Title: Fun in the Sun?

Author: Sarge

E-Mail: Shalimarfox2@aol.com

   The team had been driving for about five hours and by this time the conversation between them had died down. Jesse was concentrating on driving, Emma was asleep, Brennan was staring out the window, and Shalimar…well, Shalimar wouldn't stop moving around. Every few seconds, she would move to a different position as if she were extremely uncomfortable.

   Brennan looked over at her and watched curiously as she continued to move. "You've already been there," he said.

   "Huh?" Shalimar asked as she looked over at him.

   "You've already been in that position," he told her. "Are you alright?"

   Shalimar shook her head. "No, not really," she replied. "First if all, I'm not used to sitting so long and secondly, for some reason, I have this kind of sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach."

   "Sickening as in you're very worried or sickening as in you feel ill?" Brennan asked in concern as slid over closer to her.

   "Sickening as in I feel ill. I feel like I'm going to throw up," she answered with a grimace.

   Brennan lifted his hand to her forehead to feel her temperature. "Well, you don't feel warm, so I don't think it's a fever. You're probably just carsick."  

   "Carsick?" she asked with a questioning look on her face.

   Brennan smiled. "Yeah, carsick. Have you ever ridden in a car before and gotten the same feeling?"

   Shalimar thought about it for a second before answering, "I used to feel a little sick when I would drive around with a parents in their car, but other than that, I haven't really ridden in a lot of cars. I usually fly in the Double Helix or I ride my motorcycle."

   "Oh, well that's probably your problem than. You're not used to riding in a car for a long period of time and it's making you feel sick," Brennan explained.

   "Emphasis on the sick part," Shalimar said as she let out a soft moan just as the car went down a hill.

   Brennan moved even closer and pulled her into his arms. "It's ok. You'll be alright," he assured her.

   "I hope so," she replied as she positioned herself so she was sitting in Brennan's lap with her head on his shoulder.

   "Why don't you try to get some rest," Brennan suggested. "It usually helps when you're carsick."

   Shalimar nodded against his shoulder. "Ok," she replied quietly as she snuggled in closer to Brennan and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

   A few hours later, both of the girls woke up.

   "How long have we been driving?" Emma asked as she rubbed her sleepy eyes.

   "Just about seven hours," Jesse replied as he briefly glanced away from the road to look at her.

   "I think we should stop for something to eat," Brennan suggested.

   "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I mean, it is two o'clock and we haven't really eaten anything today. Whenever I spot a place to eat, I'll pull over," Jesse said.

   Shalimar groaned into Brennan's shoulder. "I don't think I could eat if my life depended on it," she muttered.

   Emma looked back at her with a concerned look on her face. "Are you alright, Shal?" she asked.

   "She's carsick," Brennan answered for Shalimar.

   Emma grimaced. "Oh, that sucks."

   "Yeah, that about covers it," Shalimar mumbled as she glanced over at Emma.

   Emma gave her a sympathetic smile and then turned back around.

   A few minutes later, they spotted a small restaurant called 'Patty Lou's Country Diner'.

   "This place looks as good as any other," Jesse said with a shrug as he pulled the car into the parking lot.

   "Yeah, I guess," Brennan replied as he opened the car door. Stepping out, he stretched and then bent back down to help Shalimar out of the car. Brennan decided to keep his arm around her waist when he saw her swaying slightly.

    "It's a good thing we stopped here," Emma stated as she got out of the car as well. "My bladder is about to pop."

   "I know what you mean," Jesse agreed.

   "Forget popping bladders. I'm about to throw up," Shalimar groaned as she leaned more heavily on Brennan.

   "Well then, we better get you inside. I don't think Patty Lou will want you vomiting all over her parking lot," Jesse said with a grin.

   With a nod, the team walked inside to find that the diner was dark and filled with cigarette smoke. There was country music playing and deer heads mounted on the wall. It was a regular out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere diner.

   "Shal and I are going to go to the bathroom while you two get the table," Emma said as she led Shalimar away from Brennan and to the back of the diner where there was a big sign that read 'RESTROOMS'.

   Just then, a large woman with dark brown hair curled up in a bun walked up to Jesse and Brennan. "Hi there boys, how many will there be?" she asked, her voice thick with a country accent.

   "Uh…there're four of us," Brennan replied.

   "Alright, would you like smoking or non-smoking?"

   "Non-smoking, please," Jesse answered.

   "Ok, right this way!" she said as she led Brennan and Jesse to a table.

   "I'll be back in a moment to get your drink orders," she stated as she wandered away.

   Coughing softly, Jesse looked at Brennan, saying, "This is non-smoking?"

   "I know what you mean. This place is like an all-you-can-eat-buffet for cancer genes," Brennan replied as he waved his hand in front of his face in a fruitless attempt thwart the cigarette smoke from his mouth and nose.

   At that moment, Emma and a very sickly looking Shalimar walked over to the table.

   "Man, Shal, you don't look too good?" Jesse stated as he watched her as she sat down next to Brennan.

   "Yeah, well I feel worse than I look," she replied as she rested her head on Brennan's shoulder.

   "And also, it does feel she has a temperature. I think she's actually got a fever on top of being carsick," Emma added with a grimace as she sat down next to Jesse.

   Brennan frowned and lifted his hand to Shalimar's forehead. "Yeah, you're right. She does feel hot. I guess it was just settling in when I first felt for a temperature."

   "This isn't fair," Shalimar moaned. "Something always happens to me. If I'm not getting shot, I'm getting a fever!"

   Just then, the waitress walked over to them.

   "Hi! I'm Patty Lou and I'm going to be your server today. So, what can I get you folks to drink?" she asked cheerfully.

   "Um…I'll have a coffee and a water, please," Jesse answered politely.

   "I'll have an ice tea," Emma said with a smile.

   "I'll have an ice tea as well, please," Brennan replied, but he noticed that Shalimar wasn't answering, he added, "And she'll have a ginger ale."

   "Alright, one coffee, one water, two ice teas, and one ginger ale coming right up!" she declared as she walked away.

   Shalimar looked up at Brennan with a questioning look in her face. "Why did you order ginger ale for me?" she asked.

   "Because it will help settle your stomach," he replied as he kissed her on the forehead.

   A few minutes later, Patty Lou returned with their drinks and then took their food orders. Both Brennan and Jesse ordered hamburgers, Emma ordered a salad, and Brennan ordered a bowl of chicken noodle soup for Shalimar. Once they had eaten and paid, they got up to leave.

   "I'm going to the restroom," Jesse declared as he walked toward the back of the diner.

   "Yeah, me too. We'll meet you two in the car," Brennan said as he followed Jesse.

   Emma and Shalimar walked outside and just as they were about to get in the car, they heard shouting from the back of the diner. Curious, they both walked over just in time to see Patty Lou kick a small dog away from the back door. "Get out of here you little rat!!" she yelled as she picked up a rock and threw in at the dog.

   Yelping, the little dog ran away into a large bush.

   "That's so mean!" Emma stated with a frown.

   "That damn little dog is always over here looking for food! I can't stand it!" Patty Lou replied angrily. "I wish the stupid thing would get run over by a car!"

   "That's horrible! The poor little thing is just hungry. It probably doesn't have an owner and it's out here all alone without anyone to take care of it," Emma said as she walked over to the bush and attempted to coax the frightened animal out.

   "Yeah, well if I see it snooping around here again, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in it!" With that, Patty Lou turned around and walked back inside the diner.

   "Come here…come here, boy. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just come out. Come on…you can do it," Emma said in a soft voice. Slowly, the little dog walked out of the bush and into Emma's open arms. Picking the dog up, she petted it lightly on the head, saying, "That's it! You're such a good little boy!"

   The dog was absolutely loving it. He was wagging his tail and trying to lick Emma's face.

   "Ewwww…don't let it lick you. It's probably got rabies or something," Shalimar stated with a grimace. Just as she said that, the dog looked over at her and growled slightly. Seeing this, Shalimar flashed her feral eyes at the dog and let out a small growl of her own.

   "What's going on?" Brennan asked as he and Jesse walked over.

   "Emma found a dog," Shalimar said plainly.

   "And let me guess, you want to keep it?" Jesse asked.

   "Well, we can't leave it here. Patty Lou said she would kill him if she ever saw him again," Emma said.

   "It looks like it could use a nice bullet in the head," Shalimar said as she frowned at the scraggly looking dog.

   "Shalimar! How could you say that?!" Emma scolded as she looked down at the dog in her arms. "Don't listen to her, Taco. She's just being mean," she said to the dog in a baby voice.

   "Taco? So, it's got a name now?" Shalimar questioned with an un-amused look on her face.

   "Yes, I called him Taco because I think he sort of looks like the Taco Bell dog."

   All of them looked at the dog to see that he did sort of look like the Taco Bell dog. He was the same color and about the same size, but instead of having short hair and big eyes, he had long scraggly hair and small eyes.

   "How about we get back to the 'I want to keep him' part," Brennan said.

   "Well, you know what I'm going to say," Emma replied.

   "That little nasty dog is not coming in the car with us," Shalimar stated plainly.

   "What have you got against Taco?" Emma asked Shalimar as she sent her a death glare.

   "First of all, it's ugly, it smells, it's probably got some weird disease, and, not to mention, fleas! It's--"

   "Ok! I get your point!" 

   "I tend to agree with Shalimar. It's probably sick or something. I don't think we should bring it in the car with us. We have no idea if he'll go nuts and attack us," Brennan said, stating his opinion.

   "Does he look like a dog that would just attack someone?" Emma asked as she pointed to the big puppy eyes that Taco was giving them.

   "I don't think we should bring him with us either," Jesse said with a shrug.

   Emma frowned. "Fine!" she exclaimed. "But if Taco doesn't go, I don't either!"

   Shalimar threw her hands up in exasperation and let out a loud huff. "I'm too sick to deal with this!" she said as she stalked back to the car.

   Brennan rolled his eyes at Emma and then looked over at Jesse who just shrugged.

   "Fine Emma! You can bring the dog, but if he is any trouble, I will personally throw him out the car window. Got it?!" Brennan stated with a menacing look on his face.

   Emma smiled. "Ok!" she replied cheerfully as they all turned and walked back to the car.

   Once they were all comfortable, Jesse started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

   TO BE CONTINUED

(A/N: So, what do you think so far? Let me know!! PLEASE REVIEW!!!)