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Ronan

Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here

“Achoo!” Ronan O’Mara sneezed into the crook of his elbow. His nose tingled and the back of his throat was scratchy. The symptoms had come on after lunch the day before. Ronan hoped he was just worn out, but he was really beginning to feel like he was coming down with a cold. January colds were the absolute worst. He should have stayed in Florida where the temps were in the mid-seventies today, instead of Massachusetts where the mercury had dipped below zero.

“Ew! Bless you,” Everly said, easing off the sofa. She grabbed the box of tissues on the coffee table and handed them to her father.

“Thanks.” He grabbed a tissue just in time for the next sneeze.

“Ronan! Are you sick?” Ten asked as he rushed into the living room.

“No. I’m fine. Just an allergy. Probably from shoveling snow yesterday.” His nose tickled and before he could stop it, he sneezed again.

Everly backed away from Ronan. “Daddy, can I go to Woofie’s house? I don’t want to stay here with Dad and his goo.”

“My goo?” Ronan asked. He tried to laugh at his daughter, but started coughing instead. It was a deep rumble, which instantly made Ronan worry. He usually got a runny nose when he finished shoveling snow, but he’d never had a cough, and this was definitely a cough and a chunky one at that.

“You’re all drippy and icky.” Everly shook her head and ran toward the kitchen.

Ronan ordinarily would have chased after her and tickled her, but he didn’t have the energy to get up, never mind run. He nodded miserably. There was no doubt about it. Ronan was sick.

“Hey, Cope,” Ten said, with his phone on speaker. “Everly wants to know if she can come over to play with Wolf?”

A loud hacking sound came through the phone followed by two quick sneezes. “That’s not really the best idea today. Jude’s coming down with something and I don’t want to expose Everly to his creeping crud.”

“Crud?” an outraged-sounding Jude shouted. “It’s all his fault!”

“My fault?” Ronan shouted, his voice breaking. “What the hell did I do?” He sank his head into his hands. Yelling hurt.

“You’re the one who gave me the plague!” Jude moaned before he started coughing again.

“Are you feeling sick too?” Ten asked.

“No, I’m okay, so far. Same for Wolf and Lizbet,” Cope sounded relieved.

“That’s good. I’ll call Fitz and see how things are over there.”

“Hold on, Fitz is calling me. I’ll put you on three-way,” Cope said. “Which button do I press?”

“First time we have a three-way and I feel like I got run over by a dump truck. Figures,” Ronan grumped.

“Hey, Cope!” Fitz said, and sneezed. “Can you watch Aurora? I feel like shit and Jace won’t be home for a few hours.”

“No can do,” Cope said. “Jude’s sick too.”

“Same with Ronan,” Ten said.

“Good! It’s Ronan’s fault anyway,” Fitz muttered.

Too exhausted to fight, Ronan gasped. If his so-called friends wanted to blame him, they could, but he remembered Fitz sneezing first. That was his story and he was sticking to it.

“I’ve got an idea,” Ten said, taking a step back from Ronan, who was coughing again. “Why don’t we come stay at Cope’s house while Fitz, Jude, and Ronan stay here?

“Sold!” Cope said. “I’ll disinfect everything Jude touched. Tonight we’ll call out for Thai food and we’ll watch a family movie.”

“What about me?” Ronan asked, sounding absolutely miserable. “Who’s gonna make me soup and rub Vicks on my chest?” As much as he hated to admit it, Ronan knew he sounded absolutely pitiful.

“We’ll order you some soup and have it delivered by a man in a hazmat suit.” Ten snorted. He tried and failed to cover it with a cough. “As for the Vicks, I’m sure Jude can do it for you.”

Ronan’s mouth fell open. “What?” He could hear Jude bellow through the phone, sounding equally indignant.

“Look,” Cope said. “It’s been a crazy new year already. Why don’t the three of you sack out at Ronan’s. You can watch movies and help each other through this. I think we can all agree that the last thing any of us wants is for the kids to get sick, right?”

“Right,” Jude muttered.

“Yeah,” Ronan agreed.

“You’re all big boys,” Ten said, sounding dubious. “Take care of each other and we’ll see where things stand in the morning.”

Jude muttered something almost unintelligible, but sounded a lot like “Get fucked.”

“Think of it as a slumber party for adults. You’ll have yummy food, snacks, movies, and the company of your best friends.” Ten smiled brightly.

Ronan grimaced. “Adult slumber parties involve naked revelry and lots of lube.”

“To each their own!” Cope chirped. “I’ll pack a bottle in Jude’s bag.”

Jude roared, sounding a lot like a caged lion in the zoo.

“I’ll send him over in half an hour with snacks.” Cope sounded hopeful. “Text me in a bit to put in your request for medicines and we’ll drop off what you need.”

“Along with more snacks,” Ten added. “It will be fun. You’ll see.” If Ten’s smile was anymore forced, he was going to end up cracking teeth.

“Yeah, I’ll see all right.” Crossing his arms over his chest, Ronan pouted.

“With three cold case detectives under one roof, what could possibly go wrong?” Cope asked.

Only everything. Groaning, Ronan sank his head into his hands. It was going to be a long night.