall asleep. His eyelids became heavier and heavier until they closed and with that he was out.
When Ben woke up on his bed, it didn't take him long to spring out of Ben and onto the floor. It was moments after he landed that he turned to find Max feeding Gwen some kind of green mush.
"Wait! What is that?"
"It's just porridge Ben. Relax."
"Just porridge my butt," Ben grabbed the bowl "I'm taste testing this thing."
When Ben put the spoon in his mouth he felt like someone hit his mouth with a steel bat. Ben found himself on the floor convulsing uncontrollably and foaming at the mouth.
"Grandpa! What did you put in the porridge!"
"It's a Gorgel secret pick me up. Cures any fever in an hour or two."
"Grandpa!" Gwen whined.
"He'll be fine…just give it an hour or two. Four hours tops."
When Ben woke up (again) it was already noon time. Gwen told him he had been asleep for four hours after he ate the cursed porridge. Ben made his grandfather make edible porridge this time watching him as he did. Just to make sure Ben knew what his grandpa was doing he turned into Grey Matter and read the recipe just as an extra.
"Hey Gwen. The porridge is ready!" Ben called as he entered his room. Max left the porridge feeding duty to his grandson. He knew Ben wouldn't let him feed her anyway.
"…I'm not really hungry." Gwen stuck her head just slightly out from under her sheets. She wasn't ready to taste one of Grandpa's meals even if Ben watched him make it. Ben didn't know anything about cooking after all.
"Don't worry he didn't put anything weird in it."
"No thanks."
"But if you don't eat properly, you won't get any better. You didn't even take your medicine." Gwen didn't answer. "Come on. All I'm asking you to do is have some food."
"I'm telling you, I'm not hungr-" Her stomach growled "Ah…"
"Your stomach seems to disagree."
"Wuh…" Gwen glared at Ben while blushing. Hey, it's not MY fault! Ben thought to himself. Ben eventually pulled up the chair next to Gwen's bed and sat on it. Ben picked up a spoonful of porridge and held it out in front of Gwen's mouth.
"I-I can eat it myself! Don't worry about it!"
"Just shut up and eat it." Ben replied. He could tell from the state of her that she barely had the strength to lift up her arms let alone feed herself. It's not like this wasn't embarrassing for Ben. Surprisingly his grandpa was the one who suggested it to him. After a while not being sure if she should do it or not, Gwen chomped down on the spoonful of rice porridge.
"It'th hoff!" She huffed for a little to cool it down and then she swallowed it.
"Did he get it right this time…?"
"It's too hot. I thought I was going to burn my tongue. Otherwise, it's perfect. "
"…I guess…I could cool it down for you…if you want…" Ben looked away. Gwen didn't say anything and Ben took it as a go sign. He picked up some porridge, and blew air over the spoon for a bit to cool it down. As Ben put the spoon near her face, he noticed that she was staring at it.
"Why are you staring at the spoon? Is there something on it?"
"No, it's nothing!" Gwen blushed as she chomped down on the spoon again. Once he saw that she had swallowed her spoonful, he picked up another one. This is pretty fun...I guess this is something lovers would do…or something like that? And thus Ben spent the rest of his afternoon feeding Gwen.
Afterward he left Gwen to rest and had multiple conversations with his grandpa about secret cures for the fever; much of which Ben didn't dare try on her for obvious reasons of course. Though Ben's trust in his Grandfather was still bare minimal he could easily start a conversation with him now (which made Max slightly happier). Both Max and Ben knew they were on the track to recovering their lost relationship. And before long Gwen started feeling better. After a day she had the strength to walk around the rust bucket (though she still had a slight fever).
Ben feeling a bit bored headed into his room. Maybe I can find one of my old comics. It was until Ben began his search that he noticed Gwen's spell book on her dresser. It had been bookmarked and Benknowing that he had nothing better to do grabbed the book and opened it to the bookmarked page. Ben couldn't understand the weird writing no matter how hard he tried. If you can call that writing he thought. He rubbed his finger against a particular character and suddenly a flash of pink erupted from Ben's finger onto the book.
"Whoa!" Ben dropped the book in haste and after a moment, the words 'High Fever and Sickness spell' entered his brain. He had no idea how or why they were there but they were. Maybe it had something to do with the pink flash? Despite the mountain of questions that entered Ben's brain, he focused on the most troubling of them all. As if on cue Gwen entered the room.
"Gwen…did you get yourself sick on purpose…?" Ben raised his eyebrow.
"What? How did you-?" Gwen looked to her spell book on the floor "How did you read that…?"
"I don't know but that's not the point. Did you get yourself sick?"
"….maybe…"
"Thanks." Wait…what did he just say?
"Care to repeat that….?"
"I know why you did it." Ben smiled. He could only think of his relationship with his Grandpa. Gwen risked her health for the two of them. For that he was truly grateful to her but…
Ben raised his hand to her face and flicked her nose.
"Ow!"
"But if you ever do that again I'm making Grandpa ground you and confiscating your spell book!"
It's surprising how far a family can go for one another.
