Chapter Text
It was the twenty fourth of December, the day before Christmas, a day that almost every single person loved. Children didn't have any school and were excited for presents the next day, adults didn't have to go to work and were getting ready for some family fun time. And yet on this day that was supposed to be beautiful Doc had fallen sick.
That was how much luck he had, he could be sick any time of the year and he got sick the day before Christmas. He already knew that he wouldn't be better by the next day, this meant that he would be sick on Christmas day. How unlucky could you be?
Doc was currently laying on his couch feeling sorry for himself. His nose was stuffed and no matter what position he lay in, he couldn’t breath through his nose. There was a slight headache forming in his head and he constantly felt like he needed to cough.
He didn’t want to cough though, he knew that coughing would make his headache worse and he didn’t want that. Breathing through his mouth wasn't helping the coughs in the slightest bit though. Everything that was wrong made the other things that were wrong even worse.
Doc had a blanket covering him, he was incredibly comfortable despite the whole stuffy nose. It was warm, the couch was comfortable and the tv was on in front of him. There was nothing that he actually had to do, this meant that he could lay there the rest of the day.
But of course the second Doc realized that, his communicator started ringing from the coffee stable. Doc stared at the device, his hands were warm beneath the blanket, he really didn't want to take them out. Doc considered not answering the thing at all, he could easily ignore the thing. But his thoughts wouldn't let him.
What if it was important? What if someone was in trouble? He pushed himself up, attempting to keep the blanket over him. He reached for his communicator and took the call, bringing the device to his ear. There were a few seconds of silence before Doc heard someone say "Doc, I'm at Xisuma's house. He and like five other hermits have fallen ill" The person said. It was Stress, but her voice sounded a bit different.
It sounded rougher than usual and in the silence Doc could hear a few sniffles coming from her side. He cursed internally. Five hermits sick at the same time wasn’t that bad but if both Stress and Doc were also sick…
Stress and Doc were the medical professions of hermitcraft. Whenever something happened from a sickness to a broken bone one of them was called. Nobody really knew how it started but it was normal now. In any other situation neither Doc wouldn't have minded, but there was no way Doc was able to take care of other people while being sick himself.
“I- Stress are you okay? You don’t sound so good either” Doc said before coughing. Another sniff came from the other side of the call “I- no, I’m afraid that I’m one of those five sick hermits, which is why I need your help” Stress said. “Well I can’t really help either. Let’s just say that there are six sick hermits now” Doc said. It stayed silent for a few seconds.
“Wait, both of us are sick?” Stress asked.
“Seems like it, but it’s not like anyone’s actual life is in danger. Other hermits can take care of the sick hermits” Doc said, as long as nobody was actively dying it was fine. “Ye- achoo, sorry yeah they should be able to take care of rest” Stress said “as long as none of them are stupid enough to actually get hurt we should be fine, but knowing the hermits…”
“Bless you, maybe a Christmas miracle could happen and none of the hermits manage to hurt themselves. Who is sick anyways?” Doc asked, even though he already knew that that wasn't going to happen. Luck had already been proven to not be on his side.
“Grian, Scar, Xisuma, Bdubs and me. And now you too” Stress replied, six hermits sick at the same time. That- that wasn't too bad. Plus, both Grian and Scar were sick. That meant that they at least wouldn't be getting into any trouble.
“We could quarantine all of them so that they can’t infect any one else. I’m not that sick, I can still help the others if needed” Doc suggested, sitting up on the couch. His blanket fell from his shoulders and right to the ground. Doc glared at the piece of fabric, traitor.
“Good idea," Stress said, bringing Doc back to reality. "We could keep the quarantine at my base. I have a movie room with enough chairs and we can all just watch movies the whole time. The room is dark too so sleeping wouldn’t be a problem” Stress explained.
“That’s amazing, you said you were with Xisuma right?” Doc asked. “Yeah” Stress answered. “Great, you bring him over to your base and I will start getting the other sick hermits” Doc said as he stood up, his comfortable place on his couch long forgotten.
“Okay, see you soon” Stress said, she sneezed one more time, Doc could hear an apology from her before she hung up. It was silent now and the reality of the situation started to really hit him. He would have to leave his warm, safe house and enter the cold world that was outside.
Doc put on a scarf, then a jacket, a hat and some finally cloves. He really didn’t like the cold, he couldn’t wait until he was at Stress her base covered in blankets with his friends around him. But before he could do that he needed to go collect some hermits.
After a few more seconds of postponing leaving his house, he opened his door and accepted his face. The harsh cold immediately greeted him, he pulled his jacket tighter around him and flew to Bdubs house. The wind that came with flying wasn't making him any warmer but it was faster than walking.
Bdubs was closest to him so it didn’t take long before he arrived at the man's base. He opened the door and walked in “Bdubs” He coughed “You here?” Doc asked as he walked around the house. It didn’t take long before he found the man. Bdubs was laying on the ground in front of his couch, his eyes barely open and glazed over.
“Bdubs what are you doing on the floor?” Doc asked.
“The floor is cold, beautifully cold,” Bduds replied without looking at Doc. Doc walked closer to him, knelt down next to him and took one of his gloves off, he then placed his hand on Bdubs forehead “You’re burning up” Doc said, his concern growing.
“Yeah I know, that’s why I’m on the sweet cold floor” Bdubs said, a smile on his face. Doc rolled his eyes, he put the gloves back on and crossed his arms over each other. “You can’t stay on the floor Bdubs" He said, still looking down at him.
“What, why not? I’m very comfortable here” Bdubs whined, it didn't look like he wanted to move. Oh, why did he have to make Doc's life so hard? Doc face palmed out of annoyance. “A few of the other hermits are sick too, we are all gathering at Stress her base. You coming?” Doc asked knowing full well that he wouldn’t give Bdubs a choice anyway, he wasn’t letting the man stay on the cold floor like this.
Bdubs pushed himself up into a sitting position but stayed on the floor. He looked at Doc “Sure, are many hermits sick?” The man asked, now getting a bit more serious.“Six including you” Doc answered as he got up. He walked into Bdubs his hallcloset, grabbing a coat, scarf and gloves for Bdubs before bringing them to him.
“What no it’s too warm for those” Bdubs said once he saw what Doc was bringing over.
“It’s literally freezing outside” Doc replied, as he put the scarf around Bdubs. He felt like a parent lecturing their child, or maybe that was just because Bdubs was behaving like a child. “Fine” Bdubs said, he pouted and crossed his arms.
Doc laughed and threw the coat at Bdubs his face, the coat hit him perfectly. Bdubs tried to look angry but a smile broke through, he reluctantly put the jacket on. He didn't look happy about it, but Doc didn't care about that. Doc also threw the gloves, his aim was amazing both gloves hit Bdubs in the face.
This only made Doc laugh louder, the laugh quickly turned into a cough though. This made Bdubs laugh as he put his gloves on and stood up. When Doc's coughing didn’t stop his smile disappeared, he placed a hand on the man's back and started rubbing small circles.
His brow furred with worry “Wait Doc, are you one of those six sick hermits?” He asked once the couching stopped. “Maybe” Doc said when he finally caught his breath. “But I’m fine, come on let’s go to stresses” He quickly added.
Bdubs seemed like he wanted to say more but ended up just nodding. The man started walking towards the exit and Doc followed. He wasn't happy about going back into the cold, but he was glad that Bdubs was working with him. The two of them flew into the air and made their way to Stress her base. They surprisingly landed without a problem.
Doc walked into the building that Stress had chosen for as the place where the quarantine would take place. Walking in he quickly spotten Stress and Xisuma. Stress was trying to take Xisuma’s coat off while the man looked barely conscious.
Doc ran forwards to help Stress, together they got the coat off and helped Xisuma lay down. Stress covered him in a blanket and released a sigh. “Thank you,” She said with a small smile.
Now that Doc could see her, he saw her red nose. She looked even sicker than he was, “Hey Stress you’re looking a bit too much like Rudolf, maybe you should take a quick nap too. I can get the rest on my own” Doc said, not wanting to woman to push herself too much.
“No- no I’m fine. Let me getttt- Scar, yeah I can get Scar” Stress said already making her way towards the door. Doc wanted to argue but knew not to argue with Stress, if she was set on doing something you simply couldn't stop her. The best he could do now was help her so that they would be done soon. “Okay, I’ll get Grian. Bdubs can you watch over Xisuma while we’re out?” Doc asked.
Xisuma really didn’t look good, while Doc only had a stuffy nose and a slight headache Xisuma looked completely dead. “Of course,” Bdubs said as he took a seat next to where Xisuma was lying.
Doc and Stress left, Grian and Scar were practically neighbors so they could fly together most of the way. At one point Stress and Doc separated and Doc went to Grian's house. He again didn’t bother knocking and just walked in.
He started looking around for Grian, it was harder than looking for Bdubs had been. Doc checked the living room first, no Grian there. Then he checked the bedroom, but again nothing. He checked all the rooms in the house, which were a lot, but Grian was in none of them.
He was about to give up, deciding that Grian must have gone somewhere else. But right when he was about to turn around and leave, a sneeze sounded. It came from the bedroom. Doc turned around slowly, eyeing the bedroom that he had checked minutes before.
There hadn't been a Grian in there, at least not that Doc had seen. But he was sure that that was where the sneeze had come from. Doc walked back to the bedroom and opened the door. He looked around again, but still didn't see a Grian anywhere.
“Grian? Are you in here” Doc asked.
A whine came from the bed. “Grian?” Doc asked as he walked closer to the bed. There was a pile of blankets on the bed, was Grian beneath that? Doc pulled one of the blankets away, and then another one, and another one and another one. This couldn’t be healthy.
Finally Doc could see Grian's face, Grian was shivering even though he had been beneath like five blankets just a second earlier. “Grian, buddy, are you okay?” Doc asked as he placed a hand on his forehead, just like Bdubs, Grian was burning up.
But unlike Bdubs, Grian was shivering.
“Come on Grian, we are going to Stress her base. All sick people are staying there for a while” Doc said as he tried to take all of Grian's blankets away, but Grian pulled them back. “No no it’s to colddddd” The man whined, holding a tight grip on the blankets.
Doc rolled his eyes, “You know where it will be warm, Stress her base” He said, trying to avoid a fight. If Grian could just come with him. It would make things so much easier. Grian seemed to consider that, but then he looked through his window. “To get to Stress's base we would have to go through that cold,” Grian said. “Yeah but it will be worth it” Doc said.
Grian looked outside one more time before fully covering his face with the blankets again. Doc got an idea, he pulled the blankets off of Grian and whispered “There will be hot choco at stress's base” Grian opened his eyes at that, “Hot choco?” He asked.
“Oh yes so much hot choco, and all of it could be yours if you come with me” Doc said. Grian seemed to consider and then nodded. Doc was about to step away from the bed so that Grian could leave the bed but Grian didn't give any sign that he was about to get out of bed. Instead he had his arms outstretched to Doc.
Doc rolled his eyes again before picking up Grian, Grian immediately snuggled into Doc's warmth. Doc walked downstairs, Grian was still covered in at least three blankets so he didn’t bother with a coat for the man.
He flew back to Stress her base with Grian and walked in. Xisuma and Bdubs were still at the same place they had been when Doc left. Doc laid Grian down and stood up “Stress and Scar not here yet?” He asked, looking around the room for the two.
Bdubs shook his head “N- oh wait there they are” Bdubs said as he pointed to Stress and Scar. Doc turned around and looked outside through a window. There he saw Stress descending, there was something on her head though. When she came closer Doc realized that that something on her head was Jellie.
The two landed and Doc held a hand in front of his mouth to try and not laugh. Stress walked inside, her lips a straight line. It looked like she didn't see the humor in the situation. She paused in front of Doc “She didn’t want to be carried any other way and Scar didn’t want to come without her” The woman explained.
Scar walked in and let himself fall in a seat, he closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep. Stress got Jellie off of her head and placed her down next to Scar, the cat immediately cuddled up to Scar.
“I think we got everyone,” Doc said, arms by his side as he looked at the four hermits in front of him. A sigh of relief left him as he counted all four. “Yeah, thank god” Stress said, she took her coat and shoes off and sat down too. Doc laughed and did the same, he took a seat next to the sleeping Scar and Jellie.
Stress put on the grinch and the group started watching it, they were only interrupted when Xisuma’s communicator started ringing. Stress reached over and picked it up for him, just in case it was important. “Hello, Stress here. Oh Hi Keralis, yeah we are with Xisuma, he’s sick. We are at my base with a few other sick hermits. Oh, oh no, do you need any help? Okay see you soon” Doc heard Stress say.
Doc hadn't been able to hear Keralis' side of the conversation, but he was pretty sure that whatever they'd talked about didn't mean a lot of goods. Stress turned to Doc with a sigh, yeah this really didn't look good. “More hermits are sick, Keralis is bringing them all over,” The woman explained.
“More of them? Who are all sick?” Doc asked. Luckily this place was big, if needed the whole server could stay here. But it would be pretty crowded. “Pearl, Cleo and Ren for starters” Stress began “For starters?” Doc interrupted as he put a hand through his hair. With those three there would be nine sick hermits, how could there be more?
“Yeah Pearl, Cleo and Ren all have colds like us but some of the other hermits apparently are as sick as Xisuma. And then there are hermits that we haven’t heard of yet” Stress said as she stood up, making her way towards where she had dumped her coat. “We think that they all got each other sick.Who knows who else is sick?” Stress said as she put her coat back on.
The movie would have to wait, Doc thought as he stood up too. "Keralis is bringing over Cleo, Pearl and Ren but we should check up on those other hermits,” Stress explained, Doc put his coat back on and met Stress back at the exit. "Which other hermits are sick?” He asked, praying that they wouldn't have to fly too far.
“Impulse, Gem and Tango. Apparently they baked something together with Xisuma not that long ago. That must have been where they all got each other sick” Stress said, she looked exhausted. Doc was about to suggested that he could go alone but one look from the woman shut him up.
She and Doc would just do this, they'd be done after that. “Do you two need any help?” Bdubs asked, from all the hermits in Stress her base he was the least sick one. Grian, Scar and Xisuma were all asleep, looking like they hadn't slept in years. “You can help by keeping an eye on these three and getting better,” Doc said.
“I will try my best,” Bdubs said with a salute.
Doc and Stress walked outside, coming into contact with the cold winter air once again. “I’ll get Tango, apparently blazes are a bit overheated when they get sick. That doesn’t sound like a good mix for you and your explosiveness” Stress said, gesturing towards Doc.
“Yeah smart, I’ll get Impulse” Doc said, the two of them separated and Doc flew over to Impulse's base. When he walked in he saw Impulse laying on his couch with Skizz next to him. He could already predict that this was going to be easier than with Grian. “Oh hey guys” Doc greeted.
“Hey Doc, what are you doing here?” Skizz asked, Impulse stayed silent but stared at Doc with a tired smile. “Collecting sick hermits, I guess. A lot of hermits are sick so we are all gathering at Stress her base” Doc explained.
“Sounds fun, how many people are sick?” Skizz asked.
“Hm wel let’s see we have Bdubs, Grian, Scar, Xisuma, Stress, Cleo, Pearl, Ren, Gem, Tango, Impulse and technically me” Doc said. “So that is twelve hermits” Doc released a sigh “Twelve hermits” He was pretty sure that they had ever had so many hermits sick at once.
“Wait, you're sick too? Why aren’t you resting?” Skizz asked.
“I don’t have the time, I need to get all the sick hermits to Stress her base” Doc explained, he wished that he could be resting right now. But he was fine, he would be fine. All he had to do was get Impulse and then Gem, after that he could rest too. Everything was going to be fine.
“Sounds like you could use some help,” Skizz said, standing up and walking towards the man with a smile on his face. It looked like he was't sick, thank God. “Yeah” Doc said with a nod. “Wanna go to Stress her base Dipple dop?” Skizz asked, Impulse smiled and nodded his head.
“What’s wrong with him?” Doc asked.
“Oh he lost his voice and now he’s embarrassed by how he sounds” Skizz explained as he got ready to go outside. He also got Impulse's coat too and threw it over to the man. “You said that Gem was also sick, go get her while we get ready. We’ll meet back up in front of Gem’s house” Skizz said.
Doc smiled “Thank you Skizz, really” Doc said as he left Impulses house. He flew over to Gem's base and walked into her house. He knocked before entering her bedroom though, he hadn’t known her for that long and he didn’t know her that well, just walking into her bedroom seemed pretty creepy.
Walking into the bedrooms of all of his other friends on the other hand that was perfectly fine.
No response came even after Doc knocked a few more times. So he covered his eyes with his hand and walked in, he didn’t hear Gem protesting so he uncovered his eyes. Gem was laying on her bed, dead asleep. The woman was curled in on herself, looking as pale as Xisuma had.
Doc walked closer to her and gently shook her shoulder, her eyes opened but barely. “Hey Gem, we are moving all the sick hermits to Stress her base. Are you okay with me carrying you over?” Doc asked her, not thinking that Gem would want to move. She looked exhausted.
Gem just nodded and then closed her eyes again, Doc gently picked her up making sure to also bring the blanket that was covering her. He walked out of her house, Impulse and Skizz were already waiting for them.
Impulse was on Skizze's back, Impulse had his arms tightly wrapped around Skizze's neck. “Oh Gemmie” Skizz said when he noticed Gem. “Yeah she’s one of the few hermits who have it a bit worse than others. Xisuma is in the same state” Doc explained.
“Then we better get these two to a warm place quickly,” Skizz said, patting Impulse's leg with a smile. Skizz and Doc started flying to stress her base, when they got there they walked in and placed Gem and Impulse down on the empty beds, making sure to place them next to each other.
Cleo, Pearl, Ren and Keralis were there too now. Cleo, Pearl and Ren had all taken a seat and were now watching the movie that Stress had turned on earlier. Keralis was sitting next to Xisuma, watching over the man with a worried expression.
It didn’t take long before Stress also arrived, Tango, False and Etho with her. Etho was helping Tango stand while False was supporting Stress. “What happened?” Doc asked when he saw the four walk in. He quickly ran towards the group, looking Tango and Stress over.
Tango's flame was going wild, the man looked incredibly pale and was covered in sweat. Stress looked similar, her eyes were barely open and looked glazed over. “Stress went to get Tango but the fire from his flames wasn't doing her illness any good. Me and Etho saw her struggling with him and decided to help” False explained as he helped Stress to a bed.
“Thank you” Doc said, he was exhausted. False helped Stress sit down and sat down next to her. Etho did the same thing with Tango and sat down too. Doc looked around, scanning the room to see if anyone needed help. Some of the hermits had fallen asleep. Most had mummified themselves with blankets and were silently chatting.
Doc leaned against a pillow and let out a breath of relief, everyone was safe, everyone was here, he could rest. The group started watching Christmas movies and ended up just watching movies the whole evening. But Doc didn’t notice that much as he fell asleep almost immediately.