They had three days before Rimmer's shore leave would be finished and Red Dwarf would be leaving its orbit around Mimas. Charlie was still watching the hospital. Lister was still in intensive care. And Rimmer was starting to lose hope.
This particular morning he spotted Charlie lounging insolently against the wall outside and resisted the urge to run up to the man and smack him in the mouth; instead he trudged past him and through the large double doors at the hospital's entrance. He made his way up to Lister's room almost on auto-pilot. He'd made the journey so many times that his feet just carried him along now without any help from his brain.
Rimmer was exhausted. All the nights of lying awake worrying about Dave and mostly crying himself to sleep had taken a heavy toll. He was pale and drawn and his eyes were set deep into dark circles.
He hadn't seen so much as a glimpse of Dave since they'd been rushed out of the ambulance and taken to their separate rooms on that first night. Dave was quarantined, meaning absolutely no visitors. Even the doctor and nurses selected to attend to him were required to wear surgical masks. All Rimmer had was a blank white door to sit by; knowing that, on the other side, the only thing that had ever given his life meaning was slowly slipping away from him.
As he rounded the corner, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. The doctor was just coming out of Dave's room, with two nurses and none of them were wearing masks.
Rimmer froze. He began to tremble. Surely, it could only mean one thing. He's gone. Feeling as stiff and dead inside as a zombie, Rimmer walked over to them. He felt like his knees might buckle at any time and spill him onto the hard, tiled floor. He saw the doctor look up and recognise him. "Dave..." he managed to croak weakly, "Is he...?"
The doctor took him by the arm, "I think you'd better sit down." She gently lowered Rimmer into one of the seats lining the corridor and then sat down beside him. "David took a turn for the worse last night," he heard her say. His brain felt like it was burning. The lights in the ceiling all suddenly seemed too harsh and bright. He couldn't believe this was happening.
"His temperature went back up and he was having trouble breathing," the doctor continued. "We gave him a heavy shot of antibiotics and he seemed to become comatose. Then very early this morning, as one of the nurses checked on him, we realised that his temperature had dropped significantly and his blood pressure was staring to climb again. I ordered some tests and the results have been pretty conclusive. David no longer seems to be contagious and all his vital signs are strengthening. In fact, we're optimistic that he might actually come round properly today and be able to eat something."
Rimmer looked up as her words registered in his already grieving mind. "What?" he said stupidly. The doctor smiled,
"We think last night may have been the virus' last push to try and remain in the body, but Dave seems to have won out. He's better, and getting better by the minute."
"My god..." Rimmer rubbed his face, "I can't believe it." He laughed suddenly as the news started to sink in, "I can't believe it! I thought for sure when I saw you just now..." The doctor smiled and said nothing. "When can I see him?" Rimmer demanded.
"You can see him now as long as you don't wake him up," she said, standing up and retrieving her clipboard from the chair beside her.
She went over to the door and held it open for him. Rimmer stood up and walked over, feeling as though he were being borne along by clouds. Inside the room was a bank of softly bleeping equipment and a long metal bed. And in the bed, tucked among swathes of snowy-white hospital linen, was a small, sleeping figure. "I'll leave you alone for a little while," the doctor said tactfully, "Remember what I said – Don't disturb him."
Rimmer sat down silently next to the bed. Dave looked tired and thin, but Rimmer couldn't have cared less. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and he hadn't set eyes on Dave for almost two weeks. Despite being a little on the peaky side, he still thought he was perfect.