The Fight of Your Life

Ted watched Cody cautiously that morning. Maddie had been sick for about a week prior to that and Ted prayed that Cody wouldn't get sick.He knew just how sick Cody would get if he came down with anything.

Cody knew he was in trouble the minute he opened his eyes. There had been a heavy feeling in his chest when he went to sleep, a feeling he'd hoped he'd imagined, but now as he awoke, his first breath came as a choking gasp and he wheezed as he began to cough over and over,

"Teddy..." he gasped for breath "Something's squeezing my chest....what do we do?"

Oh no Ted thought

"It's gonna be alright Cody," Ted said softly. "Just breathe."

Cody's eyes were growing wide in panic "Teddy I CAN'T" his chest was heaving "Please help me Teddy," his eyes were glazing slightly "Help me."

"Okay baby boy," Ted said, lifting Cody into his arms.

Cody continued to gasp and wheeze, he sounded like a man with an advanced case of pneumonia and he'd only been exposed to the common cold. Even in the time it took to reach the hospital, Cody's lungs became so congested he could barely draw a breath,

"I...need...air..." he wheezed, his voice barely audible "Teddy hurry...."

"I'm trying Cody, I'm trying," Ted said.

He carried Cody into the hospital as quickly as he could.

As Ted carried Cody in, neither of them realized the true reason for Cody's breathing troubles. While his lungs were congested, the real problem lay in his tonsils, which were swelling far beyond normal proportions. Combined with the pressure of struggling to breathe, the swelling grew just enough...to completely seal off Cody's airway,

"T..Ted!" Cody's voice was a choked plea before he suddenly began to gasp for air, his lips starting to turn a pale blue as he began to suffocate.

Jenna nocticed Ted with Cody in his arms and rushed to them. Jenna rushed the pair to a room as quickly as she could. She had to know exactly how alert Cody was before she could do what she knew she had to do.

"Cody, Cody listen to me I need you to look at me if you can hear me okay?" Jenna asked.

Cody turned to look at her and weakly nodded but it was clear he was fighting a losing battle to stay conscious. Jenna hated herself for what she was about to do, but it was the only way to save Cody's life.

"Cody" she held his head still so he could look at her "Listen to me, your tonsils have swollen, I need to drain the fluid out of them so you can breathe." After Cody dimly nodded he understood, Jenna turned to Ted,

"Go out to the hall" she whispered "And get two nurses, males if you can, we need to hold him down."

"Why?" Ted couldn't take his eyes off of Cody, who was growing dangerously still "Will this hurt?"

"Ted just GO!" Jenna had steel in her eyes "This needs to be done or Cody will DIE!"

Shaken, Ted rushed out to the hall and found two male nurses to come back in with him. Jenna had the needle all prepared and she quickly instructed them that they needed to hold Cody absolutely still no matter what.

"Cody I'm so sorry" Jenna whispered, gingerly forcing the brunette's mouth open with her fingers and inserting the needle. A second later she began to drain the fluid and Cody began to SCREAM in pain, his eyes wide and staring as the three men held him down. It was all Ted could do not to cry out himself, he'd never seen his lover in so much pain and he prayed to God he would never see it again,

"Almost done" Jenna murmured, inserting the needle for one last plunge. Tears were streaming down Cody's face as she finished, a look of torturous pain in his eyes.

While Jenna went to dispose of the needle, Ted bent down by Cody, who was mouthing wildly at him,

"It HURTS" Cody was whispering, an unbearable agony in his voice "It hurts so much Teddy..."

"I'm sorry baby, I'm sorry," Ted said softly.

"The pain will go away soon Cody, I promise you it will," Jenna said, a look of hurt in her own eyes. She'd hurt her friend and that killed her inside.

"It's not worth this" Cody whispered after Jenna had given him some pain medicine "All this pain, not knowing if the next cold will lead to my death, Teddy I can't live like this!"

Ted opened his mouth to speak when he heard footsteps at Cody's door.

"Dad don't talk like that," Maddie spoke as she walked into the room. That was the first time she's used that word toward either of them.

"Maddie...." Cody turned away as his daughter came into the room "What are you doing here?"

"Dad, don't do that, don't turn away from me don't shut me out," Maddie pleaded. "Look I know this is hard on you, but I'm here because I love you." "You helped me get through everything I've dealt with recently, now it's my turn and I'm gonna stand by you and help you through this no matter what it takes."

All it took was for Maddie's hand to slip into his and Cody broke, sobbing like a child as his fiance and his daughter held onto him and told him how much they loved him,

"I love you both" he whispered, still crying "You're the only thing keeping me alive."

"We aren't going anywhere Cody," Ted promised.