Claire was the worst patient ever. She didn't want to do anything she was told, although a lot of the time she was sleeping. Her fever wasn't going down and Alex was trying to look after her. He'd put a damp cloth on her head while she slept because it was the only chance he got to be close to her. He was also training the horses.

It was four days after the doctor had come and not only had her fever not gone, but she wasn't eating properly. Alex staid and had dinner before taking up some soup for Claire. "I'm not hungry" "you have to eat" "but I'm not hungry" "I don't care!" "I want to go outside" "Not unless you eat something" "I'm not hungry!" "Fine, you're not going outside!" "Fine! Go away, and take the tray with you" He went downstairs. "Still not eating?" Meg asked. "You know, I don't think I've met anyone as stubborn as she is" "That's Claire all right" They all sat there with a drink, and started swapping Claire stories. Alex had the best ones and the most. They'd spent their entire childhoods together and some of the things they'd got up to, had everyone doubled up with laughter. As the laughter died down, Alex and Tess looked at each other, as they heard something up stairs and went to find out what it was. Claire was asleep but had tears running from her eyes as she was pleading "Don't go, please don't go. I don't want you to go, I love you! No, don't go! I love you!" She was moving about so Alex grabbed her, holding her tightly, close to him. "It's ok," He said. She woke up, still crying and said in the same desperate voice, "Don't go, I love you, Alex" "It's ok, it's just a bad dream, no ones going anywhere" Claire became aware of her surroundings and jolted back from Alex's grip. She looked confused. In her dream, Alex was leaving for good and she was screaming for him to stay. She loved him, and broke down crying. He came back though and was holding her closely as Alex had been doing on the bed and said the same words as Alex had said, until she realised the dream was reality and felt embarrassed. She wiped her eyes. "You all right?" He asked. "No, you've given me night mares!" she said, not even looking at him. She was finding it difficult to get her eyes to focus. "You ok?" "I'm fine" she snapped. "It was just a bad dream, just go back to what ever it was you were doing" She scooted down in her bed and turned over with her back facing Alex. "Fine, we'll leave you alone then" And he and Tess walked out. "What was all that about?" Tess asked. "Don't ask" Alex told her, confused himself.

Claire couldn't sleep. She kept on turning over, but she was hot and agitated and slightly worried about talking in her sleep again. She wanted some fresh air, although she still had a fever. She slowly got up, a little unsteadily, pulled her quilt cover around her and headed downstairs very slowly, thinking everyone was asleep. She nearly lost her balance on the stairs at one point, but managed to get down in one piece before heading out the back to the veranda. The stars were shinning brightly and as she took in the gorgeous fresh air, she pulled the covers tighter, but nearly jumped out of her skin as a voice sounded behind her. What the hell are you doing out of bed?" "Jesus Christ Alex, what are you doing here?" "Come sit down, before you fall." "I'm fine" "You can barely stand up" "you didn't answer my question" She said, sitting down. "Tess said I could kip on the sofa, but I couldn't sleep, things on my mind" "Who is she?" "What makes you think it's a woman?" "Come on, I can't see you losing sleep over horses" "You want a hot chocolate?" "Only if it comes with an answer" "And what about you? Who's keeping you up at night? Dreaming about me where you?" "It was a nightmare" "So you were dreaming of me then?" "These nightmares are your fault" "Nightmares? You've dreamt about me more that once?" "Where's this hot chocolate?" "Claire, if you've got feelings for me, just admit it" "You still haven't told me who's keeping you awake at night?" He grinned and looked down at his empty glass. "I'll get you that drink" "you can't leave me in suspense" "I'll give you more nightmares" Claire looked confused as he walked inside"

He came out and handed Claire her drink as he sat back down. Claire had her knees pulled up in front of her as she lent sideways against the back of the bench. "How you feeling?" he asked her. "Honestly?" "Yep" "I ache all over, it's a struggle to keep my eyes open and my minds all foggy, so you might as well talk to me because I can tell you need to talk to somebody and I doubt I'll remember" "There's nothing to say" "Liar. Who is she?" "It doesn't matter" "Well have you slept with her?" "No!" "Kissed?" "Sort of" "What do you mean sort of? You either have of you haven't?" "Yes but." "But what? Did she kiss you back?" "Yes but its more complicated than that" "So do you love her?" Claire asked half heartily. "Well, err. what makes you so interested?" He said, looking towards her. She'd fallen asleep. He sat there and watched her for a while. He pulled a piece of hair out of her face as he sat there. All of a sudden, she started moving and shouting like she had before. "No, please, you cant, I love you more than I have anyone and I should have told you years ago. Please stay and say you love me too. Don't go! I couldn't bare you not being here. Don't go, don't leave me, stay, don't go!" Alex was trying to calm her down, when she woke up. She tried to calm her breathing and wiped her face dry. "Are you all right?" Alex asked, but didn't get a response. She got to her feet and her first few steps were very unsteady until she fell unconscious, only just being caught by Alex. He carried her up to her room before calling the doctor. She was burning up but shivering. The doctor came and gave him some tablets to give her. She didn't come around, and when she did seem to be awake, she wasn't really all there but delirious and wasn't making sense. The next evening, her fever finally broke and she woke up to find Alex sleeping in a chair next to her bed. He woke up not long after she did. He looked around the room, not sure where he was at first, then saw Claire looked at him. "You're awake!" "You couldn't expect me to sleep with you snoring. It was like a foghorn. You been there all night?" "Someone had to watch you" "Thank you" She said in a more serious tone. She was really touched that he'd staid to watch her. "How you feeling?" "Better actually" There was silence but a good one.

After Claire left school, she staid in touch with one of her friends, Stevie. They hadn't seen each other in years, but they always spoke on the phone. It was probably one of the reasons Claire told her everything. She opened up completely to Stevie because she never had to see her face to face. Not because she didn't want to, it's just that every time they organised to, something came up. Claire hadn't spoken to her all while she had been sick, but Alex had kept her company. The kiss wasn't mentioned, nor the dreams. She spent the next two weeks in bed, barely eating. She had been fed up for ages, felt much better and wanted to get up. She moved the covers away and swivelled around. "Here, let me help" Alex said moving closer to her. She pushed him away, even though she had no real energy. She took a few steps and she was fine, then she started to lose her balance. Alex grabbed her and she knew better than to push him away. "Here, lean on me" He said, pulling her arm around him, while he put his around her waste and helped her downstairs and outside. She sat down on the veranda and he made sure she was comfortable. She didn't care, she was just glad to be outside. "Now why don't you go and leave me in peace. I'm sure you've got better ways to spend your day then with me" "What about you getting back up to bed, where you should be." "If you're that worried, you can come by later and help me back if I'm not already" "I can stay you know" "You've looked after me enough and I appreciate it, but go! Sort things out with that lady of yours." He did leave but had no where really to go except the pub