[More than half the camp is down with influenza, and Anna's finding out the hard way, after a few days helping out with the sick and day-to-day camp duties that they should be handling, that she's human enough now to be susceptible.]
[Headachy, slightly feverish, coughing and dragging ass, she's making one final round of camp before retiring to her own cabin on Ellen's orders. Last time she came by to check on Cas, he was a little wheezy and none too happy with this particular aspect of the human condition, but getting along all right, self-medicating the worst of the symptoms into oblivion.]
[She knocks at his door, calling out softly enough to hopefully not disturb him if he's sleeping,] Hey Cas? You awake?
[ Cas had definitely taken a turn for the worse, but whether it was from the flu virus or from the cocktail of drugs he had taken to combat the flu virus it was hard to tell.
He was a shivering mess on the bed. His entire body was dripping with sweat. And consciousness was a concept he was barely grasping. Mortality sucked. ]
[When there was no reply, Anna almost called it a night and headed home; Cas didn't get enough rest at the best of times, and she really didn't want to risk waking him when he was sick. But some instinct, or maybe just a habitual sense of Cas-related paranoia, prompted her to quietly crack the door and sneak a look inside to be sure everything was as it should be.]
[...everything was definitely not as it should be. Crap.]
Cas? [She slipped inside and shut the door behind her, shuffling up to the side of the bed and gently combing his hair back from his face with her fingers.] Hey. You hear me, sweetheart? [He had that glassy-eyed, not-really-there look about him, and his skin was hot and sticky and all the wrong colors; even by the dim light of the cabin, he looked absolutely awful.]
[ He was really not in a good way. His breathing was laboured, gasping for breaths as though someone had cut off his oxygen supply. His hands scrambled to grab onto something, anything. His fingers dug into the bedsheets.
He tried to focus on Anna, yet he still looked rather out of it. Sorry, Anna. ]
[Alarmed, and unsure what else to do, she lifted him up and slid in behind him, supporting him upright to ease his breathing and speaking to him as calmly as she could. He was scared, obviously, and understandably so, but that panic reaction was making matters worse. The more adrenaline revved up his vitals, the harder his lungs had to work and the more scared he'd get.] Cas, easy, easy. I've got you. You're gonna be okay. I promise. You just need to calm down, honey. [Rocking him gently back and forth] Shh, just take it easy now...
[ Cas tried desperately to zero in on Anna's voice, focussing on it like it was an anchor or a lifeline to bring him home. He had had bad trips before. Mostly he was left to deal with them alone - after all, they were mostly self-inflicted. A few times in the early days Dean had been on hand to help him, but not so much these days.
He blinked those glassy eyes a few times, slowly beginning to focus more. ] Anna?
Hi. [She kissed his temple, relieved that he could at least manage that much of a coherent response.] Relax, okay? Catch your breath. You're gonna be all right.
[Anna gave an exasperated huff, with a touch of a cough thrown in for good measure.] Doubtful. [Influenza could kill, but this wasn't a terribly virulent strain; the camp hadn't lost anyone to it yet. But she shifted to settle him close against her, dutifully checking his pulse and gauging his temperature with a cool hand. Yeah, he was running a fever, no doubt about it, but not such a severe one as all that. And though his heartbeat was racing, it was good and strong and already slowing as his panic receded.]
You're sick and tripping on... [She picked up one of the bottles scattered on the bedside table, frowning at the label. A brand name she didn't recognize and a few chemical names with Latin roots she did, but they didn't tell her the drug's purpose or its effects. The others were similarly arcane.] ...whatever this stuff is, and you freaked out. That's all. [She kissed his forehead.] You'll live. You just need to rest and ride it out.
[ Maybe he shouldn't have mixed all the pretty coloured pills up and taken them all... But he had felt so much better at first. He had felt less achy and his head had stopped throbbing and at some point he had passed out and got some sleep - if one could call unconsciousness 'sleep'. ]
No, Anna. I'm dying. Everything hurts. Every muscle aches. My head hurts. My throat is scratchy, my nose is stuffy. My chest feels like there's an elephant sat on it...
[ Sorry Anna. Cas doesn't just have flu, he has man flu... ]
[Oh horrors, not man flu. Anna hid her smile with some difficulty.] You and half the camp. That's how the flu works, babe. [She sighed, turning her head away hastily as it segued into a brief but harsh coughing fit; her own case was coming along nicely. After it passed, she added hoarsely,] Ugh. 's crap, I know. But it'll go away in a few days.
The guys at the mess scrounged up some kind of chickeny stuff and made soup, you want me to bring you some? Might loosen up the congestion a bit.
[ Oh man, Anna's cough sounded as bad as his own. The end of times and they were going to be killed by the flu. Who needed the Croatoan virus to wipe out the humans when you can just spread the flu? ]
Not hungry. [ The very thought of food made Cas want to retch. Why are mortals so sickly and easy to damage, Anna? Their Father had some serious flaws in the design. ]
[Cas turning down food? He really was sick. Anna rubbed his back soothingly, trying to think what else she could do to make this suck a little less for him without adding anything else to the chemical cocktail.] Okay. You should probably try to drink some water, at least. [The last thing he needed was to wind up dehydrated on top of everything else.]
[Humans actually had, in the marvelously complex immune system they'd been gifted, some fairly elegant and effective ways of dealing with these things. Unfortunately, a way to make the experience comfortable was conspicuously lacking.]
[Her gaze wandered around the cabin, seeking inspiration. He had all sorts of funny stuff; books, drug paraphernalia, various oddities she assumed he'd just picked up because he found them interesting or pretty, candles all over the place, and a mishmash of religious and spiritual themed items; fuel, she supposed, for the pseudo-mystical nonsense he was always spinning for his girls.] Hm. Cas, you got any essential oils in here?
Essential oils? Yeah. In the drawer. I hope you're not expecting me to give you a sensual massage right now, I can barely move my arms. [ Any intimate massages she might require would have to wait until he felt less like Death was waiting around the nearest corner for him. ]
[ He leaned into her more, letting his eyes flutter shut again, but he was still awake. ]
[Well, at least his sense of humor wasn't dead.] Lovely as that sounds, it's not what I had in mind. [Anna leaned a bit to open the drawer and rummage through the contents.] Some of them have medicinal properties. [Lavendar, sandalwood, bergamot...aha!] Here we go, eucalyptus.
[She took that vial and the bottle of almond oil she found in with the essentials, mixing a little of each in her hand.] Here, lift your chin a little. [And she rubbed the pungent-smelling stuff into the skin of his chest, inhaling its potent, decongestant vapors with something like pleasure and remembering, dimly, the scented baths and rubs her mother used to use when someone in the family was sick.] There, breathe that for a while. Should help.
[ Cas scrunched up his nose; the vapours made it tingle in ways he wasn't used to. It was like brainfreeze of the nostrils and it was weird. Not to mention the way it made his skin tingle. It also made breathing a whole lot easier - weird sensations aside. ]
You gonna stay and snuggle with me? I read that it's a proven medicinal procedure - cuddling.
[Headachy, slightly feverish, coughing and dragging ass, she's making one final round of camp before retiring to her own cabin on Ellen's orders. Last time she came by to check on Cas, he was a little wheezy and none too happy with this particular aspect of the human condition, but getting along all right, self-medicating the worst of the symptoms into oblivion.]
[She knocks at his door, calling out softly enough to hopefully not disturb him if he's sleeping,] Hey Cas? You awake?
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He was a shivering mess on the bed. His entire body was dripping with sweat. And consciousness was a concept he was barely grasping. Mortality sucked. ]
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[...everything was definitely not as it should be. Crap.]
Cas? [She slipped inside and shut the door behind her, shuffling up to the side of the bed and gently combing his hair back from his face with her fingers.] Hey. You hear me, sweetheart? [He had that glassy-eyed, not-really-there look about him, and his skin was hot and sticky and all the wrong colors; even by the dim light of the cabin, he looked absolutely awful.]
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He tried to focus on Anna, yet he still looked rather out of it. Sorry, Anna. ]
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He blinked those glassy eyes a few times, slowly beginning to focus more. ] Anna?
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I'm dying...
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You're sick and tripping on... [She picked up one of the bottles scattered on the bedside table, frowning at the label. A brand name she didn't recognize and a few chemical names with Latin roots she did, but they didn't tell her the drug's purpose or its effects. The others were similarly arcane.] ...whatever this stuff is, and you freaked out. That's all. [She kissed his forehead.] You'll live. You just need to rest and ride it out.
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No, Anna. I'm dying. Everything hurts. Every muscle aches. My head hurts. My throat is scratchy, my nose is stuffy. My chest feels like there's an elephant sat on it...
[ Sorry Anna. Cas doesn't just have flu, he has man flu... ]
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The guys at the mess scrounged up some kind of chickeny stuff and made soup, you want me to bring you some? Might loosen up the congestion a bit.
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Not hungry. [ The very thought of food made Cas want to retch. Why are mortals so sickly and easy to damage, Anna? Their Father had some serious flaws in the design. ]
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[Humans actually had, in the marvelously complex immune system they'd been gifted, some fairly elegant and effective ways of dealing with these things. Unfortunately, a way to make the experience comfortable was conspicuously lacking.]
[Her gaze wandered around the cabin, seeking inspiration. He had all sorts of funny stuff; books, drug paraphernalia, various oddities she assumed he'd just picked up because he found them interesting or pretty, candles all over the place, and a mishmash of religious and spiritual themed items; fuel, she supposed, for the pseudo-mystical nonsense he was always spinning for his girls.] Hm. Cas, you got any essential oils in here?
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[ He leaned into her more, letting his eyes flutter shut again, but he was still awake. ]
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[She took that vial and the bottle of almond oil she found in with the essentials, mixing a little of each in her hand.] Here, lift your chin a little. [And she rubbed the pungent-smelling stuff into the skin of his chest, inhaling its potent, decongestant vapors with something like pleasure and remembering, dimly, the scented baths and rubs her mother used to use when someone in the family was sick.] There, breathe that for a while. Should help.
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You gonna stay and snuggle with me? I read that it's a proven medicinal procedure - cuddling.
Reply
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