Sneezes, Sniffles, and Stories
Audrey Heller rubbed her temples gingerly, trying to relive the pain from the headache spreading across her forehead. She'd been trying to ignore it all day, but she could tell that she was coming down with something. As much as she tried to pretend it wasn't happening, she was failing fast.
Jack glanced at her from across the room. She could feel his gaze on the back of her head, but she would not acknowledge it. If she admitted that she was sick, she wouldn't be able to fake it. One more hour…
She'd taken two Advil, but it didn't seem to be working. She pinched the bridge of her nose. The computer screen seemed so bright… so blurry, so far away. She risked a look in Jack's direction and found him staring directly at her, a look of genuine concern across his face. She shook her head decidedly. Don't worry. I'm okay. As much as she just wanted to curl up in his lap and go to sleep, she had to stick it out for a little longer. After all, there were more important things than her own personal comfort.
Somehow, Audrey found herself in the backseat of Jack's SUV a bit later, not quite sure how she'd come to be there and beyond caring. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
She felt Jack's fingertips gently brush her cheek after the car had stopped in their driveway, and she knew he could feel the heat radiating off her body. He didn't say anything, but it was obvious that he knew. "Come on, let's get you inside." Ignoring her feeble protests, he gathered her into his arms and carried her into the house. Audrey felt like a child—but she knew that her legs wouldn't hold her up, so she allowed Jack to carry her. She fell onto the living room couch with a groan. "How do you feel?" Jack asked as he tucked a worn afghan around her.
Audrey sneezed. "My head hurts, my throat's on fire, and my nose and chest are congested...can't breathe," she rasped.
Jack headed for the bathroom. "Let me find you some Comtrex or something." He returned in a few minutes with two orange capsules and a glass of water. Audrey choked as she obediently swallowed the pills, trying not to gag at the bitter, gluey taste they left behind. Jack smoothed her hair off of her forehead. "Do you want anything to eat? Some soup, maybe?" Wordlessly, Audrey nodded as she buried her face in the couch pillow. A sympathetic smile crossed Jack's face, and he stood and went towards the kitchen. This was the sweet, kind side of Jack Bauer's personality, the side that his enemies never saw, and Audrey thought it was adorable. With a smile on her lips, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, ignoring the smells of the chicken soup that was being heated in the kitchen.
Audrey woke in the early hours of the morning, shaking with chills and yet burning up with fever. She realized that, while she had been asleep, Jack had changed her out of her skirt and suit jacket and into her pajamas and had carried her to bed. Staggering unsteadily, she made her way into the master bathroom. Maybe, if she could just splash some cool water on her face, she would feel better... She groaned as she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the bathroom mirror: She was one big scary mess. Her hair was a frizzy nest of tangles, smudged mascara lined her cheeks, and despite her lengthy nap, she had some pretty serious bags under her eyes. "Nice one, Heller," she muttered. "I look like something from Scream II." With a grimace, she wet a washcloth under the tap and raised it to her forehead. Suddenly, her stomach churned sickeningly, and the cloth fell from her fingers as she wheeled around to lean over the toilet.
Seconds later, the door flew open. Then, Jack was kneeling next to her, rubbing her back in small, soothing circles as she retched and gagged. When the vomiting had ceased, he held a glass of water to Audrey's lips. She jerked her head back, resisting, but lacked the strength to put up a fight. Grimly, she took a few sips to rid her mouth of the bitter taste that her nausea had left behind.
Jack's cool hand brushed her forehead, and his brow furrowed. "You're burning up! Get back in bed... Are you finished in here?"
Audrey nodded. "For now." She allowed Jack to help her back into bed, and then she heard the toilet flushing and water running in the bathroom. Jack returned a few minutes later with a thermometer, which he slipped into her mouth. "A hundred and two. You are not going to CTU tomorrow," he said firmly. Normally, she would have argued, but Audrey was too miserable to even think about going to work. "Well," Jack said with a wry smile, "your bad cold is gone...but it got replaced by an even worse flu bug."
Audrey moaned. "Some comfort." Jack smiled sympathetically, and brushed her matted hair off of her forehead.
"Go back to sleep," he coaxed. "I'll be right here."
Audrey sighed. "Sorry," she muttered through chapped lips. "Thanks for taking care of me, but you're probably going to get sick now."
Jack made a sound that was halfway between a sigh and a laugh. "Audrey, do you have any idea how many times I went through this with Kim when she was little? That usually ended with both Teri and me getting sick with the flu. Trust me, I can handle this." He stroked her hair. "Go back to sleep."
Audrey closed her eyes, and Jack gathered her into his arms. As she drifted off to sleep, Jack watched her and allowed his mind to wander back to one of the times that he had told Audrey about. With a sigh, he thought back to a night nearly eighteen years ago...
"Daddy?" Jack sat up, instantly awake. Four-year-old Kim, clad in her pink Cinderella pajamas, stood at the doorway of his and Teri's room, clutching a worn teddy bear. Her silky blond hair was matted and standing up in all directions, and tears streaked her cheeks as she padded across the room and nestled into his arms.
By now, Teri was awake too. "Kim? What's the matter, sweetie?" she asked groggily.
Kim snuggled closer against her father's chest. "I threw up," she whimpered pitifully. "My tummy hurts."
Teri stroked her hair. "It's okay," she soothed. She placed a hand against Kim's forehead. "You have a fever. I'll have Daddy get some medicine for you. You can sleep with Mommy and Daddy tonight; how's that?" Kim sniffled and nodded, and Jack placed her in Teri's arms and went to find the thermometer, a glass of water, and the bottle of children's Motrin.
Obediently, Kim held the glass thermometer under her tongue for what seemed like an endless three minutes to all of them. At last, Teri took it and held it up to the light. "One-oh-three," she said to Jack. "Where's the Motrin?" He handed her the plastic dosage cup filled with pale orange liquid.
Kim took one look at the medication and buried her face in Teri's neck. "No," she said against her mother's shoulder.
"Come on," Teri coaxed, holding out the cup.
Kim, with her thumb planted firmly in her mouth, shook her head determinedly. "Icky," she mumbled around her thumb. "I don't want it."
"Honey, you have a fever," Jack said patiently. "You're hot. That can't feel good." He held up the plastic dosage cup. "Look, there's not that much. I know it tastes nasty, but it will bring your fever down. Don't you want to feel better?" Kim nodded, but glared at the Motrin.
At last, with her lower lip sticking out in a typical four-year-old's pouting face; she took the small medicine cup and eyed it suspiciously. Slowly, hesitantly, with a disgusted grimace, she swallowed the liquid and thrust the empty cup at her mother. "Yucky."
Teri smiled sympathetically. "I know. Thank you for taking it, though." She handed the cup and the Motrin bottle back to Jack. "Why don't I make you a bed next to ours? You can sleep in here tonight." Kim nodded, and Teri placed her on their bed while she busily prepared a thick, cozy pallet of blankets and pillows on the floor. "There. Nice and comfy," she crooned as she placed Kim on the soft "bed", where the little girl immediately curled into a small, pitiful ball and drifted off to sleep.
The night passed slowly; with Kim waking every few hours, vomiting and crying. With tired sighs, Teri and Jack curled up next to her, wrapped their arms around the child's small, feverish body, and drifted off to sleep together.
A few days later, Jack woke with a scratchy throat and a pounding headache. With a groan, he fell back against the pillows. "You have got to be kidding me."
Audrey, still looking pale but feeling much better, smiled sympathetically. "I warned you that I'd get you sick," she said, laughing slightly. "Have fun. It'll probably turn into an upset stomach and all the other lovely flu stuff in about a day and a half," she added grimly.
Jack grimaced. "Great." With a sigh, he burrowed under the bedcovers again.
A few hours later, he shakily made his way downstairs into the living room. Audrey was curled up on the couch, with a meager breakfast of scrambled eggs and dry toast in her lap. She sat her plate aside and turned to Jack. "Looks like it's my turn to take care of you," she said with a smile. "Can I get you anything?"
"I could use some Comtrex or something, and a glass of water," Jack replied, "but I'll get it. You don't need to."
Audrey shook her head. "You took care of me and helped me out; I'm going to return the favor. You stay on the couch. Two Comtrex pills, coming right up," she added. With another smile, Audrey headed for the hall bathroom, returning shortly with the medicine, a glass of water, and the newspaper from the kitchen table. Jack smiled, tiredly, thanking her. Audrey sat down on the couch next to him, and together they read that day's news. Jack allowed his mind to drift again...
A few days after her nasty bout with the flu, Kim was still weak and shaky, but feeling better. Jack peeked into her bedroom, and found her in bed, playing with Barbie dolls. "Hey, sweetie," he said with a smile, crossing the room to sit on her bed. "How do you feel?"
Kim let the doll that she was holding fall into her lap, along with the Barbie-doll-sized red dress that Teri had sewn for her. "My head feels lots better," she told him with a sunny smile, "but my tummy still hurts."
"Well, remember what the doctor said?" Jack answered. "Your tummy will still be upset for a few more days. You should feel better by Friday."
"But that's so long," Kim wailed. "I want to be better now. I want to go back to preschool. Miss Wilson was reading the "Corduroy" bear stories to us, and I missed them!"
Jack ruffled her hair. "If you ask her nicely, I bet she'll read them again. For now, how about I read "Goodnight Moon?"
Kim nodded eagerly. "That's my most favorite book in the whole world," she said with a grin.
"Okay, then." Jack retrieved the well-read, slightly tattered paperback book from Kim's bookshelf, opened it, and began to read:
" 'In the great green room there was a telephone, and a red balloon.
And two little kittens, and a pair of mittens.
Goodnight moon.
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon,
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush.
Goodnight stars, goodnight air,
Goodnight noises everywhere.' "
Audrey's voice brought Jack out of his thoughts. "Jack? You're a million miles away. What are you thinking about?
Jack shook his head. "Nothing in particular," he told her. "I was just remembering when Kim was little. She'd sit in my lap, and we'd look at books together. Her favorite was 'Goodnight Moon.' "
Audrey smiled. "I used to love that book. My dad would read it to me over and over when I was little...I think it eventually fell apart," she laughed. "Let's see, how did it go? Oh, yeah. 'In the great green room there was a telephone, and a red balloon...And two little kittens, and a pair of mittens...' "
As Audrey laughingly recited the story, Jack's vision blurred. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could swear that he heard Kim's high-pitched voice at four years old, repeating the familiar words aloud. Jack pulled Audrey closer to him and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Quietly, he spoke the last line with her:
" 'Goodnight stars, goodnight air, Goodnight noises everywhere.' "
Then, with a smile, Jack adjusted the afghan that Audrey had tucked over him, and together they sat on the couch, sharing memories and familiar lines from old childhood books. For now, at least, they were content and everything was right with their world.
THE END