Author's Note: Okay; now it's Lanier, according to lover-angel who says "I think its Lanier with a pronounced aiii like when you stub your toe." Thank you, lover-angel! I think its Lanier because Linear is already a word (and not a name) and it sound unnatural.
I don't think I made a threat in the last chapter, considering I posted it and only got like 1 review!!
45 reviews (which means 4 new ones, folks. I'm up to 41) or I will seriously not post the rest of this. I'll send it by email to anyone who gives me his or her email, but if you don't review, you don't read. MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!! :: Cackles evilly::
Here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer- As always, I
don't own them, but BE-A-TLE and some others I think were going up to Canada to
either steal the boys or make them keep making new episodes… can I come,
please?
Val Lanier woke up smiling. She got out of bed and went over to her closet where her EMT uniform was hanging up. Or at least she tried to.
On the first step, the ground swayed under her, and her smile quickly evaporated when she realized how icky she was feeling. She sat back down on the bed and then, after a few minutes, got back up, gripping tightly to anything stationary for support. But she didn't go to her closet for her uniform.
Instead, she slowly, painstakingly made her way downstairs. She gripped tightly to the kitchen counter with white knuckles. She let go for a minute and smiled. The dizziness had disappeared.
She took the thermometer out of the medicine cabinet, pushed the button, and stuck it in her mouth. She took out some instant oatmeal and made it- she had to eat breakfast no matter what, and she wanted something warm.
The thermometer beeped. Darn. 99.6! Four stinking points off! Alex had a rule. EMT's were in short supply, so unless their fever was 100 degrees Fahrenheit, not a point under, they had to go to the station.
Val ate her oatmeal and walked upstairs. She put on her uniform, put her hair back in a sloppy ponytail, grabbed a box of tissues and the thermometer- I'm taking my temperature every fifteen minutes, and as soon as I hit 100 I'm going home, she thought- took a few Tylenol, and sat down on the couch hard to wait for Tyler.
After a few minutes, the doorbell rang. It woke up the half asleep Val and she grabbed her coat etc and opened the door.
"Hi Tyler," she said and tried to smile, her voice hoarse. However, Tyler immediately caught on to what was going on.
:"Hey, Val. What's wrong?" He asked, all concern and sweet worry. He felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. No, no, no, no nonononono! She can't be sick! Tonight's our date! Our very first date! She can't be sick! She is sick. Face it. Nooooooooooo! Tyler thought.
"I'm sick, Tyler, I'm so sorry. OMG our date! I felt so awful this morning, I totally forgot and…" Val looked up at Tyler sadly and his heart melted.
"It's okay Val. So how high is your fever?" Tyler asked, knowing full well of Alex's unfair rule.
"99.6," Val said and sniffled. She took out a tissue and blew her nose. "Talk and walk. We'll be late." she insisted. Tyler slid his arm around her and she leaned her head on it, and they walked to the station.
"So you're just waiting to hit 100?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah. I have my thermometer and I'm going to be checking my temperature about every 15 minutes. As soon as it reaches 100, I'm out of there." Val said.
"If we don't have a call, I'll walk you home." Tyler said.
*************
Val and Tyler entered the station, hung up their coats, and Val sat down hard onto the couch next to Hank.
"What's wrong?" asked Hank.
"I'm sick. 99.6. Forget Alex's stupid rule! I want to go home!" Val said grumpily.
Hank nodded sympathetically. "I see." he said warily. Today was not the day to get on Val's bad side.
Val put the thermometer in her mouth to take her temperature again. She said, "I'm sorry, I'm just in a bad mood. And I feel really lousy!" She bit her lip, as if trying to hold back tears.
Hank and Tyler sent each other two looks, the first one questioning and the second one saying, "GIRLS!" accompanied by them rolling their eyes.
Just then, Brooke arrived for the paperwork, and said, "Hi everyone. Hank, I need your paperwork." Hank groaned, muttered something about it being too early for paperwork, but went to do it. Val stretched out on the couch and was soon asleep.
"What's wrong with her?" Brooke asked worriedly.
"Um, flu? I don't know exactly what, but she's sick." Tyler said, frowning. Jamie came in and Brooke demanded his paperwork after telling him about Val. He groaned and grumbled but complied. Brooke left to do her own paperwork, and Tyler spotted Val's math book from 2 days before, and put it into her long-forgotten backpack.
It had been 20 minutes since they first arrived. Tyler knew Val intended to take her temperature every 15 minutes, so he gently put the thermometer in her mouth and waited for it to beep.
*********
Val woke up to an annoying beep of the thermometer, and felt it slide out of her mouth- strange, she didn't know it was there- and saw Tyler towering above her with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Tyler?" Val croaked.
Tyler jumped. "Val- I- you- 15 minutes- thermometer- temperature- 101.3 now- sorry- walk you home?" he stuttered but somehow Val understood. It had been 15 minutes, and Tyler thought she'd want to check, but she was asleep so he checked for her, and now it was 101.3, so she could leave, and he wanted to walk her home. And frankly, Val wanted the company.
"Gotcha. I understand. Let me get my coat and stuff?" She asked. Tyler held out her coat and backpack from days before. "I was wondering what happened to that!" She smiled.
******
"Thanks for walking me- ACHOO!" Val sneezed and blew her nose in the middle of her sentence. "Thanks for walking me home Tyler." She said and rolled her eyes.
"No problem Val. Anytime. If you want, I'll come over when the shift is done and see how you're doing." Tyler said.
Val nodded and went inside.
She changed into her pajamas, buried herself under 3 feet of blankets, and fell asleep.
*****
Authors Note Again: It's over. At least this chapter is over. It took like 2 days to write, which is long for me.
