A/N: A long chapter for you. Enjoy :)

Chapter 22 – "Are You Trying to Turn Him into a junkie?"

In the middle of the night, the phone rang in the Lupin residence. Mr. Lupin fumbled with the lights before picking up the phone. "Yes?"

"Mr. Lupin? This is Doctor Michaels."

Mr. Lupin sat up straight, suddenly wide awake. His wife woke too, looking anxiously up at her husband. "Did something happen to Remus?"

"He is running a high fever," said the doctor. "He has been drifting in and out of consciousness, asking for his mother and someone called Reginald. I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour but your wife was very specific about us calling should anything change in his condition."

It took the Lupins less than five minutes to get dressed and into the car, and Mr. Lupin raced to the hospital breaking the speed limit all the way there.

"Remus!" cried Mrs. Lupin, rushing into the room. She bent over her son's bed, grabbing his hand. "Remus, it's me. It's Mum."

Remus' hair stuck to his forehead, damp with sweat. He rolled his head from side to side, gasping for air. "M-m-mum," he stuttered, his teeth chattering.

"Yes, luv, Mum's here," she said, pushing his fringe out of his forehead.

"M-m-mum..."

Mr. Lupin sat down on the other side of the bed and gently rubbed Remus' shoulder.

The doctor joined them. "If the fever hasn't dropped in half an hour I will administer some antipyretics, but I hope I won't have to. It's best that the fever goes down naturally, but it's also dangerous if it gets too high. Try to have him drink. Even though he's on the IV. He needs as much fluid in him as possible. It's the best remedy against fever, as I'm sure you already know."

Mrs. Lupin got a bottle of water from a nurse and helped Remus sit up so she could hold the bottle to his lips. She managed to coax him into drinking half of it before he pushed it away and lay back down, looking very exhausted.

"Good job," smiled Mrs. Lupin and ran a hand over Remus' hair again. "Very good, honey. The water will make you better."

Half an hour later the fever had not dropped and Remus was as delirious as ever, and the doctor decided to give him a small dose of antipyretic medicine. "Hopefully this is enough to bring the fever down to a safer level," he said.

After another hour of mumbling and stirring in his bed, Remus finally seemed to settle and fell asleep.

At five a.m. Mr. Lupin got up from his seat with a sigh. "I'll go home now and get ready for work. Are you going to work today or are you staying here?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm not going anywhere until my son's fever has dropped to a safe level," said Mrs. Lupin determinedly.

Mr. Lupin nodded and kissed his wife's cheek. "Well, sadly one of us have to go to work. Do call me later, will you?"

"I know," she sighed. "Of course I will, honey." Mr. Lupin couldn't skip work as easily as she. She had her own practise and could cancel patients when she wanted to, but Mr. Lupin was on a strict schedule.

o0o0o

Regulus got up early and rode his bike to the hospital, arriving at seven thirty. He found Mrs. Lupin sitting in Remus' room.

She looked extremely tired as if she had been up all night, but when spotting him, she smiled. "Good morning, Regulus. Don't you have school?"

"No," lied Regulus. "How is he doing?"

"Better than last night," she sighed. "The doctor called us at around 2 a.m., saying Remus was running a high fever. They had to give antipyretics."

"What? Why wasn't I informed? He's my boyfriend, I have the right to know!" exclaimed Regulus indignantly.

"We don't have your number. Also, we thought you needed your sleep since it's a school day."

"You could've found it in Remus' phone," mumbled Regulus, walking up to Remus and looking him over. He had stopped shaking but was still very pale and had dark circles under his eyes.

"We didn't think about that," said Mrs. Lupin. "I'm sorry we didn't call you, but I thought you had classes today, which I am still pretty sure you do, so I didn't want to wake you up in the middle of the night."

Regulus sighed and sat down. Yes, he had classes, but he had no intent of going today. Remus was more important.

Remus' head tilted to the side and slowly he opened his eyes, seeing Regulus. He gave him a weak smile and said in a hoarse voice, "Regulus?" He turned his head and spotted his mother. "Mum?"

"Yes. We are here, darling," she smiled and pushed his hair back. "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty..."

Regulus knocked over several things on the bedside table to grab the glass of water standing there. "Here! Is it clean, Mrs. Lupin?"

"It's clean," she nodded.

Regulus held it to Remus' mouth and ordered, "Drink!"

Remus gulped down the water until the glass was half empty and lay his head back down on the pillow. "Thank you."

"I'll go get some coffee and call your father," said Mrs. Lupin. "I think Regulus can watch you just fine while I'm gone."

"Are you feeling better?" asked Regulus when she had left." Your mother said you've been very ill during the night."

Remus closed his eyes for a moment. "Yes. I don't remember much, just that I was freezing and confused. I don't even remember my mum coming in." He opened his eyes and looked at Regulus. "I feel better now. Just tired. But I don't want to sleep now that you're here." He reached out a weak hand.

Regulus took the hand and gave it a small squeeze. "You should sleep if that's what you need. I'll be here when you wake again. I'm not going to school today."

"Won't you get in trouble?" asked Remus a little concerned. "I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."

"I won't. My parents don't give a toss as long as no one is complaining to them, and the school talk to Sirius when they have a problems with me. Don't worry about it. It isn't as though I'm staying away for months. Sirius will take care of it. Everybody knows it was serious with you yesterday, so old McGonagall is bound to give me some slack."

Remus sent him a weak smile. "I'm glad you're here with me. Makes me feel like everything is going to be okay."

There was a knock on the door and a nurse walked in. "Good to see you awake," she smiled and checked Remus' IV. "Any pain?"

"My chest still hurts quite a bit."

She nodded in sympathy. "I'll give you a bit more morphine."

"More?" asked Regulus, staring at the nurse. "Do you know how fast an addiction takes hold? Are you trying to turn him into a junkie?"

She frowned. "He's in pain and it has been twelve hours since the first shot."

"There are worse things than pain," said Regulus. "Such as turning into a drug addict who can't function without his morning hit!"

"This is medical morphine," said the nurse, sending Regulus an icy gaze. "Not crack from the street corner! It's quite safe, and you need to stop getting Remus riled up."

"Can't... can't you just give me some aspirins or are they not strong enough?" asked Remus, getting slightly worried about what Regulus was saying.

The nurse sighed. "I can and it's your choice, but I suggest that you listen to us. We know what the best treatment is. It's our job, you know."

Mrs. Lupin came back just then. "Oh, hello," she smiled at the nurse.

"Your son's friend here seems to think it's a bad idea that Remus gets get another shot of morphine for his chest pains," informed the nurse. "And Remus seems inclined to indulge him."

Mrs. Lupin pressed her lips together. Then she said, "Could I have a word with my son alone?"

When both Regulus and the nurse had left, Mrs. Lupin gave Remus the same speech she had given her husband the day before about not going along with Regulus' obsessions. "I'm afraid you're too soft, Remus. You are kind and understanding, and yes, he needs that. But being understanding shouldn't go as far as supporting him in his belief that the world is as dangerous as he sees it."

"But, Mum," said Remus. "He does know a lot about health and such... He doesn't want me to take dangerous drugs."

"He means well, honey," smiled Mrs. Lupin and carded her fingers through his hair. "He truly believes these things, that's why he's so worried about what they're giving you. He cares very much for you. But remember that his fears are out of proportion with reality. You should listen to the doctors, not Regulus."

"Okay," agreed Remus. He had to admit that he feared how Regulus would react to this. What if he got upset and left? Remus was so happy he was there. It made the thought of a long hospital stay more tolerable.

"Remember what I said about only making his condition worse by adopting his beliefs. Even if you're doing it to please him, that's not the way you're helping him."

"I understand," he said and clenched his teeth as a new current of pain washed through his lungs. He wished the nurse had given him the morphine before she had left. He breathed through his nose while his mother ran her hand over his hair to comfort him while the pain slowly lessened.

"I'll fetch the nurse," she said, hurrying out of the room to find her, and decided to tell Regulus that if he wanted to stay, he would have to accept that the treatment was up to the staff and that if he didn't stay out of it, they were likely to refuse him to visit. She wasn't sure they could actually do that, but she did not want to create an unpleasant atmosphere for Remus or give him fears and doubts.

When Mrs. Lupin had fetched the nurse, she gave Regulus her speech in the corridor. When Regulus turned to walk back into Remus' room, Mrs. Lupin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, momentarily forgetting his issues with touch. He jumped away from her as if her hand had burned him. She looked at him in surprise. "Sorry, dear. I forgot you don't like to be touched."

"What are you doing?" snapped Regulus.

"I just wanted to make sure that you understood what I told you."

"About shutting my mouth and not worrying about Remus' wellbeing?" Regulus said offendedly.

"Of course you can worry about Remus' wellbeing, but the hospital has it under control. You're making him anxious with all your doomsday talk."

Regulus eyed her for a moment. "You think I'm crazy. Fine. I guess that's your job."

"I don't think you're crazy," protested Mrs. Lupin. "I want what is best for you, I truly do, but I don't want you to tell my son that the treatment he's getting is bad for him. If he doesn't get the right treatment he could die and I believe the hospital is doing the right thing."

Regulus gave a stiff nod, not looking at her. "Fine. If that's how it has to be." Then he marched into the room where he was happy to see Remus eating a bit. Someone had obviously brought him some food while Mrs. Lupin was lecturing Regulus.

Remus sent him a smile and put the spoon down. "Hey."

"Good to see you eating," said Regulus, resisting to comment on where the food had come from or voicing his concern about whether or not the hygiene in the hospital kitchen was good enough.

"Good to get something into my stomach," nodded Remus and lay his head back on the pillow. "I wasn't able to eat much but I guess a little is better than nothing."

Remus fell asleep a little later and Regulus opened his stuffed rucksack. Mrs. Lupin watched with raised eyebrows as he pulled out one piece of cleaning material after another.

"Regulus..." she started. "This room is completely clean. They are very careful and know that Remus is very sensitive to germs."

Regulus snorted. "Don't kid yourself. If you sprayed a fluorescent around the room you would see bacteria lighting up all over." He took a few of the things and went into the bathroom. He never used public bathrooms, but he had a problem if he had to go home every time the needed to pee, so he had decided that if he kept this bathroom clean and private, then he could use it.

Mrs. Lupin sighed but decided not to pick a fight with Regulus about this. They had already had one today, and if Regulus wanted to disinfect the bathroom so he could use it, then peace be with it.

Regulus spent a good hour cleaning and then decided it was acceptable. It was probably cleaner than it had ever been, he thought. He pulled off the rubber gloves, tossed them in the dustbin and slumped into a chair.

"So now what? Are you going to clean it every time someone has used it?" asked Mrs. Lupin, trying to make him see how much effort he had to put into this.

"I was hoping I could get people to use one of the bathrooms in the corridor," said Regulus.

She looked at him, eyebrows raised. "I can do that, but I am not telling Remus to go out into the corridor. You two will have to share this bathroom, then."

"I don't want him to use any of those, either," said Regulus, looking offended. "He doesn't need to pick up even more infections."

"Good," said Mrs. Lupin and nodded, flipping open the magazine she had been reading. Then she looked up again, sending Regulus a tired smile. "Are you going to stay all day? I was considering going home for a nap and then come back, but I don't feel comfortable leaving Remus on his own just yet. After last night I don't want him to be alone until he is more stable."

"I quite agree," said Regulus. "Yes, I'm staying as long as I can. You just go home, and rest assured that he's well-guarded," said Regulus. "I will lock the door to this room when I'm using the toilet, so nobody can sneak in when I'm not here"

"Don't do that," said Mrs. Lupin. "The doctors need to have access to Remus. You can't just lock the door. Promise me you won't."

"But anyone can just walk in here and do things to him that we don't know about," protested Regulus. "And I will be very quick."

"Nobody is going to hurt Remus in this hospital, Regulus," said Mrs. Lupin in a strict voice. "They are here to help him. Not hurt him."

"Not intentionally, perhaps, but even in hospitals the hygiene is not sufficiently good. Studies have shown that way too many patients end up more ill than when they came in because they pick up infections due to bad hygiene. It's preposterous!"

Mrs. Lupin shook her head and sighed. "Remus has been in this hospital several times and it has only done him good." She got up and put on her coat. "I'm going home now. Call me if there is anything. And don't lock the door!"

Since Remus was sleeping, Regulus pulled out some schoolwork and started doing it. Since he was going to do all his homework in time, he didn't see any reasons why the school should have a problem with him skiving off to be here instead. Of course he knew that McGonagall might not see things this way, but he was going to get away with it as long as he possibly could.

There was a knock on the door and a nurse stuck her head in. She was a plump woman with rosy cheeks and a friendly face. "So nice of you to sit with your friend," she beamed at Regulus as she went over to check Remus's IV.

Regulus' gaze was fixed on the nurse's hand on the IV. "When did you last wash your hands?"

"Just before I came in," she said, looking puzzled.

"Really? Well, since you probably can't prove that, you won't mind using a bit of this from now on before you touch him, would you?" Regulus said and held out a bottle of hand sanitizer.

The nurse looked even more confused but let Regulus squirt some of the gel onto her palm. "If you insist. But as I told you, I used hand sanitizer before I went in here. We are very strict about this, especially with your friend here, because of his condition." She then proceeded with checking the IV and made some notes on a clipboard.

"Thank you," said Regulus coolly and opened his history book again.

She shook her head and walked out the door. "That lad is a weird one," she told one of the other nurses. "I know his friend is ill, but he doesn't believe that we are doing our job correctly. You know what he made me do?"

"Apply hand sanitizer before touching the patient?" suggested the other nurse. "He did the same with me. Even had the nerve to ask me if I knew how bacteria spread. We're going to have our hands full with this one."

A few hours later Remus opened his eyes slowly and sent at Regulus a weak smile. "Hey... you're still here?"

"Of course I'm still here," said Regulus, putting his book aside. "Didn't I tell you I would be?"

"I know… But I'm not much company," said Remus. He eyed Regulus' books. "I miss you reading to me. Would you read to me?"

"Of course!" beamed Regulus. In fact he had very much enjoyed reading to Remus last he was ill. "What would you like to hear? Anything you want. I can go to the library."

Remus used the remote to raise the headrest a little to get more comfortable. "I'd really like to just dream myself away from this place and forget that I'm ill. Can you recommend a good fantasy book?"

"Oh, yes. Just because I love science doesn't mean I'm all dry and don't enjoy fiction as well. What about 'A Song of Ice and Fire?' You know, the 'Game of Thrones' books."

"That sounds interesting," said Remus. "I haven't read them or seen the series."

"It's going to take a long time, though. There are seven fat books."

"That's alright. Gives us time to kill. I reckon I might be here for quite a while," Remus sighed. "Last time I was in the hospital it took nearly two months."

"I'll go home and get the first book when one of your parents gets here, yes? I don't want to leave you alone here, unprotected."

"Sounds like a plan. My dad will probably come by after work.

o0o0o

An hour later James, Peter and Sirius arrived, stomping snow on the floor and tossing gloves and hats on chairs and tables.

Regulus jumped up and sneered, "Do you mind? This is a hospital! You come barging in, and look - now you've woken Remus!"

"Well, it's much more fun to be here when he's awake," pointed out Sirius and walked over to Remus, who looked groggy and a little confused from being woken so suddenly. "Sorry, mate. How you feeling? Is my brother taking good care of you?"

Remus nodded and smiled softly. "Yeah. He came early this morning."

James studied Remus for a moment. "You still look like shite. You sure they're treating you alright here?"

"Yeah... I just have a fever."

"Hands," ordered Regulus, holding out his bottle of hand sanitizer.

Sirius sighed and accepted a splash. So did the other two.

"Not like I'm going to grope your boyfriend, Reggie," said Sirius with a curled smile. He pulled up a chair and sat down. "Everyone is talking about you at school, Remus."

"Some say you're in a coma," said James. "Others say you died. Only a couple of students have actually asked us how you're doing, in order to get the facts straight."

Remus gave a small chuckle and then coughed. "Well, I'm not dead yet."

"McGonagall was not pleased with you skipping school," Sirius said, turning to Regulus. "I told her you were with Remus because, well because you and him have a special friendship. She seemed to buy that but asked me to bring you your homework."

"Of course. I always do my homework. Actually I'm ahead in most subjects. So you think she'll look the other way if I don't come tomorrow either?"

"I wouldn't count on it, mate," said James.

"Yeah, I think it might be best if you go to school tomorrow," agreed Sirius. "I'll drive you to the hospital after."

Regulus wanted to talk to Remus' parents first. If neither of them could stay here during the first part of the day then he was going to. He didn't care what McGonagall said, as long as she didn't contact his parents

Sirius dug into his bag and pulled out a bag of sweets and a coke and placed them on the table next to Remus. "If you should want some of that instead of that awful hospital food. Sugar is always good."

"That -" said Regulus, pointing at the sweets and soda, "is loaded with artificial colouring, aromas and whatnot! How can that be good for Remus? You should rather have Mrs. Harris make some of her fudge or toffees!"

"Well, I haven't exactly been much home since yesterday have I?" said Sirius and rolled his eyes. "You can do it if you think that's so much better for him."

"I will. It's enough that they don't serve organic food here. Remus doesn't have to stuff himself with chemicals as well."

Remus thanked Sirius for his consideration.

"You're welcome, mate. At least someone appreciates my efforts," Sirius muttered and leaned back in his seat.

The boys were having a good time until Peter coughed. Regulus jumped to his feet. "You can't be here if you're ill! Get out!"

"I'm not ill," said Peter, a little shocked. "I just had an itch in my throat."

"Well, we can't risk it. Get out!" said Regulus, pointing to the exit.

"Regulus, it's alright," said Remus. "I trust it was just an itch, if he says so. I doubt he would want to risk my health."

"Come on, Peter," said Sirius and got up. "We'll get you a mask so in case it's not just an itch then you won't accidently kill Remus." He took Peter by the shoulder and rolled his eyes before leaving the room.

"You're a nutter, you know that?" said James. "Peter was sitting several metres from Remus. Even if he is ill there's no way Remus would catch it."

"Oh, I didn't know you were a doctor, Potter. I apologise," said Regulus, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Sirius and Peter returned five minutes later and Peter slumped into a seat, wearing a mask like the ones they had had been given the first day.

"There. Happy?" said Sirius and dropped into his seat again. "Or do we all need to take a bath?"

"No, but Peter will need to disinfect his hands again."

"I'm not going to touch him!" protested Peter behind the fabric.

"Well, there's no telling where you'll put your clumsy sausages by accident," said Regulus.

"Regulus, relax already!" ordered Sirius and narrowed his eyes at his brother. "We want Remus to be safe just as much as you do, or did you forget that we are in fact his friends?"

Regulus leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and a slight pout on his face.

The boys started talking about school. "Lily said she would drop by one if these days and see how you were doing. She sends you her best," said Sirius and helped himself to a handful of sweets.

"Oh, the lovely Lily," sighed James.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "I thought that now you had finally scored her you would stop going on and on about her."

"Are you kidding?" grinned Sirius. "He's even worse now." Sirius turned his head to look over at Peter who looked very sulky although his mouth was covered. "How are you doing over there, Darth Vader?"

"Enjoying myself very much, thank you," said Peter dryly, "With you letting your brother bully me."

"I'm not letting him bully you," said Sirius and got up. He strolled over to Peter and placed both hands on his shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it? Do you feel like my evil brother is on your back?"

James laughed and Peter shot daggers at Sirius and pushed away. "Bugger off," he muttered.

Sirius snickered and went to sit by Remus again. "Well," he said and checked his watch. "Best be getting on our way. You look a little worn out, Remus, and we don't want to overstay our welcome."

"It's alright," nodded Remus and sent Sirius a smile. "Please come back soon."

"I will, my love," said Sirius and hugged Remus so tight that Remus had to push him off.

"I think you had too much sugar, Sirius."

Regulus sent his brother a glare, not at all pleased with how close he had gotten to Remus. "Watch it," he snapped. "You could carry germs on your clothes. And your breath."

"Yeah, yeah," said Sirius and backed off. "I'll leave your boyfriend alone, if you have to be that jealous. Coming?" he continued, looking at his two friends.

"Yeah, just need to use the loo first," said James and jumped up, steering towards the bathroom.

"Stop!" cried Regulus.

James turned. "Why?"

"That bathroom is only for patients."

"Bullocks!" said James and turned again.

"You can't use it!" said Regulus, flying over to block James' way. "I just cleaned it. You can't use it!"

"Watch me, you little nutter!" said James and pushed Regulus out of the way, went into the bathroom and locked the door.

"You want it all to yourself, don't you?" snapped Sirius.

"You know I can't use other people's bathrooms! Do you want me to ride home every time I have to take a piss?"

"Why don't you relax, for once? It's just James. He's not a pig," Sirius said and crossed his arms. "Is Remus to use a different bathroom as well?"

"Of course not. It's his bathroom. And all the more reason to keep others away from it!"

Sirius shook his head and knocked on the door. "Hurry up, James. Regulus needs to clean it again because we weren't allowed to use it."

James came out a minute later, rolling his eyes at Regulus.

"I'm sorry he did that," said Remus once they had left. "Do… do you really need to clean it again now?"

"Yes. I bet he peed on the seat or floor and probably didn't wash his hands properly afterwards," said Regulus, snapping on a fresh pair of rubber gloves.

There was a knock on the door and the plump nurse came into the room, smiling at Remus. "It's time for dinner. What would you like?"

"I don't know if I can eat anything," coughed Remus.

"You need to eat something, dear. You need your strength. "

"Maybe some soup, then,"

She looked toward the bathroom where Regulus was working. "Why is he cleaning in there?" she asked Remus. "The cleaning personnel clean it twice a day."

"He doesn't think it's done properly," said Remus and sent her an apologetic smile. "He is very strict with hygiene so it's best to just leave him to it."

The nurse sighed and shook her head before leaving to fetch some food for Remus.

"Are you okay out there?" called Remus after not having heard Regulus for some time.

"Two more minutes," said Regulus, appearing in the door opening, starting to disinfect the handle.

Remus nodded and closed his eyes. He wasn't feeling too good but didn't want to sleep. He wanted to spend time with Regulus.

A/N: To see Zayhad's illustration to the chapter go to deviantart dot com and look up Zayhad. She has a folder in her gallery with the story's name on it.