"Absolutely not."

Michael stood at the bottom of the stairs, closing his eyes in defeat as he heard those two words followed by light footsteps.

"I'm fine," he called out, putting his hand over his nose to suppress a sneeze. An angry Sara emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her pants before resting them on her hips.

"You're not fine. You were lying unconscious on the floor less than an hour ago and you have a fever. If you're not back in bed within the next 30 seconds-"

"Sara, I'm fi-" he stopped abruptly, seeing her expression change to one he knew all too well. Immediately reaching his hand up, he pressed it right under his nose, feeling the warm liquid on his fingers. He looked at his fingertips to find they were stained with crimson. He then felt Sara press a kleenex against his nose, wiping away the rest of the blood that had spilled form his nose.

"Michael," she said quietly, trying to keep herself composed. "Please go back to bed."

Looking into her fear-filled eyes, he nodded and allowed her to guide him back up the stairs and into their bed. He lay down and she pressed a cool hand to his forehead. She was unsurprised to find that his skin was still very hot but she smiled when he leaned into her touch. She bent down and kissed his burning forehead and then straightened up, going towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to give you some antibiotics, okay? Those should bring down your fever and hopefully ease the pain." she said, concern evident in her expression as she moved about, getting his meds. She put them on his night table along with a glass of water before helping him sit up. He obediently took the medicine and then lay back down, closing his eyes with a quiet moan. Sara sat on the edge of the bed, caressing his cheek. She continued to do this until he slowly drifted off to sleep. She watched him for a few minutes, sleeping peacefully, the sound of him breathing with a stuffed nose. Her vision began to blur as she thought about how much pain he must be in. As if the piercing headaches and nose bleeds weren't enough, he now had to deal with the flu on top of that. Thankfully, he would be having surgery to have his tumour removed in a week but the symptoms seemed to getting much worse in the meantime.

She stroked his closely-cropped hair, watching as he leaned towards her hand even in his sleep and she felt as though her heart would literally pop out of her chest at the rush of love she felt for this man. He was so loving and so determined not to burden anyone, constantly claiming that he was fine, even when it was clear he wasn't. (just like a few minutes ago). And that just made her want to do even more for him, especially now, when she was looking at him and seeing how pale and vulnerable he looked. She decided to go and make him some chicken soup. Standing up, she slowly tried to remove her hand that was in his. She was almost free of his grasp when it suddenly tightened as Michael shifted. Looking towards his face, she saw his blue eyes staring back at her, trying to blink away the sleepiness.

"Don't go," he whispered, his eyes trained on her face. This was one of those few times when he actually let her take care of him, when he'd show how vulnerable he really was. Sara's heart went out to him and she wanted to gather him into her arms and never let go, to protect him from the harshness of the world. But, she knew that she couldn't do that - so she did what she could do. She assured him she was not going anywhere and then sat back down. When she did, Michael shifted over and looked at her hopefully and she obliged, lying down next to him. As a doctor, she knew it was a terrible idea as his flu was very contagious but, as his wife, she didn't care. At this moment, if he had asked her to walk on hot coals, she'd do it. So, she moved closer to him, kissed him softly on the lips, and then nuzzled his neck. He murmured pleasantly in his groggy state and then shifted so his chin was resting on top of her head. He reached his arms out and pulled her closer to him, and, once she had shifted to a slightly more comfortable position, she watched him doze off, starting to feel sleepy too. It was 3:00 in the afternoon but there was no way she'd be able to get up without disturbing him so she curled up with her head on his chest and his arms around her and fell asleep.

They woke up together at roughly 9pm, when Michael sneezed hard enough to startle the both of them. Sara let out a scream at the sudden sound and at her head violently being thrown off Michael's chest. For a silent moment, they both stared at each other, stunned, and then, as they realized what had happened, they burst out laughing. They were laughing so hard they didn't hear heavy footsteps on the staircase and, mere seconds later, Lincoln burst into their bedroom, holding a broom, threateningly. One look at his expression and they laughed even harder - hard enough that Sara would've fallen off the bed if Michael hadn't caught her.

"What the hell is going on?" Lincoln demanded, looking extremely confused.

The couple was laughing so hard, they couldn't respond. Michael looked like he was trying to speak but he couldn't stop. Tears were streaming down both his and Sara's faces as they held their cramping stomachs.

"Michael...sneezed..." Sara started, barely managing the words out.

"What the hell?" Lincoln was even more confused, and definitely getting annoyed.

Sara shook her head, slowly starting to gain some control of herself. "Never mind," she gasped between fits of laughter.

Lincoln watched them for a moment and then plopped down on the edge of their bed, waited for them to calm down. It took a few minutes, but they were finally able to sit up and form complete sentences again, although every time they looked at each other, they had to choke back laughter.

"So when did you get here?" Michael asked. He wasn't surprised to see his brother; Lincoln had a key to their house which he often used whenever he wanted water or a snack after going surfing. They lived right by the water's edge whereas Linc, LJ and Sophia lived a few miles down - close enough to be there if needed but far enough that they could all have some space.

"About an hour ago. Sophia was making lasagne so we were gonna call you guys over but neither of you answered your phones. I figured you were still feeling pretty crappy so I came to drop some off. I also went and got some soup; you guys were coughing pretty hard when I got here, I'm surprised neither of you woke up soon."

Michael looked at Sara and then back at Lincoln. "We were both coughing?"

"Yeah," Lincoln replied.

Sara shrugged. She assumed her dry throat was from laughing so hard...maybe it wasn't. "I don't feel that bad." As if on cue, she felt a tickle in her nose and sneezed violently.

Michael reached over her and towards his night stand for a tissue, handing it to her. "Oops."

"Wait to go, little bro," Lincoln said, laughing. "You got your doctor sick."

Sara looked amused, especially for someone who was probably starting to feel the symptoms of the flu. She smiled sweetly at Michael, "I guess now you can spend the next few days catering to my every whim."

Michael grinned. "It would be my pleasure," he said, exaggeratedly kissing her hand until his throat forced out a cough.

Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Get a room," he muttered.

"We have one," they replied in unison, giving him a look.

"Smartasses," Lincoln muttered, standing up. He cleared his throat "I'm going to head out. I'll check in on you guys in the morning. Call if either of you need anything."

"Will do. Thanks, Linc." Michael replied and Lincoln let himself out.

"So tell me," Michael said, turning to his wife. "what can I do to make you feel better?"

Sara smiled, mischief gleaming in her eyes. "I have a few ideas..."

Review are always welcome :)