Don't Wanna Lose You Now

Ted woke up and smiled down at the still sleeping man in his arms. To Ted, Cody was beautiful when he was like this, curled into his chest sleeping soundly with a smile on his face. Lately though, Ted had begun to worry for the younger man's health. Cody was getting sick more often then he ever had before, and they seemed to linger for longer and longer every time.

Sure it had been about a month since Cody had been sick last, but there were STILL symptoms of the cold that hung with him. He seemed to get tired much faster than he had before and he seemed weaker than Ted had ever seen him since he'd known him. He couldn't even count the number of times he'd had to pick Cody up off the floor lately, and that scared him.

Could there really be something deeper wrong with the love oF his life?

Cody yawned as he began to stir in bed, smiling when he felt Ted's arms around him. This was the best he'd felt in a long time, and that was saying something. Just a week ago, he'd felt so exhausted that he'd needed Ted to carry him from the shower to the bed. He wasn't sure what was wrong, but he was glad that he was finally getting over it, he missed going out on runs with his Teddy and Randy, he missed a lot of things that he hadn't been able to do since he'd started getting so sick.

"Good morning" he murmured, gently stretching himself out "Did you sleep well Teddy-bear?"

Ted smiled.

"Yes, yes I did," Ted said. "You feeling okay today baby-boy?"

"I feel great!" Cody laughed, his beautiful smile spreading from ear to ear "In fact..." he grinned "I feel good enough to go on a run with you and Randy, can I please come?"

As much as Ted's brain was screaming to say no, he couldn't resist that beautiful smile.

"All right," Ted said, "but I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Cody was nearly bouncing off the walls by the time Randy showed up.The morning run with their leader was a daily tradition that the Legacy had begun not long after they'd joined together. Cody hadn't gone in well over a month and he'd missed the experience terribly,

"Come on Teddy!" he nearly bounded out the door when he saw Randy waiting "Let's go!"

"Alright, alright I'm coming," Ted chuckled, joining Cody at the door.

Randy was cautious when he first noticed Cody was joining him and Ted that day.

"You sure you're up to this?" Randy asked.

Cody nodded, bouncing up and down to show the Viper how energized he was this morning,

"Don't worry" he grinned "I've already promised Ted that I'll stop if I feel too tired."

"You'd better" Randy muttered, a protective glint momentarily shining in his eyes "Let's go."

Ted nodded, looking up at Cody one last time. He couldn't shake the worry in his head.

As they ran, Cody was delighted to find he was able to keep pace just behind Randy. It felt wonderful to hear the thump-thump of his heart in his ears, the cool morning air rushing past him as they skimmed over the road. Once or twice he looked over and smiled at Ted, to reassure him that he felt just fine. At last, as they rounded the corner to head back to where they'd started, Ted smiled back.

Ted was more than happy to see Cody back to his old self again. Seeing him happy again brought a smile to Ted's face. All thoughts of the past few months gone Ted flashed Cody a bright smile.

"See you later Randy!" Cody waved as their leader and friend drove off to go back to his own home. He'd enjoyed that run immensely, but now he desperately needed to shower,

"I call the shower first!" Cody grinned as he ran in ahead of Ted and turned the water on in the shower. Happiness didn't describe how he felt at finally feeling better, he was ecstatic!

"Today it's all uphill from here" Cody murmured as he stepped in and began to clean himself "Maybe tonight I can convince Teddy to take me out to dinner or something..." suddenly, in mid-thought, he gasped as his knees suddenly buckled and he found himself on his knees in the bath tub, all of his energy suddenly gone.

"Not again..." Cody moaned, weakly trying to get up before shouting "Teddy, TEDDY!!!!"

"Cody!" Ted shouted, rushing to the bathroom.

His heart sank when he realized what had happened.

"Lost your strenght again didn't you?" Ted asked as he eased the younger man to his feet.

Feeling somewhat ashamed, Cody meekly nodded "It was so sudden..." he whispered, blushing when Ted swung him up into his arms. A moment later, he voiced the question that had been plaguing him for weeks,

"Teddy...do you think there's something wrong with me?"

"I don't know Cody, I don't know," Ted said. "I'm calling Jenna later today to see if I can get you in to see her sometime."

"Okay" Cody reluctantly stretched out on the bed and gasped "T-Teddy, my knees!" On the kneecaps, right where they'd smacked the hard surface, large purple bruises, like the kind he usually got from a major bump in the ring, had appeared. But to get bruises like this from a simple fall in a shower?

"I..I want to see Jenna today" Cody whispered "I think something's really wrong!"

"I'm gonna call her Codes, but you don't know if she's gonna have a spot for you baby," Ted said softly.

"Tell her it's an emergency!" Cody started to cry "This is NOT normal, please Teddy, call her!"

"Okay, okay I'll go call her," Ted said. "You just go lie down okay?"

"Alright" Cody whispered, laying back on the pillows. He supposed he really shouldn't have been surprised, this had happened last month as well, and the month before that, and always right before he got sick again. As if on cue he felt a tickle in his chest and he bit back his cough so Ted wouldn't hear him. How could a day that had started so well turn out so bad?

Ted sighed as he went down to the kitchen to cal Jenna. Dialing the nurses station number he prayed Jenna would answer the phone.

Mercy General Hospitla, Dr. Jennifer Jericho speaking, how may I help you?" Jenna asked.


"Jenna, it's Ted," the blonde said. "I need to get Cody in there as soon as possible, when can you see him?"

"Can you get him here in an hour?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah, I can do that," Ted said.

"Alright, I'll see you then," Jenna said as she hing up.

Ted sighed heading upstairs with Cody.

"She'll be able to see you in an hour baby-boy," Ted said.

"That's good" Cody nodded, slowly standing to go get dressed "Cause I'm-whoa!" his legs suddenly buckled again and Ted caught him just in time.

Ted sighed softly.

"You stay put, I'll help you," Ted said.

"I hope Jenna can fix whatever's wrong" Cody murmured while Ted gently dressed him "Things can't go on like this."

"Cody," Ted said softly. "Even if this is how we have to live for the rest of our lives, it won't matter to me." "I love you, and I'll take care of you for the rest of our lives, you know that."