Sally and Dib walked to school together holding hands. It has been two weeks since Zim's near victory.
"Have you seen Alex lately?" Dib asked her as they walked.
"No. She hasn't been at the apartment. I went and brought her clothes last week though and Gir and I have been food shopping. I don't think she's left Zim's side much, as far as I know she hasn't left the medical part of his base at all." Sally answered.
"She's really worried isn't she?" Dib asked.
"Yes. I'm just glad that he's alive really. May not want him to take over the Earth but sure as heck wouldn't want him dead." Sally answered. Dib nodded in agreement. They stopped talking about it when they got closer to the school and walked to their lockers together. People were still talking about the two and becoming an "item" and watching them. No one really thought Dib would get a girlfriend, especially a girl as pretty as Sally whom many said behind her back was unnaturally so the way Mr. Sharp (Dev) was handsome.
They went into class and took their seats.
"Will Zim and Alex be at school today?" Dev asked them as they walked in.
"No. I doubt it." Dib answered.
"And can you tell me why not?" He asked.
"Alex still has mono and Zim has been having surgery." Sally answered and decided to stop by Zim's house to tell Alex this so she and Zim would be able to confirm it but for now she and Dib went to their teachers to let them know and gather their work and turn it in for them. They were glad that the school system didn't keep up with attendance as long as their grades stayed up so Alex did both her homework and Zim's so his grades wouldn't fall either, and besides doing various thing to help Gir or the computer she had a lot of time on her hands by sticking around. She was glad that they could type up their work so she didn't have to worry about knowing how to write in Zim's handwriting.
While Sally and Dib were in school Alex was searching through a medicine cabinet for the medication that the computer had indicated and put the proper amount in a syringe and put it in the IV so it would be injected into Zim. She was glad that there was less medication needed and the computer gave approximate wake up time every so often along with the condition he was currently in. Alex had almost had a panic attack about six days ago because he had fallen under critical condition and she was afraid she would kill him as she followed the directions the computer gave her.
"Condition stable, approximate wake up time twelve hours." The computer said.
"Really?" Alex asked surprised and glad.
"So far." The computer responded. She just nodded in response and went back to what she was doing like checking the feeding tube and the IV and recording when she gave him his last medication.
"You are very patient. You should become a nurse." The computer said randomly. Alex noticed how bored the computer seemed to be by not being ordered around all the time to do various things so they would often get into a few conversations over the past two weeks.
"I'm really not patient enough for that." Alex responded.
"Just for those you love." The computer stated.
"Yes." She admitted without thinking. She was surprised to find herself admitting this but knew the computer would not tell Zim, or at least she hopped he didn't tell Zim that, she wanted to tell Zim herself, just not yet. She didn't know when, but she knew she wouldn't now or anytime very soon.
Sally walked into the room and said, "Hey there. Brought your work and I should let you know that we told your teachers that you had mono and Zim needed surgery. Which that part was true. How's he doing?" Sally asked giving Alex their assignments.
"Stable and so far twelve more hours give or take." Alex answered.
"Have you been getting any sleep?" Sally asked her noticing how terrible Alex looked.
"Of course I am." Alex lied and noticed the skeptic look on Sally's face and added, "Okay so I haven't been sleeping too well lately."
"Get some sleep please. I'll see you later." Sally answered and left. Alex just nodded in response and sat down and started on the work. It's not like it took her very long, their standards in school were lower in this world than the standards Alex was use to so it was a day at the park for her and Sally. She finished both of their work in an hour or so and fell asleep with her head on Zim's bed.
While she slept the computer piped up, "Wake up time, thirty seconds."
Alex slept through this and Zim's eyes slowly opened after forty seconds after that. He felt like he was full of lead and had trouble moving. He turned his head to see someone sitting next to his bed with their head on the bed. Once his vision cleared he recognized the person as Alex.
He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position and Alex immediately woke up. A smile lit up on her face as she said, "You're awake! How do you feel? Do you need anything?"
"Yes I'm awake. I feel like my body is full of lead and no I don't need anything." Zim answered after he found his voice.
"You look horrible." Zim told her frankly.
"Well thanks, it's this new look I'm working on." Alex said sarcastically.
"How long have I been out?" He asked.
"About two weeks." Alex answered.
"Two weeks?" He nearly shouted and sat up faster and hissed in pain from his side.
"Don't overexert yourself." Alex said to him.
"How long have you been here?" Zim asked he noticed a blush cross Alex's face and said, "Um, just as long as you have been out."
"Why?" He asked suspiciously.
"I wanted to make sure you'd be okay." She answered.
"There were many things that Gir would have needed to do that I couldn't do to keep you alive. Although Gir is competent in certain things he would not have been suitable in certain tasks like following directions for surgery or proper dosages of medication." The computer said to back Alex up.
"Thanks for the backup computer." Alex said.
"Wait, you performed surgery on me?" Zim demanded.
"Well it was either that or let you bleed to death." She countered.
He had nothing to say to that in response. A realization hit him, Alex had been taking care of him almost nonstop and hasn't seemed to really leave his side.
"Oh and Dib and Sally said they would catch us up to speed and brought our homework and class work but don't worry about doing two weeks worth of work I did both of our work and sent it to them so we'd stay caught up but they're going to catch us up to speed just in case." Alex added while searching through the one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle and put it in a syringe. The computer had given her directions on a specific medication to give to Zim when he woke up and injected it into his IV.
"What's that?" Zim asked.
"It's a relaxant. Help to keep you from overexerting yourself so you can finish healing faster." She explained.
"The computer explained these things to you didn't it?" Zim asked with a smirk.
"Most of it yes but relaxing when you're healing is common sense to help you." Alex responded and added, "I'm not afraid to admit when I am ignorant in certain fields and medical and technical fields are definitely not my forte unless it is broken bones and basics."
"You are not good with the medical field and yet you performed surgery on me." Zim said looking like he was going to pass out.
"I know how to follow directions when I want to thank you very much. I did what I had to do when I had to do it. But if it bothers you then you can just tell me to leave and forget about it." She responded.
"No, it's okay. I should be thanking you." Zim said. Alex smiled, it was rare to see this side of Zim, she found his normal side entertaining, but she also liked the calmer more sincere side of him.
"Why did you do my homework for me too?" Zim asked.
"Well it's not like it's hard and I didn't think you needed two weeks worth of homework, tests and class work to do when you woke up so I just added it to my own and either sent them via email or Sally/Dib mail." Alex explained with a shrug, "Not like it was hard."
He chuckled; amused with the way of saying that she sent the work with Sally and Dib. Gir fell down from the ventilation system above and landed on Alex's lap.
"Hi mistress." Gir said with a smile. Gir had gone back to his hyper self when Alex told him that Zim would live and explained why Gir needed to stay out of the way. He listened and obeyed her.
"Gir I've told you I'm not yours or anyone mistress and you know my name." Alex said with a sigh and turned Gir's head to Zim so Gir could see that Zim was awake.
"Master!" Gir said and jumped up to jump on Zim and hug him but Alex kept a hold of the little robots head so he couldn't go anywhere.
"You can't jump on Zim or attack hug him until he's fully recovered. Gentle hugs." Alex said, not even phased by Gir's behavior and already learning how to get Gir to obey without becoming distracted…well most of the time.
"Careful and gentle but I can still hug?" Gir asked.
"Yes if Zim lets you." Alex answered giving Zim a 'just let him hug you' look.
"Alright." Zim answered.
"Yay!" Gir said and climbed from Alex's lap onto the bed and walked up to Zim and gave him a gentle hug. Zim was surprised that Gir actually listened and did as Alex said. Gir then plopped down and curled up next to Zim with his head on Zim's leg and fell asleep with a smile.
"How did you get Gir to listen to you?" Zim asked Alex, knowing that when Gir was asleep it could be hard to wake him up.
"Gir is like a child, an ADHD child. You need patients but the thing with children is even if they don't always listen they still look up to you, being the smarter and older one. To keep them on track you need to often bribe them, which I'm sure you've learned, but keeping Gir from attack hugging you the way he wanted I needed to tell him why he couldn't, you're not fully recovered and he can plainly see that you are hurt, but still let him hug you if he restrains himself so he still gets what he wants as long as he controls himself." Alex explained.
"So you need parenting skills to keep Gir in control?" Zim asked.
"More or less but all parents learn when they first have children, Gir is sort of like your first child but being just you "raising him," so to speak and him being as hyper as he is and having a hard time staying on track it's harder." Alex answered.
Sally and Dib sat in Dib's living room working on homework together when the phone rang. Dib made no move to get it until there was a shout from upstairs from Gaz yelling, "Answer the damn phone!"
Dib got up and picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Zim's awake!" Alex said, she couldn't hide the happiness in her voice very well despite the fact that she tried to.
"Really? Okay should we come over to brief you on school?" Dib asked.
Alex turned to Zim and asked him.
"The Dib worm? Coming into my base? No way." Zim answered.
"Come on Zim we need to get caught up and they can help us so we know what story to give our teachers. It'll only be for a little bit, once their finished Sally and I will get Dib out. We already have a plan." Alex insisted nicely with a small smile and added, "Please?"
Dib and Sally were listening on speakerphone.
"What?" Dib asked Sally referring to what Alex had said.
"Hey at least if Zim says yes then you'll have a chance to go into his base without getting caught in a trap or a muffin getting shot at your head." Sally said with an innocent smile that Dib couldn't resist. He kissed her and said, "Okay, okay." She smiled.
"Fine, but the minute they are finished I want them out." Zim said. Alex gave a small smile and said, "Thank you. You're the best."
Zim smiled a little at that while Alex turned back to the phone and said that it was okay. She hung up and said, "They are on their way over."
He just nodded and said, "So you think I'm the best?"
"Well that phrase can be taken in many different ways so it would depend on what you mean. In many ways I would consider you to be "the best" but then there are other things to consider like patients. You aren't the most patient person on the universe, so I wouldn't consider you to be "the best" when it comes to that." Alex said vaguely.
"Alright Miss Literal and Vague one." Zim said rolling his eyes.
Did you really think I would actually kill off Zim?