So I totally forgot today was Monday and update day! Hahaha. Enjoy!

Chapter 14

She was too hot. For a moment, it seemed like blessed relief versus the freezing cold she had been feeling for so long, but as she got hotter, the relief went away. She had to be sweating now. Her teeth were chattering, but why? She was too hot to have her teeth chatter. Suddenly, she got cold again. Damn it! She had just gotten warm. Alex pulled the blankets tighter around her, trying to get as much warmth as possible. It worked for a few minutes, until she got way too warm again.

Alex kicked off the blankets, desperately wishing that her body could make up its mind. She'd rather be freezing or hot, not switching between the two. She put her hand up to her head, feeling sweat. She wasn't surprised to feel it there. That had to be what cooled her off a little while earlier. She felt her pillow, and it was also wet with sweat. The rest of the sofa must be as well.

Keeping her eyes shut, Alex felt the cushions below her, only to be surprised that she was no longer lying on cushions. She had been moved to the bed at some point. Alex cursed Gene silently. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone? Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, and got out of bed, her legs feeling like jelly. She wrapped a blanket around her shoulder and trudged out of the bedroom, feeling better than she had, but still completely awful.

As soon as she stepped out of the bedroom, she heard the television. Annoyed that Gene was still there, she marched over towards the couch to tell him off. However, she stopped halfway. Coming from the kitchen was a wonderful smell. Curious, she wandered in to see a pot of soup on the stove. In front of the pot, and looking utterly relaxed in a jumper, jeans and socks, was Gene. He turned as he heard her walk in.

"Bout time you woke up. You've been sleeping for hours. God, you look terrible."

"Thanks," she murmured, her throat slightly less sore. She moved to sit down at the table, certain that her legs wouldn't support her for much longer. A few seconds later, a bowl of soup appeared in front of her. Alex looked up at Gene, who was staring at her, the emotion in his silvery blue eyes hidden.

"Eat. You've got two stone plus some to gain back."

Alex smelled the soup, but it didn't affect her like Luigi's had earlier. Maybe it was because she could hardly smell it.

"You need to shower after you eat," Gene said, sitting across from her with a bowl of soup as well. "Get off that sweat."

"Who are you...?"

"To tell you what to do? Quite honestly, Bolls, right now I'm the only person you have helping you out. You've pushed everyone else away. How long have you been ill? Today was the first day that Luigi came. Have you even eaten since Christmas?"

Alex looked down at her soup and shook her head. "I got ill the 27th. I had a migraine for two days and my nose got stuffy. Then I started to vomit for a few days before the fever turned up. I've been on the couch since the 30th."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"The twenty sixth," she admitted quietly.

"The twenty sixth? Jesus Alex! That's over a week! No wonder you've lost so much weight!"

"I can't get up," she hissed, her throat hurting.

"Well you're doing fine now," Gene said crossly. "Eat. After this bowl you're going to shower and then have another bowl of soup."

Gene made sure that she followed through. As soon as she was done eating, he ushered her in for a shower, starting up the water for her. Halfway through, she realised she hadn't grabbed any clothes, nor a towel, but when she got out, both clothes and a towel were laying on the counter for her. She put on clean clothes for the first time in a week, somehow feeling better just by doing that. Alex rubbed her hair with the towel and brushed it before going back to the kitchen where Gene was waiting with another bowl of soup.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," she said. The chills didn't seem so cold and the heat less hot than before. Finally, her fever must be breaking.

"Knew you would," Gene said smugly.

"Yeah, thanks Nurse Gene. Now what do I have to do to get you out?"

His expression changed, his eyes flashing. A piece of hair fell into his face. Alex longed to push it back, to touch him, before she caught herself and reigned in her thoughts.

"Bloody hell, Alex. You've just gotten more stubborn. And I'll leave when you see sense."

She glared at him, but made no move to try and get him out of the flat, mostly because after her shower, she had no strength.

Gene, sensing that he'd won, grinned at her and walked out to the sofa, settling on it like he owned the place. Alex sighed. She shouldn't be, but she was really enjoying him being there, taking care of her. Even though he was bloody stubborn and annoying, she felt happy and safe for the first time in nearly a year. What was it about that man that made her feel like this?

Alex finished her soup and walked out to the sofa, staring at the television. Gene was watching her tapes of Pride and Prejudice, something which stunned her. However, she was less stunned when she walked in front of him and saw an expression of bemused frustration on his face. She settled on the other end of the sofa from him, stretching out and watching David Rintoul deliver one of his lines as Mr. Darcy. Alex smiled. He really had nothing on Colin Firth or Matthew MacFadyen. However, she knew that those versions wouldn't be coming out for several years, so for now she suffered through this mini-series.

"This is utter bollocks!" Gene announced suddenly.

"If it's bollocks, why are you watching it?" she asked hoarsely.

He turned and raised his eyebrows at her. "It was the only bloody thing you had in here that I could find."

Realisation dawned on her. She kept her films under the sofa, as she had started stocking half the bookshop on her shelves. Only Pride and Prejudice was out because she had watched it one of the first days she was ill.

"Do you want a Western?" she asked, leaning over the edge of the sofa to look underneath. A few moments later she emerged, holding a copy of McLintock! in her hand. Gene looked at her appreciatively.

"Where'd you get that? Didn't have you down for a Western kind of girl."

"It was in my old flat. I took it when I moved out."

"So it's my old copy that I lost, you thief," he said playfully. "I might have to nick you for that."

"You can't," Alex replied. "You aren't on duty."

"A police officer is always on duty."

Alex rolled her eyes and handed him the tape, stretching out across the whole sofa as soon as he stood up. He put the tape in, turning and staring at her a moment before smirking.

"Not going to work." Gene walked over to where her head was laying on a pillow, making her nervous. What was he going to do, sit on her face until she begged for mercy? However, he merely lifted her torso, settling himself underneath her before putting the pillow back down on his lap and laying her head back down on top of the pillow. Alex turned on her back, looking up at him.

"Gene?"

"Not now, Bolls. The film's started."

"But..."

"Shh!"

Alex glared at him, but shut up anyway. Being up so much was starting to take a toll on her and her throat was sorer. She searched for a comfortable position, finally curling up in a ball, her head still in Gene's lap. The last thing she remembered was the feel of his fingers absentmindedly playing in her hair before she fell into a blissful sleep.

~(*)~

Gene looked down at the sleeping woman on his lap and grinned. When Luigi had let him in, he had decided that the only way he was going to leave the flat was in handcuffs or if he and Alex were back together. It was a mark of how ill Alex was, however, that she was barely fighting him. He figured once she was feeling better, they would have a full blown row.

It was why he was acting the way he was. He figured she must have had a horrible week alone on the sofa, unable to even speak loud enough to call for help. To have someone here must have helped immensely. He wanted her to remember how he had helped her when she was ill in 1981. He wanted to remind her why they had fallen for each other in the first place. However, he was starting to get seriously frustrated with her continued attempts to push him out of the flat. When she had asked how she could get him out, he had seriously considered just walking out and leaving her to suffer, but he had reined it in. He knew though that a few more comments like that and his temper wouldn't hold.

She murmured something in her sleep and he smiled gently, playing with her blonde hair. It was something he couldn't get used to seeing. A blonde Alex. It just seemed completely wrong. For her to be blonde made her seem more like the rest of the women in the world. When she was brunette, she seemed more like a character, different from everyone.

He stared at the screen of the telly where John Wayne was celebrating the Fourth of July. Gene wished he had had the foresight to have gotten a beer before setting Alex on his lap. Now she was sleeping so soundly he didn't want to disturb her in the slightest. He doubted that she'd been getting much sleep in the past several days. Sighing, he settled back into the sofa, ignoring his legs which were going numb, preparing for a long wait.

~(*)~

Alex woke, her limbs feeling stiff and her throat raw. Groaning, she opened her eyes, ready to find anything to soothe it. However, she froze, stunned by the sight in front of her eyes. Somewhere during her sleep, she had turned her head and she'd woken up with her face in Gene's groin. Embarrassed, she sat up quickly, not even wanting to see the smirk on his face. Luckily, he was asleep. He looked so peaceful that she stared, taking him in. His legs were propped up on the coffee table and his arms were outstretched along the back of the couch. His head dangled straight back, mouth open and he snored gently. Alex grinned remembering the last time she had woken up with him. It was almost six years ago now. His hair was greyer, and his face more lined, but he was still the man she had fallen in love with so many years before.

Gene snorted in his sleep, nearly waking up before he relaxed again. Stubble was evident on his chin. Alex estimated it at about a three day growth. She tried to remember if he had been clean shaven when he came in. She didn't think she had slept that long, but she knew that he always shaved for work and that he hadn't left since stepping foot inside her flat. Alex knew how stubborn he was and that he wasn't planning on leaving until she called the police to remove him. She also knew he never took three days off from work in a row, unless there was a reason. The only plausible idea she had to explain the stubble was that he had been in her flat that long.

"Don't watch me sleep woman," Gene mumbled suddenly, not opening his eyes.

Alex grinned as he started snoring again and quietly got off the sofa, ignoring the movie, where John Wayne was now spanking the woman playing his wife. She walked into her kitchen, pulling out some ice and starting to suck on it, letting it tame the burn in her throat. Alex wished she had some Coke or anything. It would hurt to drink it, but the carbonation would numb her throat slightly.

Sighing, she opened the fridge, looking for anything, but knowing that there'd be absolutely nothing to eat. However, as the light flickered on, she was surprised. Her fridge was full of groceries.

"Luigi brought you food while you were sleeping," Gene said from behind her, scaring her and making her jump. "He said he looked while he was here and things were pretty scarce even before he cleaned out the rotting food."

Alex turned around to look at Gene, who was staring at her levelly. "Bread, cheese, three rotting apples and a jar of marmalade. And you were trying to gain weight?"

"Why do you even care?" she asked, bristling at his questions, trying desperately to ignore the fact that he was looking more gorgeous than ever. He had run his hands through his hair and it was slightly messy. His silver blue eyes sparkled with concern and now anger, but at the same time there was a sleepy laziness still hanging over him, reminding her of the times that they had woken up next to each other in bed.

"Do you really have to ask?" he questioned her sharply.

"Gene, we haven't been together since 1983! Six years, Gene."

He stared at her, looking hurt. "And who sat by your side every day for a year, convinced that you would just snap out of it? Who was kicked out by security because they wouldn't leave? Who visited you every single day when you didn't have your memories? Who took you out when the psychologist wanted you to start excursion therapy?"

Alex looked down, feeling guilty, trying desperately to block out his words but was unable to. Gene had gotten angry now, and the hurt in his eyes was replaced by fury.

"No, we haven't been bloody together, but for some reason, I decided to sit by your side," Gene said venomously. "I don't even know why I bothered! Why am I running back to you? You haven't wanted to be near me since you came back the first time around!Sod this. You know what? This has been great, Alex. Thanks for showing me what I've wasted the past six years of my life doing."

He turned, going to collect his coat, but the flat was filled with his rage.

"I don't know why I cared," he said suddenly. "You obviously don't need anyone's help in the world. Just continue to starve yourself, and enjoy sitting on the sofa all alone when you're ill. You don't want me or Shaz or Ray or Chris. So enjoy your isolation."

With that, he left the flat, slamming the door behind him. Alex stared, torn between running out behind him and staying there. She had gotten what she wanted. Gene was going to leave her alone. So why did it all feel so wrong?