In Sickness and in Health
Her cough echoed throughout the hallways as she walked toward the meeting room. She had a fair amount of paperwork to do today so she had planned to go to the morning meeting and then spend the majority of the day in her office.
The doors opened and she met the eyes of her team. All except Ramsay were there sitting at the table.
"Morning Caffrey" J.T said.
"Morning J.T…guys" She nodded at the others. They all greeted her as she sat down. Ramsay came through the doors not too long after her. She was still coughing, her throat burning as she sipped on her tea.
"You don't look so hot Caffrey!" Ramsay said, noticing her pale, clammy looking skin as he sat down beside her.
She turned and gave him a death stare, as did the others.
"What!?" He exclaimed, raising his hands. He saw J.T glaring at him. "Sorry" He said sheepishly.
She cleared her throat. "It's fine. I'll be fine, it's just a cold. Let's get to work gentlemen"
The meeting went for close to 30 minutes as they briefed on their recent discoveries. Cavennaugh was hardly paying attention as he kept a close eye on Molly. She didn't look well at all and he could see that she was struggling throughout the meeting. They all dissipated from the room, leaving Molly and J.T. He grabbed her arm gently as she was about to leave.
"We'll be fine today. You go and get some rest. I'll let you know if anything urgent comes up"
"Thanks…I was just going to catch up on some paperwork anyway so I'll be fine." She smiled weakly at him, trying to reassure him that she was fine, despite feeling like absolute shit.
"Okay. Let me know if you need anything." She nodded and made her way out of the room and slowly towards the elevator. She had a fair amount of paperwork to do but that could wait. 'I'll just take a nap for an hour' she thought to herself, making her way up to her apartment.
Once there, she took some ibuprofen, changed into something more comfortable and hopped into bed. It had been a while since she had felt this sick. Her eyes closed and she was out to the world.
Later that afternoon when Cavennaugh had finished his work, he thought he would check on Molly. To his surprise she wasn't in her office. The only other place she could be was her apartment. He text her asking if she was feeling any better. No reply. He waited 20 minutes before attempting to call her. No answer. He began to feel anxious as he decided to just go and check on her. His apartment was on the same floor anyway.
Once he got to her door, he knocked. Waiting for a few minutes, he knocked again. Still nothing. He was beginning to get impatient.
"Molly?" He spoke loudly, hoping she would hear him.
"Molly it's Cavennaugh. I'm coming in." He went to pick the lock but noticed that the door was unlocked. 'Weird, Molly wouldn't leave the door unlocked' he thought to himself. Something was wrong.
He looked around, then heard her cough from the bedroom. It sounded awful and no doubt painful for her. Making his way to her bedroom, he opened the door slowly. Once he saw her, he rushed over to her side. She was laying on her side, coughing and spluttering. She had tears in her eyes as she noticed him there. He helped her sit up, guiding her with his arm around her waist to a sitting position on the side of the bed. He didn't let go.
"Hey" She managed as he grabbed a glass of water off her bedside table and handed it to her. She took a sip, struggling to swallow it down as it felt like swallowing razor blades.
"Hey yourself. I'm gonna call Fenway okay? You've gotten so much worse since this morning, and you feel like you're burning up" He said as he brought his hand up to her forehead.
"Mmmk" She agreed, leaning into his shoulder for support. Her whole body felt weak.
Cavennaugh reached for his phone and call Fenway.
"Hey doc, we need you up here in Molly's apartment. She's gotten a lot worse since this morning"
"I'll be there in 5" He simply said, grabbing his medical bag.
Cavennaugh reached behind him to grab another pillow, putting it on top of the other and helping Molly to slide back into bed.
"You should sit more upright okay, you might have fluid on your lungs" He gently guided her backwards until she was resting her back against the pillows.
She managed a smile for him. He was so gently and caring, she really wasn't used to having someone around that cared for her as much as he did. The concern on his face remained as he impatiently waited for Fenway to arrive.
Fenway walked through the door minutes later, walking straight into the bedroom where they were.
He checked her over, taking a blood test and throat swab as well.
He finished up gathering what he needed from her.
"I'm not leaving her alone like this" Cavennaugh stated, looking over at her while she dozed in and out of consciousness.
"That's fine.' Fenway could sense the deep concern Cavennaugh had for her. 'I'm ordering her to 4 days bed rest. Judging by her symptoms, I'd say it's highly likely that she has the flu. I'll run the tests back at the lab and I should have the results by the afternoon. I want you to stay with her, make sure she takes her meds and drinks enough water" Fenway ordered, listening to her chest once more with his stethoscope. The crackly noise he heard confirmed that there was indeed fluid on her lungs and if she wasn't careful it could turn into pneumonia.
Cavennaugh listened carefully to the doctor. He hadn't planned on leaving Molly alone anyway but was happy to hear Fenway agreeing that she shouldn't be alone. At least this way he could make sure she got better, not worse.
"Is it contagious?" Cavennaugh asked the doctor.
"Well, like all cold and flu's there's a risk that you could contract the virus too however you have had your flu injection right?" Cavennaugh nodded. "Well that's something. Just make sure you don't get too close to her and here, use this hand sanitizer" He handed Cavennaugh the small bottle.
Her coughing sounded awful as she tried to expel the fluid on her lungs. Cavennaugh handed her a tissue and her glass of water.
"Right. Well you seem to be in good hands here. I'm going back to my lab but I'll come by to check up on you around 8pm with the results" Fenway gathered his things and Cavennaugh walked with him to the door.
"If she gets worse, call me straight away. She's got a fair amount of fluid on her lungs and I'm worried it could turn into pneumonia. I've given her ibuprofen so that should help with the fever. Before you ask, Baylock knows already so don't worry. You're both covered."
Cavennaugh nodded appreciatively shutting the door behind the doctor and making his way back to the bedroom. He went into the bathroom and grabbed a small face towel, dousing it in cold water. He came back and sat by her, gently dabbing her forehead where the tiny beads of sweat lay.
"Thank you" She mumbled, attempting a small smile.
He smiled. Even when she was as sick as anything, she still looked beautiful. His feelings for her were real and deeper than he had felt for anyone before. Maybe it was because of the situation they were in. Who knew.
Satisfied that she was able to rest comfortably for now, he made his way to the living room where he sat on her couch with his laptop.
'May as well make use of the time' He thought to himself.
He was able to get through his reports for the past few days and some preparation work for a new facility they were building to hold the infectees. As the number of infectees grew, the workload increased significantly. The red team had all moved into their apartments in the building not long after the events of Allenville.
He actually wasn't surprised Molly was sick as she had been pushing herself and he knew she had also been having trouble sleeping due to the nightmares. He had also experienced sleepless nights more frequently.
Fenway came by at 8 with the results. She had influenza. He gave Cavennaugh a bunch of medications for her to take including some vitamins.
"Are you going to stay here tonight?" Fenway asked.
Cavennaugh looked up at him. "Uh…I guess. I can just sleep here on the couch" He said awkwardly.
"Good." Fenway started to leave but then turned back. "She's lucky to have you"
Cavennaugh stood there, staring at the door as Fenway left. He was surprised he actually agreed that he should stay there with her. It did make sense though, if she did get worse, no one would know. At least this way he could be there in an instant if she needed him.
He decided to try and sneak in a few hours sleep for himself whilst she was asleep.
