Pairing: Nick and AJ
Words: coil; pooh bear; bedridden; bullet-proof


Nick rattled the knob of the hotel room door again.  "C'mon, AJ,
this isn't funny."

He knew AJ was inside; Kevin's personal assistant had told him so
before giving him a rueful look and leaving the room.  He didn't
want to be the one to have to do this, but they'd agreed to keep
whatever problems AJ had and might continue to have in the family,
so to speak, and AJ's mother wasn't there.  He just wished it
didn't have to be him.

"I'm coming in now."  He used the extra keycard the PA had given
him and opened the door.

It was dark inside the room, and he paused, letting the door close
and his eyes adjust.  "AJ?"

There was a groan from the bed, and Nick went over.  AJ was twisted
up in the blankets, looking like he'd fought with them and they'd
won.  The bedspread had been kicked down to the foot of the bed,
and he was coiled around -- Nick took a closer look.  A stuffed
animal.

He couldn't help it; he snorted loudly.

The noise woke up the sleeping man.  AJ jolted upright.  "Huh? 
What?"

"You okay?  You didn't answer your phone."  Nick sat down on the
side of the bed.  Oh, yeah.  AJ was cuddling up to a Pooh bear. 
This was priceless.  Blackmail material for years.  He couldn't
wait to tell Brian.

"Wha time izzit?" AJ slurred out, groping toward the nightstand.

"Late.  You don't look so good."  AJ was sweating and hollow-eyed. 
Strung-out on something, except AJ didn't do that kind of thing
anymore.

"Don' feel so good."

"Yeah, I see that."  Nick assessed the situation and made a
decision.  AJ was effectively bedridden; Nick wasn't about to try
to move him.  There wasn't such a thing as a bullet-proof excuse
for getting out of the grinding schedule that was a show day on the
road, but this came close.  It was certainly out of his scope of
things to handle.  He picked up the hotel phone and dialed Kevin's
cell.

"Yeah?" Kevin answered.

"I found AJ."

"Good.  What's the problem?"

"I think he's kinda sick."

"Sick?  How sick?"

"Sick like maybe he's going to throw up on me, sick."  AJ pushed at
Nick, hard, and Nick resisted for a minute before his eyes went
wide.  AJ, who'd been mostly asleep a minute ago, was looking
urgent and nauseous and... Ew.  "Never mind.  He did just throw up
on me."

There was a moment of silence from the other end, then, "Okay.  We
can do the interview at least without him.  After that, it's going
to get more difficult."

Nick let AJ push past him, then got up from the bed, cradling the
receiver against his ear.  "Yeah, well, there's another problem. 
I need to change clothes now.  And take a shower, because--"

"We can do it without you, too.  I'll get them to send a doctor up,
but it's probably just the flu.  It *is* just the flu, isn't it? 
He hasn't been, you know...?"

"Drinking?" Nick asked harshly, as he pulled a towel off the rack
in the bathroom.

AJ winced from his position kneeling over the toilet, but maybe it
was another spasm of vomiting coming on.  He didn't say anything
either way.  AJ put up with a lot lately, like he figured he
deserved it, like it was okay that was Kevin was just assuming that
AJ had started up again.

"Yeah, Nick.  Drinking."  Kevin didn't mince words.  Sometimes Nick
really hated that about him.

"No, I don't think so."

"Let me talk to AJ."

"I don't think that's a good idea.  He's really sick..."

"Nick, I need to talk to him."  Kevin's voice gentled.  "I know you
want to take care of him and that's fine.  You can stay there until
the doctor gets there and we find out how he's going to be and what
we're going to have to do to the schedule.  But you know he's done
stuff like this before.  I need to see if he's okay."

"You mean you don't trust me to know any better."

"Nick..."

AJ pushed himself up from the floor, shaky on his feet, and
clinging to first the toilet, then the vanity for balance.  "Just
give me the phone.  It's okay.  I'll talk to him."

"You don't have to..."

"It's okay, Nick."  AJ's tone was gentle, too.

Nick gave him the phone, and left the bathroom.  He used the towel
to wipe himself off, then stripped the bed and rolled the bedding
and the towel up in the corner.  He didn't smell too bad, which was
good, since he wasn't leaving any time soon.

When AJ came out of the bathroom, Nick stood up and let him get
back in bed.  "What did Kevin say?"

"Nothing important.  Just the usual crap."

"I know you're really sick.  That this wasn't--"

"You don't know anything." AJ laid down and closed his eyes,
looking tired and defeated.  "I'm an alcoholic and a liar, and I've
pulled stuff like this before, and Kevin knows it.  I could be
lying to you now."

"But you're not."

"No.  But you don't know that."

"Yeah, I do."  Nick picked up the stuffed animal from where it had
fallen on the floor, and pushed it against AJ's arms.  "You
wouldn't have done this before.  Even if you wanted to, you
wouldn't have slept with a kid's toy."

AJ didn't take it.  "Just so you know, I hate you, Nicky."

Nick picked Pooh up and brushed it across AJ's face.  "You don't
hate me.  You love me.  You want to hug me.  You want to--"

AJ growled, grabbed Pooh and tucked him under his arm.  "I want to
throw up on you again.  Move closer."

"You're going to be okay." Nick didn't move from his position
sitting on the side of the bed.  He wasn't scared of a little
vomit.  "I know you are."

"It's just the flu.  'Course I'm gonna be okay."  AJ sounded
drowsy, and so Nick didn't tell him that he wasn't just talking
about him being sick.

He watched AJ breathe for a while, listened to the slight wheeze. 
After a while, AJ shifted and curled into him, maybe without
knowing it.  He looked and sounded asleep.  Nick wanted to stroke
his hair, but didn't, because it might wake him up.