DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN LOONATICS UNLEASHED, IT IS LEGALLY OWNED AND COPYRIGHTED BY WARNER BROS. HOWEVER, ANY CHARACTERS THAT APPEAR IN THIS STORY THAT ARE NOT MENTIONED IN LOONATICS UNLEASHED, ARE OF MY CREATION!
SONG LYRICS AND ARTSTS, AS WELL AS LOCATIONS EITHER IN THE USA, OR INTERNATIONALLY ARE REAL AND ARE NOT IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM, THE RESULT OF MY IMAGINATION.
***
Ace with Lexi in his arms, followed by the rest of the team; entered Lexi's room quietly. They had returned home from the incident at the hotel quickly, and had done their best to try and work out what was wrong with Lexi while they were travelling home; but they still weren't sure why their friend had suddenly collapsed on stage.
Rev turned on the lights, illuminating the room, they were all worried about their friend, and Ace was probably the most concerned. He had been unusually...uneasy about her, not that the others weren't, and Ace had a valid reason to be, but still; Rev, once again, found himself feeling incredibly suspicious over the bunny couple, and he wondered if anyone else did too...
Ace laid Lexi down in her hammock and pulled up her blanket so that it covered her. "What d'you t'ink is wrong with her Tech?" Ace asked, concerned as he watched Lexi sleep, she looked so peaceful, and he wished he knew that she really was, but his gut feeling told him that there was something definitely wrong with her, and he highly doubted that it would be merely stage fright.
Tech pursed his lips together as he thought, before verbalising his opinion, "I don't know, but she had a high temperature back there…"
"…Not to mention the whole, collapsing thing." Duck finished, sourly. As much as he would hate to admit it, the water fowl was too worried abut Lexi, but naturally he was also annoyed that they had to leave the hotel without getting to enjoy the night like they had planned, and hoped to. But he decided not to mention this. Even if he seemed self centred and as if he didn't think before he spoke, he still had the right mind to know when it would be safe for him to comment about a situation, and considering how worried they were about the female, it would be detrimental to the mallard's health if he were to complain.
Tech glared a Duck before turning back to Ace. "We'll just have to see how she goes overnight." He looked down at Lexi, and seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Maybe one of us should…" The coyote didn't finish what he was saying, as he and the team turned their attention to the female rabbit of the team.
Lexi moaned and shifted as she awoke, groaning in obvious discomfort as she did so. She slowly opened her eyes, before putting a hand to her head and sitting up. She groaned again and lay back in her hammock, obviously not realising the presence of the other Loonatics in her room.
"Lexi?" Ace asked cautiously as he walked over to her, "How are you feeling?" He sat next to her, sitting up; Lexi noticed the rest of the team staring at her intently, as if knowing that there was something wrong with her, something that the female rabbit didn't even know about…or remember at this point in time.
She looked around, giving the males in her room a brief smile before groaning again. That was something that the team loved about her, no matter how bad she felt, Lexi was always able to be somewhat cheerful or even crack a small smile even in the worst of conditions. She rubbed her head in thought, "That depends…what happened?"
"Well…you got bad stage fright and you collapsed in front of everyone!" Duck announced smugly, though there was a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Tech and Rev sent him glares as he spoke, but the arrogant water fowl took no notice. He spoke with his eyes shut anyway.
Lexi's eyes widened after he spoke, "I did what?" She turned to face Ace, her eyes frantically searching his pitiful expression, worried that what Duck said was true. "Ace, please tell me I didn't?"
Ace rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably, "Well yeah…you…kinda…did..." He winced as he spoke, not entirely sure how she would react.
Tech decided to speak, "Yeah…we first assumed that it was stage fright…but I'm not sure what it could be…had you felt okay before you…fainted?"
Lexi thought for a moment. Her musings led to how she had felt minutes before they were summoned to the podium, how she had suddenly felt queasy, warm and dizzy. "Umm…while Pierre was talking about the hotel…I felt ill…but it was really sudden. I had felt fine and then suddenly, I just felt really dizzy, warm and sick. To be honest…I was kinda…focusing on that… rather than actually listening to what… he was… saying..." He voice quietened as she spoke, she felt shameful that she didn't listen to what was being said by Pierre, and he had invited them to come along anyway.
Tech thought for a moment, resting a hand on his chin, "Define 'Sudden'."
Lexi looked at him, confused, "What do you mean..?"
Before Tech could expand on what he was saying, Rev spoke first, "Define-means: The-act-of-defining-or-making-definite,-distinct,-or-clear. The-formal-statement-of-the-meaning-or-significance-of-a-word-or-phrase,-etc. The-condition-of-something-being-definite,-distinct-or-clearly-outlined. Also,-in-terms-of-optics: Sharpness-of-the-image-that-is-formed-by-an-optical-system. And-in-terms-of-radio-and-television; the-accuracy-of sound-or-picture-reproduction. Words-associated-with-define-are: Ascertain-assign-characterise-construe-decide-delineate-denominate-denote-describe-designate-detail-determine-dub-elucidate-entitle-etch-exemplify-explain-expound-formalize-illustrate-interpret-label-name-prescribe-represent-specify-tag-and-translate. Also-antonyms-of-define-are:-confuse-distort-tangle-and-twist." He smiled.
"Umm, yeah, Rev," Lexi smiled at the bird, "I know what define means. Not that I didn't take any of that information into account, which I did, but…what I meant was…what does Tech mean when he said 'define sudden' as in…how should I define it…in terms of time…y'know?"
"Oh." Rev grinned sheepishly at the group.
Tech turned back to Lexi after a moment of hesitation, "What I mean is, how suddenly, did you feel sick?"
"Umm…it kinda just happened. I mean, I was thinking…" She looked around, "About…something…and then I had, what felt like, a wave of dizziness come over me, and then I felt really warm and sick."
"Hmm…strange…" Tech mused out loud. "Did you feel hungry or thirsty?"
"No…not hungry...or thirsty, actually…I took a couple of sips of water just in case…but it didn't help. If anything it made my stomach feel worse, like I wouldn't be able to keep anything down.
"Lexi," Ace started, putting a hand on her shoulder, "When you told me dat you didn't want to talk in front of everyone…was it because you just didn't want to…or 'cause you felt sick?"
"Actually…it was a little bit of…both." She sighed, "This sucks…" She put a hand to her forehead, feeling how warm she was. But obviously, the self temperature check wasn't accurate considering she was placing her own hand to her forehead…she would either need a thermometer or someone else if she wanted to know how warm she actually was. Her voice got quieter as she spoke, obvious signs or fatigue and deteriorating health, she also felt light headed and dizzy. Where had the strange sensations suddenly come from?
"Well, as I was about to say earlier," Tech announced, looking at Lexi, "One of us should stay in here, just to make sure that you're okay overnight."
Lexi looked around the room…not exactly wanting someone (other than Ace) to be in the same room as her while she slept. Especially if that person watched her sleep, that always put her on edge…but still, she didn't feel comfortable with any of the other guys sleeping in the same room as her…especially alone…without it being Ace, or without Ace simply being there with her. Though she trusted her team mates…her friends – The whole concept of that would be just plain weird.
She slowly shook her head before speaking, "Don't worry about it guys, I'll be fine…I think…" Lexi sounded unsure, before growing slightly pale, or at least feeling as if she had, not that it would really be possible with her tan coloured fur covering her skin. She suddenly felt extremely nauseous, as if her whole stomach was about to erupt.
She wasn't sure that she felt comfortable with having to run from her position, her hammock, all the way to her bathroom at the other side of the room, especially with the other males in the room, the very sense of them being in her bedroom put her on slight edge. Sure she knew that they would never try to do anything to her…but it still made her feel uneasy. Also, with the potential of tripping over her own feet and embarrassing herself, as well as spilling the contents of her stomach onto her floor daunted her too. Not to mention having to run in a dress, it would be too constricting, and she'd end up running like a bow-legged chicken, that would be very embarrassing, and the very thought of her attire suddenly dawned on her. Abruptly, she didn't feel comfortable with what she was wearing…at least with this many males in her room…
But her rapid musings were interrupted by another lurch that she felt in her stomach, this one more violent than the first, she knew that it was coming…"Be right back!" She announced as she ran to her bathroom.
To her relief, she didn't fall over as she ran…she wasn't even sure that she cared about all of the thoughts that had plagued her mind moments ago.
The males left in the room flinched when they heard her vomit, and hoped there was nothing seriously wrong with her.
The thought of one of their team mates being unwell was never a positive one for the team, but the thought of Lexi, one of their most caring members…if not, their most caring member, being sick when they had no idea what was wrong with her made them feel very uneasy and suddenly, very useless, when they considered how little…if anything at all, that they knew about her strange condition.
Knowing that she would be the most comfortable with him, Ace knew that he would have to volunteer to stay with her for the night. But, given the suspicious behaviour of their team mates over the past week, they would probably think the worst, and not grant him his offer. But alas, he decided to try anyway. "I'll stay with her." He said calmly, hoping to sound innocent.
To his surprise, the rest of the team acknowledged this, Slam nodding his head before departing, leaving the room but turning to his left…heading for the kitchen. Duck looked the male rabbit up and down, as if trying to find any evidence that he wasn't just being concerned about his friend's well being, but, trusting his leader, he too left…but turned to the right as he left Lexi's quarters, towards his own room.
Rev and Tech, Ace figured, would be the most apprehensive to leave Ace alone with Lexi for the night, the two of them had been so…paranoid about Ace's behaviour around the female bunny. They didn't like the thought of him being alone with her just as much as he didn't want them to be alone with her either.
"Guys look, not'in's gonna happen. Lexi's my friend. Do you really think I'd do anything to hurt her or make her upset?"
"Do-you-really-think-we-would?" Rev sounded almost hurt when he spoke, before he left the room. He didn't like how Ace never trusted them with Lexi; he was acting so…territorial suddenly, as if he had some bond with her all of a sudden. But the thought made the bird ponder something, but he shook of the thought and prepared himself for bed.
Tech felt somewhat obliged to question Ace further, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to sound too stern, instead he'd act as though he would be better off to stay, just to examine how keen Ace was to stay with Lexi…for the coyote feared that leaving the two alone…especially in Lexi's weakened state, could lead to heart break and anger, amongst both them…and the team. "Are you sure, I'm more used to having late nights in the lab, I'll stay with her if you want." He offered, what he did say was true anyway.
"Nah." Ace smiled. "I'm her boyfriend, I should be da gentleman." He smirked.
Okay, so Ace did sound innocent, and truthful. And he was right too, if Tech had been in the same position as Ace, he would have done the same thing. 'So maybe I shouldn't be thinking all of this, he's just as concerned as we are, and he's trying to help.' Tech thought, he returned the smirk that Ace had made earlier before departing.
Ace felt slightly strange. For a week they had been hiding the fact that they had been sharing a bed, yet when Ace offered to stay with Lexi that night, the others had left…suspiciously…but Ace had originally thought that it would have taken a lot more to get them to trust him. Ace pondered the possibilities for a few moments, until he was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of more vomiting coming from the bathroom.
Ace ran in, and saw Lexi sitting on the floor by the toilet, obviously looking very unwell. "Aww, Lexi." Ace said concerned, as he came over to sit beside her. He put his hand on her back to try and comfort her, before reaching up to flush the toilet.
"I'm sorry, Ace." Lexi said, quite slowly, she felt embarrassed that he had to see her in the state that she was in.
"Hey, there's nothing for you to be sorry for." Ace rubbed her back. He got up to find a flannel, and wet it, before handing it to Lexi. "Here." He said "try and just…clean your mouth out a bit if it tastes funny." He put on a guilty smile.
While Lexi was sorting out her mouth, Ace started to question what might be making her so sick. "Do you t'ink it could've been da drinks?"
"No." Lexi said, she seemed tired "I only had water, remember."
"Hmmm," Ace thought. "I'll be right back." He said, getting up and leaving the bathroom, taking some towels with him. Lexi looked at him, confused as he left, before resuming with her vomiting.
Ace winced, with every sound that came from the bathroom, and wondered whether he should've stayed in there, or whether it just would've made her feel uncomfortable. He started to place towels on one half of Lexi's pillow, and the same on the top half of her hammock. He also put some towels on the floor, again, on the same side. When he was done, he got up, checked for sounds incase Lexi needed help, before leaving her bedroom and making his way to the lab where he knew Tech would be.
--
Inside, he found Tech working at his desk. Tech always left the lab door unlocked when he worked at night, incase for some reason he needed to leave quickly, or if one of his team mates called for help. Tech turned in his chair when he heard Ace coming. The coyote was back in his uniform, while Ace was still wearing what he was at the restaurant, minus the jacket. His bow tie was loose, almost to the point where it looked as though it would fall off, and the top buttons of his shirt were undone, while his shirt was untucked in places too.
"Is she okay?" Tech asked jumping up at the thought that Ace may've come in because there was something urgently wrong with Lexi.
"Well, as far as I know, she's stopped emptying her stomach." Ace leant back against the desk, before pushing away from the bench again. "I actually came to see if you had a spare bucket."
"A bucket?" Tech asked confused. "…yeah, sure." He walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a fairly big, green, plastic bucket, and handed it to Ace. "What for?"
"Well, I doubt she'd like waking up and running to the toilet all night." Ace replied. Tech nodded in confirmation. "I figured I could put it on da floor by her hammock."
"Good idea." Tech looked concerned. "Let's just hope she gets better by the morning…"
"Yeah" Ace replied grimly, "I hope it's nothing serious."
"…Well I was actually researching what it might have been, you know, if there were any sicknesses going round. It can't have been anything she ate or drank."
"Yeah, I thought of dat too." Ace replied he stared off into space as if he was trying to think, Tech did the same.
"…Maybe I should check in a gynaecology book." Tech thought out load.
"Yeah, good call." Ace replied, he hadn't even considered that it could be a woman problem, but he hoped that it wasn't. Otherwise Lexi would in no doubt feel uncomfortable and embarrassed, but it would also make it harder for the guys to relate to what was wrong with her…well, actually. It would be impossible for them to relate to her in such a situation. "Well, I should probably get back to Lex now." He said as he started for the lab door.
"Yeah, I'll keep a look out." Tech replied as he walked over to a book case and searched for the correct book, he jumped, dropping the book he had just retrieved when the lab door shut.
Annoyed, the scientist bent down to pick up the book, slowly walking over to his desk chair as he began to look through the book, trying to find information on the symptoms than Lexi had been experiencing…
--
Ace came into Lexi's room, and put the bucket on the towels he had arranged on the floor earlier. He went into the bathroom next, to check on Lexi. The female rabbit was still in the same position that she was in when Ace had first come in to check on her, her eye lids were drooping and she was slouching, obviously tired, it had already gone 11:00pm.
"You okay Lex?" Ace asked, he began to walk over to her and assist her.
"…yeah." Lexi said shakily. "I haven't thrown up since you were gone, so for now, I think I'm okay."
"Well, don't speak too soon." Ace said grimly as he helped her up, he flushed the toilet again, before picking up a new flannel, wetting it, and putting it on her fore head.
Lexi looked confused when he put the cold, wet fabric against her. "What's this for?"
"Well, you were burnin' up earlier; I don't want you to get too hot tonight." Ace replied as he led her out of the bathroom.
He had already turned on Lexi's bedside lamp earlier, after turning off the main light in her bedroom, so that he could see when he was arranging the towels. Ace let Lexi sit down on her hammock, while he went to get her pyjamas from her cupboard. "Are you okay with getting into these?" Ace asked as he held up her pyjamas. They consisted of long green pants and a pink vest top, obviously summer wear.
"Umm…I don't know." Lexi bit her lip, and gestured her head to the bucket, which, for now, was empty.
"I'll help you, so you don't upset your stomach as much." Ace offered as he put her pyjamas on her hammock. Lexi stood up, as Ace moved behind her, not blocking the way of the bucket just in case. He undid the pink waistband, and unzipped the back of her dress for her. Lexi let the dress drop around her ankles before stepping out of it and putting on her pyjama pants after Ace had handed them to her.
Although, due to what had transpired almost a week ago between the two of them, and Ace had indeed already seen Lexi. He felt that under the circumstances of her being unwell, he would turn away to let her finish getting ready for bed, so as to not make her feel uncomfortable.
He could sense that she looked at him when he turned away, obviously wondering why, but not in the mood to ask questions, the female bunny continued changing, only looking up at Ace once, when she heard him move towards the door.
He left the room momentarily to get into his own pyjamas and to brush his teeth. When he was finished, he knocked on Lexi's door, and upon hearing that he had permission to enter, he opened the door and came in. He shut the door behind him and walked over to the side of the hammock that didn't have any towels on it, before climbing in, and putting some of the covers over himself. He smiled weakly at Lexi, who looked terrible, before putting his arm around her, gesturing her to come closer to him, and reaching over her to turn off her bedside lamp.
Ace moved closer to the side with the bucket, consequently having to push Lexi a bit, which wasn't difficult, but slightly awkward. She had already drifted off to sleep, practically when her head had hit the pillow, but in her sleep she managed to somehow, scoot over towards Ace, and rest her head on his chest.
Ace smiled, and put an arm around her, while his other arm supported his head in a relaxed fashion, feeling her warm, mint breathe on him. He stayed awake for a few minutes, still trying to work out what could be wrong with her, before putting is hand on her fore head again, and checking her temperature. She still felt quite warm, so Ace kicked off the blankets so they were at the end of the hammock, easy enough to reach if need be, but not covering Lexi, and making her temperature worse.
He lay back, remembering the last time he had spent a night with his female companion, and remembering all of the events that had led them up to the point that they were at now. He only noticed now, the soft light that shone in from the windows, he hadn't closed the curtains. He never liked to sleep with them open, it made him feel as though anyone could just look in and see what he was doing, which made him feel uncomfortable.
Carefully, he slid out of the hammock, steadying it with his hands after he had gotten out of it, making sure that the rocking of it didn't wake up the sleeping bunny.
Once satisfied, he turned around, pulled down the blinds, and walked back. At least now there was total darkness which made it easier to sleep. He lay awake for some time, hoping that she would be okay, wishing that whatever was wrong with her wasn't serious or life threatening. Remembering her current condition, Ace rolled over, facing Lexi as she slept, and her soft blond hair covering half of her face as gravity pulled it down and onto the hammock. He smiled at her, even when she was sick she still looked beautiful asleep. But, recalling the temperature she had, Ace couldn't help but frown.
He sighed with frustration when he checked her forehead again after about twenty minutes - she still felt too warm, and Ace was contemplating whether he should inform Tech or not.
For the time being though, he decided to do what his initiative told him to, he didn't want to worry Tech any more than what was wrong with Lexi already had. Ace carefully moved into a sitting position, making sure Lexi didn't wake up with the movement. He slowly and carefully pulled her pyjama pants off, leaving her legs bare, and hopefully able to keep her cooled down…for now. Ace folded them up and placed them on her bedside cabinet, once again having to lean over her, before returning to his earlier placement.
Again, he waited, for about the same length of time as before, roughly twenty minutes, before checking her temperature with his hand again. She had cooled down slightly, but still her temperature seemed higher than normal.
'Well I'm not taking any more of her clothes off if da other's know we're in da same room tonight' He thought as he decided what he would do now.
He took a last glance down at Lexi, before, again, moving her carefully and leaving the room. For the second time that night he went to the lab, Tech was the most professional when it came to medicine, in the team, surely he would know how to treat a fever, better than what Ace had resorted to.
"Hey Tech" He called as he came into the room. Tech was sitting in the same place as earlier, reading up on a book, some form of Gynaecology book, Ace assumed, remembering what the two had spoken of earlier.
"Yeah?" Tech asked as he looked up from the book.
"Yeah, it's Lex" Ace noticed Tech stiffen, as if he was scared...which he probably was.
"Wha…what about her?"
"I t'ink Lexi's got a fever" Ace held back a smile when he noticed Tech visibly calm down, obviously the coyote had feared the worst, but the news was still somewhat worrying to the scientist.
Tech looked concerned and got up, walking across the room; he pulled a Thermometer out of a drawer, and walked back to Ace. "You think?"
"Yeah…" Ace rubbed the back of his neck. "I felt her forehead, and she seemed warmer than usual." He and Tech started for the lab door, and began their walk to Lexi's room.
"What did you do to help?" Tech asked, eyeing Ace intently.
"Well…" Ace started as he and Tech entered Lexi's room, they walked over to the hammock, Tech eyeing Lexi before turning back to Ace, slight fury in his eyes.
"…You took her pants off?" Tech raised an eyebrow.
Ace glared a Tech. "She needed to cool off!"
"Yeah, what else did you do to her?" Tech returned the glare.
"Not'in'!" Ace held his hands up in defence. "What else was I supposed to do? She was asleep and she was burnin' up. It's not like I took off her shirt as well!"
Tech scowled, "You're lucky you didn't decide to take her underwear off too..." He gently shook Lexi's shoulder. "Lex…Lexi?" Tech called quietly. Moments later Lexi's eyes opened, she jumped when she saw Tech and Ace staring down at her, and kicked out in defence, gutting Tech with her foot accidentally.
"Whoa!" Ace couldn't help but jump himself, he ran around to Lexi's bedside lamp to turn on the light, while Lexi tried to apologise to Tech.
"My god Tech, I'm so sorry, you guys scared me!" Lexi put a hand on Tech's shoulder as she sat up.
"Don't worry, Lex." Tech gasped. "I understand… I'm sure I would've done something… similar." He winced as he stood up, clutching his stomach slightly, Lexi bit her lip.
"Seriously Tech, I'm so sorry I…"
"Lex, don't worry." Tech assured her, his voice returning to normal. He straightened up before picking the thermometer up off the floor and wiping it. Ace came back to Tech's side and they both now looked at Lexi.
"Why are you guys looking…wait?" Lexi's face screwed up slightly. "Why do I feel a sudden breeze?" She asked as she noticed her pyjama pants were gone. "Okay, who did that?" She glared at Tech.
"Not me!" Tech jumped, realising her cold glare was fixed on him. When Lexi realised it must've been Ace she calmed down slightly. "Oh…right." She blushed slightly and turned away from the two. "Anyway, what's going on?" She turned back to them, once she had regained her composure.
"Ace said you had a temperature." Tech announced.
"I t'ink" Ace corrected him.
"Sorry, Ace said he thinks you have a temperature. Do you feel warm?"
Lexi looked puzzled for a moment. "Yeah…a bit…but more cold than warm" She looked confused. "Why, what's going on?"
"Well" Tech sat down at the foot of Lexi's hammock, causing the female to shift her legs. She sat cross legged on her hammock and faced Tech, eager to know what was wrong with her. "We're not sure what exactly is wrong with you, it can't be the drinks because you only had water, and if it were food poisoning it would've taken longer for you to start vomiting, at least ten hours. So, I'm taking a look in a gynaecology book, just in case it's a…woman thing. You haven't been experiencing any abdominal pains, cramps or anything similar have you?"
Lexi shook her head. "No…" Ace shuffled uncomfortably, realising there could be something seriously wrong. "What exactly are you getting at?"
"Well…" Tech started, but stopped when someone knocked on the door to Lexi's room. The three Anthros looked at each other quizzically, before Ace and Tech got up to see who was there, bracing themselves for the unexpected.
When the door opened, it revealed Slam, Rev and Duck each sharing tired features, but concerned and slightly annoyed ones too; well at least Duck was annoyed.
"Hey, Is-something-wrong-I-heard-lot's-of-movement-outside,-is-Lexi-okay? Rev inquired as he looked over Tech's shoulder.
"Maybe, maybe not…But its not'in' dat you guys need to worry about." Ace tried to imply that they leave, but it had little effect on the worried team mates.
"Hey, she's our friend too, okay. There might be something wrong with her and you guys are just gonna not let us see her?" Duck said, surprisingly defensively.
Ace and Tech exchanged glances. Duck indeed did have a point. They decided, even without speaking, that it was only fair to let them in.
Ace and Tech returned to Lexi's side with Rev, Duck and Slam in tow. Lexi had a slight look of annoyance as the three extra and un-needed guests appeared, but shrugged it off nonetheless, they were only concerned after all.
"So what's wrong with her?" Duck asked as he pulled up a chair.
"I was just getting to that before you knocked." Tech sounded slightly annoyed, but resumed with his previous task, and sat back where he was earlier. "Anyway, I just wanted to know if you had been experiencing any types of pain that you're not used to, just in case it's an early sign of…cancer or some form of female related illness."
"Whoa, what!?" Ace sounded alarmed as he moved to Lexi's side after Tech had explained this, Rev, Slam and Duck also seemed to share the same look of horror on their faces.
"No, no pains." Lexi assured them. "…well, except him." Lexi gestured to Duck.
"Hey!"
"…Are you sure?" Tech looked unconvinced.
"Yes!" Lexi replied, slightly angrily. "I'm fine, and I'm sure that I'll still be okay in the morning." She sighed, realising that her outburst had caught the rest of the team off guard. "Sorry, I'm tired. Could you guys just…you know…leave, it's getting a little bit crowded in here and I kind of feel uncomfortable since I'm currently pants -less." She glared at Ace.
"Wait, you are?" Duck seemed to perk up slightly.
"Oh, go fly a kite." Lexi threw a pillow at him to make he promptly leave. Rev and Slam headed for the door, but stopped when they realised that Duck wasn't following.
"sfhsj?" Slam asked expectantly.
"Yeah, I'm comin'." Duck scowled as he left the room, along with Rev and Slam. The door shut behind them with a small click, indicating that it had locked automatically. Lexi, Tech and Ace resumed with their previous discussion.
"So, you t'ink it could be cancerous?" Ace asked with concern as he put his arm around Lexi.
"Well, No." Usually there's some swelling and pain if it's cancerous, so I don't think we have to worry about that, luckily." Tech seemed to let out a sigh, along with Ace. "Anyway, I should at least check your temperature just in case." Tech took the thermometer and held it in front of Lexi.
"Yeah, Fine." She grumbled, as she put it in her mouth, and held firmly under her tongue. There was an awkward pause as they waited for the time to pass. Soon, a small high-pitched beep sounded, coming from the thermometer, indicating it could be removed. Lexi took it from her mouth and passed it to Tech, who immediately checked the reading.
"…So, what could it be?" Lexi asked, she turned her head back and fourth, waiting for one of them to answer her query.
"To be honest, I don't know. But for now, you seem to be a bit brighter, so maybe you will be fine tomorrow." Tech answered, he seemed somewhat cheery.
"Yeah, well…if that's not good news I don't now what is!" Lexi smiled.
"Yeah, dat's good." Ace smiled at Lexi.
"Yeah, I might go to sleep now, I feel a bit dizzy." Lexi seemed to hold her head. Tech and Ace both exchanged concerned and worried glances.
"Yeah, maybe you should get some sleep. We all should." Ace said warily. "Well, we'll see you in the mornin' Tech."
Tech and Ace both stood up, Ace mainly to see Tech out. "Yeah, maybe I should still che…"
"No." Ace interrupted Tech. "You don't need to check on anything…currently…Just get some rest for once, Tech, you're always in dat lab, it'll be the death of you one day." He smiled.
"Nah, I use it right - Rev, possibly." Tech smirked before leaving the room, but still walked to his lab.
Ace re-entered the room shaking his head. "Seriously, that coyote is gonna…" Ace stopped talking when he realised Lexi was asleep. He hastily went over to his side of the hammock and climbed in, placing an arm around Lexi as she slept. He sat up, realising that her bedside light was on, and leant over her to turn it off, submerging the two in darkness, except from the small gap in the curtains that emitted a silver moonlit glow into the room.
Ace sighed as he drifted off to sleep, wondering what was wrong with his girlfriend. Worried thoughts entered his mind as, puzzled, he fell asleep.
But sleeping obviously wasn't part of the deal for Ace.
He continually woke up, panting and sweating only minutes after he had tried to sleep. He had a bad dream, a dream where there was something wrong with Lexi, and she couldn't recover from the illness.
It was terminal.
The dream woke him up with tears running down his cheeks, and he had to look down at Lexi, watching and listening to her, waiting for her to breathe. Having that confirmation, he knew that the horrible thought was just a dream and it wasn't real.
It reminded him of when he had had the bad dreams when they were camping after Lexi had told him abut something terrible that had happened to her in the past. He had woken up scared and upset, as well as angry, and would have to constantly check that Lexi was okay.
He woke up four times that night, and he now this was the second time he was interrupted from his slumber by a nightmare tonight. It was already well into the early hours of the next day, and he wondered how much sleep he would be able to have before he would just have to get up.
He sighed and lay back in the hammock, the slight movement caused it to rock from side to side, the movement was relaxing to the male rabbit, but after a while he remembered that Lexi was sick, and he didn't want the motion to upset her stomach, so he had to extend one of his legs to the floor to stop the hammock from moving.
Annoyed, he attempted to sleep again, trying to think of happier dreams that he would be able to stay asleep for, during the entire night, rather than wake up after becoming too scared.
It failed…that time.
He had tried to remember their camping trip…all of the fun parts of it anyway…but that only caused him to remember Duck almost drowning in the lake. The bunny had dreamt of diving in after the waterfowl, and having the two of them becoming stuck in the water, barely being able to keep their head's above water, and losing energy fast.
Then, Lexi tried to save them. Ace wasn't sure where the others were in the dream; they didn't seem to be present. But all he knew was how he had called out to Lexi to swim back before it was too late, but she had refused.
She was stubborn in that respect. Always too determined to help her friends.
He had done his best to keep both his and Duck's head above the water to make sure they got enough oxygen to keep them alive, but he saw Lexi struggling to do the same. About a metre away from the rabbit himself, Lexi began to drown. He stretched his arm out, screaming her name and trying to pull her towards him, but he failed. And she sank beneath the surface of the water.
Then he woke up
Ace had a lump in his throat, doing his best to hold back the tears, but the dream was so vivid, as if it had actually happened. He wasn't sure what became of him and Duck…he woke up the moment Lexi's head and ears disappeared. The Bunny wouldn't really care what had happened to him after knowing what had happened to Lexi…but it did leave him to wonder what could've happened to Duck if he had stayed asleep long enough for the dream to continue.
But Ace did his best to forget all remnants of the dream, closing his eyes and taking a breath, he tried to sleep again, recalling the day at the lake…where the water was safe.
But he woke up again.
That attempted dream only reminded him of what had almost happened to Lexi, and what she had told him about what had happened to her in Utah, before becoming a Loonatic.
And like what had actually happened when they were camping, Ace woke up…
…Again…
Groaning, he lay back roughly, rubbing his eyes with his hands, as if the massaging action would help him sleep. But he couldn't think of how he was ever going to get to sleep and allow his body to rest.
'This is gonna be a loooong night.'