“I’ll be back in a moment,” Hades called from somewhere echo-y. The bathroom?
He came back like he promised, sticking a cold plastic cone thing into Aaren’s ear. Something beeped.
“Yeah, you’re running a fever. Fuck. Not high enough to be worrying, but I’ll get you some meds. Any allergies?”
Aaren tried to shake his head, but quickly stopped. “None,” he croaked.
“All right. Be right back.” Gentle fingers petted him again, and the footsteps left.
It felt like Aaren had barely huddled into his pillow, when Hades came back.
“Need you to sit up and take this,” Hades said.
Aaren would much rather languish in bed, but Hades was sitting down next to him, helping him sit upright. The alpha pressed a pill into Aaren’s hand.
When Aaren cracked open his eyes, he found a glass of water in front of him. “I hate big pills.”
Hades paused. “Okay, I can cut this. Be back soon.”
He took the pill away and left Aaren sitting in bed. Aaren curled his fingers into the soft sheets, shivering.
“Back,” Hades said.
“Cold,” Aaren told him.
“Here, swallow this first. I cut the big pill in half.” Hades gently set the pill halves in Aaren’s hand.
It was a good thing he had cut the pill, because Aaren’s throat protested when he tried to swallow the halves. After some struggling, they were finally in his stomach.
“Yuck,” Aaren said.
“Sorry.” Hades brushed a kiss against his temple, tucking the blanket around Aaren’s shoulders. “Are you hungry? Need anything?”
Aaren shook his head.
“Need me to call in sick for you?”
Aaren sighed. “Feel bad for cutting out on Olson. I like him. He’s nice.”
Hades wrapped his arm around Aaren and squeezed him lightly. “He’s a boss. He has backup plans for situations like these; heknows that people fall sick sometimes. The best thing you can do is to give him as much notice as you can.”
Aaren bobbed his head, then winced when it hurt.
Hades picked up Aaren’s phone and unlocked it, sending off a text. Aaren was okay with that; he knew how to unlock Hades’ phone, too. “Texted Olson. Now, let’s get you settled in for the day. Do you need to go to the bathroom?”
“Yeah.” Aaren winced. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll help.” Hades scooped Aaren into his arms, carrying him to the bathroom. Good thing Aaren was naked; there were no clothes he had to fumble with.
Hades waited patiently while Aaren peed. When he was done, Hades carried him back to bed and tucked him in.
“Are you going to work in your office?” Aaren mumbled.
“I can work in bed, if you’d like. Not for all of it, but as much as I can.” Hades raised his eyebrows hopefully. “What do you think?”
“Yeah. Yes. I won’t be distracting you?”
“Pretty sure I’ll feel better when I can keep an eye on you.”
