sickfic · caregiver · duo · angst · fever · helpless · worried · illness
Leo was pinned to the couch by three solid days of fever. His eyes were heavy, clouded, and his hunger was a deep, gnawing void that forced him into a rigid, self-imposed diet. Jamie, sensing the shift in his friend, had wisely kept his distance—not out of indifference, but from a desperate desire not to add to the hurt. Leo appreciated the silence, but he could almost taste Jamie's loneliness, the feelings he was swallowing down for fear of losing their connection entirely. They had been texting for days and nights on end. Leo was changing: his hair seemed to grow visibly, coarser by the hour, and his temper had sharpened into something brittle and hostile. He was a knot of simmering anger, avoiding the world outside, yet his words in messages remained gentle, worried. Now he was eatin…