In Sickness and in Health
Flash groaned as he lay in fetal position under his bedcovers. Every inch of him ached as sensations of fire and ice alternated erratically throughout his body shaking him to the core. On the bright side, his misery wasn’t the result of Equestrian magic this time. Oh, no, this time, his suffering came from a far less otherworldly source.
“Yes, of course,” his wife Twilight spoke into her cell phone as she sat at the foot of their bed. Her voice was somewhat muffled by the face mask she was wearing. “Thank you so much, Doctor.”
After she hung up the phone, Twilight turned to her husband and relayed, “Well, according to the doctor, IF you did catch the pandemic, it seems relatively mild for now. He said just to watch your symptoms and to ONLY take you to a hospital if they get significantly worse. Hopefully, this is just a random flu-like illness and goes away in just a few days.”
“Ugh,” Flash muttered, “this was not how I pictured starting our second year of marriage. As if missing our one-year anniversary to quarantine wasn’t bad enough.”
“I’m just glad you didn’t get sick while interstate travel was still closed. Then, you’d be sick and alone, and I’d be trapped in my dorm losing my mind over you,” Twilight pointed out as she moved herself closer to Flash. Even though Flash couldn’t see it behind her mask, she gave him a small, comforting smile and ran her right hand across his hair. To her surprise, when she touched him, Flash flinched and shivered.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked worriedly.
“Yeah,” Flash replied once he stopped shivering. He coughed a few times and continued, “Honey, I mean this in the least hurtful way possible, but has anyone ever told you that your hands are cold?”
“Yes,” Twilight hesitantly answered. “Quite a few people actually, but I don’t recall you ever being bothered by it before.”
“It normally doesn’t, but I think my fever’s making them feel colder than normal. Don’t worry about it. My grandmother’s hands are the same way.” He laughed briefly only to wince at the feeling of sandpaper rubbing against the inside of his throat. “Besides, you know what they say about people with cold hands.”
Twilight couldn’t help but snicker a bit before retorting, “You know there’s no solid evidence to back up that claim, right? Besides, if having cold hands made you a warm, loving person, then logically, shouldn’t the inverse also be true? However, I KNOW the inverse is definitely untrue because you’re warm all over.”
“That’s because I have a fever,” Flash joked before painfully clearing his throat.
“I mean under normal circumstances,” Twilight huffed as she crossed her arms.
“Okay, maybe the ‘cold hands, warm heart’ thing isn’t ALWAYS true, but it’s definitely true for you and my grandmother.”
Twilight giggled in response. “I think it’s more obvious with your grandmother than it is with me though.”
Flash laughed along with her before wincing and rubbing his throat.
“Ugh,” he groaned as he buried his face in the pillows. “I promise I’ll try to be as low-maintenance as possible.”
“Ah, none of that,” Twilight refuted. “If things were the other way around, you’d INSIST on waiting on me hand and foot. It’s only fair that I do the same for you.”
Flash didn’t answer. He just pulled his bedcovers tighter around him as another round of chills rushed over him.
“Do you need anything before I head to the kitchen?” Twilight asked.
“I’d ask for a hug and a kiss, but I know that puts you at risk for getting sick yourself, so I won’t,” Flash replied before clearing his throat again. “A glass of water would be great though.”
Twilight smiled under her mask as she got up. To Flash’s surprise, she went to their closet instead of out the door. She rummaged through the top shelf before leaving the room with an armful of blankets and something that Flash couldn’t see clearly.
About two minutes later, Twilight returned with a glass of water in one hand and a medicine bottle in the other. She set the glass on the nightstand, sat down next to Flash, and took two caplets out of the medicine bottle.
“These should help your fever go down,” she said, handing the pills to her husband. Flash took them and swallowed them along with a few gulps of water.
“Thanks,” he replied as he set the water glass back down on the nightstand. He shook as another round of chills assaulted his body.
“Get some rest. I’ll see what I can do about that hug and kiss that you want.”
“Twi, you really don’t have to—”
“I INSIST,” Twilight declared before getting up and leaving the room.
“Okay, she insists,” Flash muttered to no one in particular. “What did she even do with those sheets anyway?”
Five minutes later, Twilight reentered her and Flash’s bedroom with the same armload of blankets from earlier.
“Okay, sweetie, here’s your hug,” she teased, covering Flash with the comforter.
“Ooooh,” Flash sighed in relief. “That feels nice. Did you run the sheets through the dryer?”
Twilight smiled and nodded before tucking a somewhat worn plush lion under Flash’s arm. “Along with someone else who hasn’t been out of the closet in a while.”
“Simba!” Flash cheered, hugging his childhood toy close and relishing in its recently acquired warmth. Then, he turned to Twilight and said, “Have I ever told you that you are the best wife and woman who has ever lived?”
“Don’t thank me just yet,” Twilight replied with a laugh. “I still haven’t given you your kiss.”
With that, she once again left the room.
“I have to WHAT?!” Flash heard Twilight’s talking dog Spike shout.
About half a minute later, Twilight came back with Spike in her arms. The purple and green dog was wearing the biggest scowl that Flash had ever seen on him; in fact, Flash didn’t even know dogs could frown that deeply. In contrast, Twilight blithely took her place on the bed and set Spike down next to Flash.
“Okay, Spike, you know what to do,” Twilight said to her dog in a singsong voice.
Spike turned to his owner with the most deadpan expression caninely possible. “Do I have to?”
“Yes!” Twilight snapped at him, her previously pleasant demeanor quickly changing into a stern and impatient one. “I’d gladly do it myself, but you know why I can’t. Now, go on.”
Spike scowled furiously before padding up to Flash’s face and giving Flash a quick lick on the cheek. Flash couldn’t help but laugh despite how sick and miserable he was feeling.
“That better hold you over for a few days,” Spike grumbled. “I’m not doing that again.”
“Honestly, Spike,” Twilight scolded. “Why are you making such a fuss over this? You kiss me and our family all the time no problem. Also, I thought you’d be used to living with Flash by now.”
“Yeah, but not to the point where I’m comfortable giving him kisses. That takes a while.”
Flash smiled and gave Spike a good scratch behind the ears. The little dog quickly forgot his displeasure and began thumping his leg as happy pants escaped his mouth. This caused Flash and Twilight to laugh together. Spike stopped thumping when Flash stopped scratching, but the dog’s tail continued to wag.
“Hey, Twi, if it’s not too much trouble for either of you, can Spike stay with me until I get better?” Flash asked before explaining, “In my family, whenever somebody got sick, Banana got to be the medicine pet. Of course, the fact that it’s the only time he’s allowed up on the furniture is a bonus for him.”
“What do you say, Spike?” Twilight asked her dog. “You okay with being Flash’s medicine pet?”
Spike frowned at Twilight’s question, asking, “Am I going to have to kiss him again?”
“No,” Flash answered with a snicker. “You don’t have to kiss me again.”
“Just do for him what you normally do for me when I’m sick minus the kisses,” Twilight requested. “Please.”
Spike sighed, padded up to where he guessed Flash’s stomach was, and lay down.
“How’s this?” he asked.
“Perfect,” Flash replied, giving Spike another scratch behind the ears.
Twilight smiled and ran her hand through Flash’s hair again. This time, he didn’t flinch or shiver. The heat from Spike and the comforter must have warmed her hands to a comfortable temperature.
“I’ll be back later with something hot and filling to help chase the sickness away,” Twilight said to Flash as she got up from the bed. “You get all the rest you can, and if you need anything, text me, okay?”
“Okay,” Flash replied as he repositioned himself more comfortably. Once he was comfortable, he gave Twilight a tired but grateful smile and said, “I love you.”
Flash couldn’t see it, but he knew Twilight was smiling back at him underneath her mask.
“I love you too,” she replied before quietly closing the door behind her.
Author's Note
Okay, so this story takes place one year into Flash and Twilight's marriage even though I haven't even written about their wedding yet. As I said in my blog post, there's going to be a lot of jumps back and forth through time with this week's stories.
So, the prompt for today was "Opposites." The first thing that came to mind was marriage vows as you can probably tell from the title. From there, my mind zeroed in on the phrase "in sickness and in health," which made me remember this idea that I had for a vignette of Twilight taking care of Flash during a sick day. The original vignette idea took place during Flash and Twilight's high school years, but I changed it to take place during their married life because I felt it made more sense that way. I guess I just got used to writing Flash and Twilight as young adults. 
Also, unsurprisingly, the pandemic ended up creeping into my writing, but don't worry. Flash'll be fine. 
I will neither confirm nor deny what he's sick with; all that needs to be known is that it's survivable and non-debilitating. 
