Kay….I noticed in last weeks episode that the men of the Hammersley have a tendency of falling unconscious. First Chefo and Jaffer and then RO, not to mention next week two of them get food poisoning….
So, here's my little take on what would happen if it was Mike's turn. …..
Hope you like! Reviews would be much appreciated ;D
Disclaimer: Don't own a thing
Mike Flynn hadn't taken a sick day since primary school.
In fact, he struggled to remember the last time he felt remotely off colour. He'd had his fair share of hangovers, though never when he had to work the following day and even when he was a little out of it, it had never effected him to such an extent that he it was ready to curl up in a ball and sleep for the next few day's. He was a pillar of good health and fitness, or so he liked to think, and it seemed to the rest of the crew that he held some alien immunity to what ever sickness they had all managed to succumb to.
An invisible shield had protected him for most of his adult life but for some unknown reason that shield seemed to be failing so that now all he wanted to do was close his eyes and forget about the rest of the world around him. He wasn't used to having gymnastic competitions in his stomach; he didn't know how to handle the rock concert banging in his head and he didn't even want to think about the ton of bricks that seemed to be weighing down every muscle in his body. He'd decided very early on, when getting out of bed had been a five minute struggle, that being sick really really sucked and then had preceded to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
"Sir I really think you should go back to bed" advised Kate, looking sceptically at the man by her side. She'd never seen someone look so bad, which surprised and scared her greatly as Mike Flynn very rarely, looked bad.
"I'm fine X" came the croak of a reply. Kate scoffed silently at his words. He was struggling to stand with the rock of the boat and the steadying hand he had placed on the chair in front of him hadn't escaped her notice. Kate ran a hand through her hair with annoyance, calling on all her patience not to haul him down stairs herself as he all but tripped over his own feet.
"Mike" she scolded, trying to keep her voice low. The last thing she felt like was an odd look from Nav and ET after such a personal comment.
"I said I'm fine" replied Mike, before a fit of congested coughs caused him to double over slightly. His hand flew to his mouth in an attempt to smother them but all he succeeded in doing was lose his balance, sending him stumbling head first into the small frame of his second in command. One very annoyed second in command he noted as he raised his head slowly to look at her. Kate glanced down at the man bent over in front of her, seemingly unshaken by the sudden barrage into her personal space. Mike laid his rough hand around her waist to steady himself momentarily as his head lay parallel to her stomach.
"Your going to end up killing your self if you keep going like this" noted Kate dryly, fully aware that everyone's attention had been turned to the two but not really caring now. Her mission was to get Mike Flynn in bed and if he insisted on making a fool of himself in the process, that was his problem.
She lifted his head slightly so that she could see his paling face properly.
"Bloody hell" she muttered, amazed at how glazed his usually vibrant brown eyes were. "Did you get any sleep last night?" she asked, inspecting his face as you would a young child's. Mike couldn't find the strength to answer verbally; instead he shrugged his shoulders slowly and allowed Kate to pull his face this way and that, enjoying the feel of being so close to her once more and the cool hand caressing his burning cheek. His eyelids started to droop as the motion against his face drifted into a pattern. His head was shutting it self down, ready for a good rest and if Kate hadn't placed a strong hand against his shoulder he would have fallen asleep right against her stomach.
"At least sit down will you?" she asked, breaking him out of his trance.
"I'm fine" he muttered sleepily, hoping his back wouldn't protest to much as he stood up and broke it from the bent position it had adopted. He groaned slightly as the pain shot up to his neck, making him wonder for the first time if this was what it felt like to be old.
'Best not dwell on that thought' he reminded himself, instead focusing on making his way to the chair without another tripping spell.
Nav and ET glanced towards Kate as she watched Mike hobble away.
"He really shouldn't be up" murmured Nav, walking over to stand by Kate.
"I know" sighed the other woman, "but I don't know how we're going to get him into bed" she shrugged, feeling her frustration begin to melt as she saw the pain in his face. If the man didn't insist on being so damn stubborn she might even have felt sorry for him.
"We could call Swain, maybe he can knock some sense into him" suggested Nav, though even she doubted the chances of getting a sick, grumpy Mike Flynn to admit he'd had enough. ET immediately took the hint and left the room, hoping to find the medic before the captain drove everyone crazy.
"I don't think it would do much but we could try" agreed Kate, turning back to watch the man in question settle himself. He was having an awfully painful time trying to convince his tired muscle's that he wanted to sit again, though she had to admit, he was doing quite a good job hiding it.
A few coughing fits later ET emerged with Swain on his heels. He had known Mike was sick, in fact everyone had heard the man coughing last night, but he had been wise enough to stay out of the way till he was called upon. No one on board had actually dealt with a sick Mike before though all had a pretty good idea of what he was like.
"Sir" he sighed as the man turned around in his chair. If he had been looking at any other person he would have immediately dragged them down stairs him self, before wondering what had processed the person to think they were alright. But this was Like Flynn, his captain, and if their was anything he had learnt it was that this man didn't stop till his job as done, obviously if it meant mildly killing himself in the process
"Why aren't you in bed?" he asked, fully aware of the response he was about to receive.
"Why do you think?" was his gruff, croaky reply.
"Yeah, I know. Stupid question" admitted Swain. "But seriously, even if you haven't succeeded in giving everyone else on board what you have, your no help to any one up here" he advised praying a bit of guilt would get the man to go to bed.
Mike sighed dramatically, he was getting even sicker of people telling him he was sick and needed to go to bed. Didn't they get that he'd tried sleeping, many time's in fact, but it wasn't working. Obviously part of his curse was to be kept awake through out his ordeal and if he was going to have to live though it all he'd much rather do so up with everyone else. Not in some tiny room with scratchy sheet's plastered to his sweating skin and fit's of coughing bouncing him up and down on the mattress.
As if to prove his point he tried to stand up, succeeding in doing so, but enduring some startlingly painful aches along the way. He turned towards Swain, intending to show the medic that he was more than capable of staying with everyone where he was. He took a step forward but stumbled quickly as the swell picked up and the ship plunged more than he was anticipating. Kate watched in mild horror as Mike collapsed straight into Swain's chest, the medic only just grabbing him in time to stop him falling to the floor.
"Can I get some help here" called Swain, hauling Mike's lifeless form so he could grab under his arms.
"I got him" replied ET, lifting up the unconscious captain's legs and steering the trio towards to door.
"We got to stop people collapsing on this ship" muttered Swain as they headed towards the lounge. Once they were out of sight Kate and Nav looked over at each other, both slightly shocked by the quick happenings of the last minute though in reality they had been expecting it. After her heart had stopped beating out of her chest Kate even found herself feeling mildly relieved. At least she knew he was resting now.
TBC
