Hello everyone!

Hope yall had an awesome holiday weekend for Memorial Day last week. It's crazy to me that we are officially in the second half of the year, isn't this year just FLYING by? I think I posted the first of this chapter back in February, so that means we are hitting around four months that this story has been gaining ground and getting updates. That's insane to me!

As a spot of good news – I am so far ahead in what I've written out that I am ditching every other week and will be from now until the end of August updating WEEKLY. After August we shall see – it just depends on how I can keep my nose to the grindstone.

Enjoy!

...

...

"You heard how late she tip toed back to her room last night, right? First bit of free time we've had in weeks and she spent every second of it with the Captain. What's worse, where are they now? It's one thing if they use their free time, but we are supposed to be on active duty in ten minutes. Where's Petra? Where's the Captain? There's no way it's a coincidence they're both gone at the same time like this."

"You're jumping to conclusions Oluo."

"I'm just calling a spade a spade is all. It's obvious there's something going on between them."

"And what if there is? They're married now. It's bound to happen sooner or later if it hasn't yet. The sooner you accept it the better it's gonna be for all of us."

When Petra had walked toward the common room to report for duty in the morning, this was not the conversation she had expected to walk into. She crossed her arms and cleared her throat as she stood at the opposite end of the room, fixing her team with a pointed look that communicated she was far from amused at their current choice of conversation.

A long silence fell over the room as Petra inwardly fumed, debating how she should handle it. The Captain had given her permission some time ago to resort to violence if it came down to it, however she wasn't sure if his offer was still standing. Either way, it was tempting.

No broken bones.

She gave a huff and moved toward them, "Do I seriously need to hear this from my own team too? Guys, what the hell? I'll have you know that the entire regiment is saying heaven knows what about me, and what's worse, my own team is suddenly whispering the same damn thing? No. Absolutely not."

She took further steps into the room, her anger increasing with each step the more she thought about it, "What more can I say? How many more times can I tell you that there is nothing between me and the Captain? What I want to know is why you're all so comfortable tearing me down like this. We're friends, we've bled for each other and fought side by side for years now – why is it that none of you are decent enough to even give me the benefit of the doubt on this? Even if you can't trust me, you really can't trust Levi? He himself has told you the exact same thing!"

Petra looked around the room sternly, satisfied that her teammates each wore guilty and remorseful expressions. It was a start at least.

She was now standing at the end of the table and she looked at Oluo directly, "For your information Oluo, I was with the Captain all night. Working. Paperwork. Deadlines. Tell me, what did you accomplish last night? Besides spying on me and coming up with your disgusting accusations?"

Oluo groaned and looked away from Petra in embarrassment from being called out. Next to the Captain, Petra was easily the most intimidating on their squad, only she had a much shorter fuse. He cracked under the pressure that was her demanding stare, "Alright alright fine, I'm sorry okay? But if you and the Captain weren't-"

Petra quirked an eyebrow, daring him to finish his sentence.

Oluo gulped at the threatening ginger and adjusted his sentence quickly, "I mean, with you both being so busy working last night, I figured you might know where he is. Do you know why he's suddenly a no show?"

Petra blinked at the question, looking around for a moment and only now actually realizing that Levi was not in the room. She shook her head slowly, some of her previous anger redirected and exchanged for pure confusion. "I…I'm not sure actually."

It was in fact a valid concern, and while she didn't appreciate her squad's go-to theories as to why the Captain was late, she understood where it was coming from now. It wasn't uncommon for Levi to be the last one to show up, but it was unheard of for him to actually be late.

She sighed in acceptance, deciding that starting the day off by picking a fight wouldn't help anyone in the least, especially with the Captain gone like this. "Alright, I'll go check on him. Seriously guys, I mean it. I never want to have this conversation again or mark my words, there will be blood. There is Nothing. Going on. Between us. Nothing. Are we all understood?"

She looked at each of her squad mates one at a time, ensuring she received a nod or some form of confirmation that they understood and accepted her answer.

She gave a single nod and turned around, moving back toward the hall.

"…So why is she the one that's automatically running off to check on him?" Oluo whispered from behind her once he thought he would no longer be heard.

A 'Shhhhh' followed his question, and the room fell silent again.

Petra gave a heavy sigh and kept moving. It seemed the battle wasn't over after all then.

...

...

It wasn't much later that she had successfully tracked down their elusive Captain – it wasn't exactly like there were a large number of places he could be hiding, if hiding was even the correct word to begin with.

She had checked his office first, cautiously knocking on the door before peering inside, but after seeing no trace of Levi, she moved down the opposite hall towards his room.

She tapped gently on the door, "Captain, you in there?"

There was some shuffling, and a low 'Yeah' could be heard.

Well, that had been simple enough.

She knew better than to just enter without permission – his office was one thing, but his bedroom was another entirely - so instead she moved closer in attempts to speak through the wooden door, "Sorry to bother, but we're all gathered to report for duty and it's not common for you to be late. We were kind of worried. Everything okay?"

"…Give me a sec." he responded after a moment, and more shuffling could be heard of what sounded like fabric, clothes or blankets perhaps, though she wasn't too sure.

After a moment she heard footsteps coming toward the door and she took a few steps back, certain Levi would not be pleased to find her pressed up against the door and listening in on whatever he was doing.

When he opened the door, Petra frowned, noting two things all at once.

The first was that he wasn't in uniform, or even close to it. Instead of crisp white clothes and the 3DM harness strapped around him, he was in a loose grey knit sort of shirt and over sized, baggy sweatpants that hung way too low on his hips. The second and, more alarming, thing that caught her attention was the undeniable fact that he was extremely pale, save for his cheeks, which were a flushed sort of pink shade.

"You're sick." Petra whispered in an immediate shocked whisper, and before Levi could get out a single word, as though every bit of maternal instinct kicked in at once, Petra took a step closer toward the Captain and placed a hand over his forehead. He made an irritated face and stepped back, all but hiding behind the door as Petra's eyes went wide at her confirmed suspicions. "Captain, you have a fever!"

He scowled, placing his own hand over his forehead and glaring toward her, "Yeah, no shit."

He had taken a breath in attempts to tell her to back off, though a sudden coughing fit wracked his body like a tidal wave. He leaned into the door and covered his mouth, coughing fiercely as his lungs itched and burned deep within his chest. He heard Petra gasp, though as he continued to cough and heave for air between spasms, he paid her little mind, clamping his eyes shut for a moment and breathing harshly as the fit subsided.

Damn it his head was killing him.

Taking a breath, he looked toward Petra who watched him with obvious concern, and he despised the overwhelming pity that was evident in her eyes.

He stood up straighter from off the door and cleared his throat, attempting to speak, though his voice merely cracked as a result of his previous coughing. He groaned at his luck and cleared his throat with more gusto, irritated that he could only get out a whisper. He didn't need Petra watching him like he was going to keel over and die any second. Yes, he was sick, but he obviously wasn't dying, so Petra's large doe eyes only served to irritate the hell out of him as he was already agitated as fuck.

He couldn't get any strength into his voice, but with the right intensity his glare would be enough to convince her to leave. "I'm fine. It's just a fucking cold. Tell Eld to-" he took in a deep breath as the urge to cough built within his chest again, though he fought it stubbornly, forcing out words until his eyes began to water, "Tell Eld to run conditioning today and that-"

And again he was coughing, clutching the door tightly as his illness continued to plague him relentlessly.

Somewhere past the noise he was making, he could hear an irritated, 'Oh for Maria's sake' from Petra, and suddenly the door was pushed back, causing him to all but lose his balance until Petra grabbed his shoulders, stabilizing him and waiting for the coughing fit to end.

As he attempted to catch his breath, he slowly looked up from the ground toward Petra, who was still holding onto his shoulders firmly. He was expecting to see her large sad eyes, though was taken aback when her green orbs were narrowed in malice, not an ounce of sympathy left to be seen.

"You shouldn't be worried about Eld, you should be worried about you." She bit out, shaking her head firmly, "You're sick Levi, and the sick need rest. You are going straight back to bed."

With a smooth flick of her wrist, she turned him around before he could say even a single word and began walking him back toward his bed, saying further things like 'You should have said something yesterday.' And 'I don't even know what type of medicine you'll need but like hell you're taking all of it Captain, I swear if you so much as-"

Though he would never admit it, he was suddenly grateful that she had kept an arm on him as she marched him the five feet back to his bed. He was all at once extremely nauseous, and it seemed like the floor was moving beneath his feet – swaying back and forth with each shaky step he took.

He carefully sank back down onto the surface of his bed, taking in a collective breath and hoping that his sudden dizzy spell passed before Petra caught on. He looked over toward his subordinate and watched her in exhaustion, paying her no real mind as she took a few steps towards the head of his bed and began pulling back his blankets. It was only when she looked at him expectantly and waved the corner of his raised blanket toward him, that he understood her intentions.

He glared toward her from where he was sitting, wordlessly communicating that like hell he was letting her help him into bed, though after her single raised eyebrow and no-nonsense look, she gave an impatient, "Now. Levi."

He gave a defeated sigh and slowly crawled toward the blankets she pulled up, shifting his body below the weighted fabric and glaring at her tersely as she set the blankets back down around him in subdued frustration.

He coughed, keeping his voice just above a whisper, "If you try to tuck me in, I'll fucking slap you."

Petra rolled her eyes, "Please. In this condition you couldn't hit me if you wanted to. Now, what are your symptoms?"

Levi grimaced as he shifted his weight across the mattress, finding that his entire body ached and throbbed. Finding a comfortable position would be a difficult task. "My what?"

"Symptoms." Petra repeated, moving away from his bed and setting down on a nearby chair, "You're in no condition to go out like this. I'm not sure if we can get the doctor over here, but at the very least I should be able to grab you the right medicines. The sooner the better I say, so just tell me what-"

Levi shook his head, biting back another cough and looking straight up toward the ceiling, "No."

"No…?" Petra asked in question as she watched him in confusion, and Levi gave an additional short nod.

"You…" his voice was tired, his throat was raw, and his head was throbbing. It was hard for him to put a sentence together, but he knew that he couldn't have Petra just sitting in his room at his beck and call. Sick though he was, there were much better things she could be doing with her time, and what was more, he didn't want her bothering him all hours of the day.

"You are on active duty right now. I expect Eld to-"

He heard Petra groan and the chair gave a loud creak as she stood back up, "Captain you've got to be kidding me, you're-"

Levi sat up from his bed, looking toward her with a narrowed gaze, frustrated that for all the years he had been her Captain, she rarely did what she was told without some form of argument. With how miserable he was feeling, he found his tolerance for Petra's willfulness to be at an all-time low, and he snapped.

"Fucking listen to me damn it! I'm still your goddamned Captain whether I'm sick or not and I don't give a fuck what you want to do. Until you can outrank me, you're shit out of luck and have to obey orders like everyone else." He took another labored breath and exhaled, finding that talking like this depleted his energy at an exponential rate. He looked away from Petra and toward the wall, lifting his head in a proud and stubborn manner, "Now. You're going back to the lobby and telling Eld that he is to lead conditioning throughout today."

He could hear Petra step closer toward his bedside and he could make out her worried expression from his peripheral vision, "Captain I know you aren't feeling well, but will you please just-"

"Dismissed Petra."

"What?"

"I said, dismissed. Now, piss off."

He barely choked out his sentence before another coughing fit overcame him, and he laid back into his mattress in frustration as the coughs continued to overwhelm his body. As he continued coughing, he caught Petra's irritated and skeptical 'Are you serious' stare, and he merely narrowed his gaze as he watched her in warning - annoyed that he could hardly speak two words without his throat protesting, but still wordlessly sending her the clear message that his order would be respected.

There was a long silence, and Levi refused to meet her gaze further as he tried to catch his breath, merely staring at the wall until a low sigh was heard.

"…Very well, sir."

An eerie silence seemed to follow Petra as she quietly left his room without another word, and while the Captain normally would have spent time wondering if he had been too harsh on his willful, but well-intended subordinate, in his exhausted and miserable state, it wasn't long before sleep overcame him.

He wasn't sure how long he was asleep. It could have been hours, it could have been minutes, but all too soon there was another knock on his door.

"Captain, I'm coming in."

From his groggy and weakened state, he slowly recognized the voice as Petra's.

He was admittedly confused at first; he was aware that he had fallen asleep, but with the fact that Petra was already knocking on his door again – he vaguely, almost wearily, remembered that he had ordered her to return to active duty which should have kept her busy all day. Did that mean it was after dinner already? Had he actually been asleep that long?

He opened his eyes slowly, and grimly noted that, for it apparently being evening, his room was far too bright. He sighed internally, knowing that this meant that it wasn't evening at all and Petra wasn't off duty, of course not – like always, she still wasn't listening to him.

Fucking damn it all to hell.

She came into the room carrying a water bottle, and Levi sat up and groaned loudly, putting his head in his hands. He didn't have the energy to deal with her today, but even still he couldn't let her behavior go unchecked. Gods, she was a bigger pain in the ass than he could handle on a normal day, but today of all days? Shit, it just wasn't fair.

"Petra, I fucking swear, I told you-"

She walked into the room confidently, moving toward him and sitting down on the edge of his bed, before finally crossing her arms with a smug expression, "You told me that I was outranked, so I decided to pull rank of my own."

Levi pulled his legs in closer as he sat up fully, glaring at the light in annoyance and holding his throbbing head. Was she purposefully speaking in riddles now? What she was saying made no damn sense! "What? What fucking 'rank' woman? Goddammit Petra, why don't you ever listen to me?"

She gave him a triumphant smirk, enjoying that she still managed to somehow come out on top, "Well after you so rudely dismissed me, like a complete jackass I might add, I took a little walk down to Erwin's office and told him that you were sick and refusing to take care of yourself. He agreed that as your wife, I had every right to take some time off to care for my poor, sick husband."

Levi listened to her explanation bitterly and stared into his blankets in frustration. So that's what she had done then. She went around him and bitched to Erwin because she didn't get her way. Of course Erwin, who was so gung-ho about their relationship and them playing their stupid husband and wife roles, of course he would take her side.

"Fucking snitch. Snitches get stitches, Petra."

"Happy wife happy life, Levi."

He groaned at her instant didn't miss a beat response and looked toward her angrily, still trying to send her the message that even if it was okay with Erwin, it sure as hell wasn't okay with him. He had given her an outright order and she chose to skirt around it, hiding behind his sickness like an excuse as though he couldn't make proper judgement calls when he had a fever like this.

Fuck, she really pissed him off sometimes!

She gave a sigh at his dark glower and tried to soften her approach, "Listen, if it makes you feel any better the rest of the squad is running drills and conditioning just like you wanted. Oh right, and they wanted me to tell you that they wish you a speedy recovery. As for being off duty, that's just me. Don't worry, I won't be here watching you 24/7. I want to make sure you take your medicine, stay hydrated, that sort of thing. I'll try not to bother you too much."

Levi watched her for a long moment, and he was torn between saying thank you, or go fuck yourself.

He instead gave a long sigh, deciding to drop the topic all together as his head hurt way too much to do something as frivolous as sort through his conflicted emotions regarding Petra's stubborn course of action.

"Fever." He stated softly, and for a moment Petra watched him with a puzzled expression. Levi rolled his shoulders, a dull ache still plaguing the various muscles within his body, "My muscles are stiff too." A look of understanding crossed Petra's face, and Levi continued, "Chills, cough, congestion. I'm fine right now but if I stand up or move too fast I feel really dizzy and nauseated. My coordination is shit right now, and my balance is shot to hell."

Speaking was clearly a trigger for his cough, and he was subjected to yet another merciless wave of coughs that pressed the breath out of his lungs over and over until he was left gasping for air by the time the fit mercifully subsided.

Petra frowned as she watched this, never having seen Levi sick before. She supposed it shouldn't be that surprising; she had known him for years and the fact that he was just now getting sick for the first time was a testament to his peak physical condition and overall good health, but it certainly couldn't last forever. Everyone got sick, sooner or later.

She reran his provided symptoms in her head and gave a thoughtful nod, committing his words to memory so he wouldn't have to repeat himself later. If anything, Levi was proud – she knew that him being vulnerable and weak when compared to his traditional self must have been hard, so even if he couldn't put it to words, she knew he deeply despised her choice to go around his back at all, but especially at a time like this.

"Have you been able to eat anything yet? If I were to bring you something could you keep it down?"

Levi thought her question over, then finally shook his head, the mere thought of food causing his stomach to churn unpleasantly. His throat burned when he responded, and so he minced his words so he didn't speak any more than he absolutely had to, "No food."

Petra nodded and handed him the water bottle she had brought in, "Here, drink this if you can. It's just plain water, but you need to keep hydrated with a fever like that." She stood up from his bed and pointed toward the door, "I'm going to go and find the doctor. I may be gone for a few hours so I can get the medicine for you, but if he's not busy I'll try to have the doctor come here directly. I don't know about you, but I'd feel a lot better knowing you were looked at by a professional."

She looked down toward Levi, though he still avoided her gaze stubbornly, looking over to the opposite wall as she spoke. Petra sighed as she watched him, "…You're mad at me?"

The silence only extended further, confirming that while unspoken, yes, he was in fact upset with her and wanted her to know that he was deeply displeased with her for pulling such a stunt.

She watched him for a long moment, "Captain, you told me not that long ago that it was okay to break the rules if it protected myself or my comrades. In this case, the one I'm protecting is you. I won't apologize for doing the right thing, but I am sorry for going about it in a dirty way. I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't forced my hand like that though – I just wish you could accept some help from time to time. You're sick, and are trying to shoulder it all alone when there's just no reason for it. That's what friends are for, you know?"

Levi still refused to look at her, and Petra eventually moved to the door with an exhale, "Try to get some rest Captain."

She closed the door behind herself, leaving the aggravated Captain alone to wrestle with his thoughts.

...

...

"Let's see now, oh yes 103.2 looks like." A light chuckle, "In my expert opinion Captain, you sir, are sick!"

Petra had made good on her promise to try and get the doctor. The nurse at the reception desk from the medical ward had urged her time and time again to just grab a few medicines and be done with it. Considering the cold was going around the entire regiment, it was highly likely that he had the same thing as everyone else - but Petra insisted that she at least speak to the doctor in person to make sure that she was getting the Captain exactly what he needed and nothing else.

While the nurse was frustrated with Petra's stubbornness, there was nothing she could do, and begrudgingly signed her in to be seen. It had taken a few hours to get back considering she herself was not sick at all, and when her name was finally called and she was still given little to no attention, Petra knew it was time to change her approach. Getting suddenly angry, she had marched toward the exit and explained (loudly) that the patient in question was Levi Ackerman – Commander Erwin himself had sent her, and as Levi's wife it was her job to ensure that he received proper care, but considering they were so insistent on turning her away, she clearly had no choice but to report back to Erwin that they were unwilling to help in the slightest.

Before she had even reached the door, she found that the entire medical staff changed their tune almost immediately.

They earnestly agreed that it was important they send their best to check on Levi personally, they had no idea Erwin had sent her, congrats on the wedding by the way – it seemed no one wanted to be the one that explained to Erwin why they were too busy to see his right hand man Levi - and within a few moments, Petra and the head doctor left the medic station and began walking toward the compound. As they walked back toward their building, Petra briefed him on the symptoms Levi had provided her, as well as any observations she herself made about Levi's present condition.

The doctor was an older gentleman, and one of the few Scouts who would never actually leave the Walls considering his valued profession. With the services he provided to his fellow Scouts, from assistance with meager colds all the way up to trauma and amputations, no one begrudged the medical team for not actually participating in the gruesome expeditions, more so grateful that they had access to their services in times of need.

"Alright, open your mouth and say 'ah'" the Doctor stated, bending over and looking in Levi's mouth, using a popsicle stick to press his tongue down further, "Tongue is pale, that's to be expected, and it looks like you've got some prominent drainage, so your throat is extremely raw as a result. Have you got much of a-"

As if to answer his question before he even got it out, Levi leaned back in his chair away from the man and began coughing fiercely, the Doctor's prior inspection causing an irritating burn to build in the back of his throat that he could no longer ignore.

As his cough died down and Levi panted for breath, he heard Petra speak somewhere from the back of his room, "Talking does that to him as well I've noticed; his cough is easily agitated."

The doctor gave a nod and grabbed his stethoscope, "Well let's take a listen in then, shall we?"

Petra watched as the doctor continued his checkup, moving the metal end of his stethoscope under the fabric of Levi's loose shirt, instructing him to 'breathe in, breathe out, big breath here, okay' before sliding the device a few inches across his chest and repeating the process, then once again over the expanse of his back.

"Okay, let me look at your ears as well, turn this way please?"

The doctor had checked a few more routine things, making passing comments about his findings before giving a thank you and standing up fully, writing more notes down on his clip board, "Alright Captain, few more questions here if you don't mind. Any dizziness or shortness of breath?"

Levi gave a grimace as he repositioned himself in the wooden chair he was sitting in, greatly missing the comforts of his bed that was a mere foot away because even sitting like this was a challenge for his compromised balance. He was extremely dizzy. He gave a weak nod, pressing his hair out of his face and sighing in exhaustion.

How much longer was this going to take?

"Nausea? Any vomiting?"

"Nausea yes, vomiting no."

"Any chest pains or numbness in your limbs?"

"Pain from coughing, yes. But no numbness."

"Alright thank you. Now, how long have you been experiencing these symptoms? Just this morning, right?"

"Yeah." Levi responded plainly, though again Petra spoke from behind him.

"Well he had a cough last night I remember. Granted it wasn't nearly this bad, but it was there for sure. Actually, he had it for most of the day now that I think about it, even so early as the morning hours during training. I think we all just wrote it off as the cold morning air, but now I'm not so sure."

The doctor looked between Petra and Levi, writing down a few more notes as he spoke, "Gotcha. Any other symptoms that were present before as well, or just the cough?"

Levi tried to sort out his thoughts of the night previous, finding that between his throbbing headache and exhausted body, his thoughts were unclear and impossible to make sense of. He shook his head after a few moments, "…I don't know."

"No that's fine. Any preexisting medical conditions or surgeries you've had in the past that aren't accounted for in your medical history?"

Levi gave a simple shake of his head, more than ready for the examination to be over.

It wasn't that the Doctor was being rude or imposing - truthfully, he was grateful Petra had gone through the trouble she had to get him there - but simply put, Levi was so tired and the fact he was struggling to answer such simple questions was irritating to him and bit at his pride continuously. He just wanted to get back in his bed and pass out. With any luck, by the time he woke up he would long be over his sudden illness and life could return to normal.

"Alright Captain, last question. Any allergies or medicines that we should avoid?"

Again, Levi shook his head, and the Doctor gave a thank you.

"Okay then," the doctor stated, picking up the large bag he had brought with him from the medic ward, "I think we are all set here."

"Is it the one cold that's going around?" Petra asked as she stood up from where she was previously leaning against the wall, an underlying guilt evident in her tone, "The nurse told me about it and said it's probably what he has, but I just wanted to be sure before he started taking all these different medicines that he may or may not need. I wasn't trying to be difficult, but I just…well, I worry too much I guess."

The Doctor gave a chuckle as he opened his bag, peering inside as he searched for some whatever, "Ah, Alyssa. She's a good nurse, truly, but she can get a little frazzled when we're busy and as a result she turns people away if she doesn't think they need it - I'll be sure to have a talk with her about how you were treated today."

Hearing this, Levi gave a confused look to Petra, not certain what the Doctor was talking about with his 'how you were treated today' comment, though as the man continued speaking, the subject wasn't explored further, "Either way, you actually made a good call Mrs. Ackerman, because Levi here, does not have a cold."

He grabbed out a small glass bottle with some clear liquid inside, looking it over and giving the vial a slight shake. The older man continued, "Considering the high fever that's occurring here, it's safe to assume he's got a virus, but his symptoms are much more severe, not to mention entirely different, from the Scouts we see right now that are passing the cold around. No, my guess – though you can never be too certain with viruses – is that we've got a case of the flu on our hands."

Petra gasped in concern as she looked toward Levi, who hardly responded to the diagnosis at all, which only concerned her more, "The flu? Like, the one people die from every year?"

The Doctor nodded his head, "The same one, although I wouldn't be too worried about that Mrs. Ackerman." He walked back toward Levi, "You're definitely sick Captain, but on the whole, you are the picture of good health, so after a few days of some intentional rest and recuperating, you should be just fine. In the meantime, I will leave a five-day supply of medicine that should be taken every four hours with a meal. If you can't stomach food, a glass of milk or juice will work as well. Even if you feel fine after two days, take the entire five-day supply or you may relapse. Understand?"

Though the question was directed to Levi, it was Petra who gave a firm nod, knowing that it would be up to her to ensure that Levi actually followed through on his provided prescription.

The Doctor gave a nod and pulled a syringe out of his bag, turning the previous vile upside down and pulling the correct dosage down through the thin needle, "Alright and one more thing that should help you feel better a whole lot sooner, I've got a shot of steroids here to help boost your immune system to fight this bug off. Stand up for a moment if you will; we'll get this taken care of and I'll get out of your hair."

Levi gave a slow nod and carefully lifted himself out of the chair, placing a hand down on his dresser to balance himself as he stood, finding that his equilibrium was still out of whack and as a result, the floor seemed to lose its obvious ups and downs.

"Alright thank you, now if you could lower the hem of your pants just a little on the backside-"

Hearing this, Petra instantly gave a cough and cleared her throat, admittedly more than embarrassed as she watched Levi reach toward his sweatpants without hesitation, "Oh - I'm uh, I'm going to go grab you some more water Captain." She gave a slight bow as she left the room hurriedly before any further actions could be taken, "Thank you for coming Doctor, I appreciate it."

Without any further hesitance or lingering, Petra was immediately out of the room and the door closed behind her with a sharp metallic click.

"Oh. Well, your wife is…surprisingly shy." The Doctor commented with a chuckle, and even in his miserable state, Levi couldn't help the smirk that pulled at the corner of his lips after witnessing Petra's not exactly subtle retreat.

"Alright now, a slight pinch."

Levi made a face; his smirk being replaced by a twisted frown as he felt a fiery sensation run down his leg then right back up his spine. In his life, he had been cut with jagged knives, broken more bones than he could count, stitched up his own wounds by hand without so much as a flinch, but now, now Levi gave a pained groan that bordered an all-out yelp from the sharp sensation caused from the minuscule needle.

Damn it all, he hated shots.

...

End of Chapter

...

Thanks for reading, until next week and I'll see yall then!