It was a rare occasion when Brian Kinney got sick, but it did happen every now and then. As he lay there in bed, sniffling and sneezing and coughing and shivering occasionally from fever, Brian cursed his fallible human form. What he wouldn’t have given to actually live up to his comic book alter ego. Brian envied Rage’s inability to contract the common cold. All Brian wanted to do was curl up in a little ball and sleep until the cold had passed. Fate, however, had other plans.

“Brian?” Debbie called as she stepped into the loft. Brian had heard the metal door sliding open and prayed that it was Justin, or even Michael. At least then he could tell them to fuck off and they’d listen. But no, it had to be Debbie. He tried to stay as quiet and still as possible, hoping she’d think he wasn’t home, but once again cruel fate took over and he started a sneezing fit that lasted a good five minutes.

“There you are,” she said with a worried expression as she took a seat on the side of the bed.

“Damn it,” Brian managed to croak out before lying back down against his pillows. He pulled a tissue from the box by the bed and rather noisily blew his nose, then threw the used tissue on the steadily growing pile by his bed.

“You look like shit,” Debbie said and Brian looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Daw, really? You dink so?” Brian sighed. The sarcasm lost some of its edge when he was so stuffed up he could hardly breathe. Debbie tried very hard not to laugh.

“When Michael told me you called out sick from work I thought maybe it was just because you were hung over. I didn’t think it was because you were actually sick,” she said honestly.

“I can handle work hung over,” Brian commented. He coughed a couple of times and Debbie touched his forehead.

“Christ, Brian. You’re burning up!” She went into the bathroom and searched around in the cabinets. “Don’t you have a fucking thermometer in this place?”

“It’s in the kitchen,” Brian answered. She came out of the bathroom and looked at him.

“What the hell is it doing in the kitchen?” she asked.

“Long story,” he replied, not wanting to go into that particular little adventure in cooking. Debbie just nodded and went into the kitchen, located the thermometer, then came back and sat down on the bed.

“Open up,” she ordered as she held the thermometer to his lips. Brian closed his mouth tight and shook his head like a stubborn child. “There’s two ways we can do this, although I don’t think you’ll really mind the other way all that much,” she said with a smirk. The tone of her voice let Brian know exactly what the other option was and he opened his mouth. Debbie laughed and stuck the thermometer under his tongue.

“The last thing I need is the image of my best friend’s mom sticking things up my ass,” he said around the thermometer. Debbie chuckled.

“Now hush or I won’t get a proper reading,” she said and Brian nodded, keeping his mouth shut. When the little electronic thermometer started beeping, Debbie pulled it out of Brian’s mouth and looked at it. “Well, the good news is that your fever isn’t too bad. Just a little over a hundred. But, the fact that you do have a fever means you’re staying home from work until this breaks.” She got up and started to head into the kitchen.

“No fucking way! I have a meeting tomorrow.”

“I’m sure they can reschedule.” Debbie started looking through the cabinets. “Do you live off takeout, Brian?”

“Yes,” he answered seriously.

“I figured. I’m going to the store, but I’ll be back. You better still be in bed when I get back,” she said, pointing her finger in his direction. She had a look on her face that Brian had seen before and he nodded, planning on complying as much as possible. Debbie went to the store and got everything she’d need for homemade chicken soup. She then stopped by the house to tell Vic that she’d be at Brian’s and not to worry, before heading back to the loft. When she got there, Brian was not in bed. “Brian, I told you to stay in bed,” she yelled throughout the seemingly empty loft.

“I’m allowed to take a piss, aren’t I?” he asked from the bathroom doorway.

“Oh, yeah,” Debbie said, then helped him into bed before going to the kitchen. When the soup was ready, she poured some into a bowl and went to take it into the bedroom. Upon entering the room, however, she noticed that Brian was sound asleep. She put the bowl down, pulled the blankets up under his chin, kissed his forehead, then grabbed the bowl and went back into the kitchen, putting it away to reheat later.

Debbie went over and took a seat on the couch, turning the TV on and flipping through the channels. She apparently dozed off while watching TV because about an hour later she was awakened by the sound of the door opening and closing. When she looked over the back of the couch she saw that it was Justin and she smiled.

“Hey, Sunshine,” she whispered. Justin jumped slightly, not expecting her to be there.

“Hey,” he replied. He looked around for a minute, then looked at Debbie. “Why are you here and why are we whispering?”

“Brian’s sick and he’s asleep at the moment,” she said in answer to both questions. Justin’s brow furrowed for a second. He came over to sit next to Debbie on the couch.

“Brian’s sick?” he asked. Debbie nodded.

“It’s most likely just a cold, though. I made some chicken soup, but he fell asleep before he could eat any of it.”

“Does he have a fever?” Justin looked worried.

“Last time I checked he had a minor one, but that was a couple of hours ago,” she replied. Justin nodded and got up, going quietly into the bedroom. He moved carefully hoping not to wake the older man. He kissed Brian’s forehead and his brow furrowed again. Brian was pretty warm. He noticed the older man’s eyelids flutter a little and thought he may have woken him up, but Brian just rolled over and went right back to sleep.

“He still feels a little warm,” Justin told Debbie as he made his way back into the living room.

“I told him he’s not going anywhere until his fever breaks,” she admitted.

“But he’s got a meeting tomorrow…”

“I know all about the meeting and he won’t do anybody any good if he gets out of bed too early and makes himself sicker than he already is,” she said. Justin simply nodded and sat down on the couch again. Both of them jumped when Brian suddenly started coughing. They weren’t deep coughs, just the typical coughs that come along with having a cold. Debbie went and got Brian a glass of water as Justin moved into the bedroom. He took a seat beside Brian and started to rub his back. It wasn’t until Brian had consumed a large amount of the water that he finally stopped coughing.

“Feeling any better?” Justin asked.

“Do,” Brian answered, more stuffed up than he was before. Justin tried to keep from smiling but he couldn’t. “I’b glad you dink dis is so fuddy,” Brian said as angrily as possible. He crossed his arms over his chest for effect. That made Justin and Debbie laugh. He sighed and rolled his eyes, then lay back in the pillows and stared at the ceiling, determined to ignore them.

“I’m sorry, Brian, but that was just too funny,” Justin said. Brian only continued to stare at the ceiling. Debbie went into the kitchen and got the bowl of soup. She reheated it in the microwave for a minute, then carried the bowl into the bedroom.

“Time to eat something,” she told Brian.

“I’b dot hungry,” he said, turning his head away and looking for all the world like Gus when he refused to eat his vegetables.

“Hungry or not, you need to eat,” Debbie insisted. Justin looked at her and reached for the bowl. Debbie handed it over and Justin looked at Brian for a minute. He got a spoonful of the soup.

“Come on, Brian. Please? You need to eat something to keep your strength up.” His tone was sweet and innocent and he batted his eyelashes and looked just like a little angel. Debbie had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. It was made even harder when Brian sighed, sat up and let Justin feed him the soup. She watched for several minutes as Justin continued to feed Brian the chicken soup. A smile came to her lips as she saw the obvious love between the two.

Debbie backed out of the room slowly. Neither man noticed as she grabbed her coat and started to leave the loft. She listened as she moved around gathering her things. They were talking and joking a little. She smiled as she started to shut the door, confident she was leaving Brian in the best of hands.