Chapter 5

At 7pm they were still in bed and Michelle noticed that Tony seemed to be in pain. As they watched a movie he grimaced once in a while and tried to shift without her noticing.

"Tony are you all right?" She said as he got up.

"Um, yeah, fine." He said as he walked over to the bathroom.

"The fact that you're limping tells me you're not." She said flatly, looking down her nose at him.

He rolled his eyes as he came back to bed and said,

"All right, my ankle is giving me some trouble that's all. The doctor gave me some pills to take and I just took one so don't give me any grief." He said smiling at her.

"Don't give you any grief huh?" She said as she rolled on top of him and tried to pin him down.

"I'll give you plenty of grief Almeida." He shook his head.

"Oh please." In one swift movement he caught the small of her back and the back of her neck and turned the tables on her.

Looking down at her as he pinned her arms above her head he smiled at her as she struggled.

"Now you're my prisoner." He laughed mischievously and began to kiss her.

She shook her head at first but eventually gave in and stopped struggling. Once she did he freed her hands and she wrapped them around him tightly as his tongue wrestled with hers.

"We're missing the movie." She said absently as he kissed his way down her stomach.

A second later the movie was forgotten and all Tony could hear was her saying his name over and over again.

As she drifted off into a blissful sleep Michelle was startled when Tony jumped up, pulling his arm from underneath her and ran into the bathroom. She sat up in alarm and heard him being sick. She got up, pulling his shirt on and went into the bathroom where he was leaning over the toilet.

"I'm alright, really." He managed to say before being sick again. She shook her head and went over to him. He shrunk away from her at first but she leaned around him and felt his forehead.

"My God, Tony you're burning up!" She exclaimed. She went over to the dresser where he'd set the bottle of pills the doctor had given him. She picked them up to examine them. Seeing Tony emerge from the bathroom she helped him back into bed. Covering him over as he was now shaking she went into the bathroom and came back with a damp washcloth which she folded and wiped his face and chest.

He smiled weakly at her as she picked up the phone. She called the doctor at CTU that had prescribed the painkillers that Tony had taken. Still she held the washcloth to his face as the shaking subsided.

"Dr Kendrick? It's Michelle Dessler. I needed to ask you a question. Do you remember treating Director Almeida for his injured ankle? You do? Well, he has just taken the painkillers you gave him for the first time and he's been throwing up ever since. His temperature's through the roof."

He smiled, listening to her talk. A few moments ago when the wave of nausea had came over him he couldn't have been more embarrassed at puking his guts up in front of her. Seeing her take care of him like this and the fact that she instantly seemed to know what had caused his sickness had only strengthened his love for her.

Michelle listened patiently to the doctor as she stroked Tony's hair gently. She nodded slowly.

"I see so I just keep doing what I'm doing and he should be all right? That's good to hear, thank you doctor. I will goodbye."

She hung up the phone and sighed.

"You're going to be all right. Your temperature should come down in a little while and then you should try to eat something. He said that you've taken some kind of reaction to the painkillers he gave you so he's having someone bring over different pills that should be fine for you to take."

Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Someone's coming here?"

"It'll just be Baker; apparently he passes here on his way home so he volunteered to drop them off. Don't worry; he thinks they are for me."

He tried to sit up a little faster than he should have.

"It's not that I'm ashamed of you….." He said, his hand going to his head.

"I know." She said gently pushing him back down again and stroking his arm reassuringly.

She got up and went through to the kitchen. She busied herself making him some toast. She was glad he was only in need of simple food. If his recovery had required an entire meal she would have really been in trouble.

She opened the door to Baker, realising too late about the fact that she was wearing Tony's shirt. She prayed Baker didn't pay attention to such details.

"Hey, listen thanks for doing this I really appreciate it."

"No problem Michelle. Anything for Tony."

Michelle started to say something but he held up his hand, shaking his head.

"Michelle, I think it's great. Your secret's safe with me."

She smiled as he stepped away. He turned back and smiled,

"It's safe with a few other people too."

She shook her head and shut the door. She put the pills on the tray and brought it into Tony.

He sat up a little when he saw her coming in and smiled. She let out a little sigh of relief as she set the tray down on his lap. She was so glad to see that he was better.

"Thank you baby." He said, touching her face briefly as she bent down.

Settling beside him she happily watched him eat his toast. She was thinking how she'd like him being there all the time to become a regular thing. By the smile he gave her back he would like nothing better either.

She caught him looking at her a certain way. Turning her head slightly she said,

"What honey?"

"You know, " He said, wiping his mouth clean. "I feel like a shower."

She nodded at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Leaning forward and kissing him firmly she pulled back and said,

"Meet you in the shower in like 10 seconds?"