Thank you all so much for your support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
That night was miserable for Daisy. One second she was sweating, the other she felt so cold that she wanted to put on a winter coat. Her stomach lurched this way and that and she found herself throwing up into the toilet more than once. She completely forgot about her night shift; she was so caught up in her misery.
Eventually Daisy got some sleep. When her alarm woke her up, she wanted to quake it off the table. But she knew she had work to do.
Daisy's entire body ached as she pulled on her clothes. She groaned, yearning for more sleep. Get over it, she thought to herself. Your teammates are sicker than you.
Daisy did not eat her usual breakfast bar; there was no way she could keep it down. She met May in the main Lighthouse room like usual.
"You look like a trainwreck," May scoffed as Daisy entered, bags under her eyes. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
"Night shift," Daisy lied. She felt guilty for forgetting about it, but was thankful to use it as a cover so May wouldn't be concerned. "Any issues with Zach?"
"Not so far. He hasn't resisted his captivity or anything."
"He's a good man," Daisy said. Despite being entirely empty, her stomach began to lurch again. Her eyes darted around the room to find the nearest trash can. "Look, May, I'll be right back..." She rushed away and sprinted to the restroom, leaning over the toilet bowl and hurling what was left of her stomach. When she finally finished, she did her best to clean herself up so May wouldn't suspect anything.
"You okay?" May asked Daisy when she came back.
Daisy rolled her eyes. "No need for that concern."
To Daisy's relief, May just shrugged and moved on.
By lunchtime, Daisy still felt awful. She was going to stop by Jemma's bunk to say hi, but decided against it. The last thing she needed was for Simmons to be a mother and force her into bed.
As Daisy met with May again, May told her the update on Zach. "He wants your help to control his powers," she said.
"Awesome," Daisy scoffed.
"Hey, thanks for coming," Zach said, standing up as Daisy entered his containment room.
"Make it quick," she snapped, harsher than she would've liked. She just felt terrible and was in no mood for this.
"I just wanna know how you contain that uncontrollable urge to use your powers," he told her. "I just feel like...like..."
"Like it's stuck inside you and it needs to be released," Daisy finished for him.
He nodded, smiling. "Exactly. So how do you contain it?"
Daisy leaned over and coughed into her elbow. She shrugged. "I don't remember."
Zach furrowed his brow. "Okay...I'm sorry to bother you, then."
"Look," she snapped, grabbing his wrist and poking his hand. "You try to let the tiniest bit of power escape your hands; the smallest amount possible. Let that amount keep getting smaller and smaller until nothing escapes, yet you still get that feeling of release."
Zach tried it. "Wow," he said in awe. "This actually works. Thanks, Agent—"
"Just call me Daisy," she said, then coughed again. She pointed to the door with her thumb. "Hey, I gotta head out. Let us know if you need anything else."
He grinned and nodded.
Daisy immediately headed for her bunk to get her sleep in before the night shift. She did not want to disappoint Fitz again.
Of course, she ran into said Fitz on her way.
"Hello," she said awkwardly. "How are the patients?"
He smiled. "Most of them are better. As you know, Jemma is, but so are Deke, Mack, Piper, and Davis. Yo-Yo is the only one left, it seems, except for a few other agents."
"That's good news. So they'll be able to go back to..." She coughed. "...work?"
He nodded. "Within a day. Hey, are you alright?"
"Just fine," she replied. "Fitz, you need me to run night shift?"
"Maybe just for tonight."
"Great," she muttered under her breath. Then louder so Fitz could hear, "I'm happy to help. Sorry I missed it last night."
"No, it's fine. I wasn't expecting you to do the shift."
"Daisy, could you get me some water?" Yo-Yo asked her friend. It was now past midnight, and Daisy was still running the night shift. She was exhausted and ill, but didn't show it. There was no way she would let the team baby her. She didn't want to be taken care of, much less lie in bed all day. She needed to be there for Zach and for her team.
"Of course, Yo-Yo," Daisy croaked as she grabbed a water bottle from the med bay fridge. She tossed it to her.
"Gracias." Yo-Yo took a sip. She set it on the table next to her hospital bed.
Like she was told, Daisy checked her temperature for her. "100. Your fever is beginning to break," she told her.
Yo-Yo smiled. "Awesome! I hate this sickness. It feels awful."
Daisy scoffed quietly to herself and thought, You think?! She poured the correct dosage of medicine into a cup and handed it to her. "Here's your night dose. Maybe you should go to sleep; rest will help a lot."
Yo-Yo gulped it down reluctantly. "Alright. Thanks for staying up."
"You're welcome," Daisy mumbled, almost inaudibly. She clicked the lights off and settled into the hard metal chair, ready to stay awake if anyone needed her.
Daisy awoke to someone tapping her shoulder. "Wake up," they said.
Her weary eyes fluttered open to see Simmons. "Hmm?" Daisy asked.
"You fell asleep on the job," she said, crossing her arms.
Daisy sat up straight, rubbing her eyes. "Well, aren't you supposed to be in bed?"
"Nope, I'm perfectly fine now. You, on the other hand, look awful."
"I appreciate the compliment, Simmons," Daisy snapped, attempting to stand up. Her whole body ached and she felt like collapsing. But she had to cover this up.
"May needs you in the main room," Simmons told her.
"Great..." Daisy replied, suddenly feeling uncontrollably dizzy. Jemma's face seemed to swirl in odd ways and the floor felt like jelly. Jemma appeared to be shouting something, but Daisy couldn't hear her. And with that, she blacked out.
"Daisy?! Are you okay!?" Jemma asked her friend, who was now swaying. She passed out, but luckily Jemma managed to catch her before she hit her head on the floor.
"What happened?!" Fitz asked, running up to the small group of women.
"I don't know," she replied. "She just...passed out."
"Let's get her to a bed," Fitz said, and Jemma nodded in agreement. They both carried her to an empty bed and laid her down.
"Did you see this coming? Did she seem sick before?" Simmons asked her husband.
He shook his head. "If she did, I didn't notice." He sighed. "I have to go help Agent Wilkins," Fitz told his wife, motioning to another sick agent. "You got her under control?"
"Yep," she replied. She grabbed a thermometer and pressed it onto Daisy's forehead. It read 104, a very high fever. She took a nasal swab to test for the flu, which came back positive. She had the more serious type of influenza.
Jemma tried to make her friend as comfortable as possible; she changed her into a blue hospital gown and propped her pillows up. She took a cold washcloth and dabbed it on her sweaty forehead.
Suddenly, the Inhuman's eyes fluttered open. "Wha...where..."
Jemma smiled warmly. "Take it easy, Daisy. You have the flu and you passed out."
Daisy groaned. "I'd really hoped you wouldn't find out."
"Well, I would have sooner or later," she scoffed. "You'll probably be on bedrest for the next three days, at least."
Daisy buried her face in her hands. "This is why I didn't want to tell you."
"Too late for that!" Jemma chimed cheerfully.
Tee hee! I hope you liked this chapter. I know this was up SUPER fast, like almost TOO fast, but I'm really enjoying writing this particular story and I'm not exactly busy right now. Anyway, thanks for reviews! Next chapter should include the team taking care of Daisy and her having none of it.