Chapter 27

Chapter 27 — Two Nannies

"How long has he been like this?" Dr Chang asks as he records his body temperature and checks his breathing with a stethoscope.

"Um..." Liam scratches his chin, shrugging lightly, "I'm not sure. I did see him at work yesterday. He seemed fine,"

Or did he? Liam remembers him coughing but not in a sick way, more like in a clearing his dry throat kind of way. His voice sounded maybe a little bit weird; Liam can't be sure.

"He is okay though, right?" Liam asks the doctor when it seemed like it was taking him too long to respond.

"He has a high fever," the doctor tells him, "He has taken some aspirin it seems," he refers to the empty strip which Liam informed him about as soon as it arrived, "But his fever has persisted. It's probably nothing to worry about. I'll write you a prescription. Get those tablets. And make sure he eats and especially drinks plenty of water,"

"The fact that he's practically a zombie, is that something I should be worried about?"

"It's because of his body temperature. A cold compress should help with that — just find a to–"

"Find a towel, damp it with cool water and put it on his forehead," Liam nods, "I'm familiar with that,"

He is not totally helpless when it comes to caring for a sick person; he has helped with his sister and the kids, and his ex was someone who got sick very frequently so yes, Liam has some experience.

"Yes, good. He should be awake then. But if his temperature does not go down or if he cannot keep any food or drinks down, do call me again," he hands him a written prescription, "Any other questions?"

"No. I'm good," he thanks the doctor and shows him out, and just as Liam was getting ready to go out to buy the medicine and also some grocery — although the man has a big fridge, and rows of cabinets, there is almost nothing in them — the doorbell rings.

He smiles and shakes his head as he opens the door; it's Jason who is smiling back at him sheepishly, "Told you I'm coming,"

Liam squints at him suspiciously, "Is this to purposely skip work?"

He fakes a dramatic gasp, "How bold of you to assume that?" he clicks his tongue in disappointment, stepping inside the house, "I wanted to see how my boss is doing, and to make sure you don't poison him or something,"

"The idea is very tempting to be honest," Liam nods, "But not particularly at the moment. He's helpless, and I have a principle to not harm helpless creatures,"

"Ah, how kind of you,"

"I know. And before you take off your shoes," he passes him the prescription, "Would you mind going to the pharmacy? And also maybe the supermarket? I thought I could maybe make some soup but he does not have anything in his kitchen,"

"Sure. No problem. What do you need?"

"I'll text you the list,"

"Okay dokey," he chirps, winking at him, knowing just how cheesy it makes him sound and saying it anyway, loving to see Liam cringe.

The latter shakes his head, smiling and unbeknownst to him, something stirs deep inside him, and this feeling comes abruptly alive inside him and he almost expresses it, "I lo–" but stops himself at the last second, his eyes widening.

Shit. That was close. And what? Does he... love him?

Fortunately, Jason did not catch the almost slip up and bids him goodbye. Liam quickly shuts the door behind him and leans against it, his heart thumping wildly against his chest. Fuck, is all he can think to himself at the moment.

He closes his eyes, and focuses only on his breathing for a few moments. He will be lying if he said he didn't see this coming. This is definitely where they were headed to; he just didn't expect it to be so soon.

Or did he?

He thinks back to all the moments when it seemed like Jason was about to say something important and his breath would catch in his throat. What was he really expecting then, if not this?

Sighing, he runs a hand through his hair, pushing himself off the door, and making his way up to the kitchen. He's not going to think about that now. He has a sick man to tend to.

He finds a small tub and brings it with him upstairs, to Aaron's room. Mumbling to himself, goes through his racks and shelf, trying to find for a towel. Locating that, he fills the tub with some cool water from the bathroom, and brings it to Aaron, placing it on the bedside table.

Aaron is on his side, almost fully cuddled up under his blankets. Exhaling slowly, he pushes, so that he's lying on his back and pulls away the blanket, enough for him to be able to see his face. His eyes are scrunched shut, and his lips are dry, his skin blanched.

Liam feels his forehead once again, and it's just as before, if not hotter. He damps the towel and places it on his forehead.

He can't help but smile at him. It is weird, seeing him so... unreactive and quiet. He's always been so distant and aloof, and for the most time he's known him, has always sought to torture him. But not now.

He's very much unwell but also weirdly looks peaceful, like someone Liam can actually get along with. And how the fuck is he still attractive? Liam brushes some of his hair back, pursing his lips.

Maybe if they had met under different circumstances, maybe if he wasn't such a hardass, who knows?

Liam quickly removes his hands, clearing his throat when Aaron starts to open his eyes. He removes the towel forehead and dampens it again before replacing it on his forehead.

Aaron blinks his eyes open, and squints at him, frowning.

"You," his voice comes out raspy and barely audible, "What are you doing here?"

"Came for a picnic," Liam retorts, "What do you think?"

"How–" but before he can get out the rest of his sentence, he starts coughing, and Liam helps him to a glass of water.

"Chloe," Liam says in reply; he was obviously going to ask him how he knew regarding his state, "She told me you sounded sick, and that she was going to check up on you; I wasn't too busy, so I offered to go instead. And she told me where to find your spare key,"

"Oh," wincing lightly, he lies back down, and weakly blocks away Liam's hand when he tries to reach for the towel, "You don't have to. I can take care of myself,"

"Obviously," he scoffs, and ignores his weak protest and continues placing the cool compress on his forehead, "Just shut up, dickface," he cuts him off before he can say anything else, "And go back to sleep. You can wake up when you have a bit more strength in you,"

"Yo–" this time he is cut off by another voice calling out from down the stairs; he looks at Liam in askance.

"That's Jason. He went to get you meds and some other things,"

"Ja–,"

"Yes, Jason. He came too," placing his hand over his eyes, he continues, "Now, sleep. I'll be back in a few," he stands up and makes his way down the stairs, and to the kitchen.

As soon as he saw the man, the words bubble up his throat, I lov–. But Liam swallows the words before he can even fully think of saying it. Not now, not now, not now. He has to be careful, he reminds himself. And it's still too early in their relationship.

"Hey, so these are the meds," he passes him a brown paper bag and referring to the big plastic bag on the counter, "And these are the things you asked me to get for you. Is there any–," he abruptly ends his sentence, looking over Liam's shoulder, "Oh, hi, boss. How are you feeling?"

"I thought I told you to rest," Liam turns around, huffing. He didn't realise he followed him, and of course, what did he expect? For him to actually listen to him just because he is not feeling well?

"Am no–," a cough, "–not tir–," another cough, "–tired," and he continues coughing.

Sighing, Liam goes to get him a glass of water and passes it to him. He sits on a stool and takes big gulp of the water, clearing his throat.

"You don't have to be here. I'm fine,"

"Not this again," Liam sighs, and walks away, clearly ignoring him.

Jason crosses his arms and looks at him skeptically, "Are you really though? You look like you can barely walk by yourself,"

"I just came down the stairs by myself,"

"You should have fallen down and hit your head," Liam comments while taking out the various grocery items from the bag, arranging it on the counter.

"Well, I didn't," Aaron scoffs, and inspects his assistant closely, "What is all that?"

"I'm going to make you some soup. You have to eat something before taking the tablets," he says offhandedly, and then to Jason, "Can you help him back to his room? Try to lock him inside maybe,"

Jason laughs lightly, shaking his head and despite Aaron's protests, he easily hauls him up to his feet, puts an arm around his waist, supporting him to the stairs. The latter pushes him away, saying he can walk by himself, but Jason doesn't listen to him, and he doesn't really have enough strength to properly push him away so he has no choice but to give in.

Liam appreciates the silence that he's left with and gets to work. He uses his mother's recipe of ginger soup, knowing how soothing it can be to the sick. It doesn't take too long for him to prepare it and he toasts a couple slices of bread as well, in case he is feeling well enough to eat some solid food as well.

He brings the food on a tray up the stairs and is stopped momentarily by the doorstep of Aaron's step, surprised to see what is actually happening before him. He guessed that Jason must be doing something when he did not come back downstairs after accompanying their boss up the stairs, but he did not really give it much thought regarding what must be doing and he certainly didn't expect to see this.

Jason is sat on Aaron's bed with the latter's head on his lap. Aaron's eyes are closed, but Jason's fingers are in his hair, massaging his head. He is not aware of Liam by the door yet, and Liam does not make himself known either, just standing there silently watching them, feeling... something.

A few moments later, he clears his throat and Jason looks up at him and smiles, mouthing, "Hey,"

"Hey," and raising his eyebrows, "What are you doing?"

"Just a small massage. He said he had a headache,"

"And he let you massage him?"

"Oh, no," he chuckles, "I had to almost wrestle and pin him down,"

Liam laughs. Yeah, that sounds more like the boss they knew, "Is he asleep?"

Jason shrugs, "I guess so,"

Liam doesn't care either way, "Hey, dickface. Wake up," and nudges him with his knee, still holding the tray in his hands.

He stirs awake, blinks his eyes open. It takes him a second to be oriented but as soon as he is, he sits up abruptly and winces, holding on to his head, "Ow, that hurts,"

Liam puts down the tray before him, "Eat. It'll make you feel better,"

He scowls at him, "Why don't you feed me as well?"

"Oh, that's what's happening next if you don't eat. Don't worry,"

That makes him immediately gobble down the soup and bread, and Jason passes him the medications he is supposed to take which he swallows, fortunately without any hardships.

"Can the both of you leave me alone now?"

Liam can never get how Jason can be so patient and kind, especially with someone as ungrateful as this dickface. All he does is ask him, "Feeling any better now?"

It seems like Aaron wasn't expecting that response as well, as he cringes a little and reconsiders his next words before saying them out loud.

"Um, uh, yeah, actually. Thank you,"

Liam has to bite his tongue before he makes a snide remark; also Jason gives a silent warning with a look, "Just take it easy, okay. Rest. Your meds are on the bedside table,"

"And, um, there's still some soup left in the kitchen in case you get hungry," Liam informs him, not looking at him though because it's awkward and definitely weird treating him nice.

Aaron must feel the same too, it seems, since his gaze is solely fixed on his lap, "Okay. Thank you,"

"Do you need us to st–,"

"No, no. I'm fine, really. You guys can go back," Aaron says even before Jason can suggest it.

"Are you su–?"

"Yes. I don't want to trouble you,"

"It's not a trouble actually," shockingly it's Liam who says this and he feels like he might just go jump off the roof now.

Jason presses his fist against his mouth and Liam knows he is trying not to laugh, and he jabs him with his elbow, scowling. Aaron on the other hand looks properly shocked, and takes a moment before responding.

"Uh... okay. But, um... I'm good. Thanks,"

"Okay, yeah. Take care. Bye. Let's leave," Liam cannot get out of his room fast enough.

Jason is right behind and he can hear his muffled laughter.

"Fuck you, Jason,"

"What; I'm not saying anything,"

"You don't have to," he points at his smug face and teasing smile.

"It was really cute of you to say that, okay," he cups his face and kisses him on the lips — Liam refuses to respond to that, "I couldn't resist,"

Liam huffs, leaving the house, but stops outside, waiting for Jason to step out as well, "Where are you going to go now?"

He checks the time — it is only one, "Back to work, probably,"

"Have you had any lunch?"

He scratches the back of his neck, shaking his head with a slowly growing smile.

Liam rolls his eyes, and can't help but smile back, "Come on. Let's go to my sister's. We can eat lunch there,"

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