A/N: Okay guys, sorry that updates have been pretty infrequent lately...this semester at school has been crazy. I'll try to update as often as I can, but I can't make any promises other than I still love writing this story and I still have tons of awesome prompts to get through.

Speaking of which, this chapter is inspired by both Ebianna and Brock's Geodude - I sort of mixed them together since they worked perfectly.

Enjoy!


Caitlin coughed into her sleeve.

Barry knew that coughing was normal, that it could be nothing, but that was the third time she had coughed in the last minute. That, coupled with the bags under her eyes made him suspicious that something wasn't quite right.

She coughed again.

"Feeling okay, Caitlin?" Dr. Wells asked just before Barry could. "You sound like you're catching something."

"I'm fine," she answered immediately, shooting her boss a smile that, to Barry's suspicious eyes, seemed a little forced. "I just have a little tickle in my throat."

Dr. Wells just nodded and moved on, leaving Caitlin and Barry alone in the testing room.

"Barry, can I get one more-"

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence. "You don't look so good." In fact, he could see that she seemed a little flushed, even under the florescent lab lights.

Caitlin crossed her arms and shot him a look that he immediately recognized as defiance. "I feel great. Wonderful. Now, sit down," she gestured imperiously at the bed. "I need one more blood sample."

"Caitlin," he softened his voice, but did sit down where she indicated, rolling up the sleeve of his sweater to let her access the veins in his arm, "if you're not feeling well, it's okay to go home."

"How many times do I have to tell you all that I'm feeling fine?" she asked, exasperation clear in her voice. However, in her eyes, Barry could see that she was lying. He knew her much too well.

"You're the expert," he shrugged, letting her win the argument for the moment.

She paused, then shot him a grateful look. "Thanks." Walking over, she carefully unwrapped the needle and inserted it into his arm with the ease of much practice.

While she was busy, Barry raised his free hand and touched it to her forehead. She gasped and shied away, but not before he felt the fiery heat of her skin against his hand.

"Barry," she scolded, "you're freezing."

"You have a fever," he told her. "A bad one. You're going home."

"I have work to do." She wouldn't meet his eyes - a sure sign that she knew he was right and just didn't want to admit it.

"And work's more important than your health."

"Making sure that everything's okay with you is the most important thing." The sentence was punctuated by a brief coughing fit.

Barry sighed, both frustrated and flattered. On one hand, he loved that Caitlin thought of him as so much of a priority that she would ignore almost anything else, but on the other hand, she was being reckless.

"Tell you what," he made a snap decision, "if I go home with you, do you have the materials to finish running these tests at your place?"

She looked up at him suspiciously. "Will you actually let me do the tests?"

"Would I lie to you?" Barry grinned charmingly at her, hoping to distract her from the fact that he was ignoring her question. "I mean, superheroes in the movies never lie to pretty women."

"Have you ever seen a superhero movie?" she grumbled, taking the needle out of his arm finally and handing him a cotton swab, then pausing to cough into her sleeve. "And also, it's awfully convenient that you only refer to yourself as a hero when you want something."

Despite her attempts to sound annoyed, Barry could tell that she was close to caving, and that told him that she must be feeling absolutely awful to give in with only such a small argument. Dabbing the tiny amount of blood off the already-healed cut with the swab, Barry stood up. "Ready to go?"

She bit her lip like she always did when she was trying to think. Finally she nodded reluctantly. "Lying down sounds nice," she ventured quietly, wiping her nose with a tissue.

"I'll let Dr. Wells know that we're taking the day off."

Caitlin crawled gratefully into bed, thinking that she had never felt happier to be home than at the moment. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls and her nose was currently attempting to imitate Niagara Falls.

"What can I get for you?" Barry asked, sitting carefully on the edge of her bed. He had insisted on following her home, despite her protests.

"Nothing," she mumbled through her dry throat.
"Do you have a thermometer?"

"In the bathroom." Giving him a reply seemed easier than arguing at the moment.

Barry was only gone for a second before he returned with the thermometer and took her temperature. "100.8 degrees," he read after it had beeped, his tone concerned. "Caitlin, that's not good. How could you possibly have come into work today?"

She just groaned and glared at him. "You said that I could finish running my tests."

Shifting toward her, his hand found hers and started tracing soothing circles in her palm. "I don't think that's quite what I said," he hedged.

Caitlin fell silent for a moment, her brain processes too slow to think up a good reason for why he was wrong.

"And besides, rest will be good for you," he insisted, his voice soft and full of caring. "What can I get you?"

"You shouldn't be here," she mumbled, her eyes feeling very heavy now that she was lying down under the covers. It was the first time she had felt warm since she had dragged herself out of bed and to work that morning. "I'll get you sick too."

Barry laughed and shot her the crooked grin that always made her heart race. "I don't think I can get sick. And besides, having the world's fastest nurse around can't hurt."

Caitlin laughed, but the sound turned into another fit of coughing.

"Do you want something to drink? Juice? Coffee? Tea? Water?"

"Water sounds nice."

With his super speed, Barry was up and back with a large glass of water before she could blink twice. "Fluids are good for sickness." He passed her the glass and took her free hand in his again, his touch sending pleasant tingles up her arm.

Caitlin took a couple sips and then placed the glass on her bedside table. "Barry?" she asked quietly, feeling her itchy eyes begging for sleep.

"Yeah?"
"Stay?" It was just one word, but it felt heavy, almost like it was resisting her attempts to push it out. Asking him to stay felt vulnerable, like she was showing him just how much she needed him and his support.

Any maybe, deep down, a part of her was terrified by how much she had come to care for him. Especially after those kisses they had shared recently.

"I'll be right here," he promised immediately. There was no hint of resentment or even hesitation in his reply. "Now go to sleep."

With him sitting there, holding her hand, and her body desperate for sleep, she drifted off in only a matter of seconds.


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