"Maki, let me out of my room," Hinawa demanded.

"No, Lieutenant. You need your rest."

"I'm fine!" he demanded.

Maki opened his door a little. Hinawa tried to force his way through but found Maki had shoved herself against the door. He groaned inwardly.

Maki relaxed and slipped inside his door. "You need to get some rest. Isn't that what you told me?"

"Yes, but—"

"But what?" Maki asked, crossing her arms.

"I'm fine," Hinawa said, his voice a little louder than usual.

"There's no need to raise your voice," Maki said, stepping back. "I'm only doing what Captain Obi told me to do."

Hinawa sniffled. He had caught Maki's cold while taking care of her, and now she was returning the favor in taking care of him. Ughhh, he thought.

Maki placed her arm on his forehead. His forehead felt warm, and his skin was clammy. She sighed as she pulled her arm back down.

"You have a fever. You need to lay down," she told him.

"I'm perfectly fine," Hinawa argued.

"Stop arguing with me!" Maki said. "You need to lie down and get some rest, okay?"

Hinawa sighed. He was beginning to feel a bit light-headed, so he sat down on the side of his bed as Maki turned to leave.

"I'll be back in a bit," she told him. "I'm just going to get a bowl of water and a cloth."

"Okay."

Maki let the door shut gently behind her as she headed to the bathroom for a washcloth. She ran it under lukewarm water and watched as it slowly became soaked with water.

He took care of me, time to return the favor and take care of him, Maki thought. She placed the washcloth in a bowl and filled it with cold water. She dragged the washcloth through the water as it covered her fingers. That should be good.

She carried the bowl back to his room, setting it down on his bedside table. He had laid back in bed, and he felt miserable. She felt of his forehead again and reached for the cold washcloth.

"Is that cold water?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Just checking."

"I'm not dumb!" she told him. "Is there any medicine I can give you?"

"Should be some ibuprofen in the first aid kit," he told her.

"I'll get it and the thermometer," she said, standing to leave. Hinawa wanted to tell her something else, but couldn't think; his mind was so hazy from his fever he could barely remember who he was. He was thirsty and hungry, but he also knew anything he'd eat would be puked back up.

Maki walked into the kitchen, where she knew a first aid kit was kept and pulled it down from the shelves. Inside was the bottle of ibuprofen and a thermometer.

She turned around and poured the lieutenant a glass of water, which he'd need if he wanted to swallow the pills successfully. She grabbed the first aid kit and walked back down the hall to Hinawa's room. When she passed Obi's office, he called out to her.

"So how is Lieutenant Hinawa doing?"

"He's got a pretty bad fever," Maki told him. "I got some medication to bring it down, hopefully."

"Hmm…" Obi grumbled. "Keep an eye on him, and if it gets worse, we may have to take him to the doctor."

Maki nodded. "Okay."

If we have to take him anywhere, then I failed as the person taking care of him, Maki thought. She turned into his room a little too sharply and bumped her nose on his doorframe, causing it to bleed.

"Ow!" she yelped.

She looked over at Hinawa, who had, in her absence, stripped down to his underwear in an attempt to cool off. Maki blushed furiously.

"Just get some of the gauze out of the first aid kit and use it to stop the bleeding, Maki," Hinawa told her.

Duh, Maki. She opened the kit and grabbed a small patch of gauze, and pushed it into her nose. She then grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen and the thermometer and went over to Hinawa. He opened his mouth for the thermometer, and Maki stuck it in quickly.

"If it's over 39C, I'm taking you to the doctor," Maki told him.

Hinawa looked at her pleadingly. She hated seeing him suffer like this, but he had deteriorated so fast.

When the thermometer beeped, he was the first one to look at it. "38C," he told Maki.

"Just take the ibuprofen," she told him, tears of frustration running down her face.

Hinawa poured out four of the tiny white pills and set the bottle aside. He tossed them into his mouth and drained the glass of water she had brought him.

"I wouldn't mind having more water," he told her.

Maki nodded her head and sniffled. She took the glass to the kitchen and refilled it; her mind raced with ways to get the stubborn lieutenant to go to a doctor.

"If he won't go, he won't go," Maki said to herself.

She took the glass of water back to his room and was surprised to see the lieutenant asleep. She pulled a chair up beside him and sat next to him for a few hours. She was shocked to feel someone stroking her hair when she woke up.

"Don't move too soon," he told her quietly. "You'll ruin it."

"How's your temperature?" she asked him.

"Nice and normal."

Maki felt his forehead; sure enough, his scorching fever had dissipated overnight after he took the ibuprofen. He had covered up with his blankets as his fever broke to keep warm.

Maki took the washcloth from his forehead and put it back into the water. He tugged at her arm, and she sat down beside him, her face next to his.

"I got to say, you did a good job," Hinawa told her.

"Not as good as you did," she replied.

"You threatened me with the doctor. I'm very impressed. If I get sick again, I'd want you as my nurse."

Maki blushed. She knew what he meant.

"I have to put clothes on. I'm embarrassing the hell out of you," Hinawa said. "But before I do…"

He leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss. Maki melted into the floor. There was no pressure to continue it, but in a way, she wanted it to last longer.

"I-I gotta go," she panted. Her hands left Hinawa's bare chest, and she ran out the door.

Hinawa chuckled as he stood up from the bed. "Guess I'll have to be more careful from now on when I do that."

a/n: the irony that I'm sick with a cold as I'm posting this.

I promised a ch. 2 tho.