A few hours later, Elisa woke again. Instead of a relaxed mind and body, however, she was off like a shot to the bathroom again. She didn't have anything in her stomach, however, so the resulting dry heaving proved to be her undoing.
Once the urge to be sick passed again, Elisa made her way back to the bedroom. Goliath was there, perched on the side of the bed and waited for her return.
"Elisa," He said, getting to his feet and coming forward to join her. He swept her hair away from her face and frowned at how pale she looked. "Perhaps I should take you to the castle, and to Doctor James."
"Goliath, I'm fine," Elisa protested weakly. She tried to bat his hands away, only to sway dizzily.
"You are not fine," He said firmly. "Sit here," He guided her to the bed, "And I shall get your coat."
Elisa groaned, but knew that there was no point in arguing. It wasn't as if she would be able to put up much of a fight, she thought bitterly. Right this moment, she felt as weak as a newborn kitten.
She sat on the bed, waiting for Goliath to return. When he did, he brought her favorite red coat, a knit stocking cap for her head, and the thick woolen blanket that they only used on the coldest nights they went flying… and only then, it was mostly for Liam's comfort.
Once she had been slipped into the jacket, the hat placed firmly over her head and the blanket wrapped securely around her, Goliath carried her out into the courtyard and they were soon gliding on the air currents to the Aerie building. Goliath did his best to hold her close, in an attempt to keep her as warm as possible for the trip.
By the time he came in for the landing in the courtyard, he could feel Elisa beginning to shiver. He landed as close to the doors that led to the great hall as he could, wrapping his wings around his wife to protect her from any more of the night-chilled air. He barely broke his stride long enough to open the doors rather than just breaking through them as he wanted to, and made his way to the elevators.
The rest of the clan had gone on their patrols, making sure to have their communicators on them in case their human officers called in need of assistance, so he had no worry of running into any of them.
Goliath pushed the button that would take them directly to the infirmary level.
"I'm okay, Big Guy," Elisa said. Now that she was out of the cold air, being warmed by Goliath's own body heat, she was feeling much better. "It's probably just a bug I picked up somewhere."
Goliath rumbled low in his chest. "I would still feel better once the doctor is able to assess you."
"I know," Elisa managed on a sigh. He was forever worrying about her health, and as annoying as it was sometimes, she was thankful that he loved her enough to worry. Some of the caution probably stemmed from the face that Gargoyles didn't get ill. Ever.
Meanwhile, Elisa had a fairly strong immune system herself, but when she got sick, it tended to hit her like a ton of bricks.
Goliath exited the elevator on the correct floor, taking Elisa straight into the room specifically held in reserve for the clan and its human counterparts.
Thankfully, because of the nature of their work, the three main staff members that worked in the infirmary after regular office hours were all familiar with the clan.
Once the door to the specified room, designated the "Gargoyle Wing", was opened, it would send an alert to the staff members.
Doctor Bradley James had worked in the Aerie building for almost ten years now, tending to both the employees of Xanatos enterprises, the Xanatos family on occasion, and more frequently Elisa. He both worked and lived in the building, the rent on what would surely be a multi-million dollar apartment waved for the convenience of him being on the premises and available 24/7. He had married his assistant, Kiersten, a few years ago, and both had taken up residence on the floor.
The newest member of the medical staff, having only been there a little over two years, was Margaret Wheeler. She and Elisa had met while Elisa had been hospitalized in another state after receiving a head injury and had been suffering from amnesia. Margaret had treated Elisa, and had unknowingly brought her home to Manhattan when Margaret had begun working at Manhattan General. She had worked at the hospital for a year after meeting the clan, but had accepted a position at the clinic when Doctor James had offered it.
Tonight, Doctor James came into the room with a friendly smile for the room's occupants, followed by a concerned looking Margaret.
Elisa craned her neck to look behind them. "What, no Kiersten tonight?"
"No," Doctor James said with a sheepish grin. "She's resting."
"She's a machine," Elisa countered. "She exhausts me just watching her." Elisa frowned. "Is she okay?"
"Oh, she's fine," Margaret said with an impish grin, "For a pregnant lady."
Elisa's eyebrows shot up. "Pregnant?" Elisa turned to Doctor James then, "Way to go, Doc!"
A very uncharacteristic flush stained his cheeks, "Uh, thanks."
Margaret laughed. "It's great, but she's really tired, so I am staying here in the on-call room until she's feeling more energetic."
"Gunning for a raise?" Elisa asked.
"You know it," Margaret said with her usual sass. "Enough about us, lady. What's going on with you?"
"I think I caught a bug," Elisa reluctantly admitted. "I managed to vomit up the little bit I managed to eat today, but I feel fine now."
"She had been working too much," Goliath added, "Again," earning a glare from his wife. He shrugged at her as if to say, 'If you won't tell them, I will'.
"Yeah, okay," Elisa said with a long suffering sigh. "I've been pulling a few doubles lately, thanks to the Humans First mess, but I've been trying to make sure that I get enough rest between shifts so I don't exhaust myself again."
"Uh, huh," Doctor James said, clearly not buying it. "Other than the vomiting, which I am going to assume is a new thing, what else?"
"Just a little tired," Elisa admitted. "But I slept almost all day today, so my body's probably just readjusting."
Doctor James frowned at her, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just how many double shifts are we talking about, here?"
Elisa mumbled something that only apparently Goliath, with his super human hearing, caught. He sent her a look of pure shock.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that," the doctor said, irritated at the woman's stubbornness.
"About seven weeks," Elisa said, louder.
He blinked at her and Margaret groaned.
"And how many days off for rest have you had?" He demanded.
Elisa gave a shrug. "A day here and there."
"And knowing you," Margaret said, rolling her eyes, "You went in during the day, off the clock, when no one who knew better would stop you."
Elisa didn't acknowledge that, which was as good as an admonition of guilt.
"Alright," Doctor James sighed. "Best diagnosis off the top is plain and simple exhaustion. You're not indestructible, Elisa. When you run your body down, you weaken your immune system and leave yourself vulnerable to illness." He turned to Margaret, "Let's get her hooked up to an IV for fluids to help combat any dehydration from the vomiting, and run some tests to make sure that's all it is."
"On it," Margaret said.
"Sunrise is coming soon," Goliath pointed out.
"Go," Elisa said, reaching out to put a hand on his arm. "This may take a while, and I know you'd feel better resting with the rest of the clan for the day. We can meet up tomorrow."
He placed a hand over hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. He didn't want to leave her, and she knew that. "Please, Goliath," She said softly. "I will be fine. I promise."
"She's in good hands," Margaret said, re-entering the room, an IV bag of fluids in her hands. "We will keep an eye on her all day, and make sure she gets the rest she needs. Heck," She said, hanging the bag in preparation, "She can even come and room with me for the day. It will be like old times!" She gave a chuckle at that thought. "Though the beds here are more comfortable than that old couch you camped on in my old apartment."
Elisa laughed at that. "The bed would be longer, too."
"Longer, too," Margaret agreed.
"Alright," Goliath said, and released Elisa's hand. "I will see you this evening."
Elisa smiled up at him, "I wouldn't miss it."
After Goliath left the room, the white frosted door closing behind him, Margaret walked over to the small cabinet and brought out a small armload of items.
"Now for the fun stuff," Margaret said in an overly cheery tone that made Elisa groan.
"Seriously," Elisa groaned. "I feel fine now. Just a little worn out, which getting a little more sleep will probably take care of."
Margaret gave her a shrug. "I'm just a lowly nurse, carrying out my orders."
"Lowly nurse," Elisa scoffed. "We both know that it's really the nurses that really run things."
"Yeah," Margaret answered with a grin, "But we can't let the doctors know that. It would just make them feel bad about spending that much money on their education without actually being in charge. Here," She shoved a small plastic container at Elisa. "Go pee in the cup, and when you come back, we can get that blood draw over with so you can get some sleep."
"Fun, fun, fun," Elisa muttered, but she took the cup.