Jess stood up as he finished the toast. "Come on, Miller." She patted the bed. "Scoot down. You'll feel better if you get some sleep."

"I was already doing that when you came in," he groused as he slid back down. He shut his eyes, groaning as he once again turned on his side.

She walked around him, tucking him in as he tried to get comfortable. "What are you doing?" He sounded annoyed but she forgave him.

"What do you think I'm doing?" She asked. "I'm tucking you in." She had the feeling that if he'd felt any better he'd be slapping her hands away. She smiled as she noted how he'd kept the bunny as he'd curled up. "Didn't your mom or Caroline ever do this when you were sick?"

"That's only true in stories, Jess." He coughed, his face screwing up with pain as it rasped over his sore throat. "Real people don't do that sort of thing."

"They most certainly do," she gasped, feeling even more sorry for him. She sat on the bed once more and brushed the hair off his forehead. The lines of misery on his face softened slightly, so she did it again. "But Caroline would bring you soup or something wouldn't she?"

He wheezed out a sleepy laugh. "Naw. She'd stay away for a while if anyone in the loft was sick. It's okay." He reassured her when she stopped petting his head. God, that felt good. "I understand people not wanting to get this stuff."

"She wasn't 'people', Nick." She said quietly, feeling him relax more and more. "You're supposed to take care of the people you love."

"Maybe that was the problem then," he said drowsily. One eye creaked open to look at her. "You should get out of here, you idiot." His eyes shut once more. "I don't want you to get sick."

Jess listened to his voice trail off into sleep. She ran her fingers through his hair for another minute...or two, before she got up slowly and carefully. She knew it hadn't been long enough for him to fall into a NyQuil coma, so she tiptoed out of the room and into the kitchen where she'd left her phone.

She hit speed dial and waited, taking slow, even breaths.

"Hey, Cece."

"Hey, Jess," she answered sleepily and looked at the clock. Jess usually knew not to call before noon. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she fumed and kicked the floor. "I just needed to say out loud that Caroline is a bad person as well as a horrible, horrible girlfriend."

"Oookay." Cece flopped back into bed and put her arm over her eyes. "Is this about Nick being sick?"

Jess pulled her phone away and looked at it suspiciously before putting it back to her ear. "How do you know about that?"

"Schmidt came over this morning to use the shower because your apartment is, get this, 'plague-ridden'." She yawned. "If I join your 'Caroline's sucks' club can I go back to sleep?"

"Yes," Jess said, slightly mollified. "Thanks, Cec."

"Uh-huh, sweetie. Buh-bye."

Jess put the phone down gently and took a breath. Then she spent the next minute pantomiming a cat fight in which she took on that cold, manipulative, unloving bitch.

After clearly winning she stopped and blew the hair hair out of face. She felt much better.