Nic, rubbed his back and guided him away from the sink. "Come on let's get you to the car." She wrapped her arm around his waist, just as she had earlier that day. Conrad tucked his head into her neck and whimpered. "Nic, I don't feel good."

She felt her stomach twist at the declaration. "I know." She said, placing more of his weight on her shoulder. "Just close your eyes. I'll get you to the car."

She guided him slowly towards the front door, making sure her strides stayed in line with his, despite the lag in his steps.

"Watch your step." She cautioned, as they hobbled over the threshold of the house. She could feel his breathing pick up against her neck. "Almost to the car."

She managed to reach out her left arm and grab the handle of the passenger car door. "Okay, watch your head." She said, guiding him into the leather seat. "Nice and easy."

Once settled, Conrad let his head fall back against the headrest.

"Do you think you'll be okay for a ten minute drive or should I grab the trash?"

Conrad swallowed. "Grab it."

She made her way back into the living room and grabbed the bin that Conrad had—unfortunately—become very well acquainted with.

She locked the front door behind her and grabbed her phone out of the right pocket of her scrubs.

She thumbed through her contacts before coming to the 'P' last names; putting her phone on speaker before climbing into the car. She heard the ringing pause and Devon's voice came through.

"Hey Devon." She said, putting her car in drive. "This is Nic."

"Oh hey, how is Conrad doing?" Devon asked.

Conrad, for his part, let out a groan at the mention of his name.

"That's what I am calling about actually." She said, making the turn at the light. "Conrad and I are on our way to Chastain. It seems like this virus is hitting him a little harder than we thought it would."

"Oh. Woah." Devon said anxiously. "What's going on?"

Nic looked over at her blind spot before switching into the left lane. "He is dehydrated. Can't keep anything down."

Devon grimaced. "Yikes."

"Yeah so we are about 6 minutes out if you can let Irving know." She said, looking over at Conrad who had started heaving again. "You're not going to want him in the waiting room."

"I'll let him know." Devon said, "see you soon."

With her hand now free she placed her hand on the back of her sick fiances neck. "It's going to be okay."

When she pulled up to the ER, Devon and Irving were waiting for them with a wheelchair.

Nic motioned for them to come around and opened the passenger door. Conrad's neck, having grown tired like the rest of his body, was now hanging off the side of the headrest

"Woah." Irving said, taking in his colleagues appearance. "When you said Conrad Hawkings was coming in I didn't know it was going to be the ghost of Conrad Hawkings past."

Conrad mustered a small smirk but didn't offer up any banter.

Devon took the trash can that was sitting on Conrad's lap and placed it on the floor boards in front of him. He offered Conrad his hands, while Conrad rotated in his seat. He managed to get Conrad standing and only ducked aside when Conrad gagged.

Devon held onto his mentors waist from behind. "You good?"

Conrad nodded. "Yeah, just a little dizzy."

Devon slowly guided Conrad to the wheelchair. Conrad thought about making a feeble protest to walk, but couldn't find it in him. The lack of dissent didn't go unnoticed by the others.

He placed his fist against his mouth. "Irving I need—"

Irving pulled a blue emesis bag out of his pocket and handed it to Conrad.

"Need a barf bag?" Irving said, finishing his sentence. "I figured you would eventually."

Conrad heaved into the bag, surprised to find he actually had something to bring up. Still paying for the freaking ice chips

Devon cringed and looked at Nic "I see why you said no waiting room."

She nodded. "Yeah."

Irving unlocked the brakes on the wheelchair. "Okay let's get him into Bed 3."

Nic walked ahead of them and lowered the guard rails on the waiting gurney. She stood in front of Conrad, as Irving and Devon helped Conrad, who was still maintaining a death grip on the blue bag, into a standing position and eventually onto the bed.

"Nic, can we get an IV started?" Irving asked, placing his stethoscope in his ears.

"Already on it." Nic said, rubbing the betadine in the crease of Conrad's arm.

"Pravesh." Irving said. "Get registration in here so we can get a band on him and get him processed."

Irving pressed his stethoscope against Conrad's chest. "Heart rate is steady. Normal breath sounds."

He threaded the instrument back around his neck. "Conrad, how you feeling man? Still nauseous?"

Conrad nodded keeping his eyes shut and his mouth pursed.

"Nic." He said, while placing a pulse ox on Conrad's index finger. "Tell me a little bit about what's going on."

She palpated a vein on Conrad's arm and guided the needle through the vessel smoothly before removing the rubber tourniquet.

"I took him home this morning because he was throwing up. When I got him home he had a 102.2 fever and he threw up shortly after that. He's been throwing up pretty much every half hour and had a bout of diarrhea."

Conrad groaned. That detail didn't necessarily have to be broadcasted

"I took his temp about two hours ago and it was 103 and he attempted to drink water a handful of times, only to throw it back up. Cant even keep ice chips down."

Irving grabbed some gloves from the counter. "Okay so we're going to need to rehydrate him. Go ahead and start him on 1 L normal saline, open wide."

"Conrad, I'm going to palpate your stomach. Let me know if any one area hurts worse than others."

Devon, came back with a mousy brunette in tow. "Hi Dr. Hawkins." She said, tugging a computer cart with her. "My name is Laurie, and I am going to get some information from ya, and get you all squared away, okay?"

Conrad nodded.

"Dr. Irving." Laurie said, noting the doctor's gloved hands. "You can go ahead and finish your initial examination while I work out the details."

Irving placed his gloved hands on Conrad's midsection, making small circles as he made his way up and around. "Any pain or tenderness?" He asked, palpating the lower right quadrant. Conrad shook his head.

Conrad licked his dry lips. "Just sore all over."

Irving turns towards Devon. "Please note in his chart that his abdomen is tender and soft. No specific site pain. Abdominal imaging not recommended at this time."

At the conclusion of his examination, Nic hangs the saline and takes Conrad's hand in her own. "Alright, let's get you hydrated and feeling better, okay?"

He smiles and lowers the blue bag from his face. "Thanks Nic." He said softly.

Irving started walking out, tossing the black gloves into the bin. "I'm going to go ahead and order an antiemetic, and see if we can get that nausea under control. Should only take a few minutes. Give you some time to get things straightened away with Laurie."

Irving and Devon stepped out of the room and closed the curtain behind them. Nic checked the flow rate of the saline before taking off her gloves and tossing them.

Laurie scooted her cart closer to the bed, looking at the computer that rested on it. "Okay Conrad, date of birth?"

"May 20, 1977."

"Taking any medication? Prescription or over the counter?"

He shook his head.

"Any past hospitalizations or surgeries in the last year?"

He once again shook his head.

"Any allergies to medication?"

"Just latex."

Laurie nodded her head, making the note in her system. "And what reaction do you see with latex?"

Conrad took a breath, feeling his stomach roll. "Rash."

Laurie once again, took note. "Okay so Ive got an ID band for you." She said, grabbing the bracelet from the cart. "Just go ahead and confirm that your first and last name is spelled correctly and that we have the correct date of birth."

Conrad squinted at the proffered identification. "Yeah." He said, sinking further into his pillow. "That's right."

Laurie clasped the band around his wrist, careful not to make it too tight. "Alright then, you are all set." She maneuvered her cart out of the room. "Dr. Irving will be back with you shortly."

With Laurie gone, Conrad and Nic were left alone, once again.

"I'm sorry to put you through all of this." He said, squeezing her hand.

She brushed her fingers across his cheek. "I'm a nurse. I've dealt with much worse." She paused. "Though some of my patients aren't as whiny as you."

Conrad chuckled. "Very funny."

Nic continued running her fingers across his forehead when she noticed him shiver.

"It's cold in here." He said, trying to curl up.

"That would be the saline." Nic said. "I'll go grab you a couple blankets from the warmer. Just sit tight."