A/N- Hello, everyone! I'd like to send a shout out of thanks to everyone who reviewed; you're all so kind!

Also, huge thank you to by beta, Sussiekitten. She's amazing!

Once again, this fic is dedicated to LithiumDelusions, PriyaLaLita and Daxemon.

If I failed to mention it last chapter, then let it be known; I own some sheet music and a piano, and that's about it. I most certainly do not own FAKE, which belongs to TokyoPop and Sanami Matoh.

On with it!


When JJ awoke, it was not a bang. His body slowly moved towards consciousness, waking him bit by bit. When he finally opened his eyes, he glanced at the clock.

11:04 AM

JJ sat up quickly and immediately regretted it. His head began to pound, and his joints began to throb. He slowly swung out of his sweat-soaked bed and, keeping in constant contact with the wall, proceeded to make his way to the bathroom.

After relieving himself, he looked in the mirror and took an inventory of his appearance. His eyes were bloodshot, his nose was red at the tip and he had large circles under his eyes.

/Damn, what did I do to deserve this?/ he thought grimly.

After moping about in the bathroom, he eventually returned to his room. He was wearing sweatpants and a pair of boxers, but nothing else. He opened his closet door, pulled out a light bathrobe and threw it on. After that, he went into the kitchen.


JJ tiredly shuffled into the kitchen/dinette. As he did so, he blearily noticed an orange bottle of medicine on the table. He picked it up and examined the label.

/Avalox? I've never even heard of this!/ he though, checking out the name. He looked at the warnings.

/Do not use with antacids…avoid direct exposure to light…do not take if pregnant?/ He laughed quietly at this and read the directions next.

/Take every twelve hours? Drake gave me one around midnight, so I should have one…well, about now./

JJ poured himself a bowl of cereal and grabbed a spoon from the drawer, then he added milk and sat down at the table to eat. When he had finished, he took out one of the pills and downed it with the rest of the milk in the bowl. He then looked at the clock.

11:52 AM

/Today is going to be a long day…/ he thought glumly. He took some Advil, prepared some coffee for Drake and wandered into the living room.

His beautiful- no, handsome crush was lying across the sofa, one hand over his eyes. The California native watched him sleep for a few minutes before kneeling next to the couch. He tapped Drake twice on the nose.

"You know, you kind of suck at this whole caring-for-a-patient thing. I can see why you stayed away from nursing and EMS!" joked JJ.

Drake slowly came to, then opened his eyes. He lay there for a moment quietly. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he jumped up off the couch.

"Oh, shit! JJ, you shouldn't be up! You're supposed to be asleep, it's—"

"11:59? Yeah," said JJ with a smirk.

Drake whipped out his cell phone, then smacked himself in the forehead.

"Damn, JJ, I'm sorry! I totally missed my alarm."

JJ smiled, when suddenly a pained expression drew across his face. He began coughing violently.

"JJ? Are you ok?" asked his concerned partner.

The lilac haired man recovered quickly.

"Yeah. I think I overexerted myself. Maybe I should lie down…" he said as he moved onto the recently vacated couch. "I made coffee for you," he added as an afterthought.

Drake looked stern.

"You're supposed to be resting!" he admonished. He turned on the TV and gave the remote to JJ. "Order a movie, and we'll watch it for a little bit. I scheduled you an appointment with the doctor at 3:00. We'll be headed to Bellevue, alright?

JJ smiled. Drake was so thoughtful and concerned. He wanted to reach out and kiss him.

Then JJ's smile vanished. Of course. This was Drake. His partner. His hot, wonderful, caring, and straight partner.

The L.A. native's head drooped.

"Yeah, Drake," he said, his voice raw with emotion and infection. "We can go."


Drake sat in the waiting room gloomily. Ever since JJ had completely shut down around noon, he had been miserable. Eventually they made their way to the hospital. By this point, JJ's head began to hurt. The lilac haired man was taken in by a nurse, leaving the blonde to wallow in his self-pity.

//Am I not showing my feelings well enough? Am I not giving hints? Does he not see me?// Drake thought sadly. Suddenly, a shock ran through him, a light bulb went off and he was filled with dread.

//Or what if he does, and doesn't want me? Shit! JJ, you're so complicated. Give me a sign, please!//


"Step on the scale, please," asked a short nurse with shoulder length brown hair.

JJ tiredly stepped onto the electronic scale. The nurse waited a moment before recording a number.

"Follow me, please!" she said with enthusiasm.

JJ shuffled down the hallway after the nurse towards a random room. The two entered.

"Please have a seat, Mr. Adams. I'm going to take your temperature, get a throat swab, and the doctor will be by shortly after that.

"Mmhmm…" he groaned.

He felt an odd instrument inserted into his ear. It remained there for a moment, then beeped three times. The nurse looked at the little screen.

"Hmm…" she hummed quietly, writing something down at the same time. She put the chart on a nearby counter, opened a drawer and pulled out a sterile package of two culture swabs.

"Open your mouth, stick your tongue out and stay 'ah'," she said cheerfully. JJ wondered if the nurse was sadistic or something, but did as he was told. She shoved the swabs to the back of his throat, touching his tonsils, uvula and the actual back of his throat. He immediately gagged; cotton was uncomfortable back there! She quickly pulled the swabs out.

"All done! The doctor should be here in five minutes," she said with a grin. She left the room and shut the door, leaving the California boy with his thoughts.

/Damn, how can she be so cheerful!/ he thought in complaint. His thoughts quickly shifted to the man in the waiting room.

/Drake…you have no clue, do you?/ he thought in despair. His thoughts went along this line for some time.

After a while, a woman came in. She looked very tired, and her face was worn with age. She looked a little old, probably in her mid 50's. She had long, almost waist length hair. She was a little over six feet and had glasses on. She had wrinkles and worry lines. Her bangs just flipped over her forehead. She wore a white lab coat with a black shirt and black pants underneath.

"Well, Mr. Adams, what seems to be the trouble?" she asked. Her voice was lilting and soft, coaxing, almost.

"Well," began JJ, his voice hoarse. "I'm having pain in my throat, headaches, a stuffed nose, some tension in my shoulders—" he paused in mid sentence with a violent coughing fit. "That, and my ears hurt," he finished, feeling miserable.

As he was talking, the doctor had been washing her hands. She walked over to stand in front of the detective.

"Well, Mr. Adams, that's quite a lot of symptoms. I have a hunch of what might be wrong, but we'll see if I'm right," she said. She reached up, and began palpitating parts of his neck, behind his jaw, on his throat and in the back of his neck.

"Hmm…" she said quietly. She then proceeded to go to the wall, and grabbed a little lumiscope off the wall.

"When did your symptoms start?" she asked, putting a protective magnifying funnel over the end.

"Yesterday. It was very sudden. I woke up, and there it was," he said simply.

"Open your mouth, stick out your tongue and say 'ah' for me?" she asked. He did so, and she shined the light down his throat.

"Oh, boy," she said. "Your throat really is red."

"It feels it," he joked, then turned his head away and began coughing violently. At this point, a nurse slipped into the room and left a sheet of paper on the desk.

The doctor shined the lumiscope up JJ's nose and then threw way the funnel. She turned the scope off, put it back in its holder and picked up the sheet of paper.

"Well, what do you know?" she said. "I was right."

"Right about what?" asked a very confused JJ.

"Yesterday, your partner called in and described your symptoms. I recognized them and prescribed an antibiotic. Have you already started taking it?" she asked.

"Is that what Avalox is?" he asked.

"Yes. It's one of the strongest antibiotics we can give, and it's perfect for destroying the infection you have. You've got Type A Streptococcus, the nastiest of the four or five of them. Based on his description, it seemed like a likely cause. Go home, take it as directed, and don't go out for a while. You're contagious for another 12 hours; stay indoors," she cautioned.

She opened the door and began to walk in a different direction.

"Thank you, doctor," said JJ. He meant it, too; she had cleared up some of his confusion. At least he knew now it wasn't swine flu!

"You're welcome," she said simply, then turned and walked away. JJ walked down the hall, paid the clerk and walked through a glass door. He spied Drake and walked over to him.

"Hey," said the lilac haired man.

Drake looked up.

"Hey! You ok?" he asked, genuinely worried.

"Yep. She said I had strepti-whoose-i-whats and that I had to take the antibiotics she prescribed," he relayed in a confused manner.

Drake just laughed.

"You mean strep? I used to get that all the time as a kid. It's not too bad. We'll go home, and I'll run out to get some popsicles."

JJ sighed. He knew he was in good hands.

"Thanks, Drake. You're amazing," said the California boy, meaning every word.

Drake blushed and looked at his partner.

"You too, JJ. You too," he said quietly.