It was in the middle of the night, when Lee woke up because it had knocked on his door. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and he really wanted to sleep so the person that disturbed him better had a good excuse. Sighing he turned the light on and for a moment his tired eyes burned from the sudden brightness in his room. Labored he swung his legs over his bedside and slid into his shoes, grabbed a shirt that hung over a chair next to his bed and pulled it over his head.

Lee shuffled to the door and opened it. Alex stood in front of it, her eyes red as if she had cried, bare-footed but fully dressed. "Captain, I'm sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night but…I don't know anyone else here. Please, can you tell me where I can find a doctor on the ship," the girl hastily said, panic resonated in her voice.

"What's the matter," Lee asked and pulled Alex inside his quarter so she would stand on the cold metal floor any longer. "Are you sick?"

Alex shook her head. "Not me, Sir, but Lilli! She woke me up two hours ago because she felt so hot. I'm not a doctor but I can tell that she really felt as if she had a high fever! I first thought she was just getting the flue or something, but her condition worsened. She suddenly was in great pain and couldn't really describe where it hurt and the some minutes ago she threw up and afterwards coughed blood! I'm so afraid, Captain, I don't know what's wrong with her!" Some tears escaped from Alex eyes and she wiped them away immediately so Lee wouldn't see her weakness.

"Here, take these," Lee said and handed her a pair of socks. "Don't want you to fall sick too! Where is Lillith now?"

"In our guest quarter."

"Alright. Don't worry, it'll be ok, we'll take her to Dr. Cottle," Lee tried to soothe her but somehow it wasn't really working. He realized that her whole body was shaking when she put his socks on and nearly fell to the floor because her knees buckled under her weight.

They left the quarter in a hurry and nearly ran to the guest quarters. "How did you find my quarter," Lee asked on the way to drag Alex thoughts away from what might happen to Lilli. "I asked a Marine where I could find you. Sure, I could have asked him where I can find a doctor but… I was too shocked, I didn't want to go alone," Alex admitted and stopped him in front of their guest quarter.

She lead him into the bedroom of the little apartment. Lilli lay on the couch, her little body covered in sweat, still some blood on her glowing cheeks. Her chest was moved irregularly as if she was slowly suffocating and her little fists had dug deeply into the cushion of the sofa. She didn't woke up and Lee figured that was not a good sign.

"Ok..I carry her," Lee stated and picked the little girl up, carefully so she wouldn't wake or feel uncomfortable. He could feel the head of her little body when he touched her bare arms but nevertheless he ordered Alex to cover the girl with a rug. "Ok, let's go. The sickbay isn't far away from here!" Alex nodded and followed Lee.

Dr. Cottle hated to be woken up in the middle of the night because of emergencies that later turned out to be no emergencies. When Lee Adama and an unknown girl entered the lab he was obviously annoyed by the late disturbance but the little girl the Captain was carrying really looked ill.

"Cottle, please check the girl, she's burning and has coughed blood earlier," Lee said with gritted teeth and placed the girl on a bed. The Doctor sighed and looked the girl up and down. "When did it start," he asked grumpily and took a cigar out of the pocket of his smock.

"Two hours ago with fever but it worsened pretty fast," Alex whispered and stared at Lilli who had started to moan in her sleep.

"Alright then, get out of here while I check her. Wait outside, I'll come to you when I have the results," Cottle demanded and pushed Alex and Lee out of the sickbay although Alex refused to leave Lilli's side. Outside Lee made her sit down on a chair and said: "Wait here for a few minutes, I have to find a replacement for my CAP in one hour. I'll be back soon and don't worry – Cottle may look like a butcher but he's a good doctor, he'll help Lilli!" Alex nodded silently and watched Lee ran through the corridor.

She was tired but yet her body was filled with so much adrenalin that she couldn't sleep or think of anything else but Lilli. She couldn't tell he doctor but this wasn't the first time she had seen this kind of symptoms and that even increased her fear. Nathan had died after only six hours and it had began like this, fever, bloody coughs and later – like the ambulance men had told them – organ failure. And now Lilli was dying and she knew the doctor couldn't help her because in Nat's case the pathologist who had performed the autopsy on his body had no idea what exactly had caused this symptoms and his death.

Her thoughts drifted to the day it happened just 14 months ago…

Alex came home from school and kicked her bag into a corner of the hall. She expected no one to be at home but when she entered the living room to watch some TV, she saw Nathan lying on the couch, covered in blood and sweat. Her heart started to race when she saw this horrible scene and she lingered in the doorway for a few seconds, unable to move. "Nat?", she whispered and finally made her way to the sofa, keeling down beside him. The boy's eyes fluttered open when he heard her voice and he tried to smile bravely but his body was shaken when a spasm of coughing waved over him. He breathed stertorously as if his throat was filled with liquid and Alex couldn't do anything else but sitting helplessly next to him, absolutely stunned and desperate. "Nathan, what's wrong with you? Where are Cally and Ben? I call the ambulance immediately," she whispered and jumped up from the ground, her whole body shaky when she ran into the hall to reach the phone.

She nearly screamed in the phone and begged the ambulance to come as soon as possible because she didn't want to be alone with Nat anymore, it was too much for her. "Alex," she heard Nathan's whimpering and went back to his side. "I'm here, everything's going to be ok, Nat;" she said and tried to sound calm and secure so he wouldn't realize how scared she was. Softly she stroked his sweaty hair to soothe him and held his hand.

"I remember them now, Alex," the boy suddenly said and a small smile escaped from his lips. "I remember my mommy and daddy although I thought I had forgotten about them but now I can see them absolutely clear." His voice wasn't more than a breath and his weakness scared the hell out of Alex. "Tell me about them Nat, describe what they look like," she ordered to keep him awake and speaking. Although a million thoughts spinned around in her mind she knew it was important that he didn't fall asleep.

"I can't, I'm too tired. I'll tell you about them later," he gave back and grabbed her other hand that had rested on his hot forehead. "Am I dying?"

Alex shrugged when he said that and felt her heart race in her chest again. "No, of course not. You're just a little ill but everything will be ok," she answered and kissed his cheek. "My mom was beautiful with blond curls and blue eyes just like me. My father was as tall as Ben, well trained and always funny. My mommy was the nicest person on earth, she always made me laugh and was there for me…,"Nat breathed and tears streamed down his cheeks. "I wished they would be here now, I feel so cold Alex," he cried and shivered. Alex didn't hesitate and lifted him up a bit to give him a hug.

For some moments they remained like that when Alex suddenly couldn't feel the movement of his chest anymore. In shock he let him sink back on the couch and then took his shoulders and shook him. "Nat," she screamed hysterically but the boy didn't move, he was not breathing and his heart didn't beat anymore.

Kara looked at Lee in disbelieve as he explained to her what had happened. Some minutes ago he had woken her up in the pilot's quarters and had asked her to take his CAP because Lilli had fallen seriously sick and he didn't want to leave Alex alone. Although no one had told Kara she figured that Lilli was the little girl that had come to the Galactica with Alexia. Kara convinced Hot Dog to take Lee's CAP so she could go to the sickbay with him because she really wanted to know what was going on.

They found Alex in front of the sickbay, still waiting and obviously lost in thoughts. "Hey, I'm back. This is Lt. Kara Thrace," Lee said and sat down next to her on a chair while Kara just stood in front of them. "Kara Thrace," Alex asked and looked a bit confused. "I've never met someone before with the same last name than me," she admitted and for some moments she forgot about Lilli and wondered if she was somehow related to that woman.

"Yeah well, we already met two times. And I have the same last name like you because," Kara started but was cut off when Cottle came out of the sickbay and closed the door behind him. He sighed before he started and Alex knew he would now tell them that Lilli was going to die.

"Well…the diagnosis is not too good. Right now I have no real explanation for the condition she is in, we have to wait until I have the results of her blood tests. Fact is that her organs are shutting down one by one. At the moment, her lungs collapse, then her kidneys, her liver and – in case she survives until then – her heart will just stop beating. We give her some drugs that should stabilize her until we have the results, a machine keeps her lungs from collapsing and helps her to breathe so her body is filled with enough oxygen. Unfortunately we can't do more at the moment, we just have to wait," Cottle told them and light a cigar.

"But when you don't find a cure as fast as possible she's going to die, right," Alex asked and wasn't surprised when Cottle nodded. "Yes we have to find a cure pretty fast because she won't make it much longer. Pray to the gods that she stays alive till we have the results and in the meantime just be with her. She's unconscious but I bet she feels when you are with her!"

Alex got up from the chair and entered the sickbay, Lee and Kara behind her. Slowly, she sat down on a chair next to Lilli's hand and took her small hand in hers. It was hot and sweaty but she loved her soft baby skin. Although she was already 5 years old she still was a little lumpy like babies before they can walk but Alex loved that especially when she had swung her little fat arms around Alex's neck to cuddle.

Now she lay there, her little body drained from the fever, her brown curls spread across the pillow and her pale little face nearly totally covered with a breathing mask. Alex stroked Lilli's hand and a tear fell down her chin onto the white blanket. There was nothing she could do, nothing to help Lilli. All she could do was to wait for the results.

She hated waiting.

Hey, hope you liked it! Reviews and critic would be more than appretiated so plleeeeaaaaseeeeee review ;)