WAVES

eleven * natalia

"Nat," Michael mumbled.

"What?" Calum stopped shaking him, leaning towards his face to be able to hear clearer. "What did you say, Mike?"

Then he just went rigid. The brunette froze, sitting up straight to observe the merman's features. He stopped moving altogether and it sent chills down Calum's bones.

"Michael. You can't be kidding me, it's not funny anymore!" He said in a playful, yet nervous tone. He moved impossibly closer and turned to cradle him in his chest.

"Michael!" By now he was shouting, not caring whether he'll wake Luke and Ashton from the room across his. "Michael, open your eyes!"

Michael did.

He was coughing and breathing hard, the feeling of drowning still suffocating him. He was frantically taking in his surroundings and the sight of Calum looking worried, and being cradled in his arms assures him that he's safe. That he's not drowning anymore. He's not dying. He's okay. He's okay as long as he's with Calum. He's alright now. Calum is beside him.

"Mike, you're fine now. I'm here." The brunette continued whispering assuring things to his ear, rocking him gently in his arms. "I'm sorry I couldn't wake you up from your nightmare sooner. You weren't responding even if I was shaking you. There's nothing that I could do except-"

"Cal." He croaked out, bringing a hand up to hold Calum's shoulder. "I'm f-fine."

"No you're not!" He said, pulling back to look at him in the eyes. "You had a nightmare and that's dangerous. Especially if you're unwell. I was worried that you died when you became still, and that's not okay."

It was obvious that the medicine he took last night didn't affect or improve Michael's condition at all. Calum's lost because his temperature is normal, with 36 degrees Celsius like a normal human's body temperature should be, but his merman is paler than usual and his eyes tell a different story. He knows something is wrong with him and he's getting sicker as the time passes by. Calum thought he's only a bit tipsy with the beer he finished, but he's really sick now and he doesn't know how to deal with it.

"Stop worrying. I'll be fine." Michael says with a small smile. His breathing was starting to even out as they look at each other wordlessly. "Will you cuddle me instead?"

Calum smiles at him and nods distractedly. If that's what will make him feel better after a nightmare then who is he to disagree? It's not like they're going to swap spit anyway so he didn't have to worry about getting sick as well.

He slowly lays down in their bed and opens his arms for Michael, who gladly moved closer and situated himself, his back against Calum's broad chest.

It was obvious that Michael's condition worsened over the night. Calum needs to think of a solution quickly before they're left with the last resort; going to a hospital. He couldn't risk revealing Michael's identity to anyone besides his friends or family so he starts enumerating the ways to make the situation better. He could ask Ashton to cook for some porridge which is usually the food given to a sick person, and it wouldn't hurt trying it to a merman. Really, there's not much of a difference between humans and mermaids in his head. 

He could also clean him with a cloth submerged into warm water, or turn the air condition off to let Michael sweat, or call a home doctor so he could watch from the side and prevent any form of water getting in contact with Michael's skin. The last thing they'll need is a doctor finding out that his patient is a mythological creature, a merman. He honestly didn't know if any of his ideas will work.