Let the Games Begin
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Chapter 37 - SLEEPY & SORE
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Jess awoke to a strange noise, and it took her a moment to place it. Once she'd identified the source, she took hold of Becker's hand and started fumbling with his wrist. It was her man-handling, and not the sound, that finally roused Becker, for he asked groggily, "What're you doing?"
"Trying to turn off your alarm before it wakes the entire flat."
"What?" he mumbled before finally catching on and awkwardly manoeuvring to shut it off. Once quieted, he gave an apologetic, "Sorry," as he absently wrapped his arms back around her.
Jess certainly didn't want to complain - she was thrilled at the prospect of getting extra time alone with him - but she felt she should at least ask, as she didn't want to be the sort who prevented her boyfriend from doing his own thing. "Aren't you going for your run?"
Becker gave a sleepy moan, which she took as a no, so she happily nestled back against his chest and closed her eyes, giving a contented sigh.
She was just on the verge of sleep when she heard a quiet rapping against the dining room wall. "Becker?" Matt whispered into the room.
Jess waited, but when Becker didn't respond, she nudged him, causing him to give a loud moan.
"Right," Matt murmured under his breath.
Not wanting their friend to get the wrong impression, Jess quickly called out, "That was just a sleepy moan."
She heard Matt, already on the stairs, chuckle. "Don't worry about it, Jess."
She listened as he descended to the front door and locked it behind him. She then closed her eyes again and was about to doze off, feeling safe and warm in Becker's arms, when she suddenly realised that, with Becker's alarm now off, they were liable to oversleep, and the mere thought of this sent a surge of adrenaline through her.
Now firmly awake, Jess rolled over in Becker's arms and gave him a friendly "good morning" kiss. Or at least she tried. But Becker barely even responded. Jess pulled away, frowning, and Becker slowly opened his eyes.
"Did you just kiss me?" he mumbled groggily.
Jess nodded. "I tried."
"Sorry." He gave her a quick peck but then, as he pulled her closer, frowned.
"What is it?" Jess asked, suddenly worried. "You okay?"
Becker shook his head. "I'm so buggered, it's as if I didn't sleep at all. And I just...ache all over."
"Well, I'm not surprised." When Becker creased his brow in confusion, she explained, "You swam loads yesterday, remember?"
"But that shouldn't make me sore."
"Sure it should. Swimming uses completely different muscles than running. And being cold all day, no doubt all your muscles tensed up, which I'm sure didn't help."
"I suppose" he admitted reluctantly.
Jess could tell he didn't like feeling weak and vulnerable. Not that anyone does, but obviously Becker's view of self with directly linked to his strength and capabilities, so this had him completely out of sorts. Thus it was going to be up to her to raise his spirits.
"You worked harder than anyone else at the anomaly yesterday," Jess began. "I mean, you crossed the river, what, at least four times. And that doesn't even count the time you spent in the water diving. You know, the average temperature of the Thames this time of year is only 11C - I wouldn't even be able to submerge my toe in that! You totally sacrificed for the team, and I - WE - really appreciate it." She gave him a quick peck before adding, "And frankly, I'd be surprised if you WEREN'T sore and miserable today."
Becker raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Is that somehow supposed to make me feel better?"
"Well, THIS is," she cooed, leaning in and giving him a proper kiss. And apparently her pep talk had helped for he eagerly kissed her back. Now THIS was what she'd call a "good morning" kiss!
When they finally broke apart, Jess lay her head upon the pillow and stared dreamily at Becker. The morning light was starting to come streaming through, and she happily took in his mussy hair, his sleepy hazel eyes...and the red, puffy scratches upon his temple!
"Becker!" she exclaimed, leaning in to get a closer look. Unfortunately his wounds only looked worse up-close - the inner edges of the scratches were yellow with pus, and the surrounding skin was swollen and red. Jess tenderly reached over, but Becker flinched almost before her fingers reached him, obviously extremely sensitive to the touch.
"Becker, these have gotten totally infected! You must go to medical first thing and get these seen to."
"They'll be fine, Jess," he mumbled sleepily.
Yet she wasn't entirely certain that was true.
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Becker couldn't believe Jess was treating him this way. She'd insisted on driving in today, though what his scratches had to do with his ability to drive was anybody's guess. And once they'd arrived at the ARC, Jess had taken his hand and practically dragged him to medical, as if he were an errant child likely to dawdle and get lost if left to go on his own. Becker wasn't quite sure whether to be angry at her obvious lack of trust in his ability to take care of himself...or to be flattered at her overwhelming concern. But as he was exhausted, he settled for flattered, as it simply took less energy.
Luckily, once she'd delivered him safely to medical, she left for the hub, though not before ordering the medic to take care of him. Becker was made to lie down on one of the gurneys so the medic could better tend to his scratches, and Becker nearly fell asleep in the few minutes she was sterilising her instruments. However, the moment she set to draining his wounds, which admittedly seemed far worse this morning than previously, he got a surge of adrenaline from the rush of pain. Damn those bloody birds for causing such a mess! And damn those bloody fish for making him so sore and exhausted today. Uggh! He longed for a simple, hassle-free anomaly, though he was starting to wonder if those even existed.
Once the medic was finished - several bandages and loads of pain later - Becker slowly made his way towards the armoury. Every muscle in him ached, suggesting Jess's theory was correct about the cold being partly responsible for his soreness.
"So," Matt greeted as Becker walked in, "you have a nice lie-in this morning?" However, before Becker could answer, the team leader frowned, asking, "You all right?"
"No!" Becker snapped. Here he was feeling absolutely miserable, and Matt seemed perfectly fine. Of course, Jess would probably be quick to point out that Matt had spent far less time in the water - and standing about in damp clothes - but it still didn't make him feel any better.
Matt luckily didn't pursue his line of questioning and quietly let Becker go about his business. Becker was thankful to have his incident report to work on for he wasn't up for anything more strenuous than sitting at a workstation typing. In fact, he was having trouble staying awake as it was. He couldn't believe he felt this rotten! His wounds were now throbbing, thanks to the medic, which made him feel even worse. He considered walking down to medical for some paracetamol, but he was too tired to make the trip. Instead he simply put his head down on the table for a moment, just hoping his headache would go away.
"You okay?"
Becker awoke to Jess putting a gentle hand upon his shoulder. Lifting his head, he opened his eyes to see her peering down at him with a look of concern in her eyes...and a mischievous grin upon her face.
"You know," she teased, "if I weren't so nice, I might give you a lecture about falling asleep on the job,"
Becker sighed. "It'd be no less than I deserved." He couldn't believe he'd done such a thing!
"Don't be silly," Jess said, shaking her head. "All's forgiven, remember? I'm just glad you got some rest, as you clearly needed it. But when you didn't show up for lunch-"
"Lunch?!" Becker looked at his watch and was amazed to see it was already after noon - he'd slept half the morning away!
Jess must've seen his look of horror for she soothed, "Don't fret. It's fine, really! Matt recognises all you did for the team yesterday. In fact, he told me I should simply let you sleep, but I thought you could use a hot meal," she said, gesturing to two plates of reheated Chinese leftovers. "But afterwards, you really must retire to the Quiet Room."
But Becker was even more horrified at this suggestion. "Jess, I couldn't possibly-" he began, but she cut him off with a quick peck.
"It was Matt's idea," she insisted. "If there were an anomaly right now, you wouldn't be much good to the team. It's better for you to rest up and feel better."
"But I can't be paid to kip," he insisted, his work ethic balking as such a preposterous idea.
"Well, when you put it like that, the rest of us are pretty much getting paid to sit around and watch the Olympics all day," she said with a grin as she sat down next to him. "Now eat up, because I want to make it back to Ops before the afternoon sailing events start - we actually have a chance at winning several medals."
Becker couldn't help but smile. Knowing the others weren't getting much work done either, especially on what should've been a lazy Sunday at home, made him feel better.
As did the quick snog in the Quiet Room before Jess rushed back to Ops!
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to be continued