Lucifer's Epiphany

It took two long days of worry, thousands of changes of wet washcloths along the back of her neck to try and help cool her down, several bouts of vomiting because she was still sick regardless of her saying she felt better and sleepless nights for him while she slept like she was dead before the fever broke.

And he could not have been happier to see her come out of her illness, even if she was still weak and light headed some of the time.

She was now definitely on the mend and getting better, not just saying she felt better.

It was a tremendous relief.

It was also time for him to go home. He refused to have another shower at her house, since she tended to hog all the clean towels for herself and he was fed up with it and he was absolutely drenched in sweat from the sweating she had done once the fever broke.

He had made sure she drank enough water to bog her down for days. She had already been to the toilet three times that morning.

He was beginning to have trouble concentrating on anything and it was getting to the point where, if he didn't get home fast and sleep, he was going to crash his car on the way home. He was that exhausted from worry and staying up.

Even he needed sleep, regardless of that idiotic saying in which the Devil never sleeps. He happened to like sleep, thank you very much humanity. And he needed at least 4 hours a night to be at his best.

He left Ella to her breakfast of toast with jam, some freshly squeezed orange juice he had made especially for her to replace the old juice in the jug in the fridge and an egg.

He stumbled out the door with his bag and spent five minutes walking to where he parked the corvette. He then spent an additional minute staring blankly at the steering wheel, before he remembered to use the key to start the engine.

He made it back to Lux safe and sound, regardless of his mind wanting to play tricks on him and put him to sleep.

"Note to self, never go three days without sleep again," he mumbled to himself when he made it to his flat. He left his bag stowed in the way of the lift, too tired to bother putting it away, before stumbling his way to his bed, falling down fully dressed in his suit and conking out the minute he crashed down against the sheets.

He didn't wake up until the sun was down. It was the longest time he had ever stayed asleep before and it left him slightly wired. He hadn't had this much energy in days now and he had little way of using it.

He knew he wouldn't be sleeping that night. He needed to get back into a good sleeping pattern or he'd never feel right again...

He spent the energy that night on the club. He danced, drank and had sex multiple times before he dozed off for a nap in the morning. And was woken up quite rudely by a hand shaking him awake.

It was Dan. Dan and Chloe were both standing in his bedroom staring down at him.

The man he'd fallen asleep with was conspicuously absent, but having his flock there made up for it.

"Detectives! What can I do for you?" he asked, his voice making it sound like he was just rudely woken up.

"Ella called to let us know she's over the worst of it. Said you might not be doing too well though and told us to come see you. Are you okay? You're not sick yourself are you?" Chloe asked and he grinned up at her.

"No, Detective, don't be silly. Not sick. I didn't get any sleep while at hers. I was a bit exhausted by the time I got home and, well, I crashed I guess is the right word to use in this situation. But I'm okay. Why?"

Dan and Chloe both sighed. "There was a crash. A corvette. We thought it might have been you."

He blinked. "No, not me. I'm fine and so is my car. I guess it is time to get up now, though. Am I needed at the station today or not?"

They both shook their heads, no.

He sighed and sat up, letting the sheet fall to his waist. They both got a good look to know he was wearing his favourite pair of black boxer briefs. He stretched his arms and sighed. "I am never not sleeping again. That was hard..."

Dan snorted. "Yeah, what if one of us gets sick next?"

He blinked and frowned. "Well, stay warm, stay inside when it rains and make sure not to be around anyone who is coughing and spluttering and you should be fine. Right?"

They continued to stare at him. "Lucifer," Chloe stated, walking down and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Illness doesn't work that way all the time. Sometimes it just...happens."

"Yeah, man, sometimes we just get sick because we get sick," Dan added.

And it suddenly occurred to Lucifer that they were human. He did know that and it was always in the back of his mind, but just then it hit him out of nowhere. They were human. They were mortal with a short lifespan. Even if none of them ever got sick again in their lives, they would still die.

He would lose his flock. All of them. To time.

Even the spawn would die.

He had no idea what his face looked like in that moment, but the two detectives frowned at him. "Are you alright?' Dan asked, as Chloe patted the nearest shoulder to her.

He nodded, unable to find his voice just then to tell them what it was he was feeling. He was suddenly light headed again and tired. So tired.

"I...I think I want to sleep some more now. Can you come back again later?" he asked, and he could barely hear his own voice.

"Lucifer? You're beginning to scare me. What's wrong?" Chloe asked him and he looked at her and blinked.

"I'm sorry, Lucifer is too busy being numb and tired right now to answer, please try again later..." he replied, mainly because it was true and it was all he could think of at that time to say.

They turned to look at each other instead of him and he almost missed Dan's head tilt towards the lift.

Sighing Chloe got up on her feet and went back over to Dan. "Okay, we'll leave you alone for a while, but only for a few hours, Lucifer. We'll be back soon."

He nodded, because he was sure he could get his act together before then.

He needed to figure this out and get it out of his system. So, as soon as they were out the door, he called Doctor Linda for a session.

He was pretty sure this was what she would call a crisis.