Influenza
Chapter Four
Disclaimer: The show still doesn't belong to me, neither do the characters or the flu. But, the story is mine!
A/N: Once again, thanks for all the reviews!
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When she finally woke up it was pitch black outside, the TV was no longer going, and the lights in the living room were turned off. However, a faint glow was being emitted from under the kitchen door, which told her that Elliot was probably in there- doing work, most likely. She carefully slid out of bed, biting back a groan as her muscles took that moment to remind her how incredibly sore she was, and inched closer to where he was. It took everything that she had to make it to the door and push it open, and sure enough he was hunched over her diningroom table, scribbling something down on a file.
"Cragen wouldn't let me bring anything home," she grumbled, making her way to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water. "How come he let you?"
"I'm not the one with the flu," he replied, nonchalant, not even bothering to look up from his work. "He gave me time off, but that doesn't mean I get out of work completely."
"Bummer," she sighed, sitting down at the table.
"You're looking better," he informed her after giving her a thorough look-over. "How do you feel?"
"Sore," she said, "I think my fever has gone down"
He crooked his finger at her and she leaned forward so he could place his hand over her forehead, "You're still warm... but it's not as bad as it was earlier. But, you've been on and off all day, so no promises."
"Tomorrow is Saturday, anyway," she told him, twisting the cap off of her bottle. "We have off, and I should be better by Monday."
He sighed, "I don't know, the flu is a tricky little bug." Giving her a innocuous look he continued, "Which is why you should still be in bed- sleeping."
She rolled her eyes, "I just woke up five minutes ago, El." She smiled, "Can I please stay up... just a bit longer?"
Elliot couldn't hide his grin if he had tried- her look and tone of voice mirrored that of his own kids and he knew she was doing so stratigically. "Fine... but you should lie down, either way."
"Ok," she agreed, "if you forget about work for an hour and come with me. We can watch Jay Leno or whatever late night show is on."
Glancing at his watch a sigh escaped his lips, "Alright... Jay Leno should be starting anytime now. We'll watch that until you fall asleep- then I can get back to work."
A smile of triumph passed over her lips, if she was going to be miserable and sick then at least she wouldn't have to be alone.
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Until she fell asleep turned out to be all of ten minutes. Although she wouldn't have admitted it to him she was exhausted, her sickness was getting to her more than she would let him know. After he was confident that she was asleep he ventured back into the kitchen, made sure to close the door quietly behind him, and went back to his paperwork.
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A fit of coughs took her out of her dreamless slumber, the flickering light of the television is what kept her awake, and the peak of her fever sent chills down her spine. Turning her attention to the faint glow of the TV she noticed that Late Night with Conan O'Brien was on, but the sound was on mute- she couldn't have been asleep for too long.
"...Elliot?" she called out, her voice thick and scratchy. Another episode of coughing erupted from her throat and she leaned over the side of the bed so that she could breath better. Nonetheless, her fierce protector didn't come running, which she found odd. Elliot had been watching her so closely that day, so where was he now?
"Elliot...?" she called out again. No response.
Worried, she painfully climbed out of the couch bed and padded across the living room floor, to where a light was seeping out from under the kitchen door. Pushing it open her eyes darted around the room, falling upon Elliot's sleeping form, hunched over the table uncomfortably. She stepped closer to him and reached out, grabbing his shoulder gently. "Elliot?"
He jolted forward at the touch, his head snapping around, eyes falling on her. "Liv?" he questioned, "what's wrong?"
"You fell asleep," she told him.
It was then that he noticed her obvious discomfort. "Are you alright?"
"Just a bit of a cough," she explained with a sheepish look. She hadn't meant for him to see her pain.
Sending her an incredulous look he stood up, closing the gap between them and placing a hand over her forehead, then each one of her cheeks. "You're burning up, Olivia."
"I'm fine," she told him defiantly, trying to pull back out of his grasp. He held on tight, there was no way he'd believe that line.
"You're getting back in bed," he informed her. "Right now."
"Elli-" she began to protest but he cut her off before she could even get his name out.
"Who's the parent here?" he questioned. "Me... I know what I'm doing, Liv. You go get back into bed, I'm going to get you some Tylenol."
She sighed in defeat, "Make sure to get some water."
"I completely forgot," he said sarcastically. "Now go lay back down."
She mock-glared at him before back into the living room and lying down. A few seconds later he exited the living room, turning the kitchen light off in the process, carrying a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol. He made his way to where she was lying in bed, sat on the edge, and handed her the pill bottle. She opened it, got two pills out, and took the water from him. Seconds later she handed both back to him and he put them on the table next to the couch, then turned back to her.
"You should get some rest." he told her. "You'll feel better after a good nights sleep."
"I doubt that's going to happen," she groaned. "I can't sleep for an hour without waking up at least once."
He grinned, "Those were PM's."
"Oh," a weak smile spread across her lips. "You really do know what you're doing?"
"I've been a dad for twenty years," he explained. "Lots of practice." She nodded, lying her head back down on the pillows and allowing her eyes to close. As she drifted off to sleep he gently ran a hand through her short, thick hair, as if to sooth and further her into sleep. She was warm to touch, burning almost, and it bothered him greatly. Of course, by her own admission she had been sick for a few days, and the second day is usually the worst, so he tried not to let it get to him, at least not too much.
When he was certain that she was asleep he pulled the covers up over her shoulders, then pressed the back of her hand against her forehead once more, allowing his worry to get the best of him. He contemplated finding the thermometer and taking her temperature while she was asleep, but didn't feel up to leaving her just then, so instead he did what every parent does when their child is sick, although Olivia was hardly his child- and pressed his lips against her forehead briefly.
She felt warmer than he had originally thought, which prompted him to leave her side for a few seconds to find the thermometer anyway. A few seconds later he was sitting by her side once again and gently pulled down her chin and stuck the thermometer into her mouth. Not long after that it began to beep and he pulled it out, nearly gasping at the results. Her temperature was 102.8, way too high for his comfort.
"God, Liv," he whispered, more to himself than to her, since she was still sleeping. "What's wrong with you?"
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He watched her as she slept, tossing and turning in the bed. Her fever was causing her sleep to be rough, and he was sure that she was having nightmares. But, she needed to sleep. The longer she slept the better her body could fight off the infections, and from what he could tell she was gradually breaking her fever during her rest- she was certainly sweating enough to be doing so.
Pressing a wet washcloth to her forehead he attempted to provide her some comfort, but it didn't do much good and she cried out in her sleep.
"Shh," he assured her, "it's alright- I'm here." He gently ran his hands through her hair again, knowing that whenever his daughters were sick it seemed to help, hoping it would do the same for her. All the while he kept calling out to her soothingly, letting her know that everything was ok, he was there with her. Finally after over an hour of restless sleep she seemed to calm, and he could finally rest easy as well. After glancing at the clock he was shocked to find that it was already after four in the morning, and he hadn't been to sleep in almost twenty four hours. No wonder he was feeling so exhausted.
After he entertained the idea of sleeping in her bedroom for a moment he pushed it aside, she was still way too sick to be left alone- he couldn't even leave the room until her fever was back around 100, at the very least. However, he had to sleep somewhere and the armchair wasn't looking very appealing to him, so he carefully climbed into bed beside her, but didn't slip under the covers. No need in freaking her out should she wake up.
It wasn't long before he himself fell into a restless slumber.
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When she woke up in the morning a faint light was shining into the room. From the amount of daylight outside she assumed that it was maybe six in the morning. Rolling over in the bed she was surprised to come face to face with her partner, who was still sleeping soundly. After overcoming her shock she slid out of the bed and made her way into the kitchen- even though the last thing on her mind was food, she was still extremely nauseous. When she had grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge she made her way back into the livingroom, he was still asleep.
Figuring this would be the one and only time she would get the opportunity to shower she slipped into her bathroom, and showered quickly, then dressed as such. When she made her way back into the living room she was surprised to find that he was still asleep, and after looking at the clock on the wall was even more surprised to see that it was just after 6:30. She had been off on her guess at the time.
As she watched him sleeping she was suddenly overcome with an extreme amount of tiredness, this flu was really catching up with her. She took some Tylenol and then crawled back into bed and under the covers.
In his sleeping state he reached out to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer and into a fairly intimate position. At first she thought about protesting, but she had seen the uneasy look on his face before getting into bed- he needed the sleep a lot more than she did. She was an adult, anyway- she should be able to ignore the position she was in and fall asleep with no trouble. So, why then, the discomfort here?
And, not discomfort because the situations that she was currently in was the last sort of situation she wanted to be in with her partner. But, discomfort because it was exactly something she would like to be in with her partner, and couldn't. After a few minutes of musing over her current situation she decided that his tight hold on her wasn't going to give so she might as well make the best out of an awkward situation. Before she even knew what she was doing she snuggled closer, smiling faintly when his arm tightened around her waist, and allowed herself to drift into a wonderful, dream-filled slumber.
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It was bright outside when he finally woke up, but he didn't notice such. What he did notice was that his arm was draped protectively around his partner's body and she was pressed tightly against him. After getting over his initial shock he began to pull back, only to feel her shift and scoot closer to him as he did so.
Oh boy, not good. This wasn't exactly the position that work-partners should be engaged in, even if it was only innocent. He snapped his eyes shut tightly and took a deep breath, then tried moving once more. As before she moved in her sleep, but this time turned and hid her face in his clothed chest.
Ok, so this wasn't as bad as before, but still not good.
"Olivia," he called out gently. She mumbled incoherently and nuzzled further into his chest.
Crap. He glanced around the room and his eyes fell upon an opened bottle of Tylenol PM. He distinctly remembered closing that bottle after she took her pills earlier that morning, and it being closed when he went to bed after four. Sometime since then she must have waken up and taken more, he wasn't getting out of his current situation until the medicine wore off and she was coherent again.
After studying her for a moment he figured that maybe this wasn't so bad after all. Her face wasn't scrunched as it had been every other time she had been asleep, so maybe she was finally resting peacefully. That was the most important thing for her at the moment, was it not? So... where was the problem?
He already knew the answer to that question, he was way too comfortable in his current position, which was not a good thing. Sure, he was seperated from his wife and they were discussing divorce, but Olivia was his partner, and even if relationships in the work place weren't exactly banned (though, highly frowned upon), she had her own rules on that subject, and he would never do anything to cause her to break one of her rules. Besides, he was still technically married- adultery was not on his to-do list.
Figuring that the best way to ignore how comfortable his body was at the moment was to be asleep he closed his eyes, unknowingly wrapped his arms around her body, and fell into a sleep full of dreams.
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A/N: So... that's a bit of the EO that people have been requesting. But, I'm still not sure if it's going to go any further than such. I think it will- but you never know? The muse is a tricky thing, always changing. Anyway, let me know what you think!