A/N: it's 4 am, I'm over tired, hyper, currently hating a large percentage of the Cullen coven so dragged the Denalis into it, and I haven't written anything for ages so I'm going to apologise for the story/spelling/characters/this mess I made now. Also I feel it doesn't really have a proper ending and I'm sorry for that too.

Tanya POV

When the Cullen's came in I could immediately tell something was up with Carlisle. He had pulled the sleeves of his jumper over his finger tips and his hair was sort of messy and stuck to his face. He was pale and withdrawn, shivering even though it was thirty degrees in here. The rest of us had taken our coats off, overheating.
Eleazar moved to hug him but he turned away, coughing. "I'll make you sick," he choked out. "You don't want to touch me." He coughed again and Esme wrapped her arm around his waist, rubbing his side.
"Honey, your temperature is really high," she murmured, the concern showing on her face.
He just shrugged, leaning on her a bit.
"Hey Tanya, I know we just got here and everything but would you mind if I took Carlisle to lie down for a while? He has slept for four days because he's been coughing and-"
"I'm okay, Esme," he told her, sort of smiling and kissing the top of her head.
"You are not," she quipped.
"Of course it's fine! You don't have to ask," I chuckled, shaking my head at them. They were always so polite.
She started to lead him up the staircase but he stopped on the bottom step, giving her another half-hearted smile.
"Come on, sweetie, you'll feel better once you've been to sleep," she encouraged him, pushing his hair off his face.
"Hmm…" He lent heavily against the rail, looking completely exhausted.
Worry flashed across her perfect features. "Carlisle, sweetheart, I need you to go to bed for a while, okay?"
He nodded, coughing once again before following her, tripping and stumbling a few times but catching himself before he fell.
His coven watched them with shocked expressions, unused to seeing their leader in a vulnerable position.
It worried me too. Carlisle wouldn't show them he was sick if he could help it and right now he looked really sick and we would only be seeing what he couldn't hide. Which meant he felt a lot worse.

Esme POV

I practically forced Carlisle to lie on our bed, sitting beside him so I could wrap him in a blanket, trying to stop his trembling. He was so pale and very hot to touch.
Within seconds he had to sit up again, coughing.
I hugged him, pulling him closer when he cuddled into me. "Shh, try and relax, honey."
"I-I love you," he stammered.
"Aww, I love you too, sweetie." I frowned when he coughed again.
He had been coughing so much he couldn't sleep. He hadn't slept in four days and I could see he was absolutely shattered. His face was flushed and his temperature kept rising. Every time he lay down he would cough. It was starting to frighten the rest of our coven; they weren't used to Carlisle like this. They weren't used to Carlisle struggling.
"Lie down." I pushed him back down, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him, squeezing his hand.
"I'm not dying, Esme. You can go back downstairs with them," he mumbled quietly. He sounded so tired.
"I will do nothing of the sort," I quipped, stroking the side of his face with my thumb. My nerves were on edge waiting for him to coughing again.
He smiled slightly and lent against my hand, making me smile as well.
"You shouldn't have gone to work like this."
"…I had to…"
"No you didn't, Carlisle," I scolded. "Why can't you just let yourself be sick?"
"I'm sorry, Esme," he whispered, glancing up at me.
Immediately I felt guilty. "I understand." I leant down and kissed his forehead. "Now go to sleep."
He swallowed hard and I could see him fighting it.
I sighed and pulled him upright again, trying to hug him.
"I'll make you sick." He squirmed away again.
"You keep saying that but I'm still okay," I chuckled, rubbing his back. His temperature was radiating through his jacket. "My poor Carlisle." I kissed the back of our entwined hands. "What can I do to help you?"
"Go back downstairs?" he asked hopefully.
"Ah, no. No way. Come here." I slid back onto the bed and lent against the headboard. I gently shifted him back so he was lying against me, pulling the blanket over both of us. I rested my chin on the top of his head, sliding my arms around him.
He relaxed into me, finally seeming to be semi comfortable.

The alarm read two am but Carlisle wasn't next to me anymore. "Honey?" I called quietly. I got no answer.
A bit alarmed, I crept down the hallway to find him. A faint light bathed the kitchen door so I pushed it open.
"What's happening?" I asked quickly, consumed with worry.
Carlisle was sitting at the table, his arms folded on top of it and his head resting against them. To be honest he looked a mess; his hair was all messed up and he was a really strange shade of pale.
Eleazar opened his mouth to answer me but closed it again, looking at Carlisle instead.
"Nothing," my husband mumbled. I could see him shaking from where he sat.
"Someone is feeling like crap," Carmen chuckled, touching Carlisle's arm.
"Someone is fine," he protested. It sounded like his throat hurt.
I stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "What are you doing out of bed?" I kissed the side of his face.
"…Couldn't sleep…" He looked so guilty.
"Aww, sweetheart." I struggled to think of something to do to help him.
He coughed again. His face became slightly red and he bit down hard on his lip, his whole body going tense even after it was over.
"What?" I kissed the base of his neck, cuddling him the best I could while he was standing and I was sitting.
"Nothing," he mumbled between clenched teeth.
"Come back to bed." I pulled his chair out, forcing him to support himself.
He winced again but I couldn't figure out why. "I'll only keep you awake, Esme," he protested softly. Pain laced his voice.
"I don't care if I have to sit up all night with you." I wrapped my arm around his waist and slowly pulled him to his feet.
He hissed and jerked away from me, almost falling. He managed to catch himself and paced back and forth in front of me; slowly letting out a breath I didn't realise he'd been holding. He looked close to tears.
"Carlisle?" I asked, panicked.
"Um…don't freak out, okay?" His voice trembled. "B-but I think I might have broken my ribs…"
"What do I do?! Carlisle, tell me what I have to do to help you!" I caught his hand and forced him to stop in front of me.
"Nothing, Esme. Don't worry, my love." He kissed my forehead. "Just don't squeeze me, and we'll be fine."
"Carlisle," I whined desperately. "Tell me. Don't be stubborn."
"I'm not lying to you!" he was fighting a smile now. "Do you know what we do when someone comes into hospital with broken ribs? We give them pain relief and send them home again unless they've rupture an organ or something."
I contemplated this for a moment. "I'm going to get an ice pack, you're going to swallow what I give you, and then we're going to go to bed and you're going to go to sleep," I instructed.
He offered me a shaky smile. "Yes, Esme."

And now we were lying on the bed again, Carlisle begrudgingly letting me press an icepack against his side. He didn't complain, but I could tell it definitely wasn't comfortable; I also knew he was just humouring me by letting me do it. He'd taken whatever pain medication he was allowed and now was finally able to sleep, even it was only in short bursts.
"Sure you don't want to be a doctor?" he mumbled, his speech slightly slurred.
"Go to sleep," I scolded, trying to supress a smile.
"I really could teach you. Or if you didn't want me, then we could move closer to a university and you could-"
"I'll always want you, Carlisle, don't you worry about that. Now just shush and go to sleep."
"I think you'd be good at it. You're good at everything."
"The only patient I don't mind looking after is you," I chuckled.
"Why is it always this way around? It's never me helping you."
"Go to sleep," I insisted. To be honest, I would be surprised if he could remember this drug-induced conversation in the morning.
"It isn't fair. I'd rather me be sick than you. Much rather. But that's not the point. I want to do nice things for you too-"
"You do plenty of nice things for me. But right now, you're going to go to sleep."
"I love you."
"I love you too. Go to sleep, okay?" I urged.
"Okay."