Title: "Florence Nightingale at Your Service, Viking"

Summary: When Eric succumbs to a rare vampire illness, he must rely on Sookie to care for him.

Rating: M (though mostly for last chapter)

Pairing: Eric & Sookie

Disclaimer: The talented Charlaine Harris is the rightful owner and creator of this fabulous world of hers. I'm just cavorting in it for a while...leaving telepathic barmaids to deal with ill vampires in my wake…


A/N—Once again, thank you all for the awesome reviews! I love them all and you all rock!


This chapter is shorter than the last two, and the next two chapters by my estimation will be shorter than this, but I promise to get them out in a timely manner! :)


At the end of Chapter 6:

"I'll show you to the door, Dr. Ludwig." I said, trying not to be curt. I took her bag for her and we walked to the door.

"Ahh, thank you Miss Stackhouse. A delight to see you again. If you have questions, please call the number you reached me at tonight. I will be back here in 2 days at 7:00 pm unless you contact me to tell me otherwise."

"Thanks again," I said, opening the door and handing her back her doctor's bag. "Good night." I said, nodding my respect. She nodded back, walked out the door to her waiting car, and with that, Eric and I were alone again.


Chapter 7

I sauntered back into my bedroom to find Eric still staring out the window. I sat cross legged in the seat near my bed that I've, too often, found ex-lovers upon waking. I gazed at Eric, waiting for him to acknowledge my entering the room.

He didn't turn to me, but started to speak.

"I can only swallow so much of my pride, Sookie. The injections of...the antibiotic serum..." he said the phrase as if it were an unspoken foreign language, "are necessary. But to be nauseous, as a vampire, is such a weak trait, and it will be perceived as pathetic." He turned to me, looking pained. "To feed—that is the essence of being a vampire. A loss of this desire, this urge, it's …." He paused, then continued speaking through clenched teeth "It is difficult for me to even convince myself that I must show even you this weakness, though I have no choice." Anger flared in the bond and he looked back out the window.

I was touched by his honesty, though sad and troubled at how much of his pride he feels he has to swallow to accept my help. I moved to the bed, sat down cross-legged next to him on the big bed and took his hand. He continued to stare out the window.

"Eric."

No movement.

"Eric, please look at me." He shifted but didn't turn to look at me until I leaned forward and put a gentle hand on his far cheek. His eyes were hard but softened when he saw my sympathetic gaze.

"Eric, I am not a vampire, and I am not a man, so I don't completely empathize with your issues of pride in hunger and rejection of weakness, but I do understand your desire to keep face to all those vampires you work with. Aaaand… I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I can be a bit stubborn, strong-willed and prideful myself on occasion." I said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Eric snorted, giving me a wry smile in return.

I continued. "I'm learning that, as I'm forced to mature as a result of being put in more and more life threatening positions, sometimes you just have to back down and swallow your pride." I gave him a knowing smile, both of us aware that it was vampire business that was the main part of the reason I'm continually put in such positions of danger. "And this is easy for you. The only two people who know of your full symptoms are the doctor and me, and I'll take the details of them to the grave." I winked at my pun, and Eric gave into a soft, deep chuckle in spite of himself.

"In all seriousness though, Eric, I won't tell anyone. All Pam knows is that you're really tired. We'll just keep it at that and she won't even share that with anyone. In 5 days you'll be good as new, and you can just tell people you abducted me to take me on some romantic vacation. Or to do some job for you. Whatever." I felt his mood lifting through the bond at the thought this scenario, I guessed that the thought that no one will know of his weakness but me, the doctor, and the wall caused the change in mood.

"But what if I wanted to actually take you on a romantic vacation? Would you yield to me and come with me?" He had his smirk on again, and I picked up on the double entendre of his statement with a groan.

"Oh, Eric," I said, sighing, though one corner of my mouth curled up. "We'll just see how good of a patient you are and whether you deserve a reward at the end of all this mess." I said playfully.

"I see. Well then, I'm all yours, Florence," said Eric, alluding to my Florence Nightingale comment earlier.

In truth, I'd give anything to be on a romantic vacation with a fully healthy Eric again. Would I really? I wondered. Yup. That's a positive. Well, I concluded, that will make that talk much easier, huh?

I smiled to myself.

"What?" Eric asked, studying my face.

"Oh, nothing." I said. "So… on a scale of 1 to 10, how nauseous are you? Enough to swallow your pride so you can keep down some blood later? You know you need to feed to keep up your strength." I said, changing the subject.

Eric sighed and grumbled. "Probably about a 9. I haven't felt well at all since you assisted me to the bathroom, and the doctor pressing that one spot on my abdomen made it worse." He covered the spot over his spleen protectively with his hand and winced at the memory. "It is good I had an empty stomach."

I plucked an antiseptic packet off the nightstand, ripped it open and, getting off the bed to stand but putting one knee on the mattress to lean forward, went to swab Eric's upper arm. "Sit up a little, will ya?" I requested, and Eric did, slowly. I ran the cool, moist little pad over the skin of Eric's muscular shoulder, causing him to shiver a little. My eyes snapped up. "Cold?"

"Sookie, vampires don't get cold easily." Eric said matter-of-factly.

"Yes," I said, giving him a stop-bullshitting-me look. "They don't get sick easily either. And you're running a temperature. Do you want another blanket?"

"Maybe in a little." Eric said, meaning after I give him the nausea medication. I turned back to what I was doing. I took up the needle that Dr. Ludwig had already loaded, uncapped it, and held it up and flicked it to make sure there were no bubbles. I depressed the plunger, making a little fluid run out the top, and was ready. My heart was hammering because, hey, I'm no doctor, and I didn't want to cause Eric pain.

"Sookie, breathe. It is okay. You will not hurt me." His calm voice said, his blue eyes looking into mine. He was the one reassuring me, and I was the one with the needle in my hand. What's wrong with this picture?

I took a deep breath, took his right arm in my left hand and held it a little away from the body so I could see the muscle it was going in, and pushed the needle into the flesh of his arm and depressed the plunger. Eric didn't move a muscle and was careful not to react, helping calm my nerves. When I pulled the needle out, I was shaking and sweating, realizing what I'd just done. I put the used needle in the old laundry detergent plastic bottle the doctor instructed me to get earlier, and screwed the top back on the container. I sighed in relief at the task being completed.

I looked back to Eric, still shaking, and after he ran a hand over the injection site, he coaxed me into the bed beside him. He put his arms around me and I wrapped my arms around his chest, curled against his body.

We lay like this for a good long while and I must have even drifted off to sleep for half an hour or so. When I woke, I noticed that Eric's body was not the cold, solid flesh it usually was.

"Mmm… Eric, I should probably check your temperature to make sure it's not too hot." I said in a voice rough with sleep while rubbing my eyes.

He nodded, and I got the special thermometer the doctor had brought over from the night table. I gently placed it in Eric's ear, first moving his lovely hair out of the way, as it had slipped from the tie he was using earlier.

"92.4 degrees Fahrenheit. We'll have to watch that later tonight, Eric. Are you feeling any better? After the nausea medication?"

"Yes, actually, lover. I think I could use something to drink, if you would be so obliging as to get me a Trueblood?"

"I'll put it in a glass for you so you can have a little at a time. How's that?" I asked, knowing full well he'd be getting my blood instead of that "synthetic crap" as he once called it.

"That will be fine. Thank you." Eric said, sighing back into the pillows and closing his eyes to rest.

I walked out to the kitchen and plucked one of the large vials of blood from the refrigerator, took the rubber top off, and poured it into a small glass. It would have just about half filled a white wine glass, though it'd be too creepy to serve it in that considering it was my own blood.

I popped the glass into the microwave, taking it out when it was done and swirling it around. I walked back into the bedroom and handed it to Eric, who seemed distracted.

He took a cautious sip and immediately groaned in pleasure, swallowed, and put the glass down on the nightstand carefully as though very valuable. He looked at me shrewdly and held his hand out for me to take. I gave him a small smile, giving him my hands and he grasped them gently, first turning them over and examining my wrists, and then a thought seemed to occur to him. He rolled up my left sweatshirt sleeve until the band-aid on the crook of my arm was revealed. I shrugged and looked at him sheepishly as he met my eyes. His expression was astounded, and his eyes went back to the band-aid as he ran his thumb very gently across it. Wordlessly, he carefully rolled down my sweatshirt sleeve back over my elbow and down, and drew me in for an almost bone-crushing hug. I hugged him back, smiling at his silent appreciation.

He pulled back and looked down at me, fangs drawn down a bit, though it was not intimidating in his smile. "Dear one, you truly amaze me. Thank you for your wonderful gift. I will not waste it, and when I am better, you will be rewarded handsomely too," he said, smiling.

I drew away, surprised and a little angry. "I don't want your money Eric—I'm not a whore! I did it because I want you to get better!" I huffed, hurt.

He gathered me back into his arms. "No, no, no, my lover, you mistake my meaning. I would never think to quantify your thoughtful gift in terms of money." He lowered his voice to whisper directly in my ear. "I mean to show my appreciation in other ways." He said, brushing his lips lightly against my cheek and I smiled, my whole body shivering at the thought and his actions. Alright, I thought, I guess I'll accept THAT. And when I thought about it, I decided he should hear that thought as well.

"Eric," I said, giving him my own little seductive smile, "I will accept your acts of appreciation as soon as you are well enough to bequeath them to me." Bequeath was yesterday's word from my favorite calendar so I was happy to use it. I lightly kissed his lips and drew back. "Now finish your blood before it gets cold." I said, smiling genuinely at him. I felt happiness, lust, and… something more (but not love, right?)… coming through the bond, and I was happy Eric seemed to be in a better temperament even in the face of a very bad night.

I sat back down on the ex-boyfriend chair and watched Eric enjoy the blood I had given him and retreated into my own form of "down-time."

I roused myself out of the sleep that I had obviously fallen into about an hour later, and it seemed that Eric had been trying to get my attention from the bed. I groggily opened my eyes and shook my head, remembering the events of the evening thus far. Then I remembered that Pam was going to be coming over soon and my eyes looked at the clock first—3:10am—and then Eric second, who had a significantly healthier fullness to his face. Feeding definitely helped.

"Hey," I said with a gruff voice as a result from sleeping with my mouth open, looking at Eric with bleary eyes and unglamorously wiping a bit of drool from the side of my mouth with the back of my hand. "You look better. I guess we ought to get you into the other room, huh?" Every muscle in my body groaned from sleeping in an uncomfortable position in the chair, but it helped to stretch when I stood up.

Eric smiled. "Yes, my lover. My child will be here soon and I do not want to risk giving her this illness if I can avoid it." He sat up and slowly and carefully swung his legs around the side of the bed. He was still wearing only his boxer shorts, and it occurred to me that Pam should bring over some comfortable clothes and a change of boxers for Eric to wear over the next few days. I would call her when I got Eric into the other room.

"Let's put a tank top on you at least before we walk through the drafty house." I said, surveying his almost naked body with a shiver. I wished I had something he could wear but I just didn't have anything in extra-large tall. He nodded, and I practically threw myself across the wide bed to grab his black tank, and Eric helped guide his arms through the holes as I pulled the shirt over his head. He just looked more comfortable with a little more clothing on.

I put my right arm around his body and his left arm draped along my shoulder.

"Are you ok, Eric?" I grunted, stressed as he leaned heavily on me when we started to walk.

"I am... very weak, lover. I am …sorry for..."

"Shh!" I interrupted, not needing to hear an apology when I can feel the full blast of it through the bond.

Slowly but surly, I got Eric to lie down on Octavia's bed in the room opposite my own. I drew back; sweat pouring down my temples, I was very happy to have him situated. He looked at me apologetically and I held my hand up in an "I don't want to hear it" gesture and smiled at him. I wasn't used to this meek Eric and I wanted to nip it in the bud. As much as blunt and grandiose Eric can be grating on the nerves, he was the real Eric and the more "real" Eric acted, the less concerned I was about his health.

I closed the door behind me as I got one of the many Lysol spray cans that Amelia had picked up for one of her stress-induced cleaning sessions and vigorously sprayed the bedroom, the bed, and the living room, hoping that Lysol and the booster of antibiotics would be enough to keep Pam from getting sick. Then I called her.

"Fangtasia," said Pam's bored and irritated-sounding voice, "the bar with a... oh whatever, who is this?"

I laughed. "Pam, it's Sookie! Are you okay?"

Pam chuckled too. "Good, I was hoping it wasn't Eric. He isn't thrilled by my occasional less-than-exuberant phone persona. I am okay—it has been a long night. A fight between fangbangers over one particularly cute new male vampire caused a commotion earlier. Human girls who want to rip each other's throats out are actually quite vicious! Who knew!" Pam said, almost in awe.

"Yeah, Pam, I've seen enough fights in the girl's locker room in high school to be able to attest to that that." I said, laughing. One fight in particular came to mind that took 4 muscular female gym teachers to break up. The hair pulling, nail digging fight was caused by one girl saying the other looked fat in her gym shorts.

"Well, one of the vermin had a whole set of silver rings on, idiotic girl not knowing the effect silver has on vampires, so when Thalia went to restrain her and got burned, let's just say the vermin's hand, and arm for that matter, with the silver did not go unscathed. We had to glamour her to convince her she fell down the stairs and landed on it so we could call an ambulance to set the fractures without getting sued." Pam sighed audibly.

"Sure does sound like an exciting night, Pam! Listen, when you comin' over here?"

"I was just about to leave when I picked up the phone. Why do you ask? Do you need something else?"

"Oh, well, not for me, but I was thinking that Eric could probably use a few changes of boxers and maybe some comfortable clothes to hang around in. The doctor gave me medicine to give him, and he's going to be okay, but he's going to have to stay here for 4 to 5 days…" I said, trailing off.

"Oh LORD, I don't envy you the job of trying to keep that vampire in a bed for that amount of time without the use of silver, though I would not suggest silver as a good way to win his affection," she amended quickly, clearly amused that the job was mine and not hers.

"Yeah well, someone's got to do it. So, would you mind swinging by wherever Eric hangs his hat to pick up some clothes for him, and any toiletries you think he might want to make him more comfortable? He'll mostly just need comfortable clothes— sweatpants, t shirts, etcetera."

"'Hangs his hat?' Sookie, I doubt I've ever seen Eric wear a … no matter. I can do that. I will see you in approximately 45 minutes."

I silently chuckled at how little idioms can throw intelligent vampires for a loop. "Alrighty then, Pam, bye!"

"Goodbye." And we hung up.

"Pam's comin' by in about 45 minutes," I said to Eric as I poked my head in the door.

"I can hardly wait to see what amusement she gains from this situation I am in." he said, groaning and pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger for the second time this night.


A/N- Thanks so much for reading! As always, if you liked it, please leave me a review! As Sookie said once (about something significantly different than reviews, of course), they're "better than a happy meal to a three year old"! :)

Updates coming soon!