Title: Inevitable
Summary: The flu hits Cascade
Disclaimer: I don't own them, just borrowing them for a while
"Blair? Come on, you need to wake up now."
Blair Sandburg stirred restlessly in his bed and groaned. That slight movement seemed to have awoken aches and pains everywhere in his body. His head throbbed, his muscles ached, and his skin prickled everywhere it touched anything. He tried opening his eyes, but everything seemed blurry.
"Wha's happening?" His words slurred despite his effort to speak clearly. "Jim?"
Jim Ellison crouched down beside Blair's futon bed, watching him sympathetically. He held out his hand, revealing a glass of something yellow, or was it orange, or maybe red. Blair squinted hard, trying to see it more clearly. "Try drinking some orange juice, Chief. I have some Tylenol for you, too."
Blair groaned. "I got it, didn't I?"
Jim chuckled gently. "Yeah, you sure did. I guess all of our precautions were for nothing."
Blair groaned again, thinking of all of the hard work he and Jim had gone to just to prevent what had now occurred. A series of vicious illnesses was circulating in Cascade. No two people seemed to have the same thing, but everyone was sick. The detectives at the station, the students on campus, even neighbors at the loft. Some people had sore throats, some had full-fledged colds, some seemed to have developed stomach viruses, and some had flu-like symptoms, complete with aches and fever.
Jim had worked hard to keep Blair from catching any of these ailments, even after he himself had come down with a cold. He had stayed away from the loft as much as possible, refusing Blair's help at work, and encouraging him to steer clear of any sickness on campus. Normally it would not have been a big deal, but this was not a normal situation.
In two days, Blair was scheduled to fly to Anchorage, Alaska to visit Naomi's only sister. This in itself didn't sound like such a big deal unless you took into account the fact that Blair had lived his entire life without meeting her, her husband, or their five children. Thirty years was a long time to go without meeting your aunt, and Blair was anxiously looking forward to the trip. Naomi herself had only seen her sister once in the thirty years since Blair had been born.
So they had worked their hardest to keep Blair from catching any of the illnesses rampant in the city. Obviously all their trouble had been in vain.
Blair squinted at Jim blearily. "I have a fever?"
Jim sighed. "Yeah. It's over 102. That's why you need the Tylenol. So drink your OJ and take your medicine like a good patient and get some sleep. We need to get you past this as soon as we can, or you'll never make your flight."
Blair sighed, too, and did as he was told. Falling back to sleep moments later, he thought muzzily that at least he had a few days to recover before he left. As bad as the situation was, it would have been far worse if he would have waited to get sick the day of the flight.
*****
"Come on, Chief. Time to wake up. You need to take a shower before we leave for the airport."
Blair opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. Man, who had turned up the heat? He was lying in bed, fully clothed, dripping with sweat. "Turn the heat down, man."
Jim's chuckle brought him fully awake. "It's not hot in here, Sandburg. Your fever just broke. Finally."
Blair struggled to sit up. "Really?" This was exciting news after two days of a lingering fever and escalating aches and pains. He had spent most of the past two days sleeping in his room or on the couch in the living room. Then his heart clenched. "Wait! I'm not packed! What time is it? I'll never get ready in time!"
"Calm down, Buddy." Jim's smile grew. "You're all packed. That's one of the good things about having a roommate. Not only can they take care of you and make sure you get better, but they can pack for you when you aren't up to it. Now get up and get in the shower, or you will be late."
Blair crawled out of bed and staggered to the bathroom, his mind in a whirl. Although it had looked iffy there for a while, today was the day he finally got to meet Mary Sandburg Jackson.
finis