Roy didn't waste any time looking for food despite being hungry. The captain would be dealing with Samantha somewhere in the station and he didn't want to risk running into her. He honestly wasn't sure what he'd do to her the next time he saw the woman.

The bunkhouse felt like a sanctuary. Even Rachel's female presence wasn't enough to ruin it. The room was dimly lit except for a lamp near Bob's bed. Rachel was currently taking Bob's vitals while trying not to wake him. As she finished she glanced up at Roy who had nearly reached her.

Instantly she went very still. "What happened?" she asked. There was a hardness to the paramedic's face that hadn't been there before. It set her nerves on end.

Roy stopped dead in his tracks. The only person he'd considered discussing the even with was his wife. On his way to the bunk house he'd had time to reconsider. He'd decided to pretend it hadn't happened. For a full 30 seconds he simply stood and stared at her.

"Which one was it?" the large woman asked as gently as she could. Anger and rage boiled through her mind and body. Deliberately, she stood up and crossed the distance between them. As she came within range to touch him, Roy took a step back. Rachel stopped and waited for him to speak.

"It was nothing," Roy said, dropping his head. Desperately he wanted to climb into his bed and pull the covers over his head. That is, if his stomach would let him do it. It growled loudly.

"Somehow I doubt that." Angry, she turned her attention to a new subject. "He's getting worse. We're going to have to increase the antibiotics, give him a bolus or take him to the hospital. Since he's still refusing the last alternative, you should maybe get hold of Dr. Brackett."

"Here are his vitals over the last three hours. I'll be right back in a minute." Rachel tried to slip by the taller man.

"Wait." Roy nearly touched her arm but he pulled his hand back at the last moment. Rachel stopped and turned toward the paramedic, distinctly aware of how close she actually was to the man. Patiently, she waited for him to begin.

"I don't want a big deal made out of it. She walked in on me in the shower." That was as much as he was willing to divulge.

"Was she aggressive?" Rachel asked. She saw the answer in the man's troubled blue eyes before he shook his head 'no'. "I'll be right back." She wanted to rip the woman's throat open. Luckily, she was a pacifist at heart.

"Leave her alone. I don't want it made into a big deal," Roy repeated.

"It's all ready a big deal," Rachel said as gently as she could. Quickly she headed out of the bunk house.



"Why did you do that?!" Captain Stanley demanded. He had Samantha in his office, trying to figure out what to do with her.

"Because I'm horny," Samantha replied, grinning at the man's discomfort. They were such prudes around here.

"He's a married man!" Captain Stanley was completely unsettled by the woman's apparent lack of concern. To him and his generation, marriage was considered to be a sacred bond between a man and a woman. This woman's cavalier attitude was beyond his comprehension.

"So?! He doesn't have AIDS. Nothing else matters." Samantha shot back. "For that matter, you're clean too. Are you interested?"

"Behave yourself!" Rachel growled from the doorway. It took every ounce of restraint she possessed to keep from throttling the woman.

"It's none of your business. Keep your fat ass out of my affairs," Samantha growled back.

"Are you really that weak that you can't control your urges?" Rachel chose to ignore the comment about her butt. It was what she'd come to expect.

"Why should I? They don't have AIDS. Do you have any idea how big that is?" The captain sat back and let the two women have it out. Beyond Rachel he saw Chet, Marco and Mike along with Nick and Grissom in the garage, listening in.

"Are you absolutely positive you're clean?" Rachel asked. She worked very hard to keep her voice at an even level. Samantha didn't answer. "How do you know that you're not the one who started AIDS in the first place? We can't take that kind of chance."

"But I'm horny!" Samantha whined. She was used to having her wishes catered to. It put her out that this overweight, sanctimonious Trekkie was trying to tell her what she could and couldn't do.

"Grow up!" Rachel replied, thoroughly disgusted with her immature behaviour. She turned to the men in the garage. "Do yourselves a favour. Don't have sex with any of the displaced people. It could kill you."

Frustrated, Rachel left the office. She paused in the kitchen long enough to get a snack for Roy. She'd heard his stomach growling. Then she headed back to the bunk house.

Roy was sitting on his bed, fully clothed, staring at the floor. Tentatively, Rachel placed the food she'd scavenged beside him. "I'm very sorry. You didn't deserve to have that happen to you," she said quietly,

Slowly, the younger man raised his head to look at her. The feat and confusion in those blue depths broke her heart. "It wasn't your fault," was the only thing she could think to say.



"Thank you," Roy finally said. Rachel moved the food toward him and then returned to her seat beside Bob. The military man was sleeping fitfully. Boughts of coughing kept him from falling into a deep, healing rest.

"I talked to Dr. Brackett," Roy said from his bunk. "He wants to admit him. Barring the he wants us to give him IV antibiotics as well as oral ones. He's bringing the prescriptions himself."

"I'd feel better if Dr. Brackett examined him. I'm worried for him," Rachel replied.

"Where did you get your medical training?" Roy had finally thought to ask. It was easier to not think too much about himself at the moment.

"I once worked as an animal health technologist, a veterinary assistant. Animals and humans are remarkably similar," Rachel admitted, a blush coming to her cheeks that Roy could see even in the dim light.

"Oh," was the only response he could come up with.

Wet, booming coughs came to rescue them form the awkward moment. Concerned, Rachel and Roy both bent over the younger man. Desperate for breath, Bob was awake and sitting up. The fit seemed to last forever, Bob's face turned red as he struggled to draw air into his lungs.

"Isn't there anything you can do for him?" Rachel asked, scared. Not know what else to do, she rubbed his back.

"I'll get the oxygen," Roy said. "Stay with him."

Rachel paused in her ministrations long enough to grab a glass of water. When the fit finally passed, she handed it to him. The cup was empty in moments.

"Feeling any better?" she asked, anxiously peering into his face. She picked the wet cloth up out of the basin, wrung it out and placed it on his feverish forehead.

"The hospital may not be such a bad idea," Bob admitted. He had to pause twice to catch his breath. His Special Forces training and security clearance prevented him from letting anyone put him under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Right now he wished fervently that Jonas Blaine, his commanding officer, were here to watch over him.

"Is there any way that you could let them admit you?" Rachel hadn't bothered to ask the young man what part of the Armed Forces he was from. She figured she was better off not knowing.

"Not in enemy territory with no one in command to observe." Bob was forced to lie back down on the bed. The world had begun to spin drunkenly. Trembling, he closed his eyes and waited for it to stop. By the book, he should not have even admitted to the woman that her assumption was correct.

"Your security concerns won't matter if you're dead," Rachel observed.



The oxygen bottle and face mask firmly clutched in his hands, Roy came into the bunk house, Dr. Brackett and Dixie trailing behind. They found Rachel and Johnny sitting beside Bob's bed. The patient appeared to be unconscious. Each breath he took sounded with a rasp. He was pale and sweaty.

Johnny looked up as the trio approached. Silently, he shook his head before moving out of the way to let the doctor and nurse reach the man. The events of the last 14 hours had the young paramedic shaken. He was relieved to have the doctor here to tend Bob. The man was beyond Johnny's ability to heal. "Here's his latest vital signs," he said as he offered a slip of paper to Doctor Brackett.

A quick scan was all the doctor needed. In the leather bag he'd brought with him, Dr. Brackett found the medicines he wanted and he began administering them. Done, he sat back and looked at the man. "Keep a close eye on him. If his vital signs deteriorate further I want him at Rampart."

"We can't monitor him all night and still do our job," Johnny stated. He was suddenly feeling very tired. He envied the brothers who continued to sleep soundly despite the activity in the room.

"I can watch over him tonight," Rachel offered. If it meant not sleeping in the same room as the other two, she was more than willing to miss a little shut eye.

"I'm not sure how comfortable the others guys are going to be with having a woman in the room while they try to sleep," Johnny said.

"Yeah, my wife may not appreciate it," Roy added.

"I promise I won't disturb anyone unless Bob gets worse," Rachel stated. After Samantha's behaviour, she wasn't surprised that it would make them uncomfortable.

"Ask the others," Dr. Brackett stated. Untrained though the woman was, it was the best solution to the current situation.