[flashback] sick day

[2goodarms]

A decade isn't enough time for illnesses to evolve from their pre-freeze state. So many of them start the same way they always have: with a chill. A lot of times, people don't even know they're sick. What's feeling a little colder than usual, needing to curl up a little tighter under your allotted blanket?

So Curtis doesn't know, for a good forty-eight hours, until the shivering doesn't quit even after Gilliam loans him two more blankets. As soon as Tanya feels his forehead, he's whisked away to the very back of the Tail, stumbling a little as the train heaves along the tracks. Everything's tilted just a little too far off-kilter, and weaves just a little too sharply whenever they go over a bump. He's grateful when he finally has a chance to sit down.

...Actually, maybe he'll lie down for a bit. Yeah. Just a couple minutes.

Comments

[hate_gettin_older]

There's no way of knowing how many hours later it is when a familiar voice, some distance away, penetrates the fog of sleep.

"... no, you gotta let me come see him, I got his food --"

[2goodarms]

"Give it to me," says a stern voice, "and I'll make sure he gets it when he's awake."

Curtis cracks open an eye. The dim light stabs his retinas like he's been shanked; letting out an audible groan, he heaves his arm up so it covers his face.

It takes a hell of a lot of effort. It's like somebody poured concrete into all of his muscles.

[hate_gettin_older]

"Curtis?" Edgar's voice, scaling up in anxiety -- and then triumphantly: "There, you heard him, he's awake now."

[2goodarms]

"He still needs to rest." The voice gentles; Curtis feels a light touch on his forehead. "Curtis? How are you feeling?"

"Shit," he manages to croak.

[hate_gettin_older]

"Tanya says he needs hot tea," Edgar says, from considerably closer than he's probably supposed to be, "but nobody has any anymore."

[snowpiercer_npcs]

The woman watching over Curtis snorts, but not wholly unkindly.

"Even if we had tea, if we gave it to everybody who got sick, matches would've gone extinct in a year."

[2goodarms]

Curtis drags his arm down an inch, enough to focus blurrily on Edgar. "You're gonna get sick if you're back here," he mutters.

[hate_gettin_older]

"Sunil says only if you breathe on me," Edgar says, with the total assurance of a ten-year-old passing on received wisdom from a twelve-year-old.

And then pauses, looking up at the woman. "Is he right, Evie?"

[snowpiercer_npcs]

"...Technically," she allows, "but -- "

[hate_gettin_older]

"See, Curtis? It's fine." Edgar's hanging off the side of the next stack of bunks, swaying easily with the motion of the train. "You just gotta be careful not to breathe on me, that's all."

[snowpiercer_npcs]

Evie mutters something that might be easier said than done, but, for now, seems to have given up on chasing Edgar off.

[2goodarms]

"I'll do my best," says Curtis, eyes drifting shut again.

[snowpiercer_npcs]

"Are you still queasy?" Evie asks.

[2goodarms]

"Mrgh. Little bit."

[hate_gettin_older]

"What's 'queasy'?" Edgar sounds both curious and suspicious.

[2goodarms]

"Sick to my stomach," says Curtis. "Kinda feeling like I wanna puke."

[hate_gettin_older]

"Oh." Slightly stricken; maybe this is worse than he thought.

[snowpiercer_npcs]

"Let's see if we can work on your fever first," murmurs Evie. To Edgar: "I'm prepping some compresses against the wall there. Can you grab one?"

If he's going to hover, he might as well make himself useful. Cold compresses are easier to replenish besides; there's never any shortage of cold here.

[hate_gettin_older]

"Right," he says, and without hesitation swings himself into a flying leap off the bunkframe. He lands already running for the wall, and is back with a compress in moments.

[snowpiercer_npcs]

It's still a marvel to see how well some of the younger kids have adapted to the train. Evie choose to take it as hopeful, rather than depressing.

"Thanks," she says, accepting the compress. Gently, she tugs Curtis's arm the rest of the way off his face so she can lay the cloth across his forehead. "There you go. How's that feel?"

"Mm. Better."

[hate_gettin_older]

Edgar's face hovers behind Evie's shoulder, bobbing slightly as he rocks on the balls of his feet with nervous energy. "Can I get anything else?"

[2goodarms]

Curtis cracks a halfhearted smile.

"Yeah, how about some peeled grapes?"

[snowpiercer_npcs]

Evie pulls a face, half amused and half annoyed. "When was the last time you ate anything?"

[2goodarms]

The smile dims. "Dunno. I haven't been hungry."

[hate_gettin_older]

"I got your protein block," Edgar says immediately. "Whenever you do get hungry, I guess?"

That's a touch uncertain, and he looks up at Evie as he says it.