The first thought that shot into Caitlin Hawke's brain was that she was going to throw up. She came abruptly awake, clamped a hand over her mouth and shoved the covers back as she climbed out of bed and raced to the en suite bathroom. She was on her knees, bent over the toilet pedestal retching when her husband Stringfellow Hawke appeared a moment later. He knelt down beside her; one of his hands rubbed her back gently in a soothing circle whilst the other helped to hold her long red hair out of the way. Caitlin hardly had anything in her stomach and the nausea left her shaken and surprisingly tearful. Hawke pulled her into a hug and she leaned into him, grateful he was there.

'I hate being sick.' She mumbled against his chest.

Hawke kissed the crown of her head and pushed the two of them off the tiled floor and to their feet. He pulled one of the bathrobes from the back of the door and wrapped his shivering naked wife into it before he put on another.

'You go back to bed. I'll go make you some tea.' He said.

She nodded. 'I'll just clean up and brush my teeth.'

He gave her another hug and left her in the bathroom alone. She cleaned up around the toilet before she reached for her toothbrush, liberally coated it with toothpaste and cleaned her teeth vigorously, removing the pungent taste of bile. She rinsed her mouth with a handful of cold water and she splashed another over her face. She frowned at her wan reflection in the mirror. Her skin was pale under the stark freckles and there were new shadows that ringed her blue-green eyes. It was just as well Hawke was already married to her, she thought grumpily, because the sight of her would probably have scared him off otherwise. She sighed and went back to the bedroom. She changed out of the robe and into a sleep shirt before climbing back under the blankets, a strange fatigue stealing over her. It took less than a moment for her to fall asleep again.

Hawke came back to the bedroom with a tray carrying a mug of tea and a plate of toast. He stopped at the sight of her sleeping and slowly lowered the tray to the side table by the door. He padded over and tucked the blankets around her. Caitlin had started being sick a couple of days before, just after his return from Cambodia. At first they had thought it was something she had eaten but she had been unable to keep anything down the day before and he was beginning to think it could be a stomach bug. He swept a hand over her forehead and frowned; she didn't seem to have a temperature. Maybe it was time they consulted an expert, he mused tiredly. He headed for the bathroom.

He set the shower on full and stepped into it, grateful for the rush of hot water that washed away the last of his sleepiness. He was worried about his wife, he thought. Caitlin had been through a lot in the last month. Hawke felt guilt knot his stomach. He should never have left her alone the last couple of weeks, he mused. She'd only just been coming to terms with the trauma of an attempted rape when they'd received the information that his missing brother might have been a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge. Hawke, and his surrogate father, Dominic Santini, had gone to search for Saint John in Southeast Asia. The mission had not been a total success; they had verified that two Americans had been held hostage but the locals had told Hawke that the men had been rescued.

Hawke sighed. He shouldn't have been surprised; he had spent sixteen years searching for his brother and he was beginning to think he would never find him, that the harsh truth was that Saint John didn't want to be found. He reached for the shampoo and began to lather the gel into his short brown hair. Until the year before, he had believed his brother had been MIA in 'Nam following the end of the war. New information had confirmed that Saint John had made it out of 'Nam; that he'd joined a Special Forces unit to perform covert missions and that after leaving the army he had continued these under the auspice of an intelligence agency. Presumably, Hawke thought, as he rinsed his hair, it had been the intelligence agency that had rescued Saint John from Cambodia and presumably, Saint John didn't feel the urge to let his little brother know he was alright. The lack of contact bothered Hawke. His brother had chosen not to contact him in sixteen years and that simple fact sat heavy on him. Did his brother blame him for leaving him behind in the 'Nam jungle? Hawke switched the shower off and reached for a towel.

Maybe, he thought as he dried off, he would find Saint John one day and be able to ask him but for now…for now he had a wife who needed looking after. He had married Caitlin O'Shaunessy two and half months before. They had come to realise that their feelings for each other were deeper than the friendship they had previously settled for. Hawke stood at the sink and brushed his teeth before beginning to shave. He liked being a husband, he mused. He wasn't alone anymore and his wife was good for him. She understood him; gave him unconditional support and yet space when he needed it. She had encouraged him to head for Cambodia but he shouldn't have listened to her. His guilt-ridden blue eyes stared back at him in the mirror.

Caitlin had almost been raped by a man called Kyle Hardy. The experience had left her badly shaken and she had only been beginning to move past it when he had disappeared to Cambodia. The attack had come hard on the heels of another trauma; she had killed two men, assassins, protecting the life of their friend, Marella. The stress and strain she'd been subjected to over the past month had probably led to her falling sick, Hawke thought as he patted his face dry. He should never have left her but it wasn't too late to start taking care of her.

He padded naked back into the bedroom. His blue eyes swept over Caitlin's sleeping form and he dressed in jeans and a sweater quickly, not wanting to disturb her. He added a log to the bedroom fire and grabbed the discarded tray. He closed the bedroom door behind him, headed through the old sleeping deck which now served as an upstairs landing and down the short flight of stairs.

He discarded the tea and ate the toast whilst he opened up the FIRM satellite phone and started making calls. The last one was to Dom at his air service. Hawke and Caitlin had been due to work with the older pilot who was a combination of friend, mentor and father figure to both of them.

'String, where the hell are the two of you?' The older man demanded furiously. 'I've been waiting here…'

'Dom, Cait's still sick.' Hawke cut into Dom's tirade quickly.

'Oh. Is she OK?' Dom's gruff voice changed rapidly from anger to concern.

Hawke sighed, running a hand over his brown hair. 'It's probably just a bug but I'm taking her to the doctor's this morning to be certain. I wouldn't expect either of us in for a couple of days.'

'Don't worry about that, you just take care of her, huh?'

Dom's own worry travelled down the phone line and had a small smile tugging at Hawke's lips. Dom might be a little grumpy at times but the older man had a generous heart; one that had led Dom to take in Hawke and his brother when they had lost their parents. Hawke knew he owed the older man a great deal. He murmured his thanks to Dom for his understanding.

'And tell her I'm thinking about her.'

'Will do. I'll be in touch.' Hawke replaced the receiver into the briefcase and closed it. He glanced around the cabin. His dog, Tet, wandered over and Hawke patted his head. There were plenty of chores to keep him occupied for a while, he thought. The hearth needed a clear out of the old ash; the back bedrooms that he'd had built in the new extension out the back needed cleaning and they needed more firewood. He patted Tet again and began his work. Most of the morning had passed when he made his way back up to the master bedroom.

Caitlin was still curled up on her side, her red hair in disarray over the pillow, the blankets tucked securely around her. Hawke sighed. He was tempted to leave her but it was going to be tight getting to their appointment with the doctor as it was. He sat on the bed, leaned over and kissed her. She stirred and opened her sleep-fogged eyes to blink at him.

'Hey.' Hawke said. 'Time to get up.'

She yawned and stretched under the blankets. 'What time is it?'

'Just after eleven.' Hawke smoothed her fringe out of her eyes. 'I figured you'd want to grab a shower and get dressed before we head to the doctor's.'

'You made an appointment with a doctor?' Caitlin asked shuffling to sit up and look at him.

He nodded and tensed ready for the argument.

It was a bug, Caitlin thought crossly, seeing a doctor wouldn't make any difference to what she was doing to cope with it. She opened her mouth to argue but caught sight of the worry in the depths of his blue eyes. She sighed. She knew he was feeling guilty about leaving her and maybe this would ease that for him. She waved him back, threw the covers off and grumpily got out of the bed, heading for the bathroom without another word.

It wasn't long before they were sat in the doctor's waiting room. Hawke held her hand and checked the clock. The doctor was running late and they'd been waiting ten minutes. Caitlin tried to shake off the urge to lean her head against his shoulder and go back to sleep. A young Asian nurse appeared in the doorway.

'Mrs Hawke?' Caitlin nodded and stood up. Hawke got to his feet with her and Caitlin stopped him with a hand on his chest.

'I'll be fine. I'll be right out.' She kissed his cheek and before he could argue, left with the nurse.

'Caitlin.' Doctor Anna Peters greeted her with a sunny smile. 'What brings you here?'

Caitlin slipped into the chair opposite her and smiled ruefully at the mature female doctor. 'An overprotective husband.' She gestured. 'I've had some kinda stomach bug for the last couple of days and I guess he's just worried I'm not shifting it.'

Anna nodded, her grey eyes gleaming with amusement. 'Well, whilst you're here we might as well pretend to be thorough. Tell me about your symptoms.'

'I'm having trouble keeping anything down.' Caitlin admitted. 'Anything I eat, all day. And I admit the whole thing is tiring me out. I keep falling asleep at the drop of a hat.'

'When did the symptoms first appear?' Anna asked.

'I was sick for the first time two days ago.' Caitlin said. 'We'd gone to a friend's house for dinner, a welcome home surprise for another friend, and I just thought it was something I ate.'

'Were you feeling well before then?'

'A little tired. My husband was away, I was looking after the business, working long hours.' Caitlin shrugged. 'Missing my husband.'

'Hmmm.' Anna got up from behind her desk. 'Come over and lie on the examination table.'

Caitlin sighed but did what Anna asked. She submitted to the physical exam of her abdomen with barely concealed impatience, informing Anna that there was no pain when asked. Anna stripped the gloves she'd worn and chucked them into a bin as she led the way back to her desk.

'Your abdomen is a little tender but you'd expect that after a few days of vomiting.' She regarded Caitlin thoughtfully. 'When was your last period?'

Caitlin's forehead wrinkled. 'A few weeks back.'

'Any problems?'

Caitlin shook her head. 'No.'

Anna started scribbling on an official looking form. 'I'm going to ask the nurse to take some blood. I think you're probably right and you're just getting over a stomach bug brought on because you were a little run down but I want to check a few things out.'

'Like?'

'You could be running low on a few essential minerals or hormones, that kind of thing.' Anna scribbled on her form again. 'I'm going to have the nurse give you a vitamin booster too. I'll call you with the results of the tests in a few days. In the meantime, get plenty of rest, keep drinking plenty of fluids, try just eating soups with crackers or dry toast until your stomach settles and call me if you develop any pain at all.'

Caitlin nodded and a nurse appeared to escort her to a treatment room to take the blood. She was returned to Hawke in the waiting room a few minutes later. She waited until they were outside before responding to the anxious question in his eyes.

'She thinks it's a stomach bug.' She said, taking his arm as they walked across the car park to the back where they had landed the helicopter. 'She's given me a vitamin shot, told me to rest and drink plenty of fluids.'

'She didn't run any tests?' Hawke asked helping her into the chopper.

Caitlin rolled her eyes. 'She's running some blood tests but they're a formality.'

Hawke frowned and walked round to climb in the other side. He turned to her before lifting off. 'Rest and plenty of fluids?'

Caitlin nodded. 'Rest and plenty of fluids.' She laid a hand on his cheek briefly and met his eyes. 'I'm going to be fine.'

Hawke nodded and leaned over to kiss her softly on the lips. 'Let's get you home then.' They were soon airborne and headed back to the cabin.