Faye lay on her bed and whispered vows of how she would never leave her mattress again. She stretched her limbs out to all four corners of the bed. She wondered briefly how Jet was making out. She knew she should have gone with him. If there was any money to be had from this whole thing she'd have to work a bit for it. She slid her hands beneath her pillow and felt the coolness there. She pressed her face into it and inhaled deeply. She really needed this sleep.



Time to check on Spike.



She got up and made her way slowly to the shower. She was in and out in ten minutes having raised the act of showering to an art form. She slid into her terry cloth robe and made her way to the main room. Spike wasn't on the couch. Maybe he'd actually made it to his bed last night.



But, she soon realized that in true Spike fashion the growling of his stomach had led him to an attempt at getting to the kitchen. She found him standing in the doorway, doubled over with his arm across his middle. She gasped and rushed towards him, grabbing his arm. "Are you alright?"



"Yes. I'm fine. Let go." He straightened and Faye peered over his shoulder to see the few droplets of blood on his undershirt.



"You're bleeding!" Her grip on his arm tightened and her teeth clenched.



Spike waved her off, "That's from a few days ago. I'm fine."



Faye immediately let him go and stepped back from him. Her expression relaxed.



I have to stop doing that. He's going to figure it out. She walked past him into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Nothing.



"Looks like it's rice again this morning." She said. Spike scowled and scanned the room with his eyes. Sure enough the only thing that he could spot was the pot still sitting on the stove with the leftover rice from last night. The wooden spoon stuck straight out of it like a sword in a man's chest. Ugh.



"You know what would be good? Some eggs and back bacon. That would be incredible right now." He sighed.



Faye nodded. "Well, then, hurry up and get better. Get out there and make some money." She struggled momentarily to get the spoon out of the rice then gave up. She brushed past Spike on her way out to the main room. She tried not to stiffen when her shoulder pressed momentarily against his chest. She felt him immediately recoil from her touch and muttered, "Sorry."



She turned and walked slowly back to her room.



It seems getting out of bed was a bad idea after all.



* * *



Spike stood in the doorway of the kitchen for some time. Whenever he moved he felt everything in his torso shift. Faye's freak-out had also been a little on the disturbing side. The ship was big enough that he could avoid bumping into her but there wasn't much someone in his condition could accomplish. He turned and painfully made his way back to the couch. He eased himself down and with a rattling breath brought his legs up onto the coffee table. He cursed himself for not thinking of flicking on the vid-screen before he lay down. Too late now. Nothing to do but sleep.



He closed his eyes.



He could smell coffee and hear Julia's humming in the kitchen area. Every once in a while she would sing a few words.



There was something sad about it.



Light poured in through the open window and he could feel and see the heat through his eyelids. He opened his eyes and he was there, in that little room. He could see Julia's hair falling down her shoulders. Her white apron with the bow tied at the back. She turned her head slightly when she heard Spike stir. She smiled shyly and held out a bowl and a whisk, "I'm making eggs." She said. "I wasn't going to wake you up until they were done."



Spike smiled lazily and held out one of his hands. "C'mere." He said.



Julia put the bowl with the whisk down and approached him with the same shy smile on her face. "You look so sweet when you're sleeping." She said. "Like an angel."



An angel.



She reached her hand out and pressed it to his face. He leaned into it and let his lips brush against her palm. He placed a kiss there and reached out for her other hand. His fingers weaved into hers. Pale and paler flesh. He closed his eyes again.



When they opened again, he was back on the couch. He was suddenly terribly hungry. Faye was sitting in the armchair across from him. She was dressed in her usual outfit again. She had turned the vid-screen to face her and was eating freeze-dried noodles.



"Any for me?" Spike asked. Faye didn't even look away from the screen.



"Nope. Last one."



Wench.