"What on earth is that?"

Ian looked up from his creation, and blushed slightly, having been caught playing with the legos. Of course, if Janet and company had given him anything better to do, he wouldn't have been driven to it, so he didn't feel quite so foolish, but still…

"It's a… ship."

Janet looked at the intricately designed object on the table in front of the cadet and then over at him.

"It doesn't look like it would float…"

"Not a water ship, a space ship… craft… whatever…"

"From Star Wars?" She remembered he'd watched that with Cassie and the others only a short time ago.

It looked alien to her.

"Nah. Just something I made up."

"It's… interesting."

"Thanks."

Not being an engineer or a rocket scientist, Janet wasn't all that interested in the designs of craft like that, or she might have been more impressed. The ship Ian had made was actually more than just interesting; it was the work of a genius – a genius that had an intense understanding of translinear movement and had applied it to the design of the space ship he'd constructed. Of course, the thing was made out of legos and Ian wasn't creative enough to color coordinate them to make it prettier – he was a genius, not Martha Stewart – so it was understandable that not everyone would be impressed. For that matter, probably only a very small percentage of the population would even notice anything beyond the fact that it was, indeed, made out of toys.

Like an architect building a skyscraper out of Lincoln Logs.

"Are you hungry?" Janet asked, changing the subject.

"Do I have to eat in bed?"

She frowned, knowing full well that if she let him up now, he was going to badger her to allow him up for dinner, and who knew what else – probably, he'd even start trying to get her to release him earlier than she intended to. Of course, he wasn't all that badly hurt – she just wanted to keep an eye on him for a couple days to make sure – so there was no reason to confine him to his bed. As long as he did things her way.

"You can go to the commissary if you agree to a wheelchair," Janet said. "And promise to stay in it."

He scowled, but apparently decided that it was better than staying in bed, because a moment later he nodded.

"Deal."

She smiled.

"I'll have an orderly come and help you into it and take you up there."

"I can do it."

"Don't argue with me on this, okay?" She said. "I'm going to be closed up with Sam, Jack and the baby and the preemie specialist for the next couple of hours and I don't want to have to worry about where you are and if you're having problems with the chair. You can go alone later."

He wanted to argue, she could tell, but to his credit – and her relief – he finally just nodded.

"Okay."

But only because it was for Sam.

"Thank you."

"Thank you."

She smiled.

"How does the knee feel?"

"It's okay."

"Pain?"

"Not too much."

Yeah, like he'd admit it to her? She'd just told him he could get out of bed! The last thing he was going to do was tell her his leg hurt – even though it was throbbing a bit. She'd probably want to do more tests on it, or something.

Janet wasn't fooled, though, although she let him think she was. He wasn't in too much discomfort, or she'd have recognized the signs of pain in his expression. If he wanted to be stubborn and live with what there was, she'd allow it – especially since he wasn't going to be trying to walk on it or even use crutches. She didn't want any weight on that leg just then.

"If you need anything while I'm with Sam and them, just ask one of the other doctors."

Ian nodded.

"Thanks."

Janet looked at his lego creation once more, and then left him alone, stopping just long enough to give several orders to one of the other doctors and an orderly before she gathered up Sam, Jacob, and Jack and took them out of the infirmary and down the hall to the office where the preemie specialist had been escorted, and where he was setting up his equipment.

OOOOOOOO

"Does Janet know you're out of bed?"

Ian looked up from his lunch and nodded.

"She knows."

"And she's not out looking for you with a mob?"

Ian smiled, and patted the arm of the wheelchair he was sitting in.

"As long as I stay in this, she said I could get out of bed."

"Ah."

He couldn't believe Ian had agreed to it, and wondered what the conversation between the two had been like. He looked at the plates on front of Ian.

"And does she know that you're attempting to cause famine through out the land by eating everything in sight?"

Ian's smile grew. He did have a lot of food in front of him, but he didn't have any concerns about his ability to finish it all. He was hungry. A bowl of soup wasn't going to fill him up, but it did give him something to dip his three sandwiches in, and besides, he liked noodles. The lasagna had been freshly made, and smelled so good that he hadn't been able to resist ordering some of that – along with fresh rolls, of course – and the pasta salad had looked just as appealing. Add to all of that a quart of chocolate milk, what looked like half a cherry pie (with ice cream melting beside it) and a piece of his own leftover birthday cake, and it was a fair bet he wasn't going to go back to the infirmary hungry.

"She didn't ask."

"And you're not going to tell?"

"Exactly."

Daniel smiled and shook his head. He used to eat like that – way back when. Actually, the lasagna looked pretty good. And smelled good, too. He looked over at the serving area to make sure there was more and that Ian hadn't cleaned them out.

"I think I'll join you."

Ian nodded, and gestured to the spot across from him. He didn't mind the company.