Disclaimer: This is a fun take that is meant to entertain. By no means do I intend to mock, taunt or disrespect anyone who has gone through Covid, the flu, influenza or any associated diseases. My thoughts and prayers for the victims of these or any other illnesses. Reader discretion is advised!

"I think I'm gonna die...ahhhh" Street said lying face down, as he couldn't even move his upper torso to flip face up in bed.

His room was a mess! He hadn't done laundry in over three weeks, so all his uniforms and work clothes were stacked in different spots across the floor. There was a lingering smell of smelly socks, sweat, male body products and strong body odor...all of which resulted in pure stench! No one in the house could remember the last time the room saw a broom, a mop or any kind of deep cleaning action!

SWAT had completed two grueling weeks of extensive training, seminars and patrol work, which resulted in excessive exposition to a high number of crowds in a city that broke the record for most Covid cases in all of the southeastern region of the country! One could not possibly pinpoint where or how Officer Street may have gotten infected, but he had presented symptoms since closing of shift last night. Even though they were tested regularly, none of the examinations had come back positive for Covid. Street went to the ER and did yet another test, but before results could even come back, the nurse had assured him he just had influenza, a bad cold. Indeed, some hours later, his test came back negative for Covid and he was dispatched.

All throughout the night Jim was restless. He couldn't think, couldn't stop sneezing, couldn't sleep well, his back ached horribly, his head thumped harder than the beat of 200 drums, and his stomach couldn't hold anything. He spent half of the night complaining about headaches and congestion.

Unfortunately for Luca, the hospital warned him of strict protocols he needed to follow. These dictated that he had to keep distance and keep Street secured in his room at all times. He could give Street a bucket to urinate inside, but needed to disinfect the bathroom every time he used the toilet and shower. Food and medication needed to be served with plastic disposable cutlery and plates, and the entire house needed to be disinfected every time he opened his door room. All of this, plus the complaining and the whining by Street was driving Luca crazy!

"Ahhhh...I'm gonna die!" Street complained through the closed door, as he sobbed loudly

"Bro, you're not gonna die! Relax" Luca tried to comfort him from the kitchen

"Luca, I'm serious...I can't even think! AAAAACHOOO!" he sneezed loudly, "Owwww"

"Gesundheit" (bless you in German)

Even though it had only been a couple of hours since they made it home, Street was already getting on Luca's nerves.

Luca tried to stay away from him, preparing the bathroom, taking out all the detergents and disinfectants out and ready, and bringing a bucket and some cold liquids to his room. He also went to the store and luckily found gloves, masks and shoe bags. He was beginning to really appreciate all the hard work the first responders were doing, every second of every hour!

"Luca!" called Street for what seemed to be the 100th time since arriving from the hospital. Luca tilted his head back, rolled his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"What happened, Jim?" Luca asked annoyed, while titling his head forward and placing both hands on the kitchen counter

"Can you roll me to the bathroom?" Street asked slowly, painfully as he sounded very stuffed

"Are you serious?" Luca asked frowning, now turning his head around, he went towards the closed bedroom door

"My back is killing me, bro and I... gotta go!"

"Jim...are you serious, bro? You want me to sit you down too?" Luca said shaking his head

"Um..." Street answered

"I'm not sitting you down, man!" the thought of it just made the whole thing very awkward, "You just have the flu, man! Get a hold of yourself"

"I can't! Everything hurts" he said sobbing

Time went by...

It was almost a quarter to seven and Luca was exhausted. After dealing with Street all night in the hospital, plus all the protocols and taking care of him after, he wasn't sure how he was going to make it to work. Hicks assigned him to lead a specialized training for the recruits to get them ready for the examinations in two days. Commander was very adamant on these new sets of drills because ever since Erika's death, chief's office has been keeping a very close eye on SWAT, and Hicks wanted to avoid any type for reprimand or budget cuts. In Lehman's terms: Luca was screwed!

"Luca!" he heard Street calling from the other room. Luca was so exhausted, he started considering if he had gotten infected too. He felt he was getting a headache...then again, it could be thanks to his friend!

"Dude, I just got up! Give me a break"

blaaaaaargHHHHHH

"Aw, man!" Luca whispered disgusted

A moment of silence.

Luca sat up in his bed, somewhat scared for his roommate. "Street, man, you alright?"

"I think I'm seeing the light, Luca."

Luca exhaled dramatically, shaking his head. "You just threw up, man, relax!" he said as he put on a shirt and opened his door, heading towards the kitchen.

"There goes dinner. Man! I really loved that soup!"

"Ew" Luca said disgusted, shaking his head. Any thoughts of breakfast pretty much disappeared with that last remark. He made his way to the coffee machine.

"I'ma die, Luca. Really." he heard Street said between sobs

"Dude, you've never gotten sick before?"

"waaaaaaa" was heard from the closed bedroom, as Luca giggled.

He didn't intend to make fun of his roommate, but boy did he make it easy to do so! Luca remembered all those times he kept offering his Vitamin C supplements to Jim, and the guy blowing him off, saying he has always been the healthy type. He even bought a miracle oil that his cook recommended to place on his throat and nose before going to sleep. It was made up of essential oils, natural herbs and others. Yet, again Jim said those were just used by old ladies, that he didn't need that. Luca also did salt gargles three times a day, which are thought to be a great natural way to keep the throat area disinfected. Again, Street dissed any offering Luca did and even cut him off when he tried explaining to him about the importance of keeping the throat free of bacteria, especially because most virus incubate and situate themselves in the mouth and throat.

Now, the young officer was suffering from what Luca warned him many many times before. Still...in the hospital, Jim kept saying it was nothing. That he was going to make it to HQ the next day without a doubt. Right.

"So...", Luca began, as he approached the closed door, "I take it you'll be calling in sick today, huh?"

blaaaaaargHHHHHH

"Aw, man! I'll take that as a yes."

"Bro...just give Chris the damn letter! AAACHHOOOO" he finished by blowing his nose loudly, the sound of heavy congestion made Luca shake his head.

"Gesundheit"

Luca then heard a series of disgusting sounds as Street cleared the back of his throat and spit so loudly it sounded like someone dumped a pound of mulched oatmeal into a metal cup. SPLAT!

"Woah! That's not green!"

"Duuude! Damn!" Luca said shaking his head

"Sorry. AAACHOOOO!"

"Gesundheit."

Luca got ready for work in a flash, but before he left, he disinfected the whole house and made sure to leave some stuff for his sick roommate at the feet of his door. He went over the bathroom, and the kitchen, twice.

"Alright, I'm off to work." Luca announced, standing in the door, hand on the knob

"You're gonna leave me?" Street asked slowly

"Jim, just take your meds and rest...you'll be fine, buddy" Luca smiled as he just felt his friend was being excessively dramatic over a simple flu.

There was no response, so Luca proceeded to close the door behind him. Just as he had dumped his duffel bag on the passenger's seat, he felt his phone vibrate in his pants pocket.

BZZZZT

CHRIS

Hey, Luca, I'm taking an off day today. I got a huge trial tomorrow I need to prep for. Could you tell Hicks? Keep phoning in but can't reach him

Hey, sis. Yeah, sure. Lucky you. Street's sick and I didn't get much sleep. Dude's acting like a baby! I'm exhausted ?

LOL ?

What happened to him?

Bad flu...but he says he's dying

He wants me to give you the letter, so...

OMG! Drama king 4 sure ?

Tell me about it!

Say, can you swing by later? Check on our boy, make sure he doesn't cross the rainbow

LOL ?

Will do..he got meds and stuff??

Everything!
Dude wanted to go to the ER. We left around midnight

Damn! For a flu?

Guy's dying, Chris

LOL ?

Our boy needs a tough nurse...
tough love

LOL ?

I'll kick his ass...how's that?

Perfect!

"Street? You alive?" called Chris, as she closed the door behind her. She stopped by the grocery store to buy the usual get-better-during-a-flu diet stuff. Bread, ginger ale, salty crackers, sports drink, Pedialite (for the child in the house!), and jello.

"Chris?" she heard Street called from behind the closed door. "AAACHOOOO"

"Bless you!" she said placing the bag down in front of his door. "Hey! I bought you some stuff, ok? I'm leaving them in front of your door."

"I'm dying!" he said almost unrecognizable because of congestion

"Jim, it's just the flu!" she said shaking her head

"I just want to let you know that I really appreciate what a good friend you were to me-"

"Street, shut up! You're not dying, drama king!"Chris snapped, sternly

Street sobbed loudly.

"Jim, are you seriously sobbing?" Chris was beyond words

"My head's gonna explode, I'm sweating, I'm seeing double, I can't eat anything without throwing up, and I'm sneezing like crazy...what do you think?"

Chris shook her head, resting her back against Luca's door, which was just in front of Street's. "It's just a flu, Long Beach. You'll be fine."

She heard him moving around, and immediately dug into her pants pockets for a mask. She was just taking it out in as the door slowly opened.

"Aw, man. You look like crap!"Chris had never seen Street so decomposed. Not to mention the stench coming from the room actually made her blink a couple of times!

"Thanks. I feel like it too"

"Smells horrible! Have you cleaned that room this month?"

"acchoooo!" Street sneezed loudly, as Chris tried to avoid it. She had forgotten about the mask in her hand!

"Close the door, Street!" she complained as she hurried to place the mask young man bent over slowly, and picked up the bag.

He had closed the door,when Chris asked "Just outta curiosity, did you ever drink any of the Vitamin C Luca offered?"

"No."

"Used any of the medicinal oil on your throat? Did any salt gargles?"

"No...I didn't need to!"

"Yet, Luca's feeling fine and you look like a truck ran over you!"

"Thanks Chris!" Street said complaining

Shift was done and Luca felt proud of all the recruits. Besides the usual hard headed ones and incidents here and there, the training was a complete success. He himself felt exhausted and somewhat worried about how Street had survived the day. He did get a text from Chris in the afternoon, saying she took some stuff for him to hydrate and munch, but the guy pretty much spent the day alone.

As Luca opened the door to his house, he heard the sounds of video games from Street's room.

"Hey, bro. I'm home. How u feeling?"

"Hey Luca!" for the first time Luca noticed a positive vibe coming from Street, "Much better, meds kicked in full gear for sure."

"You sound up beat!"

"Yeah, feel much better. Hey, and I wanted to thank you. I know I was a pain in the ass, so sorry. Luv u bro!"

"Luv u too, man!"

BZZZZZT

BZZZZT

"Who could it be at this hour?" Luca said to himself as he felt the mobile vibrate in his pants.

CHRIS

LUCA!

Hey sis, thanks for stopping by today. Jim seems to be feeling better

Yeah?
Well, I'm gonna kill him! ?

Why?

I got the flu! ?