40
Gwen was incensed. Apocalyptic. She was trying to think of more words to describe her level of unease and anger when the bell rang and she stepped outside the caravan to find some met standing behind the ropes that surrounded the shitty caravan. "What!"
"The others are about to return…"
"NO! They can't come in here. They touched the body. No. Put them somewhere else, not with me. I did not go near it, they actually touched it. God!" she cried with horror, grasping at her top as she begged.
"I am apt to believe her" Rhys defended her eventually as he glowered at her "she would never be the one to dirty her hands."
"Well… we can put them in the barn. Those in the house are not able to be moved and really… they have more rights here I think" came a reply.
Gwen could only meekly wait for someone to bring a basket of food for her, Owen to come later to start the hourly checks on her.
.
.
Ianto was sitting up in bed devouring a bowl of stew, making humming noises as he revelled in the explosions of flavour from each morsel of meat. "Oh gods, I am so hungry. I could eat an entire pot of this! Tell Gillian she is an angel! Any more?"
He was animated, his eyes now bright and colour had returned to his face, even if his hands shook slightly as he insisted he could feed himself. Jack could not hide his relief as Ianto chewed and Owen crouched to speak softly to him, telling him it might be possible that Ianto ha antibodies to this current strain, if he can do it, if he can manage it, he might just be able to create an antidote or vaccine.
Jack glanced over at the pretty woman in the other bed and nodded "Do what you can for her."
Owen rose with Toshiko behind him to hand over a kit, Owen drawing blood as Ianto ate with his other hand. Ravenous. God, this was good food.
.
.
It was the next morning that Jack woke to find the bed empty, panicking for a moment before hearing the sound of someone rattling about in the kitchen so he walked through to find Ianto leaning into the fridge looking for something to eat.
"Still hungry?"
"I was hoping for some ice-cream in the back of the icebox… something cool"
"Sore throat?" Jack was on alert. No. It's back?
"No… we have cans of boysenberries, I wanted to make an ice-cream smoothie" Ianto replied, stepping back and Jack saw the handsome man in his own skin, so damned handsome. And healthy.
Owen entered, calling out softly "Hey there… saw a light on. OK to come in?"
Ianto swung to walk to the other room "did you bring food?"
Owen stopped walking and frowned, his face screwing up inside the helmet of the safety gear as Toshiko laughed and motioned to the basket in her hands.
"Thank god" Ianto huffed, seizing it and sitting at the table to peer into the basket with glee , "ooooo, pastries. Yum. Apple!"
"Wow. That man likes apples" Owen chortled, then moved to touch the shoulder of the slumbering man in the chair, Hamish taking a sharp intake of breath as he straightened up to look at the pretty woman in the bed he was keeping a resolute position of bodyguard beside.
Owen slid in the needle and injected something into the needle kept in her hand, then took her pulse as he watched her sleep. "Hopefully we will see a reaction in the next few hours. If I got this right, Ianto might have what we need to kick this in the butt."
Ianto watched from the table as he shoved another pastry into his mouth, glancing at Jack who nodded his agreement. They both hoped so too.
.
.
"I just don't know" Rhys sighed as he stood talking to Gwen at a distance "I am still so bloody angry with you."
"How are they?" Gwen asked "My team?"
"Three already dead, the other two are gonna follow by the morning if the serum Owen created from Ianto's blood doesn't work."Rhys replied with obvious anger "what a fucking waste. And what do we do then, eh? We will have to bury them, we can't burn the bodies, the smell alone… Christ Gwen."
"It's not my fault, I didn't tell them to touch the fucking body" she screeched with alarm as she saw Rhys moving away from her "Rhys… I need you."
Rhys stopped moving and looked at her long and hard "And what about what I need woman? Eh? I needed you to stay with me, I needed you here building a future… a safe future and the possibility of kids. Here. I needed you too and what did you do? You left me!"
"Rhys!" she howled.
Rhys turned and walked away, waving a hand behind him as he decided he was done with all of this. Done with stroking her ego, done with kowtowing to her thoughts, needs, and demands. He has watched Jack and Ianto, seen the pain… the open pain in Jack's face as he told them Ianto might not make it, the raw relief as he announced from the house's doorway that Ianto was over the worst.
Rhys knew Gwen would never act like that for him.
If he died she would not even pause to bury him, would she!