Hello all!! Good lord I'm sorry it took me so long to update!! O.o Completely not cool! Anyway I hope you enjoy it!!

Quick note: I wanted to bring Abigail into the story through some way, shape, or form so I added a little bit of backstory to make it seem plausible. I know its not canon but Abigail just seems like the kind of person who would be a good nurse :D Also, did anyone see the MTV movie awards and notice that NT2 got nothing?! Oh my God! Blasphemy! It was semi-cool cause Transformers got best movie and that rocked my socks but seriously, no award for NT2?! Ugh...epic failure...

"Ben…?"

"…"

"Ben."

"Hmm…?"

"I have to pee…"

Ben blinked groggily and sat up a little, releasing his hold on Riley. "Alright…" He yawned, propping himself on one elbow. "Can you make it by yourself?" He asked, watching as Riley slowly and shakily pulled himself into a sitting position.

The younger man nodded. "Yeah, I should be fine…" He answered tiredly, standing carefully and steadying himself against the nightstand. "The way things are right now I think I could run a marathon if it would get me to the restroom…" He smiled faintly and turned, slowly but surely making his way to the restroom and closing the door behind him.

Ben collapsed back onto the bed, rolling to one side and glancing at the alarm clock. It was just past 2 am, the glowing red numbers blurring together into an indecipherable mess. He blinked again, surprised they'd slept for almost eight hours and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It had been one hell of a long day…

There was a soft cough from behind the restroom door followed by the sound of the toilet flushing. Ben sat up slowly, realizing that he was suddenly desperately in need of the facilities as well, and winced as his back popped in several different places. He waited for Riley to come out, tapping his fingers lightly on the edge of the bed.

There was another cough that broke into a series, these louder and a little more labored, followed by a soft thud on the carpeted floor. Ben frowned, standing and walking toward the restroom door. "Riley, you okay?"

The coughing continued, deep and hacking, as he got closer. "Riley?" Ben pushed open the door to find the younger man slumped against the bathroom cabinet, his hands covering his mouth as he continued to cough hoarsely into them.

Ben dropped to his knees beside him in an instant, his dark eyes filled with concern. "Riley, are you okay? What's wrong?" He asked hurriedly, patting the younger man on the back gently to try an alleviate some of his discomfort.

Managing a half breath, Riley shook his head weakly. "I don't know…I was fine a second ago…" He broke into another ragged coughing fit, the force enough to cause his entire body to shudder.

Ben turned and rummaged around under the sink, grabbing a paper cup and filling it with water. Riley took it gratefully and took a few small sips, the water helping to calm the irritation. He inhaled slowly, managing to get a full breath in before the coughing could catch up. His face was flushed with exertion, blue eyes glassy and tired. "Ugh…" He groaned, falling forward a little and resting his head against Ben's shoulder. "I feel like I've been inhaling Jell-o that's been run through a paper mill…"

The older man smiled faintly, rubbing his best friend's back. It wasn't surprising considering the events that took place earlier in the day but only Riley could describe it like that. He listened for a second, frowning sharply to himself. The cough suddenly wasn't his main concern anymore; it was the deep, wheezing rattle that accompanied each breath Riley took.

"Hey Riley, do you think you can take a deep breath for me?" Ben asked quietly, keeping one arm around the younger man's back to prevent him from tipping over and pressing his free hand to the left side of Riley's chest.

With a small amount of effort that represented a problem in itself, Riley managed to take a slow, hitched breath, coughing sharply as his lungs refused to expand any further. Another deep cough ripped through him and a small amount of watery mucus forced its way out of his throat. He gagged and spit it into the paper cup, making a face as he did so. "Ugh…" Once the blockage had been dislodged, breathing seemed to become a little easier and Riley took a deep, full breath.

Ben frowned again, feeling the lingering shudder of fluid and congestion move around as Riley breathed. He knew it was very possible that the younger man still had river water swishing around in his lungs but he also knew that it could lead to pretty serious problem if it got any worse. Looping Riley's arm around his neck, Ben very carefully pulled him to his feet. "Come on, kiddo. Let's get you back in bed, okay?" Riley could only nod weakly as he was lead back into the bedroom and gently placed on the bed.

Ben pulled the blankets up to his hips and pushed Riley into a reclined position. "Go ahead and get comfortable, okay? I need to make a phone call really quick." He pulled a cell phone from his jeans pocket and began scrolling through his address book. "Stay put." He called over his shoulder as he walked toward the bedroom door.

"Good plan…" Riley mumbled back, wincing as a lingering cough shuddered through him, another wad of saliva and some kind of terrible congestion releasing itself from his lungs.

Ben made his way into the kitchen, selecting a number and dialing it. The phone rang in the low, monotonous tone that always seems to mock the caller. He groaned quietly as it rang a few more times, vaguely wondering if this was the best plan of action. Ways to start the conversation swirled through his head as that damn ring echoed in the background. Swear to God, there had to be a more interesting standard ring tone for a phone other than this fuc-

"Hello?" A tired, somewhat hassled voice answered on the other line.

"Abigail?"

"Ben?" Abigail sounded equally surprised and irritated by the sound of the other man's voice on the phone. "What are you doing? It's…" There was a brief pause on the other line. "5:20. Why are you calling so early?"

"Well I had a question I needed to ask and-" Wait, 5:20? Ben raised an eyebrow slightly. "Where are you?"

Abigail sighed softly, the airport security guard waving her past his station. "I'm in San Diego," She answered, hauling a small suitcase along behind her. "I have a meeting in about two and a half hours so I had to catch a redeye flight last night."

"What's the meeting for?"

"Ben." Abigail cut him off quietly, pausing to sit on a bench and change into a pair of tennis shoes. "Why did you call me?"

A little known fact about Abigail Chase was that she had studied nursing for two years before going into document restoration but that didn't make asking her for advice any easier. In fact, she was probably the last person he wanted to ask about it but when the options are limited, there not much else one can do. "How could you tell if someone has pneumonia?"

There was a palpable pause from his phone companion. This was why he hated asking, Abigail had this way of staying silent that made you feel like smashing your head into a wall…

"Why do you need to know?" She asked cautiously after a few more seconds, her voice wary and suspicious.

"Well…it's a little complicated…"

Abigail chuckled quietly and shook her head. "Ben, what about you isn't complicated?"

Damn, touché. Ben took a deep breath and closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for what was about to occur. "Okay…well, Riley and I were walking through the park yesterday and he fell through the ice…" He almost dropped the phone as Abigail nearly deafened him.

"Oh my God! Is he alright?!" She exclaimed loudly, ignoring the group of people in the airport who were now looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

As the buzzing in his ears began to subside, Ben pulled the phone back and nodded. "Yeah, he's fine but I think he might still have some water in his lungs. He got up a minute ago and suddenly wasn't able to take a deep breath without coughing."

"Ben, Riley needs to be in a hospital." Abigail said evenly, her voice dropping a little as she walked toward a corner of the airport. "If he does still have water in his lungs it could get really serious really fast."

"I know, Abi, and I swear I'll take him to the hospital if he gets any worse but I wanted your advice first. Besides, you and I both know how Riley gets when it comes to hospitals…"

Abigail let out a long sigh, not sure whether she was more irritated with Ben for calling her Abi or why neither of them seemed to be able to go through a week without some kind of catastrophe. The last time she and Ben had taken Riley to the hospital for a few stitches for a gash in his arm, it had resulted in broken doorknob, a doctor with a black eye, and a lawsuit. Not to mention the verbal tirade Riley had unleashed on the poor practitioner once he'd started stitching the wound closed. Riley could develop a very colorful vocabulary when he wanted to, the likes of which would make a sailor blush.

"Yeah, I remember how he gets with hospitals." She closed her eyes for a second and thought back to medical school five years earlier, which was much harder to do while running of three hours of sleep. "Hmm…okay, well the first sign of any infection is usually a fever."

"Okay, hold on." There was a slight shuffling on the other line as Ben walked back into the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed next to the sleeping young man and rested his palm against his forehead. Satisfied with the lack of fever, he moved his hand and gently pressed his fingers to the inside of Riley's wrist, counting softly for a few seconds.

"Ben?"

"Well his heart rate feels normal and I don't think he has a fever either…"

"That's good!" Abigail exclaimed in spite of herself, catching the attention of a few airport patrons who were attempting to sleep in the cramped chairs that lined the waiting area. "If there's no fever then the risk of him having an infection is relatively slim." She slid through the glass doors and walked out toward the parking lot, cradling her phone against her ear as she juggled her wallet from the suitcase. "Just keep an eye on him and make sure his condition doesn't change. If it does though, for any reason, I want you to call me immediately, got it?"

Ben smiled and nodded even though he knew she couldn't see it. "I promise."

"Good. I have to go, my cab is here, but call me if you need to okay?"

"Abigail, I promise I will call you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Okay." The cab door shut and Abigail gave the driver her directions. "Take care, Ben."

"You too, Abigail." Ben replied, hearing the smile in her voice before she hung up. He closed the phone and slipped it back into his pocket, walking back over to the bed. Riley was sleeping soundly again, the effort of walking and coughing at the same time taking all the energy completely out of him.

Sliding back on to the bed, Ben absently began stroking the younger man's hair, listening closely to his breathing. "You live to cause me trouble, don't you?" He asked affectionately, smiling as Riley made a soft, irritated sound against his leg. "I'll take that as a yes."

Alrighty! I know Riley should technically be in a hospital but we all know my issue with hospitals, right? Hospital-convenient-cop out-shun! So there you have it, my one reason for Riley suffering at a house rather than an ICU ward :D By the way, has anyone heard of that kid who died of "dry drowning"? It's pretty scary stuff and I considered using it but decided I couldn't be that mean. Also, I considered full blown pneumonia but decided not on that as well.Poor Riley just can't catch a break...Anyway, let me know what you think!! Loves!!