Midnight Call

The sound of his mobile phone ringing was enough to snap John out of a deep sleep. He started with a jump and out of pure reflex managed to grab the edge of the couch before he fell off head first. John blinked slowly, then winced as he spotted his phone glowing in the dark room and reached for it blindly.

John hit the answer button and hummed sleepily in question. At first there was only weak couching through the line.

“John?”

John hummed again, not feeling awake enough to speak.

“Can you come over?” The person asked voice all croaky and horse.

“Who-“ John blinked and shook his head. “Garrett?”

“Yeah, can, can you come over? Sorry it’s so late-“Garrett was cut off by a loud coughing fit followed by a groan of pain. “I’m sick, I...I really don’t feel well and don’t want to be, alone.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in as the sleepy haze in his mind lifted and when they did, John shot up off the couch almost slamming his leg into the coffee table.

“Sick? How long have you been sick for?” John asked as he stumbled through the dark trying to find a light switch.

He founded it and hissed as the sudden brightness that all but blinded him. There was more coughing and wheezing on the line before Garrett answered.

“Couple of days.”

John found his car keys and quickly made his way to his bedroom to get dressed. Despite his house being so warm, he doubts it would be nice enough outside at four am to be dressed in just a shirt and boxers.

“Have you eaten today? Want me to get some soup?”

“No and please.”

John nodded to himself and pulled on a pair of pyjama pants one handed, which almost made him fall over.

“I’ll be over soon. I’ll stop by the twenty four hour store and see if they have some soup, make sure the door in unlocked for me and stay in bed. I’m on my way.” John said in a hurry running back to the kitchen to find his wallet.

“Thank you.” Garrett croaked before hanging up.

John snatched his wallet and keys and flew out of the door. Driving around so early in the morning was eerie, just as much as entering the twenty-four hour shop with only two workers hovering by the till, no one else in sight. He grabbed the first three cans of soup he spotted and got out of there fast as possible.

It took about fifteen minutes to reach Garrett’s house, all the lights were off but the front door was unlocked. As John pushed open the door and made his way to the kitchen with the use of his phone as a torch and placed the cans on the bench.

Loud coughing echoed down the hallway and John followed the noise to Garrett’s room. The coughing sounded pretty bad and that had him worried. Garrett wasn’t one to get badly sick very often, usually he got off easy with the flu’s that swept through the bus during winter tours.

Garrett was covered in a blanket piled in the middle of the bed, head barely sticking out. The only light in the room was the dull beside lamp.

“You awake?” John whispered, not really expecting a response.

Garrett snaked a hand out of the blanket pile and waved. John walked over to the bed and lifted the mound back enough to see Garrett’s face.

“I got you some soup, do you want some now?” John asked, touching Garrett’s forehead.

His skin was warm and damp but not overly hot. John guessed that he was over the fever if Garrett did have one.

“No. Later. Just don’t wanna be alone in case I get worse again.” Garrett whispered.

John frowned and walked over to the other side of the bed, he pushed the blankets closer to Garrett and sat down, leaning against the head board.

“Okay. Get some sleep then, but you have to eat something soon. I’ll wake you up in a couple of hours.” John said shifting the pillow to get comfortable.

Garrett nodded and pulled the blankets back up to his chin.

“Thank you.” Garrett croaked.

John smiled. If it was him sick in bed, Garrett would be doing the exact same thing.

“What are friends for?”