Artemis was still laid on the bed, eyes shut, the readings on both screens were steady and slow. Butler was crouched in the chair, still watching them both for any unusual movement. The Doctor stood tall, waiting with his sheets of paper for the parents to arrive.
When they opened the door, they were only slightly relieved to find Artemis asleep still. They stood together, waiting.
"Well, if I am correct, Artemis has an unusual case of Cataclosmian Disease. This is something that is quite common, but Artemis' case is especially bad. The effects are sudden feelings of heat or cold rushing over them, nausea, blocked nose, sore throat, headache, pains and dizziness. Not too bad at all.
"It is cured by taking a certain medicine every day, twice a day, which I will issue a Doctor's note for you to fetch it. I advise lots of bed-rest and if possible, not too much complex thinking." The Doctor laughed at this. No-one else did. "I will come back in a weeks time to check on him. Don't worry, it's not likely you can catch it from where you stand but don't get too close to him."
Angeline was already beaming with relief. She hugged her husband tightly. He hugged her back, letting out a long breath of air.
"My work here, is done." The Doctor said. It was cheerily clichéd but no one noticed. They were all too happy to pay him any attention. Except for Butler.
Butler remained sceptic. The Doctor had left so many things unsaid. Why had it taken so long to diagnose if it was so common? Why was Artemis having these dreams? How had he switched eyes with Holly? Why was he sleeping so much? It wasn't normal. Of course, Butler wasn't about to ask the Doctor. He had better help on the way.
The Doctor, Angeline and Artemis left the room, to leave Butler staring at the screens Dr. Smith had left behind. He wasn't about to remind him about that, because instead Butler intended to keep watching them like he had for the past hour or so.
Until there was a tap at the window. Butler got up and peered out. There was no one there. Butler locked the door and came back to the window. He opened it, slightly.
"Holly?" A hand fizzled into sight, waving. Butler took this as a reply and opened the window wide. He stood back and said clearly,
"Come in Holly. You have my permission." Holly unshielded and curtseyed.
"Thank you, Butler." She spotted Artemis on the bed, wires attached to his head and arm. "And here I was thinking he had a cold." As if on cue, the line on the brain activity screen flew up, way above the point the Doctor marked as a dream
Holly froze. "Did he hear that? Even in his sleep? Creepy..." she muttered.
"No, he's dreaming." Butler watched the read-outs. The brain activity stayed high. The blood pressure bar was rising quickly.
Yet again, he started to twist and writhing on his bed, fear driving him to the brink of waking. Sweat was gathering, his eyes were twitching, his mouth moved silently and he tossed his head viciously sideways.
Several seconds later, both readings sky-rocketed and Artemis' eyes shot open. He sat bolt upright and stared straight ahead, not noticing Holly and Butler. Then his breathing calmed and he leant back against the headboard. He looked around and caught Holly's eye.
As his brain kicked into gear, he stopped shaking and opened his mouth to speak, then he looked away.
"Artemis, are you alright?" Butler asked tentatively. Artemis nodded silently. Walking towards him, Holly cocked her head sideways looking at him. Artemis suddenly burst into life, backing into the headboard as much as he could, twisting his head away.
"No, Holly, no!" he cried. She stopped, puzzled.
"What?" Moving back to where she was before, Artemis settled down again, strangely relaxed.
"Cataclosmian disease is contagious at short distances. That could be fatal for a fairy!" he explained. Butler's mouth dropped open and he looked utterly shocked.
"How did you know you had Cataclosmian disease? You were asleep!" Artemis frowned.
"I thought that was obvious!" His frown deepened. "If you didn't know what it was... then what were you worried about when I was worrying?" A slightly babbled line for Artemis. Probably his first ever.
"I was worried about why you were coughing and sleeping so much! What were you worried about?"
"The dreams! The screaming! The eye switching thing! I was sleeping to try and work them out!"
There was a silence. Then Holly burst into laughter.
"Looks like I came at the right time! So to sum thing up, Butler was generally worried about everything that was wrong with Artemis, yet Artemis knew the reason for most of these, thinking it was obvious. He was sleeping so much to try and work out the... dreams?" Artemis nodded causing Holly to continue. "And Butler then finds out why Artemis is ill, which Artemis worked out ages ago and thinks everything is laa de daa now. BUT, we still have to case about the dreams and eye switching thing to solve... Am I right?"
"Just about." Agreed Artemis. "That was quick thinking Holly. Genius must be contagious."
"Yeah, that's worrying." Holly joked.
Artemis twitched. His gaze snapped around the room with wide eyes. He flinched at something, raising his arms to shield himself.
"Mud-boy?" Holly frowned.
"Can you hear that? Where's it coming from?" Artemis kept sweeping his gaze around the room, scared of something invisible to everyone else.
"I can't hear anything!" Holly looked around, straining her ears to listen. "And my ears are more sensitive than yours!"
"I'm not going mad if that's what you think! There is something there!" Artemis yelped.
Butler and Holly felt their hearts sink with sorrow as they watched him bat his hands around thin air.
"Artemis. I think you need to get some rest." Holly said simply. Artemis stopped flinching and looked directly at her, his eyes cold and hard.
"If you wont believe me, then go on. GET OUT!" He shouted, pointing at the door.
"Artemis please! I just think you haven't had much rest..."
"I've had plenty of rest. Now, get out of my room! You obviously don't trust me."
Artemis kept his gaze steady on her eyes. Holly returned the gaze in a much less steely way, noticing how his blue eyes glittered and sparkled with the same cold and expressionless look that they had when they first met. Somehow the change of eye colour had shown a new beginning for Artemis. Now it had vanished and along with it Artemis' soft side that she loved so much.
Holly exited the room, shielding as she left the room. They was only a small haze where she had once been, that Artemis watched with no resent. Butler was still there, watching Artemis carefully.
"Are you sure that wasn't too harsh?" He asked. Artemis scowled at him too.
"So you're on her side? Then you can get out too! And shut the window on the way out." Artemis added.
Butler did so. He slipped out of the room to meet Holly with a look of utter sadness on his broad features. He glanced back at Artemis as he shut the door. He had gone back to twitching and cowering from something in the corner.
Butler sighed. Leading Holly into the piano room, which had sound proof walls to avoid Artemis disturbing anyone whenever he felt the urge to play, he sat down and put his head in his hands. Holly left the door slightly ajar and unshielded next to him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, though she felt exactly the same way.
They talked for some time, discussing Artemis, the flu, the faeries and Foaly. They were just drawing to the casual conclusion that Foaly was definitely getting serious about Cabaline, when they heard a scream.
Butler was up and out in milliseconds. Holly followed, reactions reasonably slower, but still like lightning. Butler reached Artemis' door and barged into it, trying to get to him. After several attempts, his brain took hold and he realised it had been locked from the inside.
But what was a lock worth when Butler was in a hurry.
He collided with the steel, titanium locked, ultra-safe door and sent it flying off it's hinges. Butler stumbled after it, gun out, preparing to shoot any unwanted visitors inside.
But to Butler's dismay, the room was empty. He glanced around panicked, eyes like a rabbits caught in the head lights of a car. He leapt to the window and peered out frantically. There was nothing there.
"Artemis!" He screamed. "ARTEMIS!" There was a faint cough from the side of the bed. Butler spun round, finger on the trigger. When he saw Artemis, he dropped to his knees and crawled over to him.
Artemis was laying limp on the floor in an awkward position, his breathing ragged, his eyes barely open. He was trying to say something but could not force out the words. Butler checked his vital signs and felt his own heart speed up when he felt the pulse.
A slow, weak and irregular beat pumped his blood under Butlers fingers. It was so weak, that when Butler lifted Artemis onto his shoulder to take him to hospital, he completely collapsed in his arms, unconscious.
Holly was frozen to the spot, her hands to her mouth in shock.