Even Vigilantes Get Sick Sometimes (Umbrella Academy, Diego)

[Wolfwings22]

This is just a oneshot about Diego getting sick and Eudora both taking care of him, and also struggling with his stubbornness in that matter. This will be pre season one so there shouldn’t be any spoilers. I hope you all enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Prompt—a stuffy "thank you" on the exhale of a stifle, embarrassed to even acknowledge the bless you because they were trying to hide it

 

 

 

 

    Diego sat on one side of the couch with Eudora on the other, watching a football game on TV. A pizza box was open in front of them on the coffee table as well as two bottles of beer. Eudora's was almost completely gone while Diego was still nursing his, or more like had barely touched it if he was being honest. He also had only picked at his first slice of pizza while Eudora was on her third.

 

    "You not hungry," Eudora questioned as she turned down the volume on the TV so that the blaring of the crowd from the game didn't drown out his answer.

 

    Diego looked down at his half eaten pizza and forced a brief smile. "Just really into the game. I'll have more in a little bit," he answered with forced reassurance in his voice.

 

    Eudora didn't seem to believe him, but she nodded all the same and turned her attention back on the game. It was the third quarter and there had just been an interception, which could've possibly been a turning point in the game. Neither one wanted to call it just yet, but the excitement could be felt throughout the room.

 

    At least, Diego was trying to feel the excitement. In all honesty he was focused on something completely different than the game in question, and was trying desperately not to bring attention to himself from Eudora.

 

    Truth be told, Diego he been feeling off for the last couple of days. It started with just a bit of a sore throat that was alleviated pretty quickly with some coffee and water later in the day. Diego had chalked it up to just tiredness thanks to the business that he tended to at night. By the afternoon he had felt a little better and hadn't expected it to return the next day.

 

    However, when he woke up with a slightly congested nose and then a slight cough to match, he had known the inevitable. He may preach about how his body was a temple and that a pesky nuisance like the common cold never contended with him, but that was unfortunately not true in the slightest. It may not be often, but he did get sick and it usually always honed in on his head, which was incredibly frustrating as it always clued those around him that something was off just by the stuffiness in his voice. He was determined not to let that happen now with Eudora.

 

    A sudden interception leading to a touchdown had Eudora jumping up from the couch and clapping eagerly. Normally Diego would join her even if he wasn't completely sure what she was celebrating. However, this time he stayed where he saw, afraid that any sort of yelling would aggravate his already sore throat.

 

    Eudora turned to face him with a look of confusion on her face. "Didn't you see that," she asked, motioning to the TV with a flick of her wrist.   

 

    Diego blinked his eyes methodically when he looked up to her. "Er, I must have been distracted."

 

    Eudora sat back down slowly, keeping a close eye on Diego. Her lips were pursed together as though she wanted to say something else and was unable to. Instead she turned back to the TV while grabbing some more chips and salsa to add to her pizza plate.

 

    Diego was more than relieved when she didn't continue to press him on what was wrong. It wasn't like he was purposely trying to hide things from her. This just wasn't her problem to deal with and Diego wanted to tackle this on his own, if there was anything to tackle that is.

 

    Just when Diego had managed to pull his attention to the game instead of how he was beginning to feel, his nose suddenly had other plans.

 

    This was actually something that Diego felt he could handle pretty well. He had spent his entire life hiding things for fear of rejection and scolding, and illness was definitely one of those things. Reginald absolutely loathed when anyone of his children so much as sniffled in his direction. They were told to hide their symptoms and keep preforming adequately or were sent to their rooms for days at a time, unable to leave except to use the bathroom. Either one was not a memory that Diego cared to remember especially thinking about the way that Reginald would embarrass him for being ill and not being able to hide it. He had gotten better as he got older, especially when he was doing his vigilante work on the streets. Was it healthy? Absolutely not! Was it something that Diego impulsively felt the need to continue? Absolutely.

 

    An itch suddenly began to plague him at the back of his sinuses. At first it was something that Diego thought he could will away with a few deliberate blinks and one harsh rub at his nose with a raised fist. It wasn't suspicious to steal a quick nose rub, right?

 

    Unfortunately, the rub did little to nothing besides make the fiery pressure that much more noticeable. The feeling traveled all the way to the roof of his mouth and engulfed his nose, causing it to twitch around his face. Diego's next step was to force his tongue against the roof of his mouth, but even that did nothing for the building feeling.

 

    Knowing that there was no possible way around it, Diego pivoted sharply with his head ducked slightly down toward his arm. He took in a slight breath in at the same moment that he sneezed, successfully stifling it without so much as a sound afterwards. His body timidly shook, especially his shoulders, but other than that there was no measurable sign to explain what happened.

 

    It had been so expertly stifled that Eudora hadn't noticed despite sitting right beside Diego. She was too immersed in the game at the moment and the trembling hadn't been felt thanks to how loud the TV was turned up to hear the sounds of the game.

 

    The relief didn't last long. It was less than a minute later when the feeling was back and it had Diego forcefully scrubbing at his nose as this didn't feel like a random fluke like that last one may have been. It wasn't often that he could tell when he would have a small fit, but the severity of the itch clued him in that this wasn't a fit he would be readily able to ignore.

 

    With lightning fast reflexes, Diego forced his head down almost into his shoulder, eyes jammed shut involuntarily. "Tghxxxh! Hicxxxh! Tchxxxh! Thcxxxh! Tchxxxh! Tchxxxh!"

 

    Although mostly silent, the fact that they barreled out one almost on top of the other meant it was almost impossible for Diego not to make some noise and jarring movement with the effort to keep the outburst contained.

 

    When he surfaced, his nose was blocked and his eyes were watering. He attempted to shift around and reach for his pizza as nonchalantly as possible despite not actually wanting to take a bite. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

 

    Eudora frowned, eyes glued on the man beside her. "Bless you?"

 

    The last thing that Diego wanted to do was have to speak when he was positive his voice would give him away. But, Eudora was still looking at him with concern clear on her face; he couldn't exactly ignore her when she was looking at him like that.

 

    "Thanks," Diego murmured stuffily.

 

    Eudora's eyes slightly widened. Her lips pursed together as she jumped to her feet and headed down the hallway.

 

    Diego wasn't one to be prone to worrisome thoughts, but watching Eudora abandon the game (which was still heating up) without a word wasn't something she would normally do. He thought about possibly calling back to her, but he didn't trust his voice. Instead, he sat back and waited, pushing his pizza around his plate as he had no intent to eat it.

 

    Eudora arrived back a minuet or so later with a large tissue box in her hand. "Here. You sound like you may need these," she offered, handing the box over to her boyfriend.

 

    Diego took them reluctantly and struggled not to scowl at the suggestion. He set them on his other side and turned back to his pizza, forcing himself to take a bite of the now cold slice.

 

    "You know, I got you the tissues so that you could actually use them," she joked lightly.

 

    "I dond't dneed theb," Diego flashed.

 

    "Uh-huh. I hate to break it to you, but I may have to disagree with you on that one. I can hardly understand you," Eudora pointed out.

 

    Although knowing what Eudora meant, Diego couldn't shake off the reoccurring feeling of how many times he had heard that in his youth. It was said for another reason of course, but it still resonated all the same. He hadn't struggled with his stutter in years, and even if he did, Eudora would never chastise him like his father had. Still, it didn't help that Eudora had accidentally said something that brought him back there, even if it was for a completely different reason.

 

    "Diego? Earth to Diego?"

 

    Diego jolted himself from his own thoughts with a small shake of his head, finding his nose was moments away from running down his upper lip. He frowned and took a tissue from the box and rubbed it dry, reluctant to admit that perhaps Eudora was right.

 

    "You alright," Eudora fretted when Diego didn't respond.

 

    Diego cleared his throat, which caught in the back of his throat and he was forced to turn away to cough rather forcefully into the back of his hand, well aware that it was doing nothing for his congestion filled nose.

 

    He was about to reassure her that he was fine when he was forced to duck back to the side, this time unable to fully hold back. "TchsShew! TchShew! TchsSHew! Hih'TchShew! Hih'TchsShew." Diego had brought up both hands in a steeple over his nose and mouth. Ordinarily he would've sneezed into his elbow so not risk spreading any microscopic germs onto his hands, but there just hadn't been time or room when Eudora was that close to him.

 

    "Bless you again," Eudora continued without missing a beat. "Are you catching a cold?"

 

    Diego reluctantly took some tissues from the box and blew his nose before bundling the tissues into a ball in his hands. "Uh...no," he answered after a moment.

 

    Eudora hummed to herself in disbelief. "You have been awfully quiet and you didn't touch your food. Does your throat hurt," she continued despite Diego's insistence that he was fine.

 

    Diego shook his head. "No," he lied.

 

    Before Diego could even process what was happening, Eudora's hand shot out and she rested it against Diego's forehead. He pulled back as swiftly as possible, eyes glowing in surprise.

 

    "You don't feel too warm, but that could always change," Eudora murmured more to herself than to Diego.

 

    Diego slightly bristled at her assessment. "I'm fine," he argued. "Just an itch, I'm sure."

 

    Eudora opened her mouth to dispute when Diego suddenly lapsed into another harsh coughing fit that brought tears to the corners of his eyes and chest heaving with each cough. Any attempt to calm the spasms in his chest only forced them to barrel out of him with added intensity, forcing him to prop himself up at the corner of the couch and direct the hot explosive coughs into the crook of his elbow, though it did absolutely nothing to muffle the sound that was horribly grating for either of them to listen to.

 

    Eudora jumped up again and this time headed into the kitchen. Diego stayed where he was since moving even slightly would cause him even more discomfort. 

 

    He was hardly aware of her return until a water bottle was pressed into his hand, cap already unscrewed. Diego took it in shaky hands and brought it up to his lips, nearly spilling the water down the front of his shirt in the process.

 

    The cold water soothed his burning throat and quelled the throb in his lungs. Diego downed more water than Eudora would've liked, especially at one time. It wasn't until he had finished half of it that he set it aside by his nearly untouched bottle of beer.

 

    "That feels good," he breathed with a hand racing down his throat and resting at his swollen lymph nodes.

 

    Eudora's eyes narrowed. "I thought that you said that you didn't have a sore throat."

 

    Knowing he was caught in a lie, Diego discretely rubbed a hand against the back fo his neck, a rush of embarrassment overtaking him. "It's not exactly sore, just a little uncomfortable."

 

    "Now are you going to admit that you're sick," she asked, arms crossed over her chest and fingers drumming on either side of her exposed arms.

 

    Diego wanted nothing more than to argue it, but he had been with Eudora long enough to know how nearly impossible it was for him to make a case against her. She had this way of getting information out of him, and he understood her worry with this. It didn't make it any easier for him to confess that he was feeling less than his best.

 

    Still, stubbornness prevailed. "I don't get sick."

 

    "Oh, you don't," Eudora deadpanned. "Do you think maybe your body didn't get the memo?"

 

    Diego struggled not to immediately react in a way that would prove Eudora's point. "Just a 24 hour thing."

 

    "We'll see about that." Eudora reached over and collected his plate of pizza as well as his untouched beer. She took her plate as well, no longer hungry nor interested in the football game that she had found so captivating just a couple minutes ago.

 

    Diego couldn't help but suppress a heavy shiver as he directed another cough into his shoulder. This one was much easier to soothe with a sudden swipe at the water bottle, tipping it back into his mouth for two hungry swallows. He set the water back down just as Eudora arrived back into the room with a small blister pack.

 

    He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Cold medicine? Seriously? Even if I was sick, I wouldn't take that shit," he joked with a small smile that he hoped would persuade Eudora from insisting that he take it.

 

    Unfortunately, he was wrong.

 

    "Just humor me." Eudora popped the blister pack open and tapped the pills out onto her open palm. "I can hear the congestion in your voice and that cough sounds beyond painful. It can't hurt to try it."

 

    Diego would rather do just about anything than give in to taking the medication that he was sure would do nothing. Looking into Eudora's eyes, however, told him that he couldn't exactly refuse. His hand stretched out and he took the pills from her, throwing them into the back of his throat and chasing it down with a few swallows of water.

 

    "You can go to bed now if you like," Eudora offered as she looked at the time. "I didn't realize that it was almost 9."

 

    Diego gave a small nod. "I could, I could, or I could just stay out here because I'm not sick."

 

    "You could do that if you insist."

 

    Diego reached around the couch and brought up a folded blanket. He suddenly felt super cold and he needed something to disguise the shivers that were racing down his spine and the back of his arms.

 

    Eudora nodded and grasped the remote in front of her to turn the volume up on the TV so that they could finish the game.

 

    Through the next hour and a half, Eudora attempted to ignore each painful half stifle and each ragged coughing fit. She had done her best to grab him more water bottles and had suggested that he change or take a shower when he had been forced to breathe through his mouth thanks to how clogged his nose had become despite incessant nose blowing. The open mouth breathing didn't do anything to help his sore throat and just made him feel all the more miserable.

 

    It was in the final ten minutes of the game that Eudora took pity on him. She reached out and began to trail her fingers lightly up his neck and into his hair. "C'mere."

 

    Although beyond reluctant generally to rely on anyone, he was beginning to drop his walls around her. There was something about her that reminded him of his mother and her comforting presence. It make it easier for him to trust her even if he wasn't completely sold on what she was doing.

 

    He allowed himself to melt into her soft touch, barely able to keep his eyes open even though the game was only heating up as the time dwindled down. Eudora's gasps and shouts at sudden plays hardly fazed him besides him trying to open his eyes to act like he was paying attention.

 

    It didn't take long for Eudora to realize that Diego was fading. His pride kept him from leaving her to go to bed, and she doubted any insistence would change things. Instead, she reached out and gripped his shoulders lightly before prompting him to lay down with his head rested on her lap on one of the decorative pillows she had on her couch to keep him upright to help with his breathing. She continued to draw her fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck.

 

    "M'not gonna fall asleep," Diego told her on the tale end of a yawn.

 

    Eudora struggled not to chuckle for fear or causing Diego to pull away. "I know. The TV is so loud I doubt you could if you wanted to."

 

    Diego swallowed another yawn and his eyes began to close, this time no longer opening every time the announcer on the TV would shout something about the game. The last thing that he wanted to do was fall asleep, especially since that often meant that he would have that much more trouble falling asleep that night. Yet, he couldn't force himself to stay awake even if he wanted to with Eudora's featherlight touches sealing that deal almost immediately.

 

    When Diego's breath began to slow and gave way to gentle snores, Eudora knew that he was sound asleep. Part of her thought about waking him up to help move him into her bedroom and she could either sleep in there with him or on the couch. However, one look at how peaceful he seemed had her second guessing herself. Sleep sometimes eluded Diego at the best of times, and she could only guess that he would have even more struggles with it when he was having trouble breathing and when he seemed so uncomfortable.

 

    "Good thing I didn't decide to give you that NyQuil or you really would be out," Eudora whispered even though she knew that Diego couldn't hear her.

 

    She leaned back on the couch and began to flip through the channels once the game was over, knowing that she would stay there until Diego woke up and would be there to remind him to do things like take the cold medicine and actually try to get more than six hours of sleep a night. That would be a conversation for later, and right now she would be there for him and show him that there were people that cared about him and the facade that he so often kept up wasn't necessary around her. It would be a long process, that much Eudora was sure, but part of her realized that she wouldn't have it any other way.

 

    The End

[Yaolita]

What a great story! You are really talented! 

[Coffee Mug]

Loved it so much 🥰 it was really great!