On this beautiful day in Animal Kingdom, Destiny the adorable whale shark and Della Duck the adventurous duck were taking a little walk together, heading for Logan's house. They were planning to go out and have some fun, thus wanted to invite their human friend to come along, too.
"You should definitely come pay a little visit to the Great Barrier Reef, one of these days, Della. It's beautiful, and the fishes living there are all fun to be around... Even Hank, when he's not being grumpy," Destiny said whilst floating over the ground.
"Huh... Thanks, but I think I'll pass," Della politely denied with a frown. "I'm not really at ease around fishes and sea creatures... Except for you, of course."
"Oh, right, because of your... How was it called already? Ichthyophobia?"
"Yeah, my fear related to everything that has fins and lives underwater. But don't worry; I still like hanging out with you, Destiny," Della assured. They then arrived at Logan's residence and knocked at his door. "Hey, Logan? It's us! Can you come out?" The two girls waited for many seconds, but didn't receive any answer. Della knocked again. "Logan? Hello?"
"Strange; it's not like him to sleep so late," Destiny remarked.
"Maybe he went out?"
"No, he always leaves a note on his front door when he's out of his home. Something's not right," the whale said, worry forming in her tone.
Deciding to take drastic measures, Della took a hair pin out of her pocket and used it to pick the lock. Once it was done, she kicked the door open for dramatic effect, and entered the residence alongside her aquatic friend.
"Logan? You here? Answer!" Della called. Thankfully, it didn't take a lot of time for them to locate their human friend, as they found him in the living room. He was lying on the couch with a pale face and heavy breath. He seemed to be suffering. "Oh my gosh, Logan!" Della exclaimed and immediately rushed to his side.
The young man groaned and opened his eyes. "... Destiny? Della? W-What are you doing here?" he asked barely louder than a mumble.
"We entered because you didn't respond when we knocked at your door. Sorry about that," Destiny explained. "But what happened to you? You're all pale."
"I... I woke up and watched some TV before breakfast, like I always do... but then, my head started aching, and I caught a violent nausea. I made a dash for the bathroom and vomited in the toilets for a while... It has calmed down a bit... but I still feel sick...," Logan explained.
Della touched his forehead. "My gosh, you're burning." She then touched his chest. "And your heart is beating faster than a motorboat. How do you feel right now?"
It took a moment for Logan to respond. "I'm sweating like a snowy owl in the middle of summer... Yet, I'm shivering in the inside. My stomach refuses to swallow anything, every heartbeat is painful - heck, just thinking gives me nausea..."
Della took a moment to think. "That's no good; I think you have caught stomach flu, Logan."
"Stomach flu? It is a dangerous disease?" Destiny asked with worry for her boyfriend.
"No, it's the kind of sickness that comes and go, like the cold. However, he still needs attention," Della explained. "Go in the kitchen and bring back two washcloths of cold water; I'm gonna find everything else we need."
The whale shark gave a nod before doing as her friend instructed. When she retuned with the wet washcloths, Della had made Logan to properly lay down on the couch with his bed pillow placed behind his head and a cover over his body.
"Thanks, Destiny," the female duck said as she took both washcloths, making sure they were cool enough. "Lift your head up, Logan; I'm gonna put them on your neck and forehead."
"What? No way!" Logan protested. "I'm already shivering cold, and you wanna make it worse? I thought you were here to help me!"
"It's not gonna make it worst; you may be feeling cold, but you're actually burning inside. These washcloths are gonna drop your temperature and also ease down your nausea. Now, lift your head."
"Forget this," Logan stubbornly refused. "Whenever I fell sick, my uncle would tell me to just lay down, take deep breaths, and wait for the pain to go away-"
"Stop whining, young man!" Della exclaimed with a sudden, firm tone. "You're talking to the mother of three boys, whom all fell sick with the same disease as you! If you wanna recover quick, you have to cool down your burning temperature, drink lots of water to recover the lost fluids, get a lot of rest while your body fights off the invading parasite, but most importantly," she got in his face, "avoid making me mad. Now, get your head UP!"
Logan stared at her with wide eyes for a few seconds. "... Yes, captain of wet washcloths!" he suddenly exclaimed and did as he was told. Della placed one wet washcloth on the back of his neck and the other on his forehead. This made him shiver a lot at first, but then, his sensation of nausea calmed down.
For now, all Logan had to do was to lay down and try to rest as much as possible. He took deep, balanced breaths to help with that. Nonetheless, he still had to get up and rush to the bathroom to vomit every once in a while. Della had the kindness to flush the toilet when that happened, and Destiny would use her Water Magic to remove the used water from Logan's washcloths and replace it by fresher, cooler water from the kitchen from time to time.
"How long do you think it's gonna take until he feels better?" Destiny asked with gently patting her boyfriend's head.
"If we take good care of him, and if he rests well, I'd say it should be over by the day's end or tomorrow, maximum," Della replied as she returned from the kitchen with a bottle of water. "Good thing we happened to come for a visit. And good thing our little kid-Sorry, young adult has a solid immune system." She handed the bottle over to Destiny. "Here, make sure he drinks a lot, and change his washcloths every half-hour. I have some commissions to do."
Della left the house and went to the closest grocery shop to buy bags of clear broths, some rice and fruit compotes. Logan struggled to eat these, even in small portions, but still forced himself to do so as he didn't want to starve to death. His two female friends turned the television on so that he could get even a little entertainment through his pain.
Logan spent most of the day focused on his breath to slow down his painful heartbeat. Della helped in that regard by gently stroking either his head or tummy, providing him relief with soft smiles. At one point, the young man couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "What's funny, Logan?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just... I wonder what I did to deserve wonderful friends like you," the young man explained with a weak smile.
"Aww, Logan," Destiny mused, affectionately nuzzling her boyfriend's cheek whilst Della's smile grew even bigger.
By the time the sun started setting at the horizon, Logan's recovery process started at last. His heartbeat was still hurting a bit, and he couldn't do too much physical activity, but the nausea calmed down to the point he passed two hours without having to use the bathroom. And his body temperature returned to normal, meaning he no longer needed the wet washcloths.
"Alright now, make sure to keep eating what I bought you in small portions and continue taking it easy for at least the next two days," Della instructed. "And don't take too hot showers, unless you wanna have to wear the wet washcloths again."
"I'd rather avoid that," Logan mused. "Thanks a lot, Della - you, too, Destiny. Everything you did means a lot."
"Hey, what are friends for?" Destiny asked with affectionately kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go home and tell Scrooge to get ready to take care of me." This statement earned Della confused looks. "What? Every time one of my boys gets stomach flu and I have to take care of them, I end up catching it, myself, not long after. Probably because I always get in contact with them, which allows their flu's bacteria to get inside my system."
"Oh my barnacles! I've touched him plenty of times, too. Does that mean I'm gonna get the stomach flu?" Destiny asked in fear.
"I don't think so; you're from the ocean, AKA, the biggest source of bacteria in the world. Therefore, your immune system must be much more powerful than a human's, meaning the bacteria responsible for the stomach flu would have no effect on you," Della explained.
"In that case, I'll go with you," Logan said. "You took care of me when I needed you; it's only fair I do the same thing in return."
With that, the two friends left Animal Kingdom to make their way to Duckburg whilst Destiny chose to return home, at the Great Barrier Reef, to tell her friends everything that happened.
Author's note: After so many chapters of Logan having thrilling adventures and meeting new OCs, I decided to go for a change and write a soft chapter with lots of fluff. I got the idea from a personal experience of when I fell sick with the stomach flu for weeks and had my mother taking care of me the whole time. I'll always be grateful to her for that.
At the rate things are going, I'm starting to feel Della might end up becoming a mother figure to Logan. That wasn't something I exactly planned, but with the way Della helped him in TheDragonSaver's 'Magical World Grand Prix' and the fact his backstory includes him not having a mother, it's starting to feel more and more like the natural way to go.
Another thing: after the Dracula Mansion chapter, where Logan went berserk to protect Dewey, I was afraid I was making my character growing strong to an inhuman point. That's what prompted me to write a chapter where he finds himself in a moment of human vulnerability. He might be strong, but he's still just a man.
Next time: Logan does possibly the dumbest things he ever did in the Magical World...
