WARNING: References to diarrhea and lots of vomiting...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jess walked along the bridge of the lake, aimlessly walking back and forth on the edge, inching closer and closer to tipping over the edge.

"Jess?" Rory called, walking up from one end of the path.

He whirled around to look at her, loosing his balance, and fell into the freezing cold water. His head slipped up under the water, and he inhaled a good amount of water before surging to the surface and coughing hard.

"Ohmygosh! Are you okay?!" Rory asked, running over, and offering her hand to help him out of the water as quickly as possible.

He took her hand, climbing out of the water, and immediately started shivering. "Thanks, Rory." he said through chattering teeth.

"We need to get you home and warmed up, as soon as possible." She said quickly, as she started to walk towards Luke's Diner, but Jess stayed rooted to the spot, shivering hard in the freezing January air.

She stopped when she realized she was alone, and turned to look at him. "Jess? You coming?" she asked gently, looking at him with concern.

Jess nodded stiffly, taking a couple shaky steps forward and stopping again and shaking his head. "I can't," he admitted hoarsely, through his chattering teeth.

"Why not? What's wrong?" She asked, walking back to him, and taking his freezing cold right hand. She rubbed his hand in-between hers, in an effort to warm his hand up.

Jess shook his head weakly, shaking like a leaf, all the color draining from his face as a cough rose from his chest and erupted from his lips, as he started hacking up water from his lungs harshly.

She rubbed his back gently, listening to him cough in concern, worried that he was going to develop pneumonia and bronchitis. "You're okay, cough it out." she encouraged gently.

Jess normally would shrug her off, but he was exhausted, and all he wanted was to be held to be held close. His throat, stomach, and head were killing him, and it was making him want to curl up in the fetal position.

Once he stopped hacking, he stumbled drunkenly towards the diner, until Rory came up beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist protectively, and helped him walk into the diner.

"Hi Rory, Jess. what happened?!" Luke demanded, stopping everything when he saw how pale his teen nephew was.

"Nothin." Jess slurred weakly, clenching his teeth to hide how much his teeth are chattering.

"Uh right, okay, doesn't look nothing. Go get changed, you're soaked." Luke said firmly.

Rory tightened her grip on Jess, leading him up the stairs, as they tripped up the stairs to the apartment. She dragged him to the bathroom, she left him there so she could find him some clean clothes, which she found easily.

Jess sat on the toilet seat, listening to his clothes drip on the floor, sniffling from time to time, as he waited for her to return.

"I found you some clothes, you need to take a shower to warm up." She said, as she walked in, before stopping and looking him and noticing he appeared to be feverish. She touched his forehead and sighed softly, shaking her head gently. "You have a fever, Jess. Were you sick before you fell in the water?" she asked.

Jess nodded slowly. "I felt like I had the stomach flu." he admitted, as he stood up and started to strip down.

Rory left the bathroom quickly, waiting in the kitchen until she heard the water shut off. She waited for him to come out dressed, but all she heard was the sound of gags.

He got out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and dropped to his knees, gagging over the toilet bowl, for a few minutes, before shooting to his feet, dropping the towel, and sitting on the toilet heavily. His bowels evacuated loudly, as he grabbed the trash can in the corner and gagged into it.

Rory knocked on the bathroom door, waited a moment, and opened to the door to find a naked, shaking Jess, holding a bin in his lap with his head buried in the bin.

"Oh Jess, have you gotten sick?" she asked gently, moving over and rubbing his back.

He shook his head head, as he urped, and almost threw up, before gagging uncontrollably on his own breath back to back.

"You're okay, just breathe through it." Rory said sweetly, rubbing his back, as she wracked her brain with what else her mom did when they were sick. As she was thinking, his bowels evacuated repeatedly, and she flinched. "Wow, I'm gonna go tell Luke we need soup and ginger ale for you." she said, starting to leave.

"Please stay, I know its gross," Jess said with a forceful gag, but still didn't bring anything up.

Rory nodded slowly, returning to his side, as his bowels evacuated again and again, and he gagged hard, bringing up a small amount of water. She sighed softly, rubbing his back, as he was sick, waiting for his body to stop so he could warm up, cuz he was freezing again.

Luke walked into the living room, with soup, burgers, fries, and ginger ale, which he put on the table before searching out the teens. He found them in the bathroom, took one look and left the room, knowing Rory had it under control, and Jess wouldn't appreciate his interference. "Food's on the table," he called, before leaving again.

"Thanks, Luke." Rory called, from the bathroom, earning a flinch from Jess. "Sorry," she said softly, earning a groan in response, as his bowels evacuated weakly.

"Can you leave so I can get dressed?" Jess asked shyly, his voice scratchy and sore sounding.

"Of course, take your time." Rory said, leaving the bathroom, and waited in the living room, staying nearby if he needed help, but trying really hard not to hover.

Jess cleaned himself up, and slowly got dressed, flushed the toilet, and dropped to his knees in front of the toilet. "Rory?" he called weakly.

She came running quickly, opening the door and slipping inside, and sat down beside him, rubbing his back, as he began to heave helplessly.

He gagged and heaved violently, back to back, vomiting for all he was worth. As his stomach turned itself inside out, he was stunned that Rory stayed with him the whole time.

She rubbed his back gently, not the letting the fact that she was grossed out show on her face.

"You're okay, let it all out." she said over and over again.

Jess panted hard, collapsing against the wall in exhaustion, looking at her miserably. "Thanks for staying with me." he said weakly, his eyes drifting closed, even as his stomach started churning again.

"Are you ready to move to the bed?" she asked gently, not wanting to wake him up.

Jess stirred awake again and lurched forward, shaking his head no, knowing he wouldn't be moving from the bathroom for a long time. He started coughing too hard, as he gagged hard on his coughs and vomited back to back.

"Oh Jess, I will get you your pillow and blanket for in here." Rory said, taking her quick retreat to his bedroom area in relief. She took a deep breath, grabbed his pillow and blanket, and brought it back to the bathroom for him.

When she returned he was leaning against the wall, and resting with his eyes closed, so she laid his bedding down so he could sleep with his pillow and blanket, which he promptly curled up with and fell asleep with.

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She stayed and took care of him all day and night, helping him each time him got sick, and feeding him soup and ginger ale, and made sure he took meds to control his fever. Eventually he felt better, and ended up returning the favor for her. 

I hope you enjoyed this little fic! As always: vote, comment, and request away. Love you all! <3