Spreading the "Love"

You coughed weakly.

Some sort of seasonal bug caught you when you least expected it, while helping Pinkie move a new stove into the Bakery. It wasn't that bad at the time but now, a scant three hours later, you wanted nothing more than to just roll over and die. It was uncannily like the flu from home, right down to the symptoms. Fever, vomiting (PLENTY of that), cold sweats, aches and pains...

You dimly noted that this was the first time you had gotten sick in Equestria... at all.

Twilight had taken time off from her busy schedule to take care of you. While you appreciated it, you were worried about the things she was supposed to do today.

"It's only a cold bug, honest..." You had argued quietly, voice completely shot.

The mare only tutted at you as she pulled the thermometer, which read a balmy one hundred and three.

"The girls can have the sleepover without me. AJ and Rainbow had other plans anyway, we can do it another time." Twilight said, giving you a sideways look as she flipped to a blank page on her notepad. It was almost filled to the brim with notes on humans in general, and you in specific.

You had always thought that was just a *little* creepy, but wrote it off as a quirk of hers.

"Besides, it'll be a good chance to study the human immune response, how can I pass this up?" She half-asked, clipboard and quill levitating next to her.

Twilight gave you a kiss on the cheek.

"Do you need anything right now, or do you just want to sleep?"

"...chicken noodle soup?" You asked, somewhat hopeful.

"Ew, no." The alicorn said with a wry smile and a light shake of her head. "How about tomato?"

"Why not chicken...?" You replied in turn, feeling slightly whiny. You felt you deserved to be whiny today.

"Because handling it makes my horn feel dirty."

"How can i-"

Your stomach chose right then to lurch.

Whatever your argument was, it was quickly forgotten as you gestured for the nearby bucket. Twilight was quick to react, having done this a few times over the past seven or eight hours. A wave of bile and the last bits of what you had for lunch came up, the bitter taste making you grimace.

The mare was lucky this flu couldn't jump the species barrier yet, or she'd be right here along with you.

"Mmm, there there..." The alicorn comforted, rubbing your back with a hoof and levitating a glass of water over to you. "Better out than in..."

You washed your mouth out and spat that into the bucket as well.

"That's what they all say...ungh..."

The lavender nurse you called your girlfriend retreated for a moment to empty the pail, rinsing it out thoroughly. Meanwhile, you retreated back to bed, wrapping up in three heavy quilts and shivering. No matter how many layers you put on, you were still cold.

What was the saying again...starve a flu, feed a cold? Was it the other way around? You couldn't remember. Thinking made your brain hurt. The fever didn't help.

Add on the strain of just having turned your stomach inside out for the fifth time, and you were down and out exhausted. The soft clip-clop of hooves on wood brought what was left of your attention to Twilight. It wasn't much, just the simple awareness that she was back.

Just that little bit of attention made you feel much better.

Twilight's quill scratched quietly across the pad, documenting all the symptoms of the disease you were currently in a slow-winning fight with.

"Fever, stuffy nose, *copious* amounts of vomiting, chills..." She idly muttered to herself, realizing your eyes were closed. You didn't hear the rest of her notes, finally going for much needed sleep.
===

"Chills, coughing..."

You looked over when you heard the first snore, signalling he was finally asleep. Looking your human over once more, you frowned.

Anon looked bad. Really bad. He was pale and sweaty, his eyes were red and puffy...

Not to mention how frequently he voided his stomach. There were points you had nearly gotten an actual doctor to look him over, but hadn't under Anon's own protests. Something about 'overpriced monkeys in a white lab coat.' You had a feeling he wasn't in his right mind at the moment, which a fever of that temperature would do. If you were right, he was actually suffering through hay fever...which was stupidly fatal (at least, it was for ponies), but completely incommunicable.

It also hadn't been seen in almost seven hundred years.

He said that some humans go through this once a year? You couldn't imagine going through this even once in a lifetime. The human sniffled or coughed on occasion, interrupting the otherwise peaceful deep breathing. You had told him that there were various medications that he could try. He just told you he'd have to take the lethal dose for it to work.

A quick check on it proved him right, as they were meant for pony usage, not human. Even so...

With as sick as he was getting, this could potentially kill him anyway. If you were in his place, forced to choose between death and over-dosage? You'd take the liver damage. His temperature read only a few degrees off of lethal for a pony, and you seriously considered an ice pack...or a dozen.

Still, his shivering held that off. Wrapped up in three heavy quilts and still shivering was an impressive feat. You sighed, the little nurse hat you had grabbed slipping off your head slightly. A small magic push put it back in place. Had to look the part accurately if you were his caretaker, after all.

At this point, there was little you could do for him BUT wait it out. You trotted around the bed, making sure his pillows were comfortable and the bed was soft. Anon didn't even so much as grunt. He was sleeping like a rock, which he didn't ordinarily do. Usually, the human slept on a razor's edge, for reasons you could never place.

You took his temperature again, noting it was coming back down. Slowly, but definitely coming down. Maybe you were simply overreacting again. Celestia forbid if you ever have foals.

The thought brought a wry, amused grin with it.

"Perhaps a fever was meant to be an immune response in humans, not damage caused by the disease...?" You asked yourself quietly, thoughts returning to the human sleeping on your bed. You scribbled that into your notepad for future reference, then went downstairs to read for a bit.

"Twilight...?" Came the human's weak cry for help, almost immediately after you had settled in. You didn't mind, your boyfriend needed help! Nurse Twilight Sparkle is on the case!

You came up the stairs again, carrying another small bucket and a moist towelette.

"Bucket..." He said urgently, reaching for it. You lifted it up to the bed, and he snatched it out of your magical grip just as violent shudders wracked his body. Reaching up, you ran your hoof up and down his spine in a comforting gesture.

"There there...you're alright..." You comforted as he spat the remainder out.

He offered the bucket to you with a small amount of shame, and you only chuckled at him.

"Sorry, Twi..."

"You're fine, Anon. Really."

Mostly bile at this point, he hadn't eaten anything in almost a day. The smell was horrible, but you had dealt with worse where Spike was concerned. At least Anon didn't burn holes in things when he was sick. Anonymous, meanwhile, went right back to sleep.

Heading downstairs, you dumped it into the sink and washed both out immediately. You didn't want yourself or, worse yet, Spike to pick up... whatever this was.

The bucket was returned to its place under the sink, and you went for a quick shower to clean up. A small hint of displeasure surfaced when his vomit had splashed up and hit you on the side, but you hadn't said anything to Anon. No need to make him feel worse than he already was.

Done with your shower, you dried off and sat on the couch in the living area. An ear was tilted in the direction of the bedroom, just in case. You didn't hear him call for you the rest of the night.
===

You woke up to the sun shining through the window. The clock read ten-fifteen, which meant you had been asleep for almost eighteen hours. That was one deep sleep.

You surmised it was one of those nasty twenty-four hour bugs, not the flu. You stood shakily, testing your balance. You felt...better, but not exactly fully recovered. Muscles on various parts of your body were sore, though it wasn't debilitating.

The fever had broken, and your stomach had finally settled down. It was currently growling for attention. You were still feeling the last little dregs of exertion your body just went through, but it was fading. Something in your stomach would definitely help.

Walking down the stairs with a hand firmly on the rail, you discovered Twilight asleep on the couch, book covering her eyes.

"D'aww..." You mumbled, upon finally seeing her. Her left ear was swiveled towards the steps, listening as she snoozed. You smiled at the thought of the alicorn watching out for you all night long. Giving the mare a short ruffle of her mane, she woke up blearily.

"Hu-wh...?"

The mare was never one to be up with the sun, which you sometimes found infinitely amusing. You flashed her a tired smile when she finally was awake enough to recognize her surroundings.

"Oh good, you look much better. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, Twi, really."

You kissed her on the top of her head, hands gently combing through her wings. The mare squeed softly in response, before suddenly gagging.

"Uh...Twi?" You asked, arching an eyebrow. She had never gagged before during a wing scratching.

"N-not hay fever..." The mare muttered.

You were left confused as Twilight then suddenly bolted off of the couch, rushing for the kitchen sink. You heard her violently emptying her stomach, followed by her spitting and groaning.

Oh no.

"You know the drill. Bed, now, little pony."

You heard the mare groan.

"I was so careful..."

It seemed that you two shared everything, up to and including infectious diseases. You carried Twilight upstairs, grimacing but otherwise ignoring it when she accidentally coughed in your face. Your immune system was absolutely swimming in antibodies, you couldn't possibly catch it again so soon. Tucking the pony in, you gave her a book to read if she didn't feel like sleeping.

"Anon, wait..."

"What's wrong, Twi?"

"Here..."

She levitated the little nurse hat off of her own head and put it on yours. Another quick push centered it.

"There. Better."

You went downstairs to make a pot of soup as Twilight rolled over to sleep, with you chuckling all the while.