Minx left the room to retrieve the blond singers requested items. She had definitely come prepared. Earlier in the afternoon when she and Rapture had gone shopping it seemed as if they cleared out the whole pharmaceutical section. Admittedly it cost a fortune but who cares they were just going to charge it to Stinger Sound anyway.

She grabbed a bottle of Tylenol , popped off the top , shook a pair of pills into her dainty hand and set them aside on a paper towel. She, then went through the various grocery bags until she found the ones that contained the 10 boxes of Kleenex they purchased. Given the siege Riot's nose was under she was glad she had bought such an exaggerated amount.
Besides it wasn't on their dime. She knew that Riot had ways of fixing it so that it looked like they owed less then they did. With falsified records Eric Raymond was picking up the brunt of their tab. This tactic was used with everything from instruments to sound equipment to "business" lunches that cost hundreds. She remembered one time all three of them had gone out to the fanciest restaurant in town and ordered one of everything on the menu. The bill had come to almost $12000. They left most of the food behind of course. The point was it was just fun taking advantage of Eric. He was such a fool it was almost too easy!

She piled two tissue boxes on top of each other and balanced them in one hand. In her other she gathered up the pills and headed toward the direction in which much coughing was heard. It did not sound good. 'poor Riot' she thought. The fact that he felt terrible was obvious but Minx knew what was killing him the most was that he essentially was incapacitated. He was in a situation where he was completely powerless. And losing his voice well that was just icing on the rotten cake.

An image came to her mind of when she and Riot were dating. She recalled how once he sprained his ankle while ice skating He had so much pride that he insisted he was fine and had refused any help she tried to give him. He had limped all the way back to the apartment they shared. It was only when hours later when he physically could not walk more then 4 steps without screaming out in agony that he admitted something was wrong. Only then did he agree to go to the doctor and get checked out. But that wasn't the end of it. Oh no! He refused to keep his leg elevated and consistently tried to get up and test his manoeuvrability. He confessed how frustrated he felt over being immobilized and how that in itself was far worse then the extreme pain he was enduing at the time. She missed mothering him and caring for him and ........
Wait a sec! Why was she thinking about this now. Her and Riot had long since been over! Drat! Why did Rapture have to go and bring up painful memories....she was not still in love with Riot. She wasn't. They were friends and band mates and that was it!!! It was! Really!
Who was she kidding. When they had parted ways her heart broke in places she didn't know existed. She was so devastated. It had got so bad that she even considered quitting The Stingers. It was one of the hardest choices she had ever contemplated. But in the end she realized she was just being selfish. The group was a whole and it wouldn't have been fair to the others. It was then she kicked her infallible persona into high gear. She decided if she couldn't have Riot then she would just have ...well everyone else! Of course she wasn't trying to make Riot jealous! Not at all! well..........not much anyway. OK fine! She was and if she couldn't make him jealous well then "Lil Miss Pink b**ch" would do just fine. She was after all the lady of Riot's affections so pissing her off would be just as satisfying. And that was why she threw herself at Rio at every opportunity. Of course Riot had no idea that she still
carried a torch for him and that was just fine as far as Minx was concerned.. She planned to keep it that way. No one knew so the fact that Rapture had suspected something really made her wonder if her friends supposed phychic abilities were just as act

Minx had never understood why they had broken up in the first place . They had so much in common. Riot's motives and determination mirrored her own. When she had first laid eyes on him she decided he was the most magnificent man she had ever seen. It was lust at first sight. And it was only after she had gotten to know him that her desire turned to actual love. When he started to pursue her she felt as if her heart would burst from their relationship she had felt the best she had ever felt in her whole life. When the band began to soar with popularity Riot called it off. He told her they were too similar and that it would look better to the masses if they both appeared single. Of course he stated a slew of other excuses. But he had made up his mind and no matter what Minx had said there was no convincing him otherwise.

Suddenly she felt the familiar sting of hot tears down her cheeks. The pain she had tried to put behind her was all coming back. She turned around and went the other way down the hall back to the kitchen. She set down the pills and ripped open the box of Kleenex. She dried her eyes, dabbed at her nose and gave a shaky sigh. She squared her shoulders and gained her composure then she gathered the items up again and went back to Riot.
She knocked on the door out of respect and to announce her presence. She did not expect Riot to answer. After a moment she walked in.
"Here you go" she said as she handed Riot the Tissues. She set the pills next to the tea. She placed her hand on the mug to test it's temperature and found it warm but not hot. It wasn't cold yet. Riot mouthed 'Thank you'. He tugged on a piece of Kleenex turned away slightly abashed and blew his nose and then tossed it into the waste paper basket by his bed. He sniffed a few times and turned back toward Minx who was sniffling slightly herself.
Riot eyed her with concern. He handed her the pad.' I hope your not coming down with my cold' It said. She couldn't tell if he was actually concerned for her health or if it was the fact that if she did fall ill she wouldn't be able to continue her care for him. "Oh, I'm fine" Minx blushed. She hoped he couldn't tell she had just been crying." Don't worry about me. Thank you though." She set the pad down and picked up the pills and dropped them into Riot's outstretched hand. He swallowed them back with the tea.
It was sweet with honey and just a bit tart from the lemon and quite honestly the best tea her could ever remember having. It did just the trick and seemed to soothe his aching throat instantly. He turned to Minx and smiled.

"You're welcome." Minx said responding to his silent thanks. They sat there is the comfortable silence that comes rich with history; coated with understanding and ease.

Sitting there enjoying each others company they were both lost in one another's thoughts. Riot sipped at his tea as Minx sat on the bed demurely, her legs tucked beneath her.

"Maybe this is good time to mention I plan on staying the night" Minx stated and then realizing how forward that sounded regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. She tried to recover by adding " Rapture was going to stay over too but ,,,well she left."

Riot seemed amused by this.
"Do you really think I need a baby sitter?" He asked in a hoarse whisper forgetting to use his pen and pad.
"No. But obviously someone has to be here to remind you to keep resting your voice"
She said deliberately handed him back the pen with paper. He took it with a melodramatic sigh and wrote: ' Yes, Doctor.'
Minx looked at the time it was 9pm. "I think it's time we both get some rest It's been a long day."
Riot thought back over the events of that morning. In his mind it appeared so far away. It seemed almost impossible that less then 12 hours ago he was actually attending a business meeting at Stinger Sound. And now here he was laid up in bed with a miserable cold unable to go anywhere. Getting sleep was a good idea. He desperately wanted to get well. He needed to play that show. If it weren't for Jem he would have cancelled by now. But she was the sole motivating factor in his recovery.

"If you need anything at all Riot , I'm in the guest suite". Minx picked up the empty bowl and mug with plans to wash them before she retired to bed. "Sweet dreams." she called out softly as she closed the door gently behind her.
She deposited the dishes in the sink and resolved to wash them in the morning.
Then she went to her room, changed out of her "uniform" and into an old over sized Stingers t- shirt. She climbed into bed ,her head hit the pillow and soon after she was in the land of nod.

Riot unfortunately wasn't so lucky. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. He couldn't breathe. He sniffled a few times to try to clear the unending congestion and finally gave up and blew his nose. It helped little. It seemed to just plug up his sinus even more. His headache was returning as the medication wore off. Or maybe it never left in the first place.
God he felt dreadful! At least Minx and Rapture were a distraction but now left all alone it seemed he felt his symptoms even more so. He felt his nose began to run and to exhausted to reach for the tissues he wiped it on the sleeve of his $5000 custom made yaki Tori Pyjamas. Oh this was a new low