PINA

"Zedd, let's go down to the infirmary, okay?" He definitely has a fever and when he raises his head, I can see that he's pale under the fever flush. Suddenly, he coughs and my concern mounts.

Listlessly, he stands and wordlessly follows me to the infirmary, worrying me even more. This can't be because of Tommy blocking him, can it? I know that our species can get sick because of a blocked bond - the stress of the mind transfers to the body, but this is getting too bad, too fast.

Once in the infirmary, I hurry over to get a scanner as Zedd lies down on the table. Him doing that voluntarily - never mind coming to the infirmary - has me going from worried to alarmed instantly. As I approach him, he sneezes several times. When he stops, he moans softly. "Pina, what's wrong with me? I'm feeling worse every minute."

"Hang on, Zedd. I'm working on it." Swiftly, I run the scanner over him. This definitely isn't a bond sickness. According to my scan, his fever is way too high for that, not to mention the other symptoms he has. I move over to him and check him over quickly. I'm baffled by his condition.

Dar comes in looking just as concerned when he sees the state of his friend. "He looks worse than before." He must considering when Dar told me of Zedd being a bit pale and ill looking he definitely didn't describe his state of health as being at death's door. "Is it a bond sickness?"

"No and I have no idea what it is, either."

Zedd speaks, his voice hoarse. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Swiftly, I snatch up my trash can and hand it to him as he proceeds to lose whatever was left of his breakfast before falling back on the table.

Handing the trashcan back to me, his arm is weakly put over his eyes as he groans in misery. "I think I'm dying. Am I dying? Don't tell Thomas I'm dying he might get upset." Tommy. Hell, Tommy.

Suddenly realizing that whatever's wrong with Zedd isn't being helped by the separation with his bond mate, I look at Dar. "Go get Tommy."

"No," Zedd moans. "He doesn't need to catch whatever this is. Besides he's upset and doesn't want to be around me anyways right now."

Thankfully, Dar ignores this and swiftly leaves the room.

"He loves you Zedd, he's just being over emotional right now and…I don't know - human. Besides him being near you will help." I reset the scanner to scan for intergalactic illnesses. Hell only knows what Rita, Zordon or Andros might have been carrying. As we've all been on Earth before, we've most likely been exposed to most anything that they have so at least Jason being some carrier of something is out. Suddenly, I realize that we've all been exposed to whatever this is - depending on how it's passed. Fantastic.

"Him being near me will get him sick," Zedd protests around another round of coughing. "If I die make sure he's taken care of. Promise you'll take care of him and make Goldar be nice to him."

"Chances are if he is going to get ill he will get ill regardless as I'm uncertain how this illness is passed on, but I'd wager it's airborne given how easily you have caught it. Also you are not dying Zedd, you're too damn stubborn to die." As I finish the new scan, I realize that Zedd's shaking among his continued protests that he is in fact dying. Before I check the readout, I quickly get a blanket and throw it over him. Lightly, I brush my hand over his forehead, dismayed at how hot it is. I snatch up the scanner once more. As I scroll through the information on the screen, Dar returns with Tommy in tow.

Once Tommy gets a good look at his mate, he crosses swiftly to Zedd's side. "Oh god, Zedd, what's wrong?"

Zedd blinks at Tommy. "You shouldn't be here. You'll get sick too. Also, I'm dying."

"You're not dying" I insist sternly before looking at the now highly concerned Tommy. "He's not dying."

"Well what's wrong with him? This isn't because of me is it? It's not because I blocked my side of the bond is it?"

Shaking my head I'm quick to put his fears to rest. "No, there's no way such a thing could result in this kind of illness. He's caught something, very likely from our company."

"You have to go Thomas, you're going to get sick and it'll be worse with you being human." Weakly shoving Tommy's arm, Zedd attempts to hack up another lung, before groaning again about being at death's door.

Patting Zedd's arm, Tommy shakes his head slowly. "Not necessarily. This might be one time that being human is a good thing. I might not get whatever this is." He turns to me. "What is it, Pina?"

"He's pregnant." Three pairs of stunned eyes lock on me apparently not taking my joke well. I shrug. "It's as good a guess as any. I have no idea and it's not coming up in my intergalactic scan."

"Does that include every planet? Even Earth?" Tommy asks.

I wave this away. "Tommy, we've been exposed to your illnesses."

The former Ranger looks at me, irritated. "That didn't answer my question."

"No, but as I said, we've been exposed to-"

"What are his symptoms?" he interrupts me.

I roll my eyes, but decide to humor him. "High fever, congestion, vomiting, cough-"

He interrupts again. "Sore throat, sweats and body aches." I look at Zedd, who nods in confirmation. Tommy sighs. "He has the flu."

"He has what now?"

"The flu - influenza. You might have been exposed to it more than a decade ago, but the flu virus mutates, Pina, becoming more and more resistant to medicines. Maybe you'll have something that will work, but human medicine can't get ahead of it."

"So how do you treat it?" Dar asks.

Tommy shakes his head. This won't be good. "You can treat the symptoms, Dar, but you just have to wait it out. It could be over in as little as three days or as many as ten."

Just then Dar coughs, sounding much like Zedd had in the kitchen. Quickly, Tommy touches the back of his hand to Dar's forehead and shakes his head. I can't help the question. "Him too?"

Tommy nods and comes around to me and repeats the gesture. "So far, Pina, you're okay." He sighs and directs his attention to the other two males. "You two need to get to bed. Pina, human and Eltarian physiology are pretty similar, right?" I nod and he continues. "All right, you and I will get them into bed and then come and meet me in the kitchen. We'll get them something that will help." He pauses. "Actually, I will. Once you get Dar settled, you need to get away from them. If you haven't caught it, maybe you won't."

Zedd coughs again. "Thomas, you can't take care of all of us."

"Right now, Pina's not sick and I'm hoping to keep it that way."

I suggest, "What if we put Dar in your old room? That way they are close to each other, making their care a little easier."

Tommy sighs. "It would be easier if they were in the same room, but you don't have a room with two beds in it, do you?"

Inspiration strikes. "Why do they have to be in separate beds? It's not as if they haven't shared living and sleeping space before, and quite frankly, they can share their misery that way."

Tommy growls under his breath briefly before he gathers himself. "That does make the most sense" he agrees, though it is done reluctantly, no doubt due to the bond sparking his jealousy at the thought of his mate having another male in their bed. "Let's get moving so that you aren't exposed to it any more than necessary."

Thirty minutes later, our mates are in Zedd's room, complaining weakly and pleading for everything from juice to sedatives as Tommy and I are in the kitchen working diligently. He's digging through cabinets, freezer and refrigerator, pulling out this and that. Curiosity leads me to ask, "What are you doing?"

He begins working quickly. "Home remedies. Hopefully, they'll be as helpful for Eltarians as they can be for humans. Nothing artificial so we can have it too - keep you from getting sick."

"Okay, but what about you? Won't you get sick too?"

He grins. "Even if I do, Pina, it won't be as bad for me. I had the flu less than a month before I got hurt. If you guys have never had it before - well." He thinks for a minute. "It's kind of like when you were in the academy. If you pit someone about to graduate against someone at the same level, it's not nearly as bad as putting someone that advanced against a first year student."

I nod, understanding the analogy, however much I don't like it. "So what do we do now?"

"I'll take care of them. You'll have to stay away from us as much as possible. Even if I don't get sick, doesn't mean that I won't be a carrier. Hopefully, if you do get sick, it'll be after Dar is better. Somehow I don't think he'll like it much if I have to take care of you, too."

"Like how you aren't overly fond of the idea of him being in your bed with Zedd" I point out casually.

Heaving a sigh, he shakes his head slowly. "I just want Zedd to be okay."

"He'd be better if you talked to him" I point out seriously. Sighing myself as he doesn't respond, I refocus on the situation at hand. "If I get sick before they get better, we'll get the cot out of my office and set me up in there too. That way I'll be near Dar and he shouldn't bother you where tending to me is concerned, not that I think he'd be much of a threat anyways right now."

Tommy pauses briefly, thinking and then continues working. "Maybe we should just do that anyway."

"What?" Abruptly, I understand his reasoning. "That way, if I'm going to get it, we're all over it at once and we'll all have the antibodies."

He nods. "Plus, my system is probably already fighting it. If I do get sick, it'll be well after you guys."

I sigh. "Do you need any help right now?"

"No. Do you need any help moving your cot?"

"No. I'll do that and then find something comfortable to wear. I'll help you as much as I can until I get sick too. Well, if I do."

He nods again and I head out of the kitchen. This is not going to be fun.