Fever

Chapter 1

The alarm rang at seven o'clock, waking Phineas, like it did every morning. He stretched and reached behind him to grasp the pillow he had slept on. With little aim, the pillow went sailing and smacked his brother in the face. With a big grin, the sixteen year old sat upright and look over, but Ferb remained sleeping.

Crawling out of the covers, Phineas went over to his bedside and shook his shoulder.

"Hey Ferb, time to get up."

Ferb didn't stir.

Shaking a little harder, Phineas got louder, "hey Ferb, get up."

Groggy blue eyes peered back at him from under heavy lids.

The grin was back on Phineas' face, "tired from yesterday?"

They had started a snowball fight that had included most of the town. It had been amazing. Buford had created a small army against Phineas and his brother. The Flynn/Fletcher brothers had been victorious, but they had both arrived at home soaking wet and red-faced.

As Ferb was swinging his feet over the edge of his bed, their mother poked her head into the room, "Your father and I are leaving to go pick up Grandma and Grandpa Fletcher from the airport."

Linda leaned further into the room, looking at her sons, "you two behave for your sister."

"Okay Mom."

Closing the door, Linda made her way down the stairs, where Lawrence was waiting for her.

"Candace?"

"Hmm," her head popped out from behind the head of the couch in the living room.

"Your father and I are going now; look out for your brothers."

"Be safe, they're calling for a huge snow storm."

"I hope that doesn't interfere with their arrival time."

"It looks like it's already started," Lawrence stated, standing on the landing outside the house, watching all the snow falling so early in the morning.

"Well talking about relaxation, I'm gonna go see what my pesky brothers are doing. It's quiet, too quiet. Yeah, see you later Stacey."

Walking downstairs, into the living room, she saw a tuft of red hair sticking up behind the couch. Leaning over, she saw both her brothers lying on the couch, with steaming mugs on cocoa in front of them.

"What are you two doing?"

"We're just watching Christmas specials. We had tons of fun yesterday; we thought we would relax today."

"…then I'll call Mom and bust you both, wait what?"

She looked down to her brothers, then to the television, "really? You're not gonna build anything? You're not going to make a ridiculously large amount of noise, and have the entire city in our backyard, having a great time until moments before Mom arrives to have it all disappear?"

"Nah, we did that yesterday, and besides, Ferb is kinda tired today."

Stealing a glance towards the green haired boy, she saw he was buried under a blanket and curled into a ball, fast asleep.

"Is Ferb okay?"

"Yeah, he said he was fine, just tired."

Nodding, Candace had to admit that she even had fun yesterday with the town sized snowball fight. She walked over to the reclining chair; she joined her little brothers in watching the festive specials.

Not so little anymore, she amended, looking back over the duo.

Both were sixteen and it seemed every time Candace came back to town to visit from university, they were even taller and broader than last. Ferb had reached a whopping six-foot three, but had remained long limbed and lanky. Shifting her gaze to Phineas, he had filled out more like their biological father. Just a little shorter than Ferb but he had bulked up a bit. Candace chuckled to herself and looked back to the television screen. Phineas had finally grown into his triangular head and she knew for certain that Isabella liked the muscles Phineas had developed over the last couple years.

"It's really coming down hard out there."

Her brother's voice broke her out of reverie, and she looked out the window. The sky was a dark, gloomy grey, but the sky was filled with snow, and the roads were covered in white sheets.

"That's crazy. I hope Mom and Dad are going to be able to get home safely."

Shaking his head, Phineas glanced at his sister, "I wonder if Grandma and Grandpa's plane is going to be able to land. I don't think I've ever seen it snow so much in one go before."

"Yeah, me neither."

Ferb stirred on the couch and opened his eyes.

"Finally sleepy head. I thought you'd sleep all day."

A little smile crossed his face and he snuggled into the blankets.

"Hey, you just woke up, don't go back asleep!"

Laughing he pinched Ferb's side, making the green haired boy squirm and try to shove his hands away.

"I don't think so," moving closer Phineas used both hands, squeezing Ferb's ribs making him chuckle and pull away.

"Get his feet Candace!"

Candace pounced, tickling Ferb's sock covered toes. His eyes got wide and he started to squirm harder, trying to escape his two siblings.

"Tell me you surrender and then we'll stop!"

Ferb shook his head, doubling his efforts of escape, with no avail.

"Okay, okay, I give in!"

They both released him, and he pulled himself into a little ball glaring at them.

Phineas and Candace looked at each other and then laughed.

Phineas had tears in his eyes and Ferb scoffed, "well, I'm glad I could provide so much entertainment," a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah, but while your awake, we should probably go shovel the driveway before Mom and Dad get home."

Opening the door while zipping up their coats, Phineas took a couple of steps outside.

"Wow!"

The snow was already up to mid thighs.

"This is going to take a while."

The boys had been outside for a while, and every time she looked out the window, it didn't look like they had done much work on the driveway.

She could hear her cellphone ringing in the kitchen, and took one last look at her brothers before grabbing it.

"Hello?"

"Candace? How are you guys?"

"Mom, we're fine. Where are you guys?"

"We're still at the airport, the plane was delayed, now they're saying they might turn around and go land somewhere where the snow isn't so bad."

"Oh, that's terrible!"

"That and they've made public announcement to stay off the highways. The plow trucks are getting stuck and hung up with the amount of snow."

"Well, drive safe and call before you leave."

With a snap of the phone, the conversation ended.

A shiver ran up her spine. It felt like something was happening. Something brother related.

"Then tomorrow I'm thinking that we'll try those double bed sleds again, but revamp the route."

He acknowledged the silence he knew all too well as affirmation.

"Hey, Ferb, I feel like no matter how much we shovel, we don't seem to make a difference."

The silence that followed that statement was different; it wasn't a normal Ferb silence. It was tense and strained.

Turning around, looking at his brother, he questioned, "Ferb?"

His brother was leaning on the shovel, and at his brother's voice, he looked up, and Phineas started moving towards him. His face was so white it looked like he was blending into the snow around him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Phineas, I…"

With no warning or noise, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

Taking the last couple steps as fast as he could, Phineas yelled, "Ferb!"

Candace heard the yell from outside and opened the door. Phineas was sitting on his knees with Ferb resting on his chest, shaking him and whispering to him. Dashing out and coming to a halt beside them, she was running her hands down Ferb's face and arms.

"What happened?"

"I…I don't know, he just fell over," Candace saw the tears in her brother's eyes, "and he won't wake up."

"He's burning up."

Candace looked at all the snow surrounding them and stood.

"Let's get him inside."

Phineas stood up slowly with his brother, and slung him over his shoulder as his sister hovered anxiously with her hands out.

As Phineas was lowering his brother to the couch, Candace pulled out her cell phone and dialed their mother.

"Mom!"

"What are the boys doing now Candace?"

"Ferb fainted while the boys were shoveling the driveway!"

"What?"

"He's inside, but he's unconscious and he has a fever. I don't know what to do."

"Candace, you need to calm down. Take his temperature, give him some blankets and some water. If he's still not awake don't give him anything to swallow okay?"

"Okay, okay," Linda could hear her daughter rummaging around the house looking for things, and giving Phineas orders.

"Candace," when there was no response, she tried again, but louder, "Candace!"

"Mom?"

"Do you need us to come home?"

"No, the fever is…" there was a pause while Candace removed the thermometer from her unresponsive brother, "one-oh-two."

"It's high, but manageable. I'm not sure if we can make it home Candace, are you sure you're okay? "

There was a pregnant pause, but a quiet, "yes."

"Call if you need anything, alright?"

"Okay, Mom."

Candace snapped her phone shut and walked towards the couch where she could see Phineas wiping Ferb's brow.

"How's he doing?"

"He won't wake up, but he's not getting worse."

"Mom says to keep him warm, and give him water when he wakes up."

She looks at her poor brother, all the blood in his face had gathered in his cheeks, leaving the rest of him ghostly pale. His eyes were moving beneath his shut lids in a troubled unconsciousness.

Chapter 2

She had sat in the same spot watching over her brothers for a couple of hours. Phineas had fallen asleep next to his brother. Ferb had not awoken.

As if on cue, Ferb shifted and his eyes opened and peered around confusedly. Feeling the movement Phineas jerked awake.

"Ferb! You're awake!"

There was a silence and then Ferb focused on his brother's face, "I was asleep?"

"You don't remember? You passed out while we were shoveling the driveway."

"Oh. That would explain why I don't feel great."

Candace snorted, "That's an understatement. I bet you feel terrible. Here," she said, shoving a glass of water into his hands, "you need to drink something."

With shaking hands, Ferb reached for the water and drank it slowly, letting it sooth his parched throat.

"Feel better now?" Phineas asked hopefully.

"A little, yeah."

Phineas stared at his brother; he had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, but chalked it up to his nerves. He'd never seen Ferb this sick before.

He watched as Ferb's eyes started to droop again.

"Why don't you go back asleep?"

Nodding, he started to lower himself down, but Candace was in his face again, "I think you should take some fever reducer. Even though you look better, I think we should still be careful."

It was if fate was against her, because as the words left her mouth, Ferb's eyes rolled back again, and his body started to shake and jerk.

"What's happening?" Phineas yelled, waving his hands around his brother and he convulsed.

"What do I do?"

Reaching for her phone, Candace dialed 9-1-1 and yelled at the operator.

"Ambulance! I need an ambulance for 2308 Maple Drive, Danvillle!"

Phineas looked from his brother to his sister, never having felt so helpless in his entire life. But just as quickly as it started, the seizure had ended.

Taking the thermometer, Phineas reassessed his brother's temperature.

Removing the phone from her ear, she questioned, "What is it now?"

Looking grim, he stared into his sister's blue eyes, "it's up to one-oh-five now."

"Oh my God, we need help. My brother is sick!"

Phineas watched as his sister paced back and forth, obviously agitated by what the operator was saying, but laid a hand on his brother's chest, to reassure himself of the rise and fall. As long as Ferb was breathing, Phineas could keep some peace of mind.

He could hear the one-sided fight Candace was having with the emergency response operator.

"It's just snow! We need help!"

He watched his brother's chest rise and fall, finding it somewhat hypnotizing.

"The ambulance is coming, but they're having an impossible time getting through the snow."

It took Phineas a minute to realize she was talking to him.

"What do we do then?"

"The operator said that we need to lower his body temperature."

Nodding, Phineas looked and his brother, and slipped a hand beneath his knees and across his back and with a little grunt, lifted him into this arms.

"Looks like we're taking a bath together," Phineas said halfheartedly, trying to lighten the situation, but falling short.

"You start, I need to call Mom and Dad, and then I'll help."

Linda looked outside the large bay windows of the airport, in the direction of their home. One of her sons was sick and she was stranded in an airport, because of the snow.

"Linda dear, Ferb will be okay, he's a resilient lad."

Nodding, Linda remained dubious. She would have been more comforted if Lawrence had sounded sure of himself.

The shrill sound of her cellphone shook her into focus and as she pressed the green talk button, she was already asking, "How's Ferb now?"

"Mom, he had a seizure and his temperature has risen."

"What?" When she saw her husband and people around her sharing the same startled look she realized that she had yelled.

"I called 9-1-1, but they can't get here soon enough, so Phineas is trying to lower his temperature."

Lawrence had moved in close so he could hear what Candace was saying.

"Candace, sweetheart, Ferb is prone to getting seizures. Lower his body temperature, but don't make him too cold, or he'll get worse," Linda surprised but grateful for her husband's calm demeanor. His voice was a soothing balm on her frayed nerves, and by the sound of it, it was working on Candace as well. Sometimes Linda forgot that there was a time where Lawrence and Ferb where together, with just each other.

"Then let him sleep. He'll be okay."

The voice that answered, was quiet and meek, very unlike their normally boisterous daughter, "okay, we can do that."

"We'll try to get home as soon as we can."

As the phone call ended, Linda looked outside the window again, never wanting to be home at their daughter's request more than at that moment.

By the time she had raced up stairs, Phineas had Ferb in the bath tub with cool water running from the tap.

"Mom and Dad say not to cool him too much."

"Yeah, he'll go in shock."

Candace shifted her gaze to her redheaded brother. She was sick with worry, but she couldn't imagine what her brother felt since the two boys had shared such and deep connection since childhood.

"Are you doing okay?"

Shaking his head, "no, I will be as soon as Ferb is though."

"Same here."

Reaching her hand out, she brushed a lock of green hair out of Ferb's face. He flinched at the touch and his eyes opened.

'I feel so tired,' Ferb thought, feeling the water around him, he looked down and found himself in the bathtub, fully clothed.

"Ferb?"

Looking up, he saw both of his siblings looking at him with concern in their eyes.

"You had a seizure, Ferb, and your fever spiked." Phineas explained, "We needed to get your temperature down."

"I need to take your temperature again though. Stay awake Ferb." He could hear his sister's voice, but she sounded so far away.

All of a sudden a shock of cold water was dumped on his head, and his eyes shot open, he hadn't realized that he had closed them.

Candace looked so worried, "stay awake."

He felt the thermometer slip underneath his tongue, and it was held there.

When it was removed, he looked up expectantly.

With a huge sigh, Candace smiled, "one-oh-one."

Phineas whooped and Ferb grinned, still feeling like he'd run three marathons back to back.

"Shall we get out of the water then?" Phineas questioned quietly, "and put some dry clothes on, maybe?"

Candace smiled and started to leave the room, "I have to make a couple calls, but I'll be right back."

Receiving a smile from one brother and an exhausted thumb up from the other, Candace walked out of the washroom feeling better than when she had walked in.

One phone call to cancel the ambulance, and one call to reassure their frantic parents, Candace climbed the staircase, walking past her room, to her brothers' room.

Opening the door and walking in, she saw Phineas making a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor between the boys' beds, while Ferb sat on his bed in the warmest clothing they had found.

"What are you doing?"

"We decided that we were going to make a fort for tonight, while Ferb still had a little fever."

With the littlest pause, Candace nodded and started for her room, "I'll grab some of my stuff."

Both Linda and Lawrence ripped the door open to their home.

They had managed the roads and made it home with the grandparents in tow.

"Kids?" Linda's voice echoed in the empty front room.

"Candace?" She peeked into the kitchen to find nobody there neither.

"Boys?" Her husband called from the downstairs bathroom.

Taking the steps three at a time, she bounded down that hallway with Lawrence hot on her heels, but came to an abrupt stop at the boys' bedroom.

In the middle of the room, between the two beds, were their three children. Phineas had his arms wrapped around his brother, who was sandwiched between his siblings and Candace was curled around facing them both.

Taking a deep breath, Linda leaned against her husband, who stood behind her, and they both watched their kids take care of each other.