He sat with him for a good few hours until his stomach started to complain and he was forced to go and find some lunch. Now that he knew Dave was going to be alright, he felt energised and was ready to eat a horse. He had to make do with a slightly rubbery jacket potato from a vending machine in the maternity ward.
When he came back, the doctor was in Dave's room, standing over the bed and talking softly. He was awake! Rimmer hovered in the doorway, unwilling to interrupt, but he didn't have to wait long. The doctor only took a few minutes and then came out with a smile on her face. Rimmer stopped her, "How is he? Is he okay?"
"He's just fine," she said reassuringly, "Tired and weak, but that's to be expected. Good news is he seems alert and aware with no apparent memory loss or confusion. Menfluenza can affect the brain in severe cases, which we did have concerns about, but he seems right as rain."
Rimmer sighed with relief, "When can he leave?"
"Hold your horses there," she told him, "He's doing well, but I'd recommend that he stays in at least another week to recover his strength and stay under observation."
"It's just," Rimmer said wretchedly, "Our ship leaves in three days and I was kind of hoping we'd be able to leave on time. I don't know when the next shuttle out would be, so..."
"You're with the JMC?" the doctor said; "Oh, well, I don't think it should be too much of a problem then. Just wrap him up warm on the way to the shuttle port and make sure he checks straight into the medi-bay once you get onboard. They can take over from there."
"Really?" Rimmer's heart leapt, "You don't think it'll hurt him to come back?"
"Like I said," she reiterated, "Keep him warm and make sure he goes straight back to bed and you should be fine. And try and get to the shuttle port in good time. No getting there late and having to run around at the last minute, you hear? He's got to take it easy. Get there early and have a bite to eat or something."
"Marvellous," Rimmer beamed, "Thank you, doctor."
"You're welcome."
He went back into Dave's room. He'd fallen asleep again and Rimmer felt a tug of disappointment, but he knew it was important that he rested. They would only let Rimmer take him out if they were sure he was well enough for the journey; which meant that over the next couple of days he would need all the rest he could get. He bent over to give him a kiss on the forehead.
Maybe - just maybe – things were going to work out for them after all.