Wallace woke to an uncomfortable twisting in his stomach that he was unfortunately too familiar with. He pushed himself up, ignoring the exasperated huff from Milotic as he pulled his leg from under her head, and hurried to the bathroom. He would need to apologize to his partner later for disturbing her nap. He tried to be as quiet as possible to avoid waking Steven as he entered their room, his quick steps seeming thunderous on the hardwood despite being no louder than usual. He dropped to the floor beside the toilet and leaned against the wall. He knew it was inevitable. He could feel the growing nausea and not long after the sharp pain began. He wanted to cry when the first wave of pain was worse than he expected. He felt his stomach lurch and he leaned forward bringing up what he had eaten earlier that day. He coughed a few times, his throat now sore, and relented when the muscles in his abdomen contracted and he began vomiting again. He wasn't expecting his hair to be pulled back away from his face and almost choked in surprise. He heard Steven hum sympathetically from behind and felt a twinge of guilt for waking him. He felt Steven pull away and begin coughing, still carefully holding his hair. The sound was wet and came from deep in his chest and it made Wallace's heart drop. Taking a shaky breath Wallace quickly assessed how he was feeling. Deciding he was okay for the moment, he leaned back against the wall and looked over at Steven. He looked exhausted despite sleeping for most of the day but there was a new worry hidden in his eyes.

"Feel better?" Steven rasped roughly, his voice not much more than a whisper at this point.

"For the moment," Wallace responded, wincing at the raw pain in his own throat.

"What brought this on? You seemed okay earlier." Steven questioned as he moved to sit next to Wallace. He was worried though that this may not have been the case. Had he missed something? He hated to think that Wallace had been hiding this just because he was sick too.

Wallace didn't know how to answer the question. Apart from the brutal nausea turning his stomach, he felt fine. "Not sure," He mumbled "I felt okay before. Just kinda happened all at once." He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them. He felt Steven press his hand to the back of his neck.

"Honestly, I can't tell if you have a fever. You feel normal to me." He decided sheepishly.

"That's probably not a good thing. You have a fever." Wallace froze as his mouth filled with saliva and his stomach cramped forebodingly. He groaned as he leaned forward.

"Wallace?" Steven questioned worriedly before breaking off into another coughing fit.

Wallace didn't have time to respond to his ill partner before he was vomiting again, though this time it wasn't more than bile. He tried to focus on his breathing but the sound of Steven suffering and struggling to catch his breath sparked a new wave of anxiety in him. It seemed as if he was really finished this time because the pain was gone and he was left with an uncomfortable nausea. He sat back and put a hand on Steven's shoulder, rubbing his thumb in small circles. "Just breathe. You're okay." He tried to sound reassuring.

"'m fine." Steven wheezed before taking a shaky breath "It's you that I'm worried about."

Wallace laughed at the irony. "I think we should worry about you for now. I'm feeling alright for the moment. Why don't we get you back to bed? You look ready to fall asleep."

"I've been asleep all day. It feels that way at least." Steven protested with a defeated sigh.

"You need to rest. I know you hate the idea, but right now you sound worse than you did this morning." Wallace stood and offered a hand to Steven who took it, pulling himself up on wobbling legs "Besides I want to lie down." He turned and went back into the bedroom, not letting go of Steven's hand. The more he moved around the worse his stomach began to feel.

"Fine," Steven agreed reluctantly "but you need to stay hydrated. I will get you some water."

"Thank you." Wallace tried to smile, but it was met with a concerned frown before Steven disappeared from the room. He hated that Steven was pushing himself right now, but there was nothing that was going to stop him. That's just how Steven was when Wallace inevitably ended up sick - worried and overprotective. He knew that Steven had been worried about spreading whatever illness he had, but it was clear to Wallace that this was different. His worries were solidified when Steven made his way back into the bedroom. He was breathing heavily and covered in a thin layer of sweat. Wallace took the bottle of water as Steven silently offered it. "Come back to bed now." He instructed firmly. He felt a little uneasy when Steven didn't argue, but somewhat relieved. He watched as Steven crawled into the bed and rested his head on his chest. He could hear the rattling and crackling with each breath Steven took and felt the heat radiating from Steven which made him uncomfortably warm. "If you aren't feeling better in the morning it wouldn't be a bad idea to go to the clinic."

"You're probably right." Steven agreed quietly. He was clearly too tired to argue.

"I am right." Wallace corrected "Try to sleep for now." He wasn't sure how much sleep he would be getting. His stomach cramped painfully. Minutes later Steven was snoring softly next to him and Wallace let himself drift away next. He wasn't asleep more than thirty minutes before he woke again to the muscles in his stomach contracting and he slid out from under Steven, who had since rolled on top of him, and swiftly made his way to the bathroom already gagging. He knew he wouldn't make it and turned on the sink before vomiting painfully. He wasn't surprised that Steven was right behind him. They were both grateful when the spell only lasted ten minutes. "Sorry…" Wallace mumbled as he leaned against Steven shivering.

"I'm right here, love. You're okay." Steven wrapped his arms protectively around Wallace and held him until the other man pulled away. He quietly followed after Wallace and returned to bed. This is how they spent the rest of the night. They would get a short nap in before Wallace would wake up ill. When he would get out of bed that would wake up Steven. He would then go check on Wallace and once he was okay they would return to bed. A few times Steven kept them both awake with his coughing. Sometime during the night, Steven's fever spiked and that was enough to convince him that he needed to see a doctor. Whatever he had wasn't going away on its own. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea for Wallace to be seen as well given his current state.

As soon as the clinic in town opened that morning the two of them got ready and made their way there. It took little to convince Wallace that morning that he should be seen by a doctor as well.

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