There seemed to be no improvement in sight over the next few days. John had a high fever and stayed in Mark's bed. While David and Pick went out to bars in the evenings, Mark didn't leave the edge of the bed. To be honest, he was quite worried about the bassist. High fever, no food and dehydration were not a good combination. He had also become the leader of the band, which also gave him a sense of obligation. While the bassist spent most of the day sleeping, Mark sat silently in his armchair, reading a book or writing new lyrics. After two days, Pauline, John's girlfriend, came to see him. She had brought some medicine from England that would hopefully help.

"Hello, Pauline." Mark sighed as he hugged her in greeting.

"Hi, Mark. How's John?" She asked worriedly. Mark led her into the room. She gasped in shock when she found her boyfriend sweaty, exhausted and quite starving between the white sheets. "John?" She asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, which had become Mark's usual spot. She put a hand on his cheek. The bassist opened his eyes wearily and took a shaky breath through his cracked lips.

"Mark?" He croaked.

"No. It's me, honey. Your Pauline." The girl said softly. John blinked dazedly.

"Pauline? You're here?"

"Yes." She smiled sadly. "I'm here. Everything will be fine, okay? Don't worry."

"I love you." John croaked. Mark stood silently behind Pauline and looked down at his friend with concern.

"I know, honey. I know. I love you too." Pauline whimpered with tears in her eyes. "Get some sleep." John fell asleep again almost immediately. Mark put a worried hand on the girl's shoulder and rubbed it with his thumb.

*

Mark had showered. When he left the bathroom, he saw Pauline sitting on the armchair, struggling to stay awake. The guitarist walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey." He said quietly. She woke up from her micro sleep with a start. "Go to bed."

"I... I'm not tired." She replied and rubbed her eyes. Mark giggled a little.

"Go to sleep. You need it."

"What about you?" She asked quietly. Mark shrugged and rubbed his wet hair with a towel. He had already got dressed in the bathroom.

"I used to only sleep three hours a day. I can handle it. But you should lie down." The girl bit her lower lip worriedly. "You can sleep next to John. There's enough room in the bed." Pauline smiled slightly and sighed before she put on her pyjamas in the bathroom and lay down in bed next to John. She pulled the second blanket over her body and crawled towards her boyfriend. Mark sat down on the armchair with a sigh and turned his gaze to the two people in his bed.

"You should sleep too, Mark." Pauline said quietly. Mark smiled slightly.

"Don't worry about me. Do you mind if I leave the reading lamp on? I'd like to write a letter." Pauline smiled slightly.

*

Another day passed, but John's fever did not improve. Since he had been in bed for almost five days, Pauline and Mark decided to wash him and change the bed sheets. Since Pauline could not carry the 6'5" (1,95m) man, she asked Mark to do it. Since Mark himself was only 6'2" (1,83m), it was not easy for him, but with some effort he managed to lift the bassist from the bed bridal style.

"Mark?" John croaked dazedly as his head rolled against the guitarist's collarbone.

"Mhm." Mark grumbled with exertion and bit his lower lip. He pushed John up and carried him to the bathroom. Pauline was already waiting next to the bathtub.

"Where are we going?" The bassist whispered. Mark didn't answer. His face was red with exertion as he balanced the bassist's weight in his arms. Pauline pulled John's t-shirt off his head, as well as his pants, leaving the bassist in his underwear, while he was still lying in Mark's arms.

"Move to the side." Mark gasped as he tried to put John in the tub without dropping him. Pauline nodded quickly and moved to the side to give him space. Mark sank to his knees and placed John in the warm water. The bassist winced when he felt the water. Mark pulled his arms out of the water. The sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt were now wet, but he didn't care.

"Thank you." Pauline smiled. Mark nodded as he stood up.

"I'll get a maid and ask her to change the sheets while you wash him."

"Thank you." She repeated with a smile and knelt next to the tub.

*

"Mark? Mark, are you awake?"

"Huh? What?" Mark rubbed his eyes groggily and sat up in his chair. His gaze fell on Pauline, who was sitting in bed next to John. The bassist coughed loudly.

"Could you maybe get some cough syrup for John? The bottle's empty." Mark rubbed his eyes groggily and stood up, stretching.

"Yeah. I'll see what I can do." The guitarist took a step and would've fallen on the ground, if he hadn't caught himself on the bedpost.

"Mark!" Pauline exclaimed worriedly. Mark raised his hand to calm her down and gasped a little.

"I'm fine." Pauline stood up and rubbed his shoulder worriedly.

"No. You're not fine. You should rest. Sit down. I'll get the cough syrup myself. You should sleep." Mark shook his head.

"Stay with John. I'll get the syrup." The guitarist got up, put on his shoes and coat and left the room. Pauline watched him anxiously. John began to move in bed, which immediately caught her attention. She rushed to his side.

"Pauline?" He coughed weakly.

"Yes. It's me." She smiled gently. "Your fever has gone down a bit, darling. You'll feel better soon."

"Where's Mark?" John croaked and tried to sit up to look at the chair, but it was empty.

"He just went to get you some medicine, darling. He's fine." She hummed and gently stroked John's hair. John took a laboured breath.

"Is he sleeping?"

"What do you mean?" She asked worriedly, still playing with his soft curls.

"Mark. Is he sleeping? You have to force him, honey." Towards the end of the sentence, John's voice trailed off as he began to feel tired again. "He won't sleep unless you force him. You have to..."

"Sh." Pauline hummed and kissed John's forehead. "Rest. Get some sleep. You'll feel better soon."

*

Barely two hours later, Mark returned from the pharmacy with a bag. He watched his sleeping friend worriedly as he handed the bag to Pauline.

"How is he?"

"Better." She sighed, looking at the various products Mark had bought. "You should rest yourself, Mark."

"Pfft. I'm fine." Mark replied with a quick wave of his hand and sat down in the armchair. Pauline raised her head worriedly and looked at him.

"You've been on your feet for a few days now. You really should get some sleep. And you should eat something. Whatever the maid brings, you give it to me and don't eat anything of it yourself." Mark sighed.

"Don't worry about me. You should worry about your boyfriend instead." Pauline sighed resignedly and did just that.

*

Another day had passed, John's fever had dropped further. Pauline washed his forehead with a cool washcloth and listened to the argument going on outside the hotel room door. Mark and Pick were arguing quite loudly, so that she could even hear it through the closed door.

"We should finally perform, Mark!" Pick exclaimed. "We're losing fans because of this! We have to get on stage!"

"John's fucking sick, if you haven't noticed!" Mark exclaimed angrily. "We can't perform!"

"We'll get another bass player. Just until he gets better and..."

"Shut the fuck up! That's out of the question! Either with John or nothing! We're a band! We're family!"

"Who said you decide, huh!?" Pick shouted angrily. "I'm losing my career because of you!"

"Is your career more important to you than your friend!?" Mark shouted angrily. "Stop this shit, Pick! Either we play with John or not at all! That's my final word!"

"You don't have any command here, Mark!"

"I'm too tired for this shit, Pick!" Mark shouted. Pauline flinched as his deep voice echoed throughout the building. "I haven't slept in days and I have so much shit to sort out that I really don't have time to deal with a drummer's concerns and problems! My bass player almost died of food poisoning! If you really want to play, then you're not only going to have to get a bass player, you're going to have to get a singer and a second guitarist too! Either with John or without him and without me! Because I'm not playing, if he's not playing. Now get the fuck out!" Pauline flinched as Mark stormed into the room angrily and rummaged in his jacket pocket for cigarettes before walking out onto the hotel room's small balcony. Pauline stood up and followed him. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. The guitarist shook violently as he took a drag on his cigarette.

"Thank you, Mark." She said quietly. He turned his head and looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Thank you for remaining loyal to John. He appreciates it." Mark smiled weakly.

"Of course. He's my friend. How is he? Is he better?"

"A little. Yes. I ordered soup for him at the reception. But that was about two hours ago. I guess they forgot." Mark put his cigarette in the ashtray and took a deep breath.

"I'll go down there and ask."

"You don't have to, really, I..." Mark leaned down and kissed the young woman on her cheek.

"It's no trouble for me."

*

Two more days passed and John's health finally improved. The cough had disappeared, the fever was steadily decreasing, his stomach pain had disappeared. But he was still in bed. Pauline kept feeding him soup in the moments when he wasn't sleeping from exhaustion. Mark sat in his armchair most of the time and watched the couple. He slept a few hours a day, but it was nowhere near enough, which was evident in the dark circles under his eyes. On the morning of September 17th, John woke up and felt fit again for the first time in days. He rolled sleepily onto his side and smiled gently when he saw Pauline lying next to him. He leaned down and gently kissed her lips. The girl opened her eyes in confusion, but smiled when she saw her boyfriend's brown doe eyes.

"John. You're fine." She sighed with relief. He nodded, smiling, and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks to you, my love." She smiled and kissed him hard.

"I'm so glad you're fine. I was really worried." John sat up in bed.

"I'm hungry." Pauline burst out laughing. Typical John.

"Don't worry. I'll call the reception and order an extra large breakfast for you." John smiled and put an arm around his girlfriend. Suddenly the room door opened, revealing David Knopfler, along with Pick Withers. The two looked surprised to see the bassist awake.

"John! You're awake!" David exclaimed excitedly. "How are you, mate? I was starting to worry!"

"I'm fine." John laughed as he was hugged by the rhythm guitarist. "I'm fine. No more worries, Dave." David giggled slightly as he pulled away from the hug.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." Pick smiled gently. He had apologized to Mark and David because he had realized after the argument that he had been wrong. John smiled.

"Where's Mark?" He asked in surprise when he looked around the room but couldn't see the guitarist anywhere. David bit his lower lip and looked at Pauline.

"Honey, he... he's not feeling well." She said quietly and put her hand on John's cheek.

"What do you mean?" John asked confused. "Is he sick?"

"No. He just hasn't been sleeping, that's all." David sighed. "You know him. As soon as one of us isn't feeling well, he becomes a mother hen." John giggled a little. "He's in my room and sleeping."

"He's done a lot for you, darling." Pauline said and stroked John's hand. She began to tell the story, which John didn't know about as he was constantly sleeping or unconscious.

"We told him to sleep." David sighed. Suddenly the door opened and a deep voice said:

"I was sleeping. 8 hours straight. Nothing you could really complain about now, eh?" Everyone turned their heads and smiled as they saw Mark, who had entered the hotel room. "Hey, John." He smiled gently as he saw the bassist sitting up in his bed, safe and sound.

"Hi, Mark." The bassist smiled back, taking in the sight of the guitarist. He could see the dark circles under his eyes and knew his friends hadn't been lying to him.

"How are you?"

"Ah, come here you idiot." John giggled, holding out his arms. Mark giggled as he walked towards him and they hugged tightly. "Thanks for looking after me, mate. Pauline told me everything." Mark smiled gently and hugged John tightly.

"You don't have to thank me. I'm just glad you're fine again. I would've done it for anyone in this room." John smiled as they broke the embrace.

"But next time, take care of yourself too, okay? Damn, you can't go without sleep, you idiot." Mark giggled shyly, which made everyone in the room laugh. In the end, everything had turned out well.

THE END;)