The Comfort Of Saturdays
Ames White thought it would be just like always - arrive at the agreed location, leaving his conditioning and prejudice outside to indulge in some nasty physical relief. But when he pushed the door open and found her shaking in the bathtub, burning with a fever and almost unconscious - everything changed.
"What can I do?!" he begged, worry making his voice sharp.
"Call TC," she croaked before another shudder racked her thin frame and prevented further speech as her lips clenched together against a whimper.
For a moment, her condition left him immobile; but his wits returned and he pulled out his cell phone, thumbing a number that he never thought he'd ring.
The terse call that followed included sharing the address of the hotel and dodging explanations of why he was there - and being helpful.
While he waited for them to arrive, White dragged Max out of the bath and wrapped her in the mercifully clean quilt, holding her on the bed and wiping a cold cloth over her forehead to reduce her temperature.
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They knocked before pushing into the room; which surprised him more than it should - hadn't she been telling him for months, that they were more than animals...
A young woman stepped forward and started asking questions about Max's fever. He answered as best he could but didn't know anything more than what he'd told them on the phone. She appeared to be a medic, pulling some kind of syringe from a pocket, and feeling Max's forehead for an idea of just how hot the X5 was running.
No-one else spoke. And Ames was thankful that 494 hadn't come along - he couldn't face the thought of the cocky Transgenic right now.
Max moaned as they moved her off the bed, one of the male X5's cradling their tiny leader in his arms.
The small party of Transgenics reached the door and Ames suddenly moved.
He laid a hand softly on the medic's arm - repressing a snarl as she flinched.
"Rub a little ice on the back of her neck. She likes that..." he murmured.
The medic looked shocked but nodded an acknowledgement before gesturing for the others to continue downstairs.
He had decided to wait in the room until they had left but Ames found that he couldn't stand there without one last look.
His feet took him quickly to the parking lot.
They were sliding her blanket-wrapped silent figure into a beat-up van.
In the doorway, he found he couldn't go any further - something held him back from disturbing the tableau.
The medic had her hand on the doorframe to swing herself inside the van when she glanced back, seeing him leaning in the doorway.
"She'll be alright," she called. "We take care of our own."
Ames nodded, grateful for the reassurance even as a startling thought snuck up on him.
Why should he care?
It was just sex, right?
Right...?