His eye fluttering open, seeing he was alone in bed, Steve reached over to flip on the bedside lamp. The books he'd put on the floor by the storage bin were no longer there, and a patch of light was streaming out from underneath the closed bedroom door. Shaking his head, he stood up, tucking the throw blanket under his arm in hopes he could bundle his wife into it and get her back in bed.

Entering the living room, though, he saw Kayla had beat him to it, with a knit blanket around her shoulders as she sat on the floor in front of the fireplace. The lamp was on, textbooks and journals were strewn around her, and she had on her readers, pen tucked behind her ear, as she highlighted a notebook page with yellow ink.

"So, my tucker-inner work wasn't up to your standards, Sweetness?" Steve asked with a pout.

When Kayla turned, once he saw the thermometer in her mouth, Steve dropped to his knees at her side.

"Kayla?"

Removing the thermometer after it beeped, Kayla squinted to see the reading.

"I'm fine. Still low grade."

Taking the thermometer from her, it was Steve's turn to squint at the readout.

"100.3?"

"You're doubting me?" Kayla asked, arching a brow.

"I'd just rather be seeing double digits here, Sweetness," Steve sighed, capping the thermometer up before sitting on the rug beside Kayla, who reached over and rubbed his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Steve. Fevers spike at night. And if I was worried about this one I'd have woken you up," she assured as Steve grinned.

"Something funny?"

"Just nice to see you keeping your word, baby."

"What are you talking about?"

"How once upon a time in a crumbling basement, you looked up at me and said whenever you had a fever, you knew who to call." Steve recalled. Reaching over, he stroked Kayla's hair back, trying not to be alarmed that her forehead was hot to the touch.

Sensing his nervousness, she shifted closer and snuggled into his shoulder.

"Don't think you need to go on a scouting mission just yet," she teased as Steve frowned.

"You remember that? 'Cause from what I remember you were pretty out of it that day."

"Some bits and pieces stuck," Kayla said with a soft smile. "You whistling. The poker game. Everything you did to try and distract me."

"I can still teach you to play five card stud," Steve offered with a grin.

Her smile going sadder, seeing her husband still up to the same tricks and trying to take her mind off everything, Kayla kissed him on the cheek before sitting up.

"Have a pretty full courseload already I think," she said, pulling a notebook onto her lap.

"Courseload? Sweetness, you mastered this already. Or else that diploma hanging in your office needs some explaining."

"Steve, I'm not revisiting all this to take some trip down med school memory lane," Kayla sighed. "But there could be some findings or information here that sparks something. I want to be sure and exhaust all of our options."

"And exhausting yourself's the best way to go about that?"

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Kayla shrugged.

"I just don't want to overlook any facts."

"Well, a fact staring you in the face is that you're running on fumes, Sweetness," Steve sighed, reaching to rub his wife's shoulder.

"Look, how about I take over?" he offered. "A fresh set of eye on this couldn't hurt, and mine's not too shabby at picking up on the small details."

"Well, you're right about that. I..."

Trying and failing to fight back a yawn but too tired to beat herself up over it, Kayla handed Steve the notebook and highlighter. Thanking her, he set it aside and then stood up, helping her to her feet.

"Steve..."

"Nope. Doctor Steven Earl's starting his shift, baby. Time to get you to the on-call room."

Shaking her head when he tried to walk her to the bedroom, Kayla broke free of his hold to curl up on the couch.

"The bed's comfier, Sweetness. You said so yoursel-"

"I know," she cut in. "But the fire's on out here, and you're here. I just want you close. Is that okay?"

Nodding, Steve swallowed back the lump in his throat and grabbed a throw blanket. Snugly wrapping Kayla up in it, he brushed his lips on the top of her head before hugging her tightly.

"This close enough for you?"

"Yeah. You've got me wrapped up like a burrito though."

"Too warm?" Steve asked as she shook her head no but freed one of her arms.

"I'd like to look at that JAMA though that I was reading before."

"Sweetness..."

"I just want to skim it, Steve. It's like when I read before bed to relax. Please?"

Unable to refuse her and knowing she knew it, Steve grabbed the journal along with the other notebooks Kayla had marked up, then some bottles of water from the fridge. After uncapping one, he sat on the floor by the couch and handed it to her.

"Once you're hydrated we'll hit the books, baby."

Sipping the water, Kayla shook her head.

"Too bad this isn't coffee," she said lethargically. "Would make tonight really feel like an all-nighter."

"Feels like a pretty real one to me, Sweetness," Steve sighed, tucking her hair back before pressing the chilled water bottle to her forehead. When she didn't protest, he left it in place.

"Yeah," Kayla murmured in agreement. "It helps when you have company. I'd try to study at night after I got Stephanie to sleep. The house would be so quiet. Half the time I'd fall asleep at a right angle over my desk."

"Would've worked those kinks right out for you if I'd been there."

"I know." Taking hold of Steve's wrist, lowering his hand holding the water bottle, Kayla linked her fingers with his.

"You know, when our baby girl got older, she was a terrific study partner."

"Oh yeah?"

Seeing the gleam in her husband's eye, knowing a distraction she could provide to take their mind off things, Kayla rolled over on the couch as Steve shifted closer to it and her.

"She'd bargain for a later bedtime by offering to go over the flashcards she'd made with me."

"Wait, she made you the-"

"Yep," Kayla laughed. "For the skeletal system, she made a whole set on black construction paper. Tried to draw the bones out freehand in white glitter gel pen."

"How'd they turn out?"

"Good enough for me to give them to some interns," she said as Steve grinned.

"No, she picked up on most of what I was studying. One of the ways I'd wrap my brain around all the material was trying to come up with ways to explain it to her."

"You walk around singing head bone is connected to the neck bone?" Steve teased, earning a look.

"You think I'd allow alternative facts around our baby girl?"

Rolling her eyes, Kayla smiled.

"No, I'd give her mini-lessons whenever I could. A lot of the time, it was the highlight of my day. And for Stephanie, any excuse she had to play school with her chalkboard easel."

"Hang on now. I thought you gave the lessons. Or were you little schoolgirl for our little Sweetness?" Steve crowed as Kayla's eyes narrowed.

"I swear to God, Steve if I hear one verse of that song-" she warned as he laughed.

"You'll fall for me all over again, baby?"

"You won't hear one of my favorite stories about our baby girl. And I'll make Stephanie promise not to tell you it," Kayla threatened as Steve's grin faded to a frown.

"Oh baby, c'mon," he pouted. "That's not-"

"Swear it. No little schoolgirl. And no blowing in my hair," she added, getting more of a pout.

"What? I'm covering all the bases here."

"Fine, Sweetness. I swear. Now c'mon, what's the story?" Steve asked as Kayla discussed nearly falling asleep one night in the plate of mac and cheese their daughter had decided to surprise her with for dinner.

"I felt horrible that she had to wake me up. She could've asked me for a pony that night, and I would've said yes."

"What did she wind up asking you for?"

"To not question what was in the two paper cups she set in front of me and to just drink what was in them. Turned out one had Pepsi, and one had Coke, and I had to tell her which was which," Kayla said as Steve laughed.

"She gave you a pop quiz. A literal pop-"

"Mmhmm," Kayla grinned as Steve laughed even harder. "It took way too many rounds before I finally got it right and she quit pouring soft drink shots down my throat. She knew how to wake me up, though."

"You know I'm gonna have to ask her for the full story, baby. Get her side and make sure you didn't leave anything out."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, Mister eye for detail," Kayla chuckled.

"Honestly though, after that night I thought she was gonna be a scientist. Or a teacher."

"Race car driver never crossed your mind?" Steve asked with a grin as Kayla smirked, then went solemn.

"She and I were texting earlier at the hospital."

"Is she alright? Is everything-"

"Yeah, she was fine. Just was checking in," she said. Swallowing hard, she rolled away from Steve and onto her back.

"She wanted to know if we could still get lunch this week. Said she'd treat and take me anywhere if it meant not having to eat at the hospital cafeteria."

"Baby..."

"I didn't know what to say so I just reacted with one of those silly little hearts," Kayla scoffed, wiping her eyes.

"I don't mind the silly little GIFs," Steve deadpanned. "Joe likes those, too."

"Steve..."

"And Tripp. He's more into the memes, though."

"I know what you're trying desperately not to say, so you may as well just say it."

His eye welling up along with hers, swallowing hard, Steve reached into his back pocket for his phone.

"Who are we telling first, Sweetness?"