Dinner had gone off well. Ivy had come in only moments after the food was finished. Jenks had made five dishes with no meat and it was all delicious. The lasagna was excellent and I had no idea what he put in the salad but I'd never had its equal. I was seriously considering passing the job off to him since he seemed to really enjoy it.

After dinner we'd gathered around the pool table and Ivy and I had showed him how to play pool. Okay, Ivy showed him how. All the same, we had a peaceful night with only Ceri's momentary drop in with Jih to break it up. I was relaxed and ready for bed when the time came. Ivy headed up first. Jenks and I stayed on the couch for a while longer.

"Have a good talk with Jih?" I looked across the couch at Jenks who'd slouched down into the cushions with casual and yet provocative grace.

"She asked a few questions about the little garden they're working on at Keasleys. Her husband wasn't sure about some of the seedlings and wanted a second opinion. I'll get over there tomorrow and check it out." Jih had chosen between her three bucks. He was a good pixie and Jenks and Matalina had been proud of the decision.

I nodded and yawned. It had been a good day if a little long. My thoughts wandered to my bed and then to the tiny doll sized dress on the pillow. I glanced at Jenks. His eyes were closed and his arms draped over the back of the couch. A little teasing smiled played across his lips. He was absolutely beautiful. I repeated my mantra, "His wife just died. His wife just died", but it wasn't working as well as it had been a few hours ago. I bit my tongue instead and thought about that tiny dress as hard as I could. It wasn't that I wanted to jump him. Something about the way he looked and held himself seemed to beg you to point it out. I guess pixie curiosity was contagious.

"I'm off to bed." I pulled myself up from the seat and stretched. I was looking forward to settling down into warm blankets.

"I'll be there in a while. I just want to listen to a couple of songs." He cracked an eye open to smile at me then closed them again.

"Just don't forget to put them back in the right case." I left to the sound of his grumbling and slipped into my oversized shirt before crawling under the blankets drifting off to sleep.

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I was hot. Really hot. I started pulling myself from sleep and realized Jenks was in the bed. The heat from his body seeping into me from behind. I tossed the blankets aside and blinked bleary eyes at the arm resting over my waist. Why was there an arm on my waist? Oh yeah, Jenks. I shifted a little and felt Jenks tense as he woke.

"Rache? You okay?" He leaned over me but I was still trying to get the blankets off. They seemed to be stuck.

"I'm fine. I'm just hot. Help me get the blankets off." I was getting frustrated. Especially since Jenks was trying to hold me still.

"Rache, the blankets are already off. They're on the floor." I felt his hand on my head then on my thigh. "You're burning up." I rolled to my back and his face swam in my vision. Spring green eyes and a fresh college face with the most shockingly blonde hair ever to grace a human head were only inches from my reach. All I had to do was reach up and touch him. Just reach up and touch that sweet worried face. I only had a moment to contemplate the action, then my vision swam and my stomach rebelled.

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There was something cold on wet on my forehead and it felt so good I groaned out loud. I heard a voice a moment later and cracked my eyes open. The light that shone through the open curtain on the far wall was a shock. "Turn off the light," I grumbled.

"Rachel? You awake?" Jenks voice. He was close but I wasn't going to open my eyes to look again. "Rache?" He sounded calm but there as a tone to his voice. "You passed out. You have a really high fever. I've got you in bed and Keasley is here to check on you. Let him take a look at you."

I didn't understand why he was asking me that. I didn't have a problem with Keasley checking me out at all. In fact, what was taking him so long? And what was with these blankets?

"Rachel, you have to be still or I can't look after you." Keasleys voice right over me. Why wasn't he helping me?

"Blankets. All tangled up." My voice sounded thready and weak. Not like me at all. I really was sick.

"There aren't any blankets on the bed, witch. You kicked them off earlier. You have to be still now. We can't help you if you keep kicking us." I stilled and cracked open my eyes. Jenks was holding my legs. Someone else was holding my wrists over my head but I couldn't see them. The light was too bright.

"The light… too bright." I waited for someone to close the curtains but no one did. Had I said it out loud? God, my head hurt.

I felt hands start at my forehead and work their way down. I groaned from the aches and pains that simple touch gave me. I hurt all over. There was murmuring and I must have fallen asleep after that because I opened my eyes again to less light and Jenks. He was sitting next to the bed his head down and his elbows resting on his knees. I wasn't sure if he was asleep but with his head down and nothing but his hands showing he reminded me so much of Kisten that I started to cry.

"I miss you so much…Kisten…," tears ran down my face and a snuggled, shivering, into the blankets. At some point I'd gotten cold. I was shaking and crying. Missing Kisten. Missing my dad. "Daddy…," it was a small sound but I felt a hand on my arm and realized I spoken out loud.

"I'm so sorry, Rache. I didn't know. Please, don't be mad." Jenks was whispering next to my head. I didn't know what he was talking about, but his voice was soothing and I was so tired. I drifted off to sleep again wondering what he was so sorry for.

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Someone was arguing right over my head. It was really annoying. I cracked an eye open and looked over the covers. I was feeling a little better. I'm sure the three amulets hanging around my neck had something to do with it. The light was low which meant it was close to nightfall. Probably around eight o'clock. I'd overslept but since I was sick, I had a good excuse.

I could remember a little bit now. But only a very little. I'd been hot, then sick. I remember stumbling to the bathroom and puking all over the toilet seat and floor. I wonder who cleaned that up. I hope someone cleaned it up. I'd passed out after that. The rest was blurry images of people and movement and incoherent thought. I hadn't been this sick since I was a kid and that gave me a moment of panic. What if the disease had come back? I calmed almost instantly. I remember the pain and sickness associated with that diseased. This wasn't the same. In fact, this seemed a lot like the flu.

"Why the hell didn't you wake me up?!" Ivy. It was Ivy screaming at the top of her lungs in my room. Should have known.

"You needed to sleep. You're going to have to take care of her from now until at least four. I haven't slept all day and I have to check on some things for Jih. Get a grip, Ivy." That was my Jenks. Always a smart mouth in the face of an angry vampire.

"I could have gone without the sleep. You should have told me she was sick. I should have been here!" I don't know what she thought she would have done in that case. Probably the same thing Jenks had done. Which is why Jenks didn't wake her up. She could be so hardheaded sometimes.

"Well you're here now!" I hadn't known Jenks could do female snarky, though with as many girls as he had, I shouldn't have been surprised. I'd have to ask him about that. He had a point though, and I was getting tired of the discussion. "If you two are done, do you think someone could get me some water? I feel like I have cotton in my throat."

"Rachel?" I felt Ivy move against the bed, then her hands touching me face. My eyes had closed but opened again to focus on her own brown ones. "How are you feeling? You're not feverish anymore. Are you cold?"

I smiled at the worry in her voice as I cuddled deeper into the blankets. I tried to see Jenks but he was too far out of my visibility. "I'm fine. I just want some water. My throats dry."

"She's had fever all day. She slept through most of it but her bodies still feeling it. She'll be alright by tomorrow but she's not going to be up to much more than resting today. Make sure you give her water. A little honey wouldn't hurt either. It'll help her throat and… it'll help." Jenks words were tight and I wonder what Ivy was doing that was making him angry. Oops, I'd closed my eyes again.

"Care to tell me how you know all of this?" Ivy's voice was Icy but her hands were gentle as she sat on the bed next to me and wiped my face with a wet towel. Where had the towel come from?

Jenks was silent for a moment. I wished I could see his face but Ivy wasn't letting me move and he wasn't standing where I could see him. The silence stretched and I felt Ivy tense. What was going on?

"Keasley and Ceri were here. They took care of her and gave me instructions. I have to go check on Jih, and then get some sleep. I'll check on her in a while." I heard the door close just as Ivy started to rise from the bed. She stood there a moment before stiffly lowering to my side again.

"Water, please." I lay a hand on Ivy's leg. She jumped then looked down at me. Good, my eyes were open again. I was having a little trouble controlling them at the moment.

"I'm sorry. I'll go get it. Just give me a minute." She was staring at me as if she hadn't seen me in a long time. Her distress apparent in her eyes. "You scared me today. I was so pissed when Jenks said you were sick. Then I saw you… I'll go get your water."

She rose from the bed and I closed my eyes as the door creaked open. I was bone tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next month. Time passed and as I started drifting between sleep and wake I felt the light press of lips to mine. They were warm and soft and had I not been so tired I might have kissed them back. But, instead I drifted off into sleep with that soft kiss and the scent of incense and growing things mixing comfortingly in the air around me.

Hope you enjoy. As always, read and review please.