Stone Cold Fever

Sick!Spinelli. And I'm basing ost of my medical information on a combination of info from various web sources combined with my own horribly obnoxious bout of pneumonia back when I was a little kid. So, yeah. Ugh. There'll probabaly be a prequel and probably a sequel as well, to this, eventually. Not mine. Thanks as always to cynical_sweater. Enjoy!

The feel of the bed shifting behind him is what first pulls Jason out of his state of unconsciousness. Always a light sleeper, it never does take much. The shivering mass of coughing Spinelli that falls into bed beside him is what ultimately wakes him completely, though. The clock reads 4:31 am, which is a completely ridiculous hour of morning.

"Spinelli?"

"C-c-c-c-c-cold." Comes the teeth chattering answer from the younger man. He has a hoodie on over whatever he wore to sleep, and his arms are wrapped tight around the blanket's he's cocooned himself in, and still the heat radiates off of him. "'M f-freezing."

Now quite concerned for his roommate, and at the moment, bedmate, he reaches out a hand to press experimentally over Spinelli's forehead. He promptly removes his hand the second it makes contact. "You're burning up."

"Freezing." Spinelli repeats, as he tries to shuffle closer to Jason. Spinelli tries to say something else, but a deep, hacking cough cuts him off.

Jason's climbing out of bed now, headed for the thermometer Spinelli stowed in the bathroom after their dubious encounter with the dreaded Asian Aigu. He returns to the bed with a damp washcloth and the required technology. "Hold still." He demands, as Spinelli squirms away from the cool rag.

The younger man manages to comply with the request long enough for Jason to take his temperature via the handy ear thermometer, but as soon as Jason stops touching him, the shivering picks up again.

103.4, the display reads, quite alarmingly. And that's about all Jason needs to see. "Come on." He declares, and scoops the smaller man easily into his arm, even though it sets off another harsh coughing fit. He settles Spinelli on the couch while he grabs his cell phone. Pacing back and forth back and forth, as he waits for it to turn on and dial, and finally he's connected to General Hospital.

Spinelli's on the couch watching him lazily as he continues his obsessive pacing. Jason's explaining what's going on maybe to Epiphany or Elizabeth or Robin, he's not really sure, nor does he particularly care about anything other than being warm at the moment.

"Alright. I'll do that." Jason says eventually, and he hangs up. Then he's kneeling in front of Spinelli on the couch and pushing damp hair away from his face. "Come on." He prompts. "I need to get you cooled down and give you some medicine."

"Whu- Why?" He stutters trying hard not to bite his tongue as he struggles to even keep his eyes open. Why does Jason want him to be colder? Another deep cough. And his chest is burning, but all he cares about is the fact that he knows Jason is warm and warm would feel so good right now. He reaches out for the elder man but Jason just catches his arms.

Jason shakes his head. "You're too hot already, you don't need to hold on to me."

Spinelli looks about ready to protest when suddenly he begins to feel very ill, and suspects that maybe Stone Cold's reasoning and his paranoia over Spinelli's current health was actually appropriate. "B-bathroom." He chokes out, and hand pressed over his own mouth, even as Jason very, very, quickly helps him up and down the hall.

They barely make it, and Spinelli collapses to the floor as his stomach turns on him. The sparse contents of his stomach make an unwelcome reappearance – and at least now they know why Spinelli hadn't felt inclined to eat very much the previous day – and all Jason can do is watch as Spinelli dry heaves once everything is gone.

"It's alright." He whispers, as he pets Spinelli's hair away from his face and rubs soothing circles on his back. He moves away long enough to fill a bathroom cup with cool water. "Drink this." He insists, as he wets another wash cloth to press against the heated skin of Spinelli's neck.

He curls into Jason's arms and this time there is no protest about already being too warm to do so. Jason doesn't have the heart to make him move after the sight he just witnessed. He didn't think it would stop. "W-why am I s-so cold?"Spinelli whimpers, close to tears.

"You have a fever." Jason explains, and they just sit there for a few moments in silence while Jason soothes the younger man. He hefts Spinelli onto the bathroom counter, one arm still wrapped around him as he digs through the medicine cabinet in search of Acetaminophen. He refills the small paper cup and offers it and two pills to his ailing friend. "Take those."

Spinelli complies, having a bit of trouble swallowing the pills due to another obnoxious coughing fit. "What are you d-doing?" He asks, as he observes Jason fill the sink basis with cool water.

Jason doesn't answer, but instead tugs at the bottom of Spinelli's hoodie. "Off."

Reluctantly – really he's freezing as it is, and now Jason wants him to take clothes off and be colder? – he lifts his arms enough to allow Jason to remove the sweatshirt. Under which he finds a long sleeved shirt. Jason tugs that over his head as well. And there is still a t-shirt under that. "How many layers did you have on?"

"'M cold." Spinelli repeats, as the room temperature air freezes his burning skin. He yelps when Jason touches the cool, damp washcloth against his chest. "N-nno." He squeaks in protest and tries to squirm away.

"Spinelli." He still struggling, but then blue eyes lock on his and he stills. "I need to do this." Jason says, catching one of Spinelli's dangerously flailing arms. "I know its cold, especially to you right now, but you'll feel better, okay?"

With a slight whimper, and one hand clutching Jason's t-shirt, he allows the older man to proceed.

Jason works as quickly as he can, keeping the washcloth considerably damp as he tries to cool the other man down. The shivering is more intense now, but he keeps going, gently running the cloth over Spinelli's back and stomach. "You okay?" Jason asks, pressing a dry hand to Spinelli's damp forehead before he decides that is not an accurate measurement of temperature.

"C-can we stop n-n-now?" Spinelli asks, teeth chattering. And he doesn't really look any better, so Jason reluctantly agrees.

He grabs a towel from the small closet behind him, without breaking the younger man's hold on his shirt, and slowly goes about drying him patient off with the fluffy terrycloth towel. He offers him the hoodie once he's satisfied. "We need to go take your temperature again."

Spinelli's feet nearly give out from under him when he hops off the counter, but Jason's arms wind around him in time. "Sorry."

"S'okay." Jason replies, and easily carries him instead. He goes about depositing him once more on the couch before he runs back to the bedroom to fetch the discarded thermometer. "Hold still." He says.

Even more alarming than last time, the display now reads 104.1.

He's headed for the phone before Spinelli's muddled brain can even process what is going on. Words like 'hospital' and '911' and 'ambulance' and 'NOW' filter through, though, and he can kind of guess that Jason's decided that he needs some serious help.

"Stone C-cold?"

Jason's sitting beside him in what seems like a second, but Spinelli's head is hurting him almost as much as his chest is, and to top that off another coughing fit starts. "Right here." He says, and Spinelli cuddles against him once more. "It's gonna be okay. Alright? The paramedics are going to come get you and get you to the hospital and then you won't feel so cold, okay?" And he really hopes they get here soon. He's unsettled by how quickly all of this started and how fast Spinelli's temperature rose. And with all the strange epidemics and poisonous phenomena that occur in Port Charles, he hopes that Spinelli is not a victim of one of them. "You just need to hold on. Can you do that?"

"For y-you, Stone," Another unnerving coughing fit. "C-cold? Always." His head rests against Jason's shoulder. The touch through his shirt feels like fire to Jason, he can't imagine how bad Spinelli's fever has to be.

He picks the younger man up again and makes for the door to the Penthouse. It's cooler outside. Its cooler and that will maybe at least help a little. The paramedics can get him to General Hospital that much faster.

Flashing lights and sirens are fast approaching by the time Jason gets them off the elevator and out the front door. Spinelli's shivering increases ten-fold when the cool winter air hits him. He clings tighter to Jason, as if his life depends on the contact.

The ambulance pulls to a stop in front of them and two EMT's clad in navy windbreakers appear out of the front of the vehicle. One opens the back, and the other tries to pull Spinelli out of his arms, but Jason can lay Spinelli down on the stretcher just as easily as he can, and Spinelli seems rather uninclined to release him anyway.

"You have to let go of me." He tells Spinelli, once he is half on the stretcher. The paramedic seems surprised that it's a full grown man curled up in Jason's arms, and not the young child he appeared as. But, Jason is oblivious to that. Spinelli won't unwind his arms from around Jason's neck, and he can tell the paramedics want to get to work. He offers a hand instead. "Come on, Spinelli. They need to help you."

Spinelli finally relents and settles for griping Jason's hand.

"His fever was over 104, and he's been coughing and throwing up." Jason summarizes for them as one jumps into the front and starts back to the hospital. The other medic hooks an oxygen mask over Spinelli's mouth. "I gave him some medicine for the fever and tried to cool him down, but…"

"Stone C-cold." Spinelli rasps through the mask, though he is hardly even aware of the poking and prodding and questioning they're doing. He feels Jason's hand squeeze around his own, and his chest doesn't hurt quite as much ever since they've put the mask over his mouth, but he is still cold, and delirium is starting to set in. He tries to life the mask to talk, but one look from Jason stops him in his tracks and his free hand falls back to rest at his side.

"You're cold?" The medic inquires, lifting the oxygen away for him to answer, unaware of the silent exchange.

"He is cold, but that's not what he said." Jason supplies. "He said Stone Cold."

"You mean like that online video game?" The medic asks, with a curious look. "My son plays that game nonstop. Has he been delirious over that since the fever started?"

Jason has to laugh. "Ugh. No, actually. Long time before that." At the questioning glance the medic shoots him, he elaborates before they decide Spinelli needs a trip to Shady Brook, too. "He created the game. He's… he's the Jackal and he calls me Stone Cold. I'm… yeah." Another exasperated laugh even as Spinelli's green eyes watch him with concern. "He likes nicknames."

They're pulling into the ambulance bay of General Hospital's ER now, and Jason follows along as they wheel Spinelli out of the ambulance and into the building.

Dr. Hunter is working the ER and he rushes over the second they come in. Not an accident or a gunshot, but it's a slow night. "What do we have?" Jason doesn't trust the guy as much as he trusts others – Robin, Patrick, Liz, and Epiphany, but beggars can't be choosers and at this point he does not care who makes Spinelli better so long as someone does.

Jason follows them into a curtained off area, where the medics shift Spinelli from the ambulance stretcher to a hospital bed and simultaneously explain their patients condition before they vacate the area.

"He'll be okay right?" Jason prods Matt as an unfamiliar nurse hooks Spinelli up to a couple of various machines, one that reads temperature, another for heart rate, and a more advanced looking oxygen mask.

"R-relax, Stone C-cold." Spinelli tells his master, lifting the mask off of his face for a moment.

Jason promptly returns to Spinelli's side, and the younger's hand promptly searches his out again. Then he repeats his question.

Matt sighs. "I don't know yet, Jason. He just got here. I'm ordering a chest x-ray and starting some IV fluid to keep him hydrated. That's all I can do until we figure out what's causing the fever." Matt says as he slips through the break in the closed curtain.

The unfamiliar nurse, Erika, her ID reads, offers Spinelli a hospital gown. "Do you need help with that?" She asks, trying to be helpful.

Jason only finds her irritating. "I'll help him." He practically growls, and waits until she's out of sight as well before he helps Spinelli tug the warm, grey hoodie over his head once again before helping him into the useless hospital garb, and his pajama pants stay on. For purposes of both modesty and because he refuses to make Spinelli feel colder.

Matt returns a few moments later with a technician to take him to Radiology for the chest x-ray. Jason is told to stay behind, so he uses his time to fill out the admission paperwork someone hands to him. He's not even sure who gave it to him at this point. All he cares about is Spinelli.

How did Spinelli get so sick so fast without him even realizing something was up with his roommate? It was… baffling, really, and quite unnerving. But then again, the Asian Aigu had attacked them both suddenly as well. And Spinelli's immune system had not taken that well. Could this be worse?

He doesn't think he can watch Spinelli suffer through anything like that again. He's already been infected by some weird flu and hit by a car since he moved in. God knows what else has happened that he doesn't know about. It's especially hard seeing Spinelli so sick now. Since they've been in this weird sort of limbo between kinds of relationship lately. Ever since Spinelli got drunk and confessed his not quite brotherly feelings toward his Stone Cold. And while Jason's not quite sure how he feels about Spinelli…

"Jason." Matt interrupts his silent reverie as he waits for Spinelli's return. "They're bringing him back up now."

Jason nods and stands, eyes on the hallway that they took Spinelli down. His young friend appears just a moment later, and the mobile bed returns to its former place beside Jason. "You make out okay?" Jason inquires, running a hand automatically through Spinelli's hair. He looks a little paler than before and Jason is still quite concerned.

"Affirmative" Spinelli answers, again having to go through lifting the obtrusive mask before he can reply.

Unfamiliar Nurse Erika returns to the curtained excuse for a room. "Alright, Mr. Spinelli. We're just going to insert an IV now."

Spinelli very, very clearly does not like that idea. Typically when needles are required Spinelli is usually not in a state of conscious that involves being aware of them. He paws frantically for Jason and manages to appear about half his size in doing so.

"Spin-" Jason almost laughs. Almost. "It's just a needle. Come on, you'll be fine." He has most of Spinelli wrapped around him, now which does not make for an easy time for the nurse. "Look I'll sit right here okay?" Spinelli scoots over enough for Jason to do as he promises, and Jason complies. "And you can keep holding on to me, whatever. But you need to do this."

A fevered and slightly delirious Spinelli buries his head against Jason's shoulder and offers one arm to the amused nurse.

"Count of three." She says in warning and counts down. Only Spinelli is yelping on two instead because nurses know tricks like that.

"That was quite uncalled for." Spinelli says in response to her trickery. And - Jason notes - without stuttering for the first time since the impromptu wake up call. He's still clinging to Jason for dear life, one hand fisted in Jason's shirt and the other now hooked up to the IV pumping much needed fluid into his body.

Jason settles an arm around his shoulders and glares at the nurse on Spinelli's behalf. He realizes it's probably easier that way – Spinelli would have undoubtedly tensed up and perhaps given the nurse cause to have to repeat the proceedings – but he doesn't take kindly to people who try to manipulate Spinelli in any way.

They sit there for a few moments alone, presumably waiting for the x-ray films to get to Matt to be looked over. In the meantime, he and Spinelli just sit there, and Jason brushes the sweat dampened hair out of the younger's face. "Feel any better?" Jason asks, and he's thinking he might be able to get used to the idea of having Spinelli as more than just a friend. He certainly doesn't mind this, right now. Taking care of him.

"Mhm." Spinelli nods against his shoulder, a response that does not require him to remove the oxygen mask.

"Ahem." A voice from the opening in the curtain subtly announces itself. It's Matt, and Jason hadn't realized that they'd been sitting there for nearly twenty minutes. "Mind if I come in?"

Jason's gaze dares him to say anything about their current arrangements, and he nods. "The x-rays?"

"You have a pretty cut and dry case of pneumonia. Very treatable. You got here quickly." Matt explains, and for once someone is actually talking to Spinelli about Spinelli's health as opposed to Jason.

"He'll be okay then?" Jason repeats his earlier question.

"Once we get the fever down and I'm confident that you're not having trouble breathing, Spinelli, you'll be free to go. Granted, with a prescription for Azithromycin and instructions for Jason here on how to help you out, but free to go nonetheless." Matt explains, before he excuses himself to go assist with another ambulance arrival.

Jason sighs in relief. A garden variety illness. So rare here. Not that he's glad Spinelli is sick, but of all the things he could have been, he is glad it isn't worse. "At least we get to go home soon." Jason says, moving to shift away from Spinelli, but he finds a hand still fisted in his shirt that refuses to let go. With a resigned sigh toward his fate, he relents and curls up beside the young computer hacker yet again.

Nurse Erika shows up again a few moments later, to give Spinelli a dose of the medicine he'll be on, just to get the process started. "Once the IV bag is empty, Dr. Hunter will clear you to go." She informs them before she disappears once more.

The bag is only about a third of the way empty, so he tries to get Spinelli comfortable enough to maybe get a little sleep. It will be morning by the time he's released, as it's already close to six am, and at some point he needs to call max to get him to bring a car down so they can get home. But for now that can all wait. "Try and rest, okay?"

"Will do, Stone Cold." Spinelli says, lifting the mask again to answer. And hopefully that can come off soon, too.

He leans back and Spinelli snuggles quite thoroughly against his chest, his eyes already drifting closed.

The next thing either of them knows, Matt is hovering in front of them again with a rather amused smirk on his face. "Guys? Yeah. Hi." He laughs. "Thought you might want to know that you can leave whenever you feel like getting out of bed."

Jason glances at his watch and find's it's nearly 7:30. Evidently Spinelli wasn't the only one asleep. And he looks down to see that, Spinelli actually is still asleep and without the pesky oxygen mask in place. And Jason wouldn't mind him staying that way for now. "Shh." He says in warning, as he goes about the surprisingly complex task of untangling himself from the younger man's grip. "Give me whatever he needs and I'll get him out of your way."

Matt laughs a bit more and leads Jason out into the surprisingly busy exterior of hospital chaos on the other side of the curtain. He gives Jason a single prescription for the aforementioned Azithromycin, as well as handful of discharge paperwork to sign. And then he goes on to explain about how, if required, he may have to do chest percussion therapy on Spinelli, which sounds like something medical, but actually involves thumping the younger man on the back in hopes of displacing some of the gunk currently residing in Spinelli's lungs. Not Jason's favorite idea in the world but he'll do it if it will help.

"Spinelli." He says softly, once Matt is done lecturing him and he's called Max to come fetch them. "You just need to wake up for a few minutes."

"Nnnn." Comes the muttered reply. "M' sleepy."

Nurse Erika doesn't find the sleepy man quite as adorable as Jason does, and she removes the IV from Spinelli's arm without much of a warning. That does get Spinelli back to consciousness. "Ouch. Uncalled for Hostile One." He stares pointedly as she covers the site with a Band-Aid.

"He can go now, right? Right." Jason asks and answers for her before he's shuffling her out of the make shift room again. "We can go home now." He tells Spinelli, as he retrieves the younger man's hoodie from the back of the chair Jason had occupied before Spinelli had fused them together.

"That sounds wondrously appealing." Spinelli sighs, talking more like himself, but looking like he's suffered through hell. He raises his arms in cooperation with Jason's attempts to remove the unseemly hospital gown and replace his favorite sweatshirt. He's not as cold anymore, but it still feels better than anything else.

Jason offers a hand and then recalls that Spinelli left home slightly… barefooted. He requisitions a wheelchair from a passing med student – because he's pretty sure no one is going to appreciate him carrying Spinelli out the door. "Come on." He instructs and he helps Spinelli sit.

Max is waiting outside for them already, and Jason does surrender to carrying him the few feet from door to car. He slides into the backseat with Spinelli and the younger man cuddles against him once more.

"We need to stop and get his prescription filled." Jason comments, before Max can steer them towards home.

They stop at a local drugstore, and Jason runs the prescription in quickly, buys some orange soda and some cough medicine for Spinelli in the meantime. The pharmacist tells him it'll be a while before the pills are ready so Jason relents and returns to the car, intent to go and get them later.

By just after 8 am, Jason is carrying Spinelli back into the penthouse much the same way as he was carried out. Wrapped safely in Jason's arms and clinging to his shirt, Jason ducks them into the kitchen long enough to grab a couple bottles of water before he maneuvers them upstairs and into the master bedroom.

"Where are we going?" A very sleepy Spinelli inquires, as he blinks around at surroundings he's only seen a handful of times. "Why are we in your room?"

"Because you need sleep and I want to keep an eye on you." Jason replies logically. He deposits Spinelli on the still unmade bed and maneuvers the both of them under the covers. As opposed to the rest of their rather eventful morning, Spinelli stays to one side of the bed and does not burrow himself as far against Jason as he can physically get. Jason stares at him in confusion for a moment. He'd pretty much resigned himself to willingly becoming attached to Spinelli for the rest of his life and now Spinelli is going to personal space? "Why, exactly are you way over there?" And way over there is all of the maybe the two feet of space Jason's bed allots between them, but given how close they've been all night it seems much larger.

Spinelli blinks up at him. "The Jackal… I… Do I still have a fever?"

Jason laughs. "Yes, probably. But, you're not delirious or dreaming." He offers a hand, like he's been doing all night, and Spinelli rolls closer. Once the younger man's head is tucked under his chin and his chest is pressed flush against Spinelli's back, he feels Spinelli relax a bit. "You need rest now, alright?" Jason insists, the fingers of the hand Spinelli has captured lacing together and their entwined hands fall to rest on Spinelli's chest.

"So does this mean…?" Spinelli asks, voice small and clearly nervous, followed by a slight cough.

"We'll see. Okay? We'll see." Jason says. And that will have to be enough for the moment, he thinks, as he presses a soft kiss to the top of Spinelli's head.