Author: Astrid
Status: Complete Short Story
Feedback: post here or send to: jaded_river_hussie@yahoo.com
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Characters are property of ABC Daytime's One Life To Live, I'm just borrowing them, please don't sue me.
Archive: Possession, FFN; you want it, let me know.
Summary: It's mid-November and several of Llanview's residents have come down with the flu.
Author's note #1: The whole Nat/Cris/Jen/Al/baby thing has been resolved a few weeks prior to this. And I'm choosing to ignore the insipid Keri/Antonio/Liz/baby storyline. Keri's pregnant with her and Antonio's baby and has kicked both him & her mom to the curb since finding out about their one night stand.
Author's note #2: Mitch isn't around, Suzanne's not dead, Sam and Blair are not involved--lemme make this short, if there's no mention of something happening or it doesn't seem to have affected anything, odds are, for the sake of this story, I'm ignoring it.
"Don't you feel like you're coming down with something,
some great fancy flu
Don't you feel like you're coming down with me
and it doesn't get sicker than you..."
- Our Affair by Carly Simon
Day 1
Llanfair
"ACHOO!"
Viki set the tray she was carrying down on the table and peeked into the library. "Oh, Jessie, don't tell me you're sick too."
"No, I'm fine, it's just a cold," Jessica said, sounding congested.
"Uh-huh and that's what Natalie said yesterday morning and now she's upstairs in bed with a fever of a hundred and two. I want you to go up to your room and rest. I'll bring you some medicine and some soup after I check on Natalie."
"Mom, I'm fine. Really."
"Jessica," Viki said in a warning tone.
"All right. I'll go rest," Jessica said before leaving the library and walking up the stairs to her room.
Viki sighed as she picked up the tray and went up to Natalie's room. She knocked on the door, "Natalie, darling, are you awake?"
A sickly moan was her answer. She pushed the door open. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked, setting the tray on the desk.
"No. I feel worse."
Viki walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. She felt Natalie's forehead, "You're still burning up. Let's check your temperature again."
Natalie struggled to sit up, "I hate being sick."
"I know, it's a pain. I brought you some soup and some more medicine to help you feel better," Viki said, placing the thermometer in Natalie's mouth. "Cristian called while you were asleep. I told him that you'd come down with the flu but that if you were feeling up to it, he could come by and visit you tomorrow." She looked at Natalie, "You do know that I'm not going to allow you to get up until your fever breaks, right?"
Natalie nodded.
"Good. You're not going to give me any trouble, are you?"
Natalie shook her head.
"That's my girl." Viki smiled as the thermometer beeped.
"I'm too weak," Natalie said, taking the thermometer out of her mouth and handing it over to Viki.
"Oh dear, that's not good," Viki said, looking at the reading.
"What?"
"Your temperature's gone up. I know it's to be expected but...I just don't like it being this high."
"What is it?"
"A little over a hundred and three."
"Explains why I feel like death warmed over. My throat hurts."
"Stop talking. I don't want to have to rush you to the emergency room." Viki walked over and placed the tray over Natalie's lap. "Eat, take the medicine, and get some more rest. I'll check on you later. Right now I have to go check on Jessica."
"Is she sick too?"
"I'm afraid so. If she comes down with the flu too, I just might have to put the both of you in one room so I won't have to keep running back and forth between your rooms. But, then again, she could always have a different strain and I wouldn't want you two contaminating each other," Viki said.
'Poor Mom,' she thought, looking at her bowl of soup as Viki left the room, sighing, leaving the door open.
Bo & Gabrielle's Apartment
"Bo, really you don't have to take care of me, I barely even have a fever and you have work to do," Gabrielle said, sitting up in her bed, pulling a tissue from the tissue box.
Bo sat on the edge of the bed, "Nonsense."
"Bo, do you understand that if you continue to take care of me, you're going to get my germs and come down with the flu, too?"
"I'll take that chance. Besides, I've already had my flu shot."
"Well, bully for you."
"Whoa, hostility. Where did that come from?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that I feel absolutely miserable, just dreadful, lying here in bed, all icky," she said, wiping her nose.
"I'm sorry. How about I run you a nice hot bubble bath to help you feel better?"
Her face brightened, "Oh, would you?"
"I'll get right on it."
"Thank you, Bo. You're the best."
RJ's Apartment
"RJ, go lay down," Keri said, hanging up the phone.
"I don't need you playing nurse maid, Keri, now would you just go," RJ coughed.
"Hey, you took care of me when I came down with that bug after An--you know who and I got back from Maui, so I'm going to return the favor and make sure you get better as soon as possible."
"And I appreciate that, Keri, really I do, but you need to think about your health and the baby's. Do you really think that being around me while I could quite possibly be contagious is all that good of an idea?"
"Well, no, maybe not."
"Then, will you go? I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I don't even have a fever. Just a runny nose and a bit of a cough."
"You'll call me if you start to feel worse? Or Hank?"
"First thing, I promise," he said, easing her over to the front door.
"You'll be okay?"
"Yes, Keri, now, go," he said, handing her her coat. "Stay away from germs. I want you to keep yourself and my grandchild in perfect health, you hear me?"
"Yes, RJ. I'll come by to check on you later," Keri said as he shooed her out the door.
RJ closed the door and leaned back against it before letting out a sneeze.
Cramer Mansion
"MOM! DAD!" Starr's voice was heard all the way downstairs.
"You know, if Starr wasn't sick, I wouldn't have even considered letting you set foot back in this house," Blair said, standing at the foot of the stairs.
"Yeah, I know," Todd said non-chalant. He looked up the stairs in the direction of Starr's room, "You know, I think she wants us."
"Oh, you think?" Blair asked sarcastically, her attitude kicking in.
"I was just saying, sheesh."
"Whatever, Todd, just--you keep your distance from me," Blair said, walking up the stairs. "And don't go anywhere near Jack."
Todd followed her, mimicking her.
"You can stop mocking me, Todd."
He did, pausing, impressed, before continuing up the stairs.
Blair entered Starr's room, "Hey, how's my little girl feeling?"
"I'm sick, Mommy. I feel terrible. I want some chicken noodle soup. And ginger ale."
"Well, I'll get right on it. In the meantime, guess who's here to visit you?"
"Dad?"
Blair gave her a smile, "That's right. Come on in, Todd."
"Hey, munchkin," he said, stepping in.
"Daddy, I'm so glad you're here to help Mommy take care of me."
Blair looked from Todd to Starr, "Oh, no, honey, your Daddy's just here to spend a little time with you while you're sick."
"But I want him to help take care of me!"
"I know, but--"
"But, Mommy..." Starr pleaded, pouting and sniffling.
Blair relented with a sigh and looked at Todd, "Can you stay?"
"You bet," he said, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge. "I'd do anything for my kids."
"Yeah, I know you will," Blair said with a roll of her eyes. She looked at Starr again, "I'm gonna go put your soup on, okay? I'll be back in a little bit."
"Thank you, Mommy. Thank you so much."
"Whatever it takes for you to get better, Starr," she said from the doorway. She turned, walked down the hall and went down to the kitchen.
Todd smiled at Starr, "You're good."
"I know," Starr said with a cough.
He jumped up off the bed, "Just, keep your germs to yourself, though."
"Daddy!"
"What?"