When Rodney awoke in the morning that first thing he was aware of was the stiffness in his neck. He fallen to sleep half sat up and both his neck and his back had several things to say about that position. As he stretched, he found his movement hampered and then a second realisation crashed in.
Laura Cadman, had at some point shifted during the night and now her body was mostly over his, her legs entwined with his and one hand was under his t-shirt. Considering she was Beckett's girlfriend, this was a little too intimate.
"Fuck," he said softly as he stared at the blond head on his chest. He had no idea how he was going to extract himself without waking her. Then another thought accorded to him and he poked her in the back.
"Cadman? Cadman!"
She groaned and mumbled something. Rodney felt a wave of relief that he'd been right and she'd not died during the night. Then her hand moved over his stomach and okay he was so getting out of bed now whether he woke her or not.
Managing to free his legs, Rodney removed the hand from under his top and scrambled off the bed quickly. He glared at Cadman's sleeping form in annoyance. Her face was calm and had much more colour today. The blond hair was in a tangle and he found himself bending over to brush it off her face before he could stop the instinct.
That irritated him and he glared at her harder, knowing it was irrational to blame her but doing it anyway. He huffed and headed for the bathroom. He washed his face in very cold water, trying to eradicate the picture of her in his head, the way her body had felt against his.
Beckett's girlfriend, Beckett's girlfriend, he reminded himself. It was very wrong to have the hots for her. Not that he did. Well she was... and he was only human and...
Rodney groaned. It was just that she'd been in his head. That was all; just some weird thing left over from her invasion. She was female after all – it was bound to affect his good sense. He nodded seriously to himself, rationalising his wayward thoughts as a by-product of the bizarre situation he'd gotten into. He felt better, until he stepped out of the bathroom and found Cadman had woken up.
She was walking to the window, walking her feet as she did so. He heard her laugh, then she looked round and saw him. The next thing he knew was she run across the room and launched herself at him. Her arms went round his neck and she kissed him soundly on the mouth.
"I'm okay!" she told him.
Rodney stared at her. She was grinning at him, her eyes sparkling.
"I think we might need a second opinion," he said, the sourness his natural response to something he wasn't sure of.
The glee of Cadman's expression faltered and he saw a flicker of hurt before she released him and stepped away.
"Carson wants to see me anyway," she said.
Rodney caught the way she stressed Beckett's first name. Like he needed the reminder that he and she...
"That he does," he replied, managing to keep his tone even. He grabbed his trousers and dragged them on. "It's probably better if you go sooner rather than later. I wouldn't give him an excuse to come looking for you."
"No," Cadman agreed. Her tone flat and Rodney glanced at her. She looked tightly composed and he thought he could see anger in her eyes as she flashed him a glare.
He returned the look with a mild gaze. He was not going to allow Cadman to get under his skin. Not any more than she was already. She was interested in Beckett, not him and any indication of otherwise was just her playing games.
"I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you," he told her as he put on his socks and trainers. "I wouldn't mention your collapse until you want to spend the rest of the day being prodded by him. Personally, I'll pass on that and go and get something to eat."
Rodney stood up and grabbed his jacket. He looked at Cadman. She was staring at the floor. Her face was pale again. She looked up at him.
"Yeah," she said sourly. "You do that. I'll be fine, I'm sure."
"You seem to have recovered."
"I'll let Carson decide that – he's the medical doctor."
Rodney glared at her. She gave him a quick, hard smile. He realised she was angry at him, though he had no idea why. He'd done what he'd said – he looked after her. She didn't need it now.
"Hmm," he replied. He frowned at the less than inspired comeback. "'Kay. Right. Well I'll leabe you to it."
That wasn't much better; his tone didn't have the bite he'd been aiming for. He glanced at her, but she'd already turned away and was going through her clothes. She didn't look up once as he headed for the door, nor paid any attention to him leaving.
Rodney stood on the other side of the door and leant against them. After a moment, he pushing himself away with a heavy sigh and headed to the mess hall for whatever they had fried and coffee.