When Martin woke up, the first thing he felt was the static from the telly. It did that sometimes, all through Martin's life. The static from the television had a way of making you feel like an entire flat was occupied: You would hear the TV first, but it would feel like something else. Martin always felt safer when he heard it from the hall in the early mornings- when Mum or Dad were out at work on the summer days and Simon was already working at his part time job, and Caitlin had spent the night somewhere. It was these mornings that made Martin worry when he was young, because he knew he was alone. But more often than not Simon would have left his movie playing from the night before in the setting room when he left- and so when Martin forced himself to pad down the steps so he could use the loo, he felt a little safer when he heard the telly's grinding noise.

It was still a slight disappointment when no one was in the room, of course. But Martin learned to count his blessings early.

When he turned over today though, the second thing he noticed was a sudden strike of pain, seeming to be settling in somewhere in the middle of his brain. It was nearly blinding, and Martin tried to blink the dark spots from the edges of his vision away.

This didn't work out so well though, and just as the view of his small hotel room and the staticy telly materialized, his eyes slid shut again. The pain worsened, and Martin willed himself to get up and get some water.

For some reason though, he couldn't move. That was the third thing he noticed.

Come on, Martin growled to himself in his head, you can't just-

"Martin?" Douglas' voice was somewhere to Martin's left, by the window. Martin inhaled slowly and tried to move, but his body didn't comply. "Martin, if you're awake, say something. Make a sound, at least." Douglas' voice came closer.

I'm awake, don't get your knickers in a twist. Martin sighed in his mind and counted to ten before trying to move again. Nothing. He tried to open his mouth and say something.

He heard Carolyn murmur something at the foot of the bed. Douglas shifting to his left. Martin took deep breaths in and out, counting to ten and starting over repeatedly.

And suddenly, the pain was gone. The weights on his muscles were lifted and Martin's eyes fluttered open again. He moved slightly on the bed, turning his head.

Douglas' face was lined with concern. Martin had been seeing a lot of that lately, especially on Friday when they were on that train-

Martin blinked and spoke the first thing on his mind. "Wh…What day's it?"

"Monday evening. Your fever broke yesterday, so you've been sleeping on and off since then." Douglas spoke slowly, watching him. Carolyn tapped Martin's foot once with her hand.

"Feeling better, are we? Took long enough. You were thrashing about like a child, right in the middle of it." She sounded only slightly annoyed, and Martin tried to ignore it.

Monday evening? That's…that's three full days. He couldn't remember anything from the last three days except when he woke up the one time. And Anita, of course. She' was very hard to forget.

Martin sat up slowly, feeling a rush to his head. "I…I've really been out all this time?" He rubbed his eyes with the palm of one hand, then looked around. Arthur was sleeping on the sofa, one hand dangling off the edge. "I barely remember, I-"

"Oh, we know. You weren't making any sense to us either." Carolyn brought some water over to him which Martin sipped slowly. "We wanted to do more, but since we weren't exactly sure what the hell is-"

Douglas cut her off before Martin could even comprehend anything she said. "Not now, Carolyn. He's just woken up, for goodness sake. Let the boy have a drink." He drummed his fingers on the night stand, watching Martin curiously. Martin shifted uncomfortably under the gaze, until he finally sighed.

"What, Douglas?"

Douglas shrugged. "I'm just looking at you Martin, no need to make a fuss." His demeanor changed and he leaned forward, closer to Martin. "How are you feeling?"

Like I've been hit by a bus, Martin thought, but took another drink before answering. "I feel fine. Just a bit tired." He turned so his feet could touch the ground, slowly standing up. His legs felt like jelly as he kept the thin sheet from the bed- some parts still damp from sweat- over his lower body. "Must've had a flu or something, I can't remember the last time I-"

He was cut short when he tripped over the sheet- well that's what he thought happened anyway- and suddenly he was headed for the ground. But Douglas grabbed hold of Martin's arms quickly, pulling him upright. The fast movement made Martin's head spin and he swayed, leaning back against Douglas.

Douglas sighed. "Just a flu, then?"

Martin blinked slowly as his vision refocused, finally pulling away. "Yes, Douglas. Just a flu. Add that to the…inner-ear thing, anyone would be out of sorts, wouldn't they? I'm just lucky it didn't interfere with our flying time, or any jobs at home." He gathered the sheet up off the floor to cover himself and headed toward the bathroom, locking the door behind him once he was in. The shower started and Carolyn sighed heavily.

"Douglas, he is out of his right mind if he thinks we're going to believe that rubbish. A flu! And his inner-ear? He really thinks we don't have a right to know anything more than that? " She picked up a few things from the floor, dropping them into a pile by the bed.

Douglas was quiet, back to drumming his fingers. He looked thoughtful, if not a bit far away. Carolyn clapped her hands once together, making him jump. "Hello! Ignoring me, are you?"

"Ah…no." Douglas rubbed his forehead. "I'm just wondering what we should do next, is all."

"I hardly think we have any options. He's not saying anything and as we've already proven to ourselves, we can't do much on our own. Maybe we should just let it be for the moment." Carolyn went to the sofa and gently nudged Arthur to wake him, informing him of Martin's condition.

Douglas stretched in the chair and watched the bathroom door.

When Martin came out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, the room was silent. They must have turned the television off before they left, he thought. Maybe they decided to go to a park now that he was awake and no longer bothering them.

"I'm just lucky it didn't interfere with our flying time, or any jobs at home."

Martin sighed, suddenly feeling guilty. All three of them were in the small hotel room (which Douglas had pad for), waiting for Martin to wake up. A few glances around the room told him that they had more or less taken care of him- there were takeout containers on the small coffee table, and used mugs. There was a damp rag on the nightstand, and if Martin thought hard enough, he could sort of remember someone wiping the sweat from his forehead, and telling him to go back to sleep.

Martin groaned and ran a hand through his wet hair. His illness might not have interfered with their flight home, or any moving jobs- but it did interfere with everyone else's vacation. And so far, most of the time Martin's just either been complaining, hallucinating, or in a bloody hospital of all places. It's no wonder everyone left. They deserved to enjoy their time here too, didn't they?

He changed into one of the few casual outfits he brought in his suitcase and started cleaned up a bit. His movements were slow and heavy, until he nearly jumped when the door to the room opened- and Arthur all but tackled him right then and there, excitement leaking out as if Artur could barely contain himself. "Skip, I'm so glad you're better!"

Martin blinked and grunted. "Ah-Hello, Arthur. Wh…What are you doing here? Not with your mum?"

"Oh, I accidentally dropped my tray at the breakfast so Mum told me to come back here and check on you! They're getting you some breakfast too." Arthur grinned and hugged Martin tightly once more before letting go. "How're you feeling, Skip? You look a little better, I think."

Martin nods. "I'm fine, Arthur. Erm, thank you." So they hadn't left after all. Not that Martin could even think about eating anything right now, but it was nice all the same of Carolyn and Douglas to get food for him.

Arthur shifted. "Er, Skip, I was helping with the watching of you when you were sick and you were doing a lot of groaning and carrying on…"

"Oh?" Martin's cheeks tinged pink. "W-Was I? I was having the strangest dreams, actually, I barely remember them though-" Although that part wasn't exactly true, because he remembers every little detail about Anita's second "visit".

"Oh I hate that! Especially when it's a good dream and you wake up right as something brilliant's about to happen, and the longer you're awake the less you remember?" Arthur nods in understand. "That's the worst, Skip, because your brain's probably trying to make you happy while you're asleep but your body probably is…I dunno, stressed or something. Or it knows you've slept past the alarm!"

Martin chuckled and binned the food containers from the table. "I suppose that's probably right, isn't it? People's bodies are weird that way. Trying to do the best they can for you." Most of the time, anyway. "Well, erm, listen Arthur…I wanted to…well, thank you for helping. When I was sick. I'm sure there were plenty of things you'd rather do than watch over me."

"Well I could think of a few things, but it would be rude to list them right off the bat." Douglas' voice cut in as he and Carolyn came into the room with a plate of eggs, sausage, toast and an apple. They set it on the table with a glass of orange juice. "Here we are. Your breakfast."

Martin blinked, ignoring the sarcastic remark as he took in the large amount of food on the plate. His stomach grumbled at the sight, and he suddenly realized how hungry he was. When had he last eaten? "You didn't have to bring all that for me. How did you even manage to sneak it away? Aren't those free breakfasts for people who are actually in the room?"

Carolyn waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, they can't be bothered to watch us every minute. And they saw Arthur leaving anyway, probably thought it was for him. Sit and eat, now." She half-shoved Martin onto the sofa, handing him a fork. "I want all of it gone. You look more peckish than you did two days ago, and that's saying something."

Martin nibbled at the toast first, but as his hunger took over, he started enjoying the rest of the items on the plate. By the time Douglas had taken a quick shower and come out in new clothes, Martin had finished everything but the apple (which he was still working on). He tried not to think of Anita as he bit into it, but his cheeks felt a bit warm anyway.

"That's better." Carolyn smiled a bit as she threw the plate away. Martin wasn't used to this side of Carolyn. He couldn't tell if it was endearing or just weird.

With a small breath Martin decided to speak on his earlier words. "I...I know I said me falling ill now was more convenient, b-but I hope you didn't…" He sighed and spoke quickly. "I just wanted to thank you. I didn't mean to wreck our vacation and it was more than kind of you to help out-"

"Oh shut up, Martin." Douglas rolled his eyes as he checked his hair in the mirror. "It's not as if we could get anywhere without you anyway, seeing as you're the supreme commander to end all other supreme commanders."

Arthur laughed just then, but Martin wasn't sure if it was at Douglas or the TV. Carolyn was next to dismiss the apology. "We're just glad you're better now. Hopefully you're right about that flu. It really was rather nasty as we could see." Martin blushed then and bit into the apple again, wiping some juice away before it dribbled down his chin.

Arthur turned the TV off then, looking hopeful. "Does this mean we can go to a park today? We don't have that much longer in Florida and, well no offense Skip because I'm really glad you're better now," he looked a bit guilty as he said this, "But we haven't been able to do much and who knows when-"

"Well I think a park is a good idea. "Martin interrupted him. "I mean I can't be the reason we didn't see Animal Kingdom or anything." He stole a look at Douglas and Carolyn, whose worried looks that told Martin he needed to be a better actor than that. "I'm feeling loads better and now that I've eaten I've got more energy too."

Carolyn sighed. "Martin, that is very noble of you, but I don't think we should be rushing into any…strenuous activities just yet." Douglas nodded as she spoke, which provoked a disappointed sigh out of Arthur.

Martin shifted on his feet. "I-I understand, but really Carolyn. I think all of the sleep I had did me a world of good. And I know you don't want all the money you and Douglas spent on our mini vacation to go to waste…"

Douglas sighed and Carolyn rolled her eyes. "I can see I'm not going to get anywhere with you two. Fine, fine. But only because it's not supposed to be too warm today. Martin, you better tell us the second you feel off. At all. I mean it, and you won't be alone for one second either. I'll make Douglas accompany you to the loo if I think something's up-"

"Now while I am all for keeping Martin in good health Carolyn," Douglas interrupted her, "I don't really think that's necess-"

"Hush Douglas, no witty remarks out of you. If anything else I need Martin to be healthy by this weekend so we can fly home in four pieces-One piece for each body on that plane, mind you. So yes, Douglas, you will escort Martin to the restroom if it means I have a capable captain to fly by Sunday."

"Aww, Sunday?" Arthur whined. "That's just two more days isn't it?"

"Thrilling that you figured it out all by yourself, Arthur." Douglas rolled his eyes. "Well I suppose if I've shared a bed with the captain than surely I can watch guard while he relieves himself. Right, Martin?" He looked over at Martin who was gnawing a hangnail, deep in thought.

"Lovely, we've already lost him." Carolyn grabbed Arthur's backpack and thrusted it at him. "Martin, pay attention!"

"What? Oh. Right, yes, fine." Martin jumped into action, grabbing his phone and slipping his feet into sandals.

"And off we go," Douglas said as he shut the door behind them.