It had been three days since his impromptu dip in the East River and he still felt like shit. At first he put it down to a seasonal cold but the wet cough and pounding in his head had increased day by day until he felt like laying his weary body down in a cool, dark room and sleeping for a week.
The alarm at his bedside had other ideas though as it beeped incessantly at him until he reached out an aching arm and thumped it into silence. Rolling onto his back quickly became a bad idea as a vicious cough wracked his weary body.
His hacking and coughing had also woken the woman sleeping next to him; she sat up slowly and regarded him with sleepy eyes.
"You look like crap, Johnny."
"Thanks," he deadpanned as he rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands.
He pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, hoping that a shower and fresh clothes would energise him for the long shift ahead at the Precinct.
The hot water had little effect; he trudged from the bathroom feeling worse than when he went in. He smiled his gratitude at Lori as she handed him a cup of coffee and set about preparing some breakfast.
He didn't want to disappoint her and so he made a monumental effort to at least eat half of the food that she had prepared him, swallowing deeply in a bid to keep the contents of his stomach where they were.
By the time he had made it to the Precinct he felt worse and could only imagine how he looked. Not good judging by the look his grizzled partner gave him as he dragged his fatigued carcass into the squad room.
"You look done in, pal."
"Thanks, Andy," he replied sourly as he lowered himself slowly into his desk chair.
"Laura been keeping you up at night?"
With immense effort, he managed to raise his head from his hands.
"I wish," he wheezed as another coughing fit overcame him, loud enough that most of the people in the room had stopped whatever they were doing to look at him.
"I'm serious, John. You don't look good," Andy persisted as he drained the remainder of his coffee.
To the older man, John looked like he himself felt most mornings after drinking himself into oblivion, he could sympathise with the way his partner was feeling right now.
John waved away his concern.
"I'm fine, Andy. I just need a coffee."
The only problem being that the coffee had little effect as the throbbing in his head intensified, all of the day-to-day noises in the squad room seemed far too loud as the run-down old building began turning strange colours and shapes before his eyes.
Andy watched with concern as his partner became less steady by the minute, were it not for his own swift response, the younger man would have face-planted straight onto the dirty floor beneath him. He caught him under the arm and was shocked by how pale and hot he seemed.
"That's it, kid. I'm taking you home," he declared as he pulled him into an upright position.
John offered little in the way of resistance as he guided him out of the bullpen and down the two flights of stairs towards his car. By the time they had made it that far the younger man had leant most of his weight on his partner as the use of his legs began to desert him.
By the time he had driven him home, John had all but fallen asleep in the passenger seat as his head lolled to one side. Andy could see the perspiration beginning to form on his head and winced at what was likely to come.
He roused him as best he could before half-carrying and half-dragging the tall man's frame towards his apartment. He cursed the fact that John lived in a building that had no elevators as they began the punishing assent of the four flights of stairs that would bring them to the front door of the apartment.
With one arm holding him up, he fished in John's trouser pocket for his keys before guiding him into the living space. It suddenly crossed his mind that he had never actually stepped foot inside before, he placed his heavy and mostly uncooperative load down on the couch before heading in search of the bedroom.
It took a few moments, but after opening several doors he finally found the master bedroom, unable to detach himself from his detective instincts, he gave the room a cursory look.
He smiled as he saw the evidence of two people sharing a living space, the bedroom definitely had a woman's touch to it but there were enough of John's things to prove that he inhabited the room too.
He saw the picture of the two of them on the bedside cabinet, Laura laughing as John held her close and nuzzled into her neck. They looked like the picture of happiness and he felt unreasonably jealous of them, he stamped down on the sour part of his subconscious that hoped that the relationship wouldn't last.
After hearing a thumping noise, he quickly made his way back to the living room to find his addled partner attempting to raise himself from the couch with little in the way of luck. He took pity on the man and grabbed him under his arms and dragged him to his feet.
"Come on, let's get you to bed," he muttered as he supported the younger man to place one wobbly foot in front of the other.
John turned his head to look at him as he walked, giving Andy a goofy grin.
"Lori, I thought you'd never ask."
He stood still, shocked for a moment, before he continued to drag John into the bedroom and settled him down on the bed, catching hold of him when he toppled forward dangerously.
He really wished that Laura was here, the last thing he wanted to do was undress his delirious partner but he realised that he had no choice, the man was burning up and the fever was unlikely to break any time soon, especially if he was fully dressed.
With one hand supporting John's lanky frame, he went about awkwardly loosening the other man's tie and then undoing his shirt only to be stopped by a shaky hand that felt scorching hot.
"Slower, Lori. Let's make it last," the younger man said as he ran his thumb up and down his partner's hand.
Dear God! Andy thought as he swatted the hand away and continued undressing the man that he had begun to regard as a son.
Having removed John's shirt and vest he knew the worst was to come as he reached out a reluctant hand to his belt and trousers, freezing in place as his partner cupped his face tenderly.
"Have I told you lately that I love you?"
"No, kid, you haven't," he quipped as he moved his head away and finally managed to pull the pants from the other man's body.
He took pity on him as he saw him sitting on the edge of the bed in nothing but his boxer shorts, the pale tinge to John's skin was only marred by the patches of blotchy red that dotted his face and chest.
With a tenderness that he didn't realise he possessed, he gently guided his partner back towards the pillows and pulled the duvet up around his shoulders, tucking him in the way he used to with Andy Jnr.
He swallowed down on the feelings of bitterness and regret that bubbled to the surface as he stroked a couple of damp locks from John's face before leaving the room and placing a call to Laura.
He looked terrible when she entered their bedroom, having received a harried phone call from Andy a few short hours ago. She had made her excuses at work and left, returning home to her lover's side as quickly as she could.
His laboured breathing was evident even from the other side of the room as he lay in sweat-soaked sheets, mumbling incoherently as his head tossed from side to side.
Making her way over to him, she reached out a hand and placed it on his shivering shoulder, alarmed to find how hot he felt.
"Christ, Johnny. What the hell have you done to yourself?" she mumbled to herself as she saw his eyes open slightly, frightened by the fact that the orbs behind them were dazed and glassy.
His hand shooting out towards her took her by surprise as she weaved out of the way of the flailing hands.
"Billy, don't do this!" he called out, his open eyes vacant and unseeing.
"Timmy needs you, you can't do this to him," he pleaded as tears leaked from his eyes.
"Billy, NO!"
She caught him as he sat upright, his breath heaving as he choked and tried to clear the build-up of fluid in his lungs. She held him tightly as wave after wave of hacking coughs battered his exhausted body, feeling his raging fever through her own clothes.
As his struggles lessened she guided him back down towards the pillows and made a call.
It turned into one of the most sleepless nights she had ever experienced as she finally flopped down on the bed next to her lover who had drifted off into exhausted slumber only moments ago.
She had been glad that she was still good friends with her old college roommate, when she had called her she had dropped everything and come straight over.
"Looks like a chest infection," the doctor surmised as she packed her stethoscope away.
"He'll be ok though?" she asked her friend Sherri, still deeply concerned for the man lying in her bed.
"Here's a 'script for some antibiotics, try to keep him hydrated and call me again if his fever doesn't break within the next ten hours."
She took the piece of paper gratefully as she followed the dark-haired physician towards the front door.
"Thanks so much for doing this, Sherri."
The woman gave her a warm smile.
"Sure thing, Laura. Besides, that guy is cute!"
She blushed momentarily before shooing her old friend away.
"Hands off, he's mine!" she replied in jovially.
"Well, if you ever get bored of him, give him my number won't you?"
That conversation seemed like a lifetime ago as she let out a deep breath, risking a quick glance at the man beside her, relieved to find that he hadn't stirred.
She had never really considered herself particularly maternal; perhaps it had something to with the fractious relationship she shared with her own mother. Still, she surprised herself with how quickly she took to nurse-maiding her sick lover as his fever climbed throughout the night.
He had been delirious for the most part, mumbling and waving his arms at unseen demons in his mind. When he wasn't ranting he was vomiting and his inability to keep any fluids down concerned her. Keeping up the steady rotation of cooling cloths on his face and chest seemed to bring his scorching temperature down a little and by the early hours of the morning she had managed to get him to swallow some water and keep it down.
She had almost fallen asleep next to him when she felt his hot skin touch hers as his hand made contact with her arm. His fever had dropped considerably but his eyes still held the same glazed expression they had last night.
"Lori," he croaked.
"Yeah?" she asked tiredly.
"Marry me."