Chap. 6:

As soon as they reach the infirmary, two nurses rush over to them and help Keller transfer John under the scanner. While they do this, Lexi stands next to the screen attached to it, marveling at the accuracy of it. Every vital statistic is transmitted to it in real time. Tearing her eyes away from it, she watches the controlled chaos surrounding him, wrapping her arms around herself as a sudden sense of worry starts to build in her stomach. Realizing what it is, she pushes it aside, as she sees Keller and the nurses wheeling John towards the back of the infirmary, where she can only assume they will be changing him into scrubs. Starting to follow them, "Jennifer, can I..."

Looking at her, over her shoulder, "no Lexi. Stay here and wait for Colonel Carter. I'll come out and talk to you, as soon as he's settled."

Nodding her head, "okay." she says, and refocuses on the screen, which is still displaying John's vitals.

A couple of minutes later, she startles as she feels a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, "oh, I didn't know all of you would be coming." she says, seeing Carter, Lorne, McKay, Ronon and Teyla all standing in front of her, concern written across their faces.

"It's Sheppard." Ronon says.

She looks at him and as she does so, "Lexi, is he contagious?" McKay asks.

"Are you sure it's the flu and not something else?" Carter asks.

"When will he be cleared for active duty?" Lorne asks.

Bombarded with the questions she has no answers for yet, "let's wait till Jennifer is done reading the scans."

xxxx

"Well, Lexi, it looks like you were right." Keller says, forty minutes later, as she walks over to the group. "The scans confirm that it's just the normal Earth flu, nothing else. He must have picked it up when you were back on Earth." she says, looking at McKay.

Lorne asks the question, before Carter can, "okay, Doc. How long will he be laid up here?"

Looking over at Lexi and back at the group at large, "well I'm going to say at least four days of bed rest and fluids. As for staying here, I'm going to respect the Colonel's wishes and let him spend the time in his quarters instead of here."

Stunned, "wait, what? Jennifer, you never let any of us get away with that." McKay whines, looking from her to the rest of the group, who all, from what he can tell are thinking the same thing, and scowling, "that's not fair."

Ignoring McKay, "so the Colonel, will be cleared for duty by this weekend?" Lorne asks again, as he never really enjoys it when his CO is out of commission and he always looks forward to him being cleared for duty.

"Yeah, Evan, this weekend." Lexi says, smirking at him.

"All right everyone, why don't you head on out. I'll radio you and let you know when we," motioning to herself and Lexi, "have the Colonel settled in his quarters."

Watching everyone nod in acceptance of the command, Lexi smiles to herself as she can see McKay muttering to himself as he walks out of the infirmary.

"Lexi?"

"Hmm."

"Were you the one that convinced Dr. Keller to allow Sheppard to stay in his quarters?"

Realizing that Carter is staring at her and turning her head to face her, "yes, Sam. I promised John that I would take care of him."

"Oh, Lexi."

"Don't Sam. He's not taking advantage of me and I've already had this conversation with Jennifer. Plus, the only stuff I have to do is paperwork and well, I can do that while he's sleeping."

"Okay, fine. But if he takes a turn for the worst..."

"Sam, you know me. The doctor in me wouldn't allow him to be in any kind of medical danger."

Sighing again, but hugging her and pulling away, "I also know that he's a charmer and I know we had this chat already, but be careful." and heading out the door, "I'll see you later."

She watches Carter walk out of the infirmary and then heads into John's room. After checking that he is still out cold, she double checks that the med bag is fully stocked.

"Shall we get him back to his quarters?"

Lifting her head up from rummaging through the bag, she looks at Keller as she walks into the room, "yeah, let's move him now. It looks like the Ativan is starting to ware off."

They move him to his quarters and once he is settled back in his bed, Keller leaves him in Lexi's hands, with strict orders to call if he gets worse.

Lexi settles down onto the couch and after wrapping herself in the blanket that she had left there earlier, she turns on her tablet. She navigates to the email client and starts reading her way through it.

xxxx

About half an hour later, John feels the pulls of consciousness starting to form. Feeling groggy and not able to remember why he feels so rotten, he tries to drop off to sleep again. But then, out of nowhere a semi familiar scent brings him to full consciousness. It smells of flowers and coconut and turning his head to his right, his eyes focus on the source of the smell. Lexi is sitting on his couch, wrapped in a blanket, her feet curled up under her fully engrossed in what she is reading on the tablet in her lap.

"Hi...Lexi," he tries to say, but his throat is so dry, that it comes out as a whisper. Swallowing a couple of times to moisten it, he tries again, "hi, Lexi."

Looking up from the tablet, smiling at him and putting the tablet down on the couch, she comes over to sit on the right side of the bed, "hiya, sleepy head." and running her fingers through his hair, "how are you feeling?"

"I've been better." he says, closing his eyes. The next thing he's aware of is the feeling of the thermometer in his ear.

Opening his eyes and seeing the frown on her face, "so what's the verdict?"

Looking up at him, "102.5 in response to that part of the question and in response to the other part. You're in here till this weekend, with me playing doctor, well not really playing."

"How'd...you convince... Keller to go...for this?" he asks, through a fit of coughs.

Grimacing, "well, let's just say, I always get what I want. And since it's just the flu and not some monster virus from another galaxy, she seemed content to let me take care of you. Evidently, you're a bad patient." she says, grimace turning into a smirk.

"Yeah, well, it's nothing against her. I just hate infirmaries."

"Don't worry, unless you take a turn for the worst, we're stuck here together." and placing the thermometer back in the bag and sitting up again, "hey, I'm starving. Would it be okay if I just run to the mess to get something to eat? How about some food?"

"I'm not really hungry."

Smiling in understanding and walking out the door, "yeah I kinda figured you wouldn't be, but we should try and get something into you. You stay put and I'll be back in twenty."

"Okay." he says, as he watches her walk out of his quarters, the doors closing behind her. He lies there for a couple of seconds, feeling shivers running through him and realizing that nature is calling, he sighs. He slowly sits up, not crazy with the idea of getting out of bed and looking down at himself, he notices that he is in a pair of scrubs. But not remembering how he got into them, I'll have to ask her about that when she gets back, and as he tosses the blankets off himself, another shiver runs through him, eliciting a low moan and, "man I hate being sick!"

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed and gripping the IV pole with his left hand, he stands up slowly. Feeling the head rush and gripping the IV pole tighter to keep himself upright, he waits for the room to right itself. As soon as it does so, he slowly shuffles his way to the bathroom and relieves himself. Flushing the toilet, he slowly walks over to the sink and washes his hands. After drying them off, he turns around and is working his way back to the bed, when the doors open and Lorne and Lexi walk into the room, holding trays of food.

Handing her tray over to Lorne and coming up next to him in two long strides, "John, what in g-d's name are you doing, I told you to stay put." she says, as she places her left arm around his waist and drapes his right arm over her shoulders, helping him to the bed. Reaching it, she lets go of his waist and leaning over she props up the pillows. Turning around to face him, she helps him get back in, tucking the blankets around him. Satisfied that he is settled, she takes her tray back from Lorne, who was watching the scene play out and trying not to laugh his head off.

Catching the look on Lorne's face, "what's so funny Major?"

Smiling at John and placing the tray of food on the bedside table, "nothing, sir. It's just that I've had her fussing over me. I know what it's like."

Looking from Lexi, who is now sitting on the couch eating, to Lorne, "are you joining us?"

"Oh no sir, I just helped Lexi bring the tray back. I'm on my way out. I have a date with Dr. Engle tonight."

Eyes shifting from John to Lorne, "Evan, what does she do?"

"Botanist and I'm going to be late. We were supposed to meet at 1900. Lexibeth, we can catch up tomorrow, I promise." and with a smile a wave and a "feel better, sir," he heads out the door.

"I really hate it when he calls me that." she says, through a mouthful of soup.

xxxx

Twenty minutes later, finished with her meal, she places her tray on the desk and coming to sit next to him on his left side, "so, you feel like having something to eat?"

Opening his eyes at the sound of her voice, "not really."

"It's just oatmeal, that's it and you really should try to eat it." she says, uncovering the bowl and handing it to him with a spoon.

Taking the spoon and the bowl, he attempts to eat it, all the time watching her, as she rummages through the med bag, taking out a new IV bag, easily replacing the old one with it, "Lexi?"

"Hmm."

"Where did you do your residency?"

"UCLA. I had an amazing apartment in Santa Monica, right on the beach. Whenever I could, I'd try and hit the waves, it was one of the best ways to unwind. I also hung out at the Pier. I would ride the Ferris wheel, for hours." she says, with a large grin on her face, as the memories play in her head.

Finishing the oatmeal and staring at her again, "did you say Ferris wheel?"

"What?" she asks, coming back to the present and taking the bowl and spoon from him.

"You said you like Ferris wheels?"

Smiling and looking like a kid, "yeah, the famous Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica pier. One of the all time bests."

Returning the smile, "okay," and with a yawn, his eyes drift shut.

Turning around to look at him, from where she is standing near the desk, having placed the bowl and spoon on it, she frowns at the sight of him, his eyes closed and still shivering. Walking into the bathroom, she grabs a washcloth and runs cool water over it. Wringing it out and walking back over to the bed, she sits down and places the cloth on his forehead, smiling as it elicits a low moan from him and his eyes flutter open.

"Mmm, thanks. That feels really good."

"Yeah, I thought it might."

"Hey, how did I get into the scrubs?"

"Oh, when we knocked you out this afternoon, Jennifer and I changed you into them."

They sit in companionable silence for a couple of minutes, simply staring at each other, until a coughing fit has him sitting up off the pillows, the washcloth falling off his forehead. Grabbing him by the shoulders and helping him lie back down, as the coughing subsides, "easy does it. Take slow deep breaths." she says, as he gets his breathing under control.

Groaning and handing her the washcloth, "I'm sorry."

Placing the washcloth on the bedside table and quirking an eyebrow at him, "for what?"

Sighing, as exhaustion starts to make itself known, "for this. You know, you don't have to spend the night. I can radio you if I need you."

Fixing him with a stare that could send a marine unit into hysterics, "are you crazy? I mean I know you have a temp, but I didn't think you were delusional. I'm not going anywhere." and at the look on his face, "and don't you dare feel bad about me taking care of you. I chose to do this remember."

Slouching down further in the bed, closing his eyes and reaching for her hand again, "thanks," he says. And feeling her other hand on his chest, as she leans over to gently brush her lips against his forehead, he falls asleep again.

xxxx

Lexi sits there, for a couple of minutes, watching him sleep, a little afraid that if she tries to take her hand out of his, he'll wake up. Five minutes later, positive that he is indeed out cold, she lets go of his hand and standing up, she quietly walks out of his quarters for hers. Reaching them, she showers and changes into a pair of fleece pants and a hoody that she had stolen from Lorne, when they were still dating. She grabs a pillow and the comforter from her bed, takes her headphones from her bedside table, slips on her sneakers and heads back to John's quarters. As she is walking back, someone calls her name.

"Hey Lexi."

"Hi Ronon," she says, as she shifts the comforter and pillow into her left hand, "what's up?"

"Oh, here let me help you with those." he says as he takes the comforter and pillow from her and stuffs them under his arm. Smiling and gesturing towards John's quarters, "you heading back to Sheppard's?"

Smiling at him, as each time she has seen him, he reminds her of tamed lion, but pushing the thought aside, "yeah. He's asleep again though, if you were hoping to see him."

"Oh, no. I was actually looking for you."

"Really, why?"

Smile fading, "uh, well, you see we drew straws and I got the short one. We, that is to say, McKay, Teyla and I..."

Recognizing the difficulty he is having, "you want to know what my intentions are with John?"

"Um, yeah." he says, looking at her bewildered.

Huffing, "why is it so hard for everyone to remember that I make my living reading other people," and looking over at him, "Ronon, I promise you and you can tell Rodney and Teyla as well. Right now, my intentions are just to be friends with him. I'm not looking for anything more than that."

Smile returning, "oh, Okay, good, I'll tell them."

Reaching John's quarters and standing outside of them, "you can come in you know. He might be awake."

"That's okay, let him sleep, I'll stop by tomorrow." he says, handing her the comforter and pillow again, "good night Lexi."

"Good night Ronon." she says with a smile as she watches him walk away and turning around she swipes herself into the room. Eyes coming to rest on John, "yep, still asleep," she says, under her breath, as she drops her things on the couch.

Turning around, she walks the short distance to the bed and sitting down on the edge of it, she looks him over. Frowning at how bad he looks, but not being able to resist the urge, she leans down and brushes her lips across his, smiling as she pulls back and hears him let out a little moan.

Watching him and getting lost in her own thoughts, oh, John, I know that I promised Ronon and Sam that I wouldn't get into a relationship with you and normally I don't usually fall this hard so fast, but, there's something about you that, and not finishing the thought, she gets angry at herself for allowing it to even enter her mind. But sitting there, running her eyes over him something stirs in her chest, damn it John. Why do you have to look so helpless and adorable? and taking his hand in hers, she weaves her fingers in his and squeezes a little, smiling a little as she feels him squeeze back.

Letting go of his hand and quietly getting up from the bed, she heads over to the couch. Propping her pillow up, she lies down, covering herself with the comforter and situating herself so she can see him, she sets her watch alarm for 0530 and with one last look at him she falls asleep.

xxxx

The alarm on her watch goes off and Lexi wakes up to John walking to the bathroom, holding on tight to the IV pole. She is next to him in one swift motion, wrapping her arm around his waist, she feels the heat radiating from him and notices that he is sweating through his scrubs.

"Hey, how about a shower?" she asks, as she shifts under his arm and looks up at him, guiding him into the bathroom.

"Yeah, that sounds really good." he says, smiling down at her.

Reaching the bathroom, she helps him over to the toilet, "you okay if I let go?"

Nodding, "yeah, I can manage."

Letting go of him and stepping over to the door, "good. I'm gonna be right outside, holler when you're done."

Watching her walk out of the bathroom, "will do."

He waits until she is out of sight and after relieving himself, he shuffles over to the sink and calling over his shoulder, as he washes his hands, "you can come back in."

He smiles at her in the mirror, as she heads over to the shower and turns it on. As he dries his hands, he can see her coming over to his side, from the corner of his eye. Turning to face her, he watches as her hand goes to his, to take out the IV. The IV out, she helps him take off his scrub top.

She feels him shivering, as her hands sweep up and over with the top and she keeps her eyes on him, following every muscle and noticing the scars, from battles gone by.

G-d, he's so good looking, and tossing the shirt into the hamper, heading for the door again, "I'm gonna go watch a movie. Shout if you need anything." she says, closing the door behind her. Reaching the couch, damn it Lexi, stop it, and picking up her tablet, she sits down, curling her legs up under her and starts watching the aforementioned movie.

He watches her walk out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her and stripping off the rest of his clothes, he gets into the shower. A low moan escaping him, as the water feels really good on his aching body, "this is great." he says sarcastically out loud and a few minutes later he steps out of the shower, reaching for the towel bar to steady himself as a wave of dizziness sweeps over him.

Once it passes, he grabs the towel, wrapping it around his waist as he walks over to the sink. Reaching for his toothbrush, he brushes his teeth and running his hands through his hair, he realizes that he doesn't have any clean clothes in the bathroom.

Opening the bathroom door, leaning against the doorframe, "hey Lexi, could you grab me some clothes?"

Looking up at the sound of his voice and smiling at the sight of him leaning against the bathroom doorframe, arms crossed across his bare chest, oh, g-d, I could really just jump him right now, and getting up from the couch, silently yelling at herself, stop it Lexi! she walks over to the dresser.

Opening up the top draw, she finds a pair of boxers and socks, then in the middle draw a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. Grabbing them all, she walks over to him and handing him the clothes, "feel better?"

Shrugging and taking the clothes from her, "a little, thanks." he says, heading back into the bathroom and closing the door.

Talking through the door, "so, John, I've got to go back to my quarters for a sec and then I was thinking of going to get something to eat. Is that okay?"

"That's fine." he says through the door.

"Will you be okay by yourself?"

"Yeah," he says, opening the door.

She slides herself next to him, wrapping her arm around his waist, as he puts his arm around her shoulder and they walk back over to the bed. Sitting down on it, propping himself up and motioning to her tablet, "what were you watching?

Sitting on the edge of the bed again and nodding at the Johnny Cash poster on the wall, "Walk the Line." and smiling at the look on his face, grabbing the thermometer from the bag and sticking it in his ear, "it's a great movie. Reese definitely deserved the Oscar for it." she says, and hearing the thermometer beep, she pulls it out, grimacing at the reading.

Seeing the grimace, "is it really that bad?"

"No, your temp's holding steady. I had hoped that the shower would bring it down a notch, though."

"Well I guess it could be worse." he says, with a grin and again gesturing towards the tablet, "hey, you mind if I watch the movie, while you go do what you've got to do?"

Smirking, "okay, but if I let you watch it, you have to promise me that you'll eat something and drink some water. I know you probably don't feel like it. But if we can keep you hydrated without the IV, I'd prefer it."

Nodding, "me too. I promise."

Getting up, she walks over to the couch and picking up the tablet and handing it to him, "I'll be back as soon as I can." and scanning him over one last time, picking up the dinner trays from the night before, she heads for the door. As they open, she's surprised to see McKay and Ronon, standing there.

"Hi, Rodney. Ronon."

"Morning, Lexi, we ah, thought we'd come by and check up on Sheppard." McKay says, with a grin on his face, a large mug of coffee in his hand.

"Hey guys," comes John's voice from inside the quarters.

"Can we see him?" Ronon asks

"Yeah, go right ahead. I was just heading out to do some things and get some food."

The two men step aside to let her leave and before she heads off to the transporter, "take it easy on him guys."

"Don't worry, Lexi, we'll be gentle." McKay says and with that the doors close and she heads off.

Ronon and McKay walk into John's quarters and immediately grab seats on the couch, pushing the comforter and the pillow off to the side.

Seeing the eagerness on their faces and putting the tablet on the bedside table, "guys nothing's happened."

"Oh really?" McKay asks, with a smirk.

"Come on Sheppard, we know you." Ronon says, smiling wide.

"Really, guys. Nothing. I've been out cold most of the time."

"It's not like you haven't flirted before, when you've been out of commission. Ah hell, you flirt twenty four seven." McKay says, fixing him with a knowing stare.

"McKay!" and running his hands through his hair, "she's Carter's niece for one thing and I don't know if you've noticed, but she's even younger then Keller."

"Yeah, but she's hot and she can fight." Ronon says, rubbing his back and looking at John.

Catching him rubbing his back and laughing, "oh yeah, I forgot that she and Teyla took you down. And yeah, I guess she's hot, but guys, come on, she's Carter's niece."

A coughing spell comes out of no where and has him sitting up off of the pillows, McKay and Ronon watch him with concern, until the fit passes and he finally settles back on the pillows.

"Hey, would one of you grab me a water from the fridge?"

"Sure." McKay says, standing up and heading over to the fridge.

Taking the bottle from McKay and drinking it slowly, "ah, thanks, needed that. So," he says putting the bottle down on the bedside table, "fill me in on what I've been missing while I've been laid up in here."

McKay and Ronon catch him up on everything that he has missed in the past twenty-four hours and then they hang out, chatting about this and that until they see him starting to fade.

"Well, we're gonna head out." McKay says, looking at Ronon, as if to say let's go.

"Oh come on guys, I'm fine, really," John says, trying to prop himself up and keep his eyes open.

"Don't be crazy! Get some sleep and we'll come back and see you later." Ronon says, as he and McKay have already reached the door.

Realizing that they are right, "sorry, guys. Crap, you know what? I actually think I'd rather be injured." he says sleepily.

"Only you would say that." McKay says, but looking back at him, they realize that he's already out cold.

They look at each other, smile and walk out of the room.

"He likes her." Ronon says, as they reach the transporter.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised by it either. She's exactly his type. I just hope Sam's okay with it."

"We should let Lexi know that he's out again"

Opening up the radio channel, "that's a good idea. Dr. Carter, please come in, this is Dr. McKay."

"What's up Rodney?"

"Ronon and I just left Sheppard's quarters. He's out again."

"Thanks, Rodney. See you later."

"Okay." he says, and as the radio link closes, he and Ronon go their separate ways, to go do what they have to that day.

xxxx

Closing the radio link, Lexi takes a sip of her coffee and looks at Teyla. They're sitting in the mess hall having breakfast.

"Rodney?" Teyla asks.

Worry flashing across her face, "yeah. He wanted to let me know that John is sleeping again."

"Lexi, he'll be fine. If there is anyone who can bounce back from something like being sick quickly, it's John."

"Thanks Teyla, I'm sure you're right."

Before Teyla can say anything else, Lorne shows up at the table.

"Good morning, Teyla, Lexibeth, mind if I join you?" he asks, with a grin and sitting down next to Lexi, he pinches her in the side.

Teyla quirks an eyebrow as she hears and sees this exchange.

"Evan, come on, you know I hate it when you call me that." and smiling at Teyla, "we used to date."

"Ah." Teyla says, understanding the exchange to be nothing more than that of close friends. And looking down at her watch, getting up and smiling at the two of them, "I have to go. Lexi, this was fun and don't worry about John. He'll be fine."

"Is the Colonel okay?" Lorne asks, through a mouthful of cereal.

Sighing and turning in her seat to lean against the railing, "he's fine. It's just the flu as Jennifer said."

Catching the emotions playing across her face, "Lexi, I know you, there's something else. Oh and nice hoody by the way. I was wondering where it went."

Looking down at the hoody, smiling and looking back up at him, "yeah, well. You always knew that I loved this one."

"Well, just be happy that I let you keep it," he says, stuffing another spoonful of cereal in his mouth and swallowing, "come on, what's got you so worried?"

Sighing again, she scans the immediate area to make sure no one is within ear shot, well if I tell him, I'm sure he'll understand. I mean he is my best friend. And I'm sure as hell not going to tell Sam...

Seeing her checking out the area and obviously having an inward debate with herself, "Lexi."

Taking a deep breath and focusing on him, "I'm not worried about him being sick, I'm sure he's gonna be fine. It's just..."

"You like him."

Eyes widening, "yeah, how'd you know?"

"Like I said, I know you. Besides, you're not the only one who knows how to read people."

Smiling at him, relief washing over her, "I really do like him, I can't help it. What is it about you pilots?"

"Believe me, I understand. He's something of a flirt and as far as I know, there's no one on base that he's serious about. But there have been flings."

"So he's a typical..."

"Lexi," and taking her hands in his, looking her in the eyes, "from what I saw the first night you were here, he likes you too. It was the first time in a long time that I've seen him laugh like that. I just want you to be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I love you too," and wiping the tears from her face, "thanks Evan."

Kissing her wrist, like he used to do when they were together, "you're welcome." and seeing the small smile threatening to break through, "we're okay now right?

Smiling wide, "yeah,"

Getting up, "good, cause I've got to go."

"Oh hey, how was the date last night?"

Smiling down at her, "ah, wouldn't you like to know. Have dinner with me tonight and I'll tell you."

"It's a date."

"Okay, I'll radio you when I get back from off world and we can meet up."

Watching him walk out of the mess, she smiles to herself, happy that she had talked with him about how she was feeling. Taking a look at her watch, which reads 1000 and realizing that John will probably be waking up soon, she gets up, grabbing her duffel, which she had packed before she left her quarters and heads over to the food line again. She picks out a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, along with a to go cup of hot water, for the tea bag she has in her pocket from her personal stash. Satisfied that she has everything she needs, she heads for John's quarters.