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Words: 3,771
Keith had been feeling crummy all day since he woke up. He felt like he was coming down with the flu. Fighting with Lance at the training deck had wiped him out almost completely. He found it hard to hang onto his weapon and his movements were slow.
Lance looked at him, his eyes narrowed. "What's going on, Keith? I'm whipping your tail, and this isn't even my strong suit."
Keith dropped his weapon that seemed to weigh 500 pounds and wiped the sweat from his brow, and there seemed to be a lot of it, much more than normal. His stomach churned, a growing ache settling in his middle. He couldn't seem to shake it all day. "I don't know. I'm not at my best today."
He turned to walk away, and Lance grabbed his arm. "Ke—" he started to say, but then he felt Keith's clammy skin. "Woah, hey, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're kind of warm."
Keith pulled out of his grasp with an angry jerk. "I'm fine. I'm going to shower and get changed."
Lance watched him walk away, his expression worried as he saw him stagger off, almost tripping over his own feet. He wanted to go to him and make sure he was really alright, but he knew Keith would only get mad at him, and he knew Keith liked his privacy.
Keith went to the showers and peeled off his clothes. His skin was covered in goosebumps and he shivered. He felt a twinge of nausea and he leaned forward with his head down and leaned his hands against his knees, willing it to pass. After he recovered, he turned on the faucet and let the steaming hot water cascade down his body, enveloping him in warmth.
Now that he was nice and clean, he put on new clothes. Showering made him really tired, and now his body felt sluggish and heavy, as if gravity was working extra duty on him. Out of nowhere, a stab of pain hit his stomach and he leaned forward. He rubbed the area with his fingers as he winced. Maybe he had the stomach flu, he guessed. After all, he wasn't very hungry, and that was usually a sign of the flu.
As if on cue, Hunk entered the showers to find him. "Hey, Keith. Dinner's ready. I heard they made your favorite!"
"Thanks, Hunk. Be there in a minute." Keith put on his shoes and socks, cringing at the pain this caused his stomach. He decided he'd better show up for dinner anyway so he wouldn't worry anyone. He dried off his hair and made his way slowly to the dining hall, careful not to jar his torso.
Everyone was already seated when he got there and the food was already in front of them. He sat down, noticing Lance's concerned glances out of the corner of his eye. What Keith hadn't prepared for was the strong scent of the food wafting in the room and from his plate before him. He felt like he was going to be sick.
Keith picked at his food with his fork but never took a bite. He sipped the water from his glass and that's all he was able to choke down before he had had it. He needed to get out of here before he lost all dignity.
He excused himself and left abruptly. Once he was out of sight, he ran down the hall and into a bathroom, vomiting into the nearest toilet. The ache in his stomach was getting stronger. He just needed to rest. That was all.
He went back to his bedroom and lay down in bed. A moment later, there was a knock at the door. "Keith? You okay?"
It was Lance. Keith groaned. He didn't want anyone seeing him like this, especially Lance. "Come in," he croaked.
Lance entered and Keith prepared himself for the jokes.
"Came to make fun of me for throwing up?" he said, staring up at the ceiling.
Instead of the usual humor, Lance's voice was calm and caring. "You did? Are you feeling bad?"
Keith turned to look at him and was surprised to see concern in his eyes. Huh, that's different. "I think it's a stomach virus or something. I'll be fine."
"Oh, that's too bad. Here, I brought you something." He placed a plate of pie on Keith's nightstand.
Keith chuckled, but winced and brought his hand to his aching stomach, rubbing at it mindlessly. "You brought me dessert?"
Instead of answering, Lance was swift to move to his side, his face in a hard frown. "Are you in pain? Does your stomach hurt?"
Keith flinched as he tried sitting up, but managed to lean his back against the wall. "A bit. It's been kind of achy all day." Keith raised an eyebrow and looked him in the eye. "Lance, why do you care so much? You're acting kind of. . . strange."
Lance blushed and looked down at his hands as he took a deep breath. "Keith, I have something to tell you and I've been hesitating since I didn't know if you felt the same, but since you're asking and all and can't exactly walk away from me right now, I um, I sorta, kinda. . . like you?" he said, with a questioning look on his face.
Keith said nothing at first, just taking it all in, his face unreadable. There was no look of disgust at least, so hopefully the confession wasn't too out of line.
"Well, say something, dumbo. My heart's racing and now I hope you don't hate me."
"Hate you?" Keith said without missing a beat. He put his hand on Lance's knee, making Lance's heart skip a beat. "Why would I hate you? No, Lance, I kind of like you, too."
Keith's confession got Lance's spirits soaring and a smile graced his lips. "Really?" Lance asked. "You're not playing around with me?"
"I'm serious," Keith said. Another jolt of pain stabbed his stomach, but this time, the pain moved to his right side. He yelped and grabbed at it with his hands.
Lance's eyes went to Keith's stomach. "Are you okay? What's the matter?"
"It's nothing. Just my side," he said, closing his eyes as he rode out the pain.
Lance sat down next to him on the bed. "Keith, you might want to get that checked out, or maybe Coran can fix up a pod for you."
Keith groaned. The worst of the pain in his side had passed, but now it was a dull ache. "Pods don't work on sickness. I'll be fine."
"Can I get you something?" He thought about maybe bringing him some warm soup from the kitchen, and started heading that way. "There's soup."
Keith's hand caught his knee and pulled him back. "Lance, don't go! Can't you just stay with me? For a little while?"
He couldn't say no to those sleepy, tired yet desperate eyes. What was even more gratifying was that those pleading eyes wanted him. Of all paladins, Keith wanted him to stay with him! His stomach did a flip of excitement and he smiled gently. "Yeah, sure, Keith."
Keith patted the space next to him on the bed. Lance swallowed and took off his shoes and lay next to the sick boy. Keith smiled weakly at him and Lance took that as a cue that maybe it would be okay to put his arm around him.
He worried that would be too much too soon, but Keith immediately lowered himself back on his pillow and nuzzled himself into Lance's side. Lance rubbed his back gently and saw Keith's eyes shut. Lance never thought he'd be able to get this close to Keith, not in a million years. He rubbed his fingers up and down his covered back, waiting for when Keith would roll over and sock him, but the punch never came.
He studied Keith's face. It was pale and sweaty, and Keith's brows knitted together like he was in pain. Keith sucked in a breath and put his hand to his side again and Lance heard a slight grunt leave his lips.
Lance put his hand on top of Keith's, his emotions now overcome with worry. "Does it hurt that bad?" he asked Keith. Keith opened his eyes and responded with a groan.
Lance didn't think this was just a simple stomach bug. There might be more to it. "Keith, I-"
He was cut off by Allura's voice echoing the halls. "Paladins, I need you! It's an emergency!"
"You stay here," Lance said to Keith. "I'll go see what she needs."
Lance stepped outside and was met with Hunk, Pidge, Shiro, and Allura. Allura explained that a prisoner needed rescuing from the Galra and it was either now or never.
"But Allura-"
"Lance, I don't have time to argue. If we don't act now, they'll go into hyperdrive. Now, everyone suit- wait, where's Keith?" Allura said, just now realizing he was missing.
"Right here," Keith said.
Everyone turned to see him. He was tired looking, his eyes sunken with dark spots beneath them. His cheeks had lost all color to them.
"What are you doing up?" Lance demanded. "You're sick!"
"I'm fine, Lance," Keith argued.
"What do you mean? You're sick?" Allura said.
"I'm fine. It's just a little stomach bug or something, but I can handle it."
Before Lance could protest, Allura called out her orders and everyone was off getting ready to enter their lions and prepare to go to war, leaving the two of them alone in the hallway.
Lance put his hands on his hips. "Keith, I don't think this is a good idea. You could cause yourself more harm."
They began walking towards Keith's room and Keith had his hand over his aching side, which was becoming even more painful, but he'd never tell Lance that. "You heard Allura. It sounded pretty urgent, and we'll need to form Voltron. You and I both know we can't do that without me."
He had a point there. "Are you sure? You can barely walk."
Keith was silent as he painfully walked the rest of the way to his room ahead of Lance.
"Just promise me this, Keith. If things get bad and you feel worse, tell us and give up, okay?"
Keith turned around. "Okay. Promise."
Keith suited up and headed to his Lion. The team flew off together, with Shiro in the lead. Allura stayed back in the castle with Coran. They seemed to travel forever. Keith's side was flaring up much worse than before. He hoped they would get somewhere soon. He heard Allura in his headset saying they were getting closer.
As they proceeded farther out into space, a jolt of pain stabbed him in the side again, forcing him to double over in pain. He couldn't help the scream this time that tore through his lips and into the headset for all to hear.
All the paladins were suddenly in his ears, asking what was wrong.
"Keith, are you okay?" Lance's voice held the most weight, as his was laced with panic.
Keith couldn't speak. His side was throbbing and burning with pain. It was all he could do to hold his side with one hand and steer his lion with the other, much less keep himself upright in his seat. Tears were streaming down his face, blurring his vision. He was burning hot and wanted to throw his suit off.
"Lance!" was all he got out.
"Baby, just hang in there. I'm coming," Lance said without thinking.
"Baby?" all the paladins were thinking.
"I can't—" Keith said, and that's when pain tore at his side, blinding him with pain. He lost control of his lion and fell from his seat. He shut his eyes and lay on the floor, covering his right side with both hands, trying to breath through the pain. He was paralyzed with agony, unable to get up or talk.
Lance and the paladins followed Keith's lion as it flew with a mind of its own. It raced through space and then plummeted straight towards an unknown planet.
"Keith, what's wrong? Are you there?" Lance asked, shaking in fear.
"Keith, it's Pidge. You've got to take back the controls. You're about to crash!"
"He's not responding," Shiro said. "Keith!"
Keith heard the shoutings, the fear in everyone's voices, but he was in too much pain to react.
"Keith, get up for me. It's Lance! You have to do something!"
Keith tore open his eyes at the sound of Lance's concerned voice. The pain was starting to fade a little, and he forced himself up and managed to grip the brakes. Just before crashing into the planet, he was able to at least slow down the impact.
Keith was tossed around his lion like a ragdoll, falling hard on his right shoulder with a sickening crack. His cries were muffled by the sound of his ship colliding and finally settling on wherever it was he had crash landed.
The other paladins were able to follow and landed their lions next to him within minutes. Voices stirred him from his sleep. He woke up, his mind fuzzy and his whole body hurting. He felt hands at his neck, cradling his head and stroking his hair. His eyes focused and noticed Lance's face first, hovering above his face. The other paladins were staring wide-eyed at him, looking relieved to see him awaken.
"Keith, are you okay?" Shiro said.
Lance reached out to hold Keith's hand, and Keith clasped it, holding on tightly. He couldn't respond. He felt another wave of pain stab him in the side, this one even worse than before. He let go of Lance's hand and put it on his side as he screamed in pain, as if trying to hold himself together.
His other arm was useless as it had been injured in the crash. He couldn't move it at all without feeling severe pain. Keith thrashed around, crying from the pain in his side and then crying out when he accidently jostled his shoulder. His whole body felt bruised and beaten.
Allura cut in, asking what had happened. "Is Keith okay?"
Hunk took this time to answer. "Keith's not doing very well. Can a pod fix him?"
Pidge noticed Hunk's sullen face, which was an unusual expression for him. She put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, smiling at him silently.
"I'm afraid pods only heal injuries. From the description of his symptoms, it sounds like Keith has appendicitis," she stated. "And neither I nor Coran can help him with this. We'll need to find someone on this planet for help. It's his only hope."
Meanwhile, Lance kneeled at Keith's side, stroking his face and helping to hold his side with his own hand, not really sure if he was helping or not. He only wanted to comfort him and help him feel less pain in whatever way possible.
After the initial pain from his side waned a little, Keith opened his eyes to look at Lance. "Lance, my shoulder hurts."
Lance's eyes widened at the news. Of course. He'd been so worried about his side that he forgot that he had crashed. With a landing like that, it's likely had had more injuries. "Okay, buddy. I'm glad you told us. Does anything else hurt?"
His side hurt so bad and it was hard to register any other pain in his body, but he couldn't deny the soreness. "Everything hurts, Lance."
Lance scanned his body and saw a dark spot on his knee. He pulled up his pant leg to find a shallow cut on his knee. "You've got a cut on your knee that's bleeding. Not too bad."
Keith just nodded, wiping at the tears on his cheeks.
"Listen, I'm gonna feel for injuries, okay? Tell me if you feel any tenderness." Keith nodded so Lance proceeded. He started with his feet and then rotated his ankles. When there was no complaint from Keith, he moved onto his legs. He applied some pressure as he slid both hands up his calves, and he saw Keith wince. "Something here hurt?"
"My right leg," Keith said. Lance lifted his pants to find a couple really dark bruises on his shin. He informed Keith what was wrong and continued his check. He slid his hands to his thighs and patted them down gently.
Not wanting to spend too much time on this area, he then went to Keith's hips. From his hips, he spread his hands across the length of Keiths' chest, feeling his ribcage. Another flinch from Keith's face, followed by an "ouch," made him stop. "Hurts here?"
Keith nodded.
"Mind if I look?" Lance asked bashfully. When Keith gave his permission, Lance lifted his t-shirt. The right side of his chest was dotted with cuts and bruises that spread from his lower front to his side. He must have been thrown around a lot in his lion during the crash to give him this much damage. Lance pressed on the bruises gently and Keith yelped and winced.
"Breathe in deeply," Lance instructed. "Does it hurt?"
Keith did as he was told, but it wasn't too bad.
"They might just be bruised then. That's a good sign." Lance lowered Keith's shirt when Pidge had an announcement.
"From what I've found, there's what looks like a medical center just five miles north of us," Pidge said, looking at her computer.
"But how do we know these inhabitants can be trusted?" Shiro said, his arms folded across his chest.
"We don't," Pidge said. "But looking at Keith's physical state, I think it's a risk we're going to have to take."
Once everyone agreed, they decided they would make their way to this medical center. Lance picked up Keith carefully and helped him walk to Lance's lion. Keith limped along with his good arm wrapped around Lance's neck. When he was almost inside, another wave of pain seared his side, and Keith collapsed, falling down at Lance's feet.
He yelled in pain, and Lance dropped down next to him, letting him squeeze his hand. Lance brushed back the damp hair from Keith's forehead, realizing that Keith also had a fever judging from the heat he felt from it. "You're gonna be okay, Keith. Shhh, it's okay."
When they arrived at the center, they were greeted with swords and knives pointed at them. "We come in peace," Shiro said. "Our friend if sick and needs medical attention. Please, will someone help us?"
"What kind of payment can you give us?" the one in charge said.
"Whatever you need, just ask," Shiro said. Keith screamed in pain again. "Please, he needs help."
The creature agreed and they were ushered into the center. The inhabitants on this planet were strange looking, but for such a small planet, they seemed to have a capable hospital. It was clean enough and eased Lance's mind a little, although it still worried him that these creatures were going to be working on his baby.
Keith was pried away from Lance's arms and placed on a gurney. "Hey, careful with him! He's hurt and he has pain in his side."
"We'll take care of him," the creature said, pressing a claw to his chest. "You and the rest stay over here. We'll call you when he's done."
Lance sat down wit a huff. He hated leaving Ketih alone with these things. What if they didn't know anything about medicine? His mind came up of different nightmares, ones involving Keith flatlining on the table or the creatures cutting off his shoulder instead of fixing it. What had they just done to Keith? The paladins were all worried but tried reassuring each other for the next two hours.
Just as Lance was about to break through the doors and go see about Keith himself, the doctor came out. "Your friend is doing fine. We've taken out his appendix and you're welcome to go see him." They followed him to the room in haste, almost running all the way there.
Keith had on an oxygen mask and looked to be sleeping. His arm was in a sling and he was shirtless except for the bandages around his chest. His face looked peaceful, but tired.
The doctor spoke. "Your friend suffered an inflamed appendix, and it would have ruptured within the hour if you hadn't gotten him help in time. He also has a broken shoulder, bruised leg, as well as several bruised ribs and a few other minor lacerations. He'll be pretty sore for a few weeks."
"Thanks, doctor," Shiro said. "Your help is appreciated very much."
"Now, about my payment," the creature said. Shiro excused himself to pay for the service at the front desk.
Lance rubbed at Keith's good arm and Keith began to stir. He blinked his eyes and his hand went to the oxygen mask, trying to pry it off.
"Hey, hey. Let's leave that on for now, bud. How ya feel?" Lance asked, smiling.
Keith groaned. "Sore. What happened?" He moved his body and was rewarded by a stinging pain in his side. It was sharp, but not like it used to be. "Ow."
"The doctor removed your appendix. Said it was about to rupture," Lance said.
"Yeah, you got pretty lucky," Hunk said, looking much happier than before. "Thanks to Pidge."
"It was nothing," Pidge said modestly, brushing the comment off. "I'm glad you're better."
"Are you okay?" Lance asked.
"My side doesn't hurt as bad, only when I move, but now my ribs and shoulder hurt." He looked down to notice the bandages around his chest and found his arm immobilized in a sling.
Lance explained to him his injuries from what the doctor told him and told him not to worry. "You'll feel better soon. And besides, you've got me."
Hunk and Pidge stared at him, a knowing look on their faces. "Yeah," Pidge said. "About that?"
"You two have been acting awfully close today. Is there something you're not telling us?" Hunk asked.
Lance and Keith grinned at each other, both blushing. "We're kind of. . . together." Lance put his arm around Keith.
That's when Shiro walked in the door and fainted.
"Um, I'll go get the nurse." Hunk said.
He knew it. He and Pidge's suspicions were right all along. He had to admit it was cute and he found himself smiling as he walked down the halls.
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