Disclaimer:
Don't belong to me.
Authors
note: This has no real point or plot, just a bit of fun. Thanks
to Keafers for Betaing for me!
Katie
didn't want to move. She felt like she'd been run over by a small
sub. She was sick, not in the way that required medical attention,
just a typical flu. She had all the symptoms: fever,
nausea/vomiting, runny nose, headache, and general body ache.
It
was the flu that was going around the SeaQuest. Dr. Westphalen had
given everyone the usual list of precautions: eat a balanced diet,
drink plenty of fluids, wash your hands and get plenty of rest. Even
with the advice, half of SeaQuest's crew had gotten sick. Katie had
avoided it for the last three weeks, but it had finally caught her.
She blew her nose gently, not wanting to disturb her stomach. She
hadn't been able to keep much down, so far, water was pushing it.
She
half laid-half sat in bed, careful to keep her head above her
stomach. She turned her head toward the aqua tube. The simple
movement relaxed her. Darwin swam up and chattered at her. She
smiled her best smile for him. He turned and swam off. He soon
returned, bringing a toy up for her to see. He left it there, hoping
it would make her feel better. She watched it for awhile, then let
the medication take effect.
Three
hours later she awoke to a noise beside her. She looked over to see
Ben and Lucas sitting down a tray.
"What
are you guys doing here?"
"Darwin
said you were sick, so we brought you Sprite and crackers. Ben said
you liked the butter crackers."
Katie
smiled at them.
"I
don't know if I can keep anything down right now."
"That's
ok, eat when you feel you can." said Lucas with a mothering
expression.
Katie
almost laughed. Lucas was such a strange person. He could be so
cocky and condescending at times, yet he could also be sweet and
mothering. Ben's voice broke through her thoughts.
"If
you feel up to it later, I can bring you some soup."
Katie
smiled at her ex-husband. Ben had always tried to make her feel
better when she was sick. Once he'd driven 30 miles just to find the
butter crackers she wanted.
"Thank
you both. I'll try to eat. I think the worst is over."
Lucas
and Ben gave her goofy grins.
"It's
nothing, Katie. You do stuff like this for us, the least we can do
is return the favor." Lucas said.
"True."
Katie
said as she took an experimental drink of the soda. It tasted a
little funny, but then so did everything. It hit her stomach
relatively ok. She was tempted to try a cracker to see if she could
stand that. Lucas shifted his weight, not wanting to intrude on her.
"Do
you want us to stay?" Lucas asked shyly.
"If
you want. I'm mainly in the stare aimlessly stage. I
wouldn't
mind though."
Lucas
and Ben looked at each other, then Katie, then said "ok."
They
sat down and began to tell Katie about what new was happening. She
ate the crackers and drank her soda as she listened. Lucas was
starting a new self modifying program that was supposed to help in
combat situations, while Ben was starting a new business venture.
Her
stomach was liking the idea of the crackers. She was starting to
think the soup would be ok to try. Katie looked at the guys, then
asked "What kind of soup do they have?"
"Chicken
noodle and beef vegetable. What kind would you like? I'll go get it
for you." Lucas said standing.
"I
guess chicken noodle. Thank you for waiting on me."
Lucas
just shrugged.
"It's
not a problem. I had this last week, so I know how you feel."
Lucas
said with a smile as he bounced off to get her soup.
She
watched Lucas leave, wishing she had half his energy. She turned her
attention back to Ben. He was shaking his head slowly. He turned
and smiled back at Katie.
"Feeling
any better?"
"A
little. I owe you guys for this."
Ben
smiled at her, a faint blush covering his cheeks.
"Lucas
thought to bring you the soup, I just knew what crackers you like."
Ben
looked away, as if he were thinking of something. Katie looked at
Ben, then reached over and squeezed his hand.
"What
are you thinking about?"
Ben
shook his head, then squeezed her hand back.
"Just
thinking about Lucas. He's a great kid."
"I
know what you mean. He's sweet, but mischievous."
Ben
looked at Katie, uncertainty showing in his eyes. He decided to just
ask.
"Do
you ever wonder what our kids would have been like?"
Katie
could see that Ben wasn't up to anything. He had a gentle side that
most people didn't see.
"I
sometimes wonder what they would be like, who they would look like,
who's temper would they have, stuff like that."
"With
my charm and your good looks, just think!"
Katie
rolled her eyes.
"Your
charm?"
"Of
course, I'm known for it!"
Katie
started laughing. She laughed so hard she almost fell out of bed.
Ben smiled, having achieved his goal.
"Well,
I think I'm charming."
Lucas
came in with the bowl of soup, sitting it on Katie's desk.
"Ben,
Darwin thinks your charming." Lucas said.
"See
Darwin approved! I'm charming."
The
statement made both Lucas and Katie laugh.
"Ben
quit, my sides hurt!" Katie said still laughing.
"You
two just don't appreciate my charm."
Lucas
rolled his eyes, then said "Your charm got me in trouble last
shore leave."
"You
survived."
Lucas
turned to Katie, then asked "How's the soup?"
"Not
bad, it almost tastes normal."
"It
should, it's genetically altered."
Lucas
cut Ben off in mid sentence.
"Ben,
please! She doesn't want to hear your theory of imitation food. If
you like, I'll bruise your orange in the morning."
Katie
smiled at their banter. She had already heard Ben's gripes about the
perfect food. They carried on until Ben looked at his watch.
"We'd
better go. We're supposed to be on the bridge in 10 minutes."
"Oh
yeah, I get to do the debugging of the virtual reality software."
Katie
made a face.
"That's
why I went into hardware."
"You're
lucky. Are you going to be ok?" asked Lucas.
"Yes,
thank you. You guys have been great."
"Any
time Katie, any time." Ben said as he smoothed her hair back
from her face.
Ben
got up and walked to the door. Lucas followed, saying
"Just
page us if you need anything, especially if it's during the test."
Katie
smiled and waved as they left. They had made her feel better. She
sat back against her pillows, feeling better in both body and mind.