TITLE: Rescue me

Chapter 05

AUTHOR: Ceindreadh

EMAIL: ceindreadh@eircom.net

CATEGORY: drama/angst/gen

WARNING: none

RATING: PG-13

SPOILERS: none

DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them and I'll return them to Norman Felton and Warner Bros when I've finished with them

Thanks to FatCat and Kelly for Betaing this for me.

Part 05/07

Hours had passed while Napoleon sat in vigil. The nurses came and checked on Illya's vital signs on a regular basis but there was little change.

They had cleaned up their patient as best as they could, but there were still traces of soot and smoke in his hair and on his body...the smell of the smoke almost overwhelmed the usual antiseptic hospital smell that both Napoleon and Illya had grown accustomed to over the years.

But one thing Napoleon had never grown accustomed to was the slight twinge of fear that he felt every time he had to wait in a hospital. He had spent way too many hours in the limbo of hospital waiting rooms waiting anxiously for a patient to recover...or not. Far too many hours had been spent waiting for Illya, although he knew that his partner had spent his fair share of times wearing a hole in the hospitals carpets.

Several more hours had passed and the nurses had started to discreetly hint to Napoleon that perhaps he should consider going home for some rest, or at least down to the hospital canteen for something to eat. The thought of food nearly made him sick even though he had not eaten for several hours before the fire, but his body had other requirements that he couldn't afford to ignore.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Napoleon told Illya's unconscious form before heading in search of the toilets.

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After washing his hands, Napoleon splashed some cold water on his face hoping to revive himself a little. He knew that the nurses were right, staying at the hospital wasn't going to help Illya's recovery, and he would be better off going home and resting for a few hours. But it felt like he would be abandoning his partner for a second time.

Returning to Illya's room, Napoleon was no closer to reaching a decision...but when he saw the medical staff surrounding his partner's bed, he knew that matters had been taken out of his hands yet again.

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To be continued