Alexis Davis awoke literally drenched in sweat. Her back and lower abdomen throbbed and she felt so nauseous. She was going to be sick. Through the fog she struggled to raise herself up but felt someone helping her up and then holding her head over a basin as she retched and vomited. Her head swum and she clung desperately to their arms afraid she might fall otherwise.

"It's ok, sweetheart, I'm right here," a familiar male voice told her. He rubbed her back for a minute and then laid her back onto a stack of propped pillows and then wiped her face with a wet cloth.

"What happened?" Alexis finally managed to croak.

"You passed out on your bathroom floor last night. Dr. Davidson thinks you have a kidney infection. You're getting antibiotics and IV fluids. I can stay as long as you need but, honey, you can't push yourself this hard."

Alexis's head swum more and her body felt so heavy. Once again, the darkness seemed to swallow her.

XXXXXX

Julian pulled a fresh flat sheet back over the woman he loved. Alexis had drifted back to sleep almost immediately after he had started to explain. He wanted to believe that meant she felt comfortable enough with him to let him care for him but he knew it was also likely that she was too weak and exhausted to fight for more conscious time.

Dr. Davidson had managed to get the Tylenol in but her temperature had barely dropped from 105.2 to 104.8. Julian had seen his frown but he had just suggested that perhaps tepid sponging would make her more comfortable and that he would turn up the IV fluids rate more to account for the fluid loss from the fever. He had left again to check on a patient of his at the hospital but had shown Julian how to hang the next dose of antibiotics which were due in a few hours.

While Alexis had slept, he had given her a quick bed bath, gotten her into a fresh gown, and then changed the sheets around her. He had learned a lot during the two weeks he had cared for Cheryl while she had been on bedrest hoping that might allow her to carry the baby to term. Unfortunately, it hadn't. That had been a dark time, for both of them, although perhaps more for Cheryl. After all, she had been the one who carried her son for almost seven months. Try as he might he would never really understand that love, or that loss.