Contagious

Mike had given up on standing after about 15 minutes of it, after that he had opted for the chair next to her bed. He knew that Doctor Williamson didn't really want him in the room for long but he sure as hell wasn't going to volunteer to leave. Somebody would have to come and fetch him because that would be what it'd take to get him to leave her side right now.

Hiis own rashes had all but faded, it itched in small places but all he had to do was dab on some Calamine Lotion and he was okay but when he looked at her rashes and the IV tube attached to her arm all he could think of was that he had somehow got lucky and it had been him who had been cocky in the first place.

Was it really meant to be this hard? The only thing Mike knew at this point was that John, Eric and Bobby had been right and that she wouldn't blame him but that didn't stop him from blaming himself. He had told her that it was his instinct to protect and here he was doing the opposite to that.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, he just kept watching or at least that's what he thought he was doing but when he began to feel something on his hand he had this feeling of darkness around him...

He had actually fallen to sleep, his head on her bed near her waist, still holding her hand. But her hand was now moving and holding his as well. Mike lifted his head up and noticed that she was concious. "Alex?" he croaked, his vioce still asleep, which surprised him because he hadn't really known he was asleep. Alex didn't respond verbally, she just moved her hand to touch his head and nodded hers. Mike sat up a little more and moved to get closer to her face, taking in her pained expression.

Her breathing didn't seem so calm anymore as she took in where she was and the worried look on Mike's face. "Whe..." She tried to speak but she couldn't. But with determination she managed to say something. "What's... going on?"

"You're in hospital after you collapsed in Deakins office. You remember?" Mike explained to her as calmly as he could without showing his own emotions. His weren't important.

Alex slowly shook her head. "Why?" she said, her voice almost a whisper.

"Poison Ivy." Mike told her, unable to hide the guilt in his voice, "And the flu." he added after a beat.

Looking at him she smiled, "That explains why I feel like crap." she said, her voice had gained some strength and she'd managed to say that sentence without resorting to whispers or croaking. Mike laughed.

"Yeah, you got the double whammy." he told her with a smile, thankful that she seemed to be okay. They looked at each other and he could see that she looked tired and he wondered briefly if he'd been the one to wake her up. Another fault to add to his list.

His guilt must have been written all over his face because Alex lifted up a hand and lightly touched his cheek. "Stop blaming yourself."

He looked at her and he shouldn't have been surprised that she said it, everyone had told him as much, but he still was. "Yeah, that's what your Dad said."

Alex smiled, "He's smart you know." she said it with a hint of sarcasm so that Mike couldn't tell if it was right or not. "You should listen to him." Mike didn't answer he just gave her a small, apologetic smile. "Look, don't make me hit you." She said, trying to be aggressive but with her voice was too hoarse for it to come out right. "You didn't give me the flu did you?"

Mike shook his head, "No, but..."

"No 'buts'! It is the flu season." Mike didn't want to argue with her so he nodded, showing his agreement as best as he could. She looked at him for a moment and realised she wasn't going to get through to him right now, so she'd have to wait till she was out of hospital. "How come you're still here?"

Mike was taken back by the sudden change in topic. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Alex looked at him, her eyes drooping as she was fighting sleep. "You hate hospitals." She laughed and so did he.

Mike nodded, "Yeah, but you're still here." Alex smiled, remembering what he'd said about the only good thing inside a hospital. She looked at him and he could see that she was almost asleep again, he kissed her cheek and smiled at her.

When he noticed she was trying to stay awake he just said, "Don't." she looked at him with curiosity through sleepy eyes. "You go to sleep." She smiled again, "Even though I hate this place, I'll still be here."

She seemed to fall to sleep quickly as soon as the 'permission' had been given. Mike watched her for a moment but decided that he should leave her to sleep so that he didn't wake her again. Besides he had to find out if everyone else was still actually in that waiting room.

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Walking into the waiting room Mike could see that Deakins and Carolyn had left but Bobby, John and Eric had stayed. "Hey." He offered as greeting to the three of them as he sat down on the chair he had been occupying before he went to see Alex.

"How is she?" Bobby asked, concerned. "You've been gone a long time."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." Mike replied, not telling them why because they didn't need to know he'd fallen to sleep. "She woke up just a few minutes ago but she's asleep again."

"She woke up?" John asked, and Mike nodded. "How was she?"

"A little disorientated." Mike replied.

"What did she say?" Eric asked, curious.

Mike let out a short but quiet laugh. "That it wasn't my fault." John and Bobby smiled, only imagining how she must have said it. Mike leaned back into his chair and tried to ignore the smug look on Eric's face.

"Be careful, Mike." John warned him. "Eric's one of those 'I told you so' people."

"I am not." Eric complained, giving his father a stern look. Bobby looked at Mike and they shared an amused look. Eric shook his head and after a few beats he looked at Mike and said, "We told you so." Eric then grinned at John, who shook his head, amused at his son's antics.

"So, uh, where did Deakins and Barek go?" Mike asked, looking at the seats that they had been sitting in.

"Jimmy got called back to the office and he gave your partner a lift back." John replied.

"Jeffries hit a break in the case that he's been working." Bobby explained to Mike. Mike nodded as John slowly stood up.

"I'm just going out to make a call. I'll be back." He told them as he headed for the door.

"Dad, you don't have to stay." Eric told him, although he knew it was futile. "Mom's probably worried."

"That's who I'm calling." was the only response Eric recieved as John stepped out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Eric shrugged at Bobby and Mike when they looked at him, amused. "You don't have to stay either." Mike told him and then he looked at Bobby, about to say the same thing but that would definitely be a waste of time. Bobby didn't look like he was moving for anyone. That's what happens when you're partner of 5 years ends up in hospital, you stay until they leave with you. So instead Mike turned back to Eric.

"No, I'll stay." He said it with such resolve that neither men argued with that. Besides why would they, Eric was her brother and they were, as Alex had described, close friends being the two youngest of a large family. After a few moment's of silence Eric said, "So they're only keeping her for one night? That's gotta be good, right?"

"Yes, it's just for observation to see how she responds to the treatment." Bobby replied.

"Trust Alex to be greedy and have the flu and poison ivy." Eric said, joking because clearly Alex isn't a greedy person by nature.

"So you're saying she's trying to out-do me?" Mike asked, sarcastically. Raising an eyebrow and looking at Eric, showing amusement.

"Probably." Eric replied with a laugh, "She always did like to be in first place." Eric was about to tell them about a past event when Alex lost a sparring match on their back yard when the door opened and John returned. "What did Mom say?"

"She said she'd told everyone and I've got about billion messages to give Alex when I speak to her because they can't get anyone to babysit." He told him as he sat down next to Eric. "I said I'd be home soon."

"So you're going?" Mike asked, curious. John nodded, although it didn't look like he was leaving right now since he was getting comfortable in his seat. Mike looked at Eric, "Who's looking after your kids?"

Eric spluttered, "Kids?" Mike eyed him suspiciously and then realised that perhaps Eric was the wrong brother, Mike had lost track of whose children were whose. Eric laughed, "No, I'm the one who doesn't have kids." He looked at them and held up two fingers, "I do two things; beer and women." He looked at their amused faces. "And not necessarily in that order." Mike laughed, nodding. He could fully appreciate that.

"So, you're a ladies man." Bobby said, looking at Eric as he had that happy look on his face, telling Bobby that that was clearly how Eric saw himself.

John started chuckling, "At least he turned out better than what we thought." he said, causing Mike and Bobby to both raise their eyebrows in extreme curiosity, especially since Eric looked ready to kill his father. "We all thought he was gay."

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John had gone home a little while later (because his wife would need help) and the other three had stayed throughout the whole night. Bobby had been the only one who'd managed to stay awake for most of the night, watching as Eric and Mike both kept falling to sleep, waking up and falling to sleep. Bobby wasn't sure if it was because they were uncomfortable or if it was because they were worried they'd miss out on some news about Alex. Bobby had gone to check on her whilst they had slept and all he'd found was that she was sound asleep, resting comfortably. He hoped that she'd be alright soon because he needed his partner back and Mike seriously needed someone to kick his ass for blaming himself.

It was now morning, and there was now natural light seeping in through the cracks of the blinds that had been drawn last night. Mike had both his legs up on the arm of his chair, and was almost sleeping on his side whilst Eric seemed to slipping further and further into his chair, his legs almost reaching the centre of the room. Bobby had found some interesting books to read and had spent a lot of time reading them, they were now piled next to him as he rested his eyes for a moment without closing them.

Bobby could see that Mike and Eric were beginning to stir and wake up. Eric pulled himself up as Mike began to stretch, unceremoniously. Mike looked at Bobby, who offered a small smile, "What time is it?" Mike asked, yawning.

"A little after 8." Bobby replied.

Eric looked at them both, stretching his muscles as well. "I feel like we've been here for hours!"

Bobby and Mike looked at him, amused. "We have." Bobby told him.

"Oh, well, that explains it." Eric replied, after he finished stretching. "Anyone want a coffee?" he asked, standing up, hoping his legs wouldn't let him down. They both nodded enthusiastically, both desperately needing the caffeine to wake them up. Eric laughed a little and left the room.

"You really think they'll let her out today?" Mike asked Bobby.

Bobby shrugged, "It will depend on her, I think." he replied, "If she's improved."

Mike nodded and then jokingly added, "I hope so because I've got a stiff neck."

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A couple of hours later the three of them were finally allowed to see Alex together instead of just one at a time. When they walked into the room they were surprised to see that Alex was sitting up in bed, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other. "Hi." she said, greeting. "Please tell me you're all here to take me home?" She sounded desperate.

Eric laughed, "Yeah, that's the plan." he told her, "All we need you to do is hide in the laundry basket and we'll all pretend to be cleaners!" They all laughed and Alex rolled her eyes at him. Mike walked over to her and kissed her cheek.

She looked at him and smiled before turning to them all and saying, "You guys look worse than me! What have you been doing?"

"Sleeping." Eric replied, simply, which confused Alex more. She looked at Bobby, who shrugged, it was true.

"Get this, hospital chairs aren't comfortable." Mike said, with sarcasm.

Alex looked at him and then at Eric and Bobby, "You guys stayed here? All night?" They all nodded and Alex smiled. "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course we did." Bobby told her sincerely.

"How else would the hospital breakout plan work?" Eric asked, laughing. "We need to be here to pull it off." Alex laughed at her brother as Dr Williamson walked into the room.

"There will be no hospital breakouts." he said with good humor. He walked over to Alex and Mike stepped out of the way, "There's no need for it anyway. I've checked with the staff nurse and we're in agreement that you're free to go home." Alex tried to stop herself from shouting out 'YES'. "But I want you on bed rest." He looked at the three men, "Please make sure she does as I've told her and stays in bed for at least 2 days."

"I'll make sure of that." Mike said, looking at Alex, who once again rolled her eyes.

Williamson nodded and looked back at Alex, "I'm prescribing some anti-biotics since you've responded brilliantly to them and I want you to complete the course." Alex nodded, there was no way she was going to argue with him. She was just happy to be going home. She looked at the guys, who were smiling as well, clearly they were happy to be going home too and she couldn't blame them. But something about them staying all night seemed to make her feel loved and she liked that feeling, although she wasn't going to admit it to anyone.

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TBC

What do you think so far?

I've actually got a question. What parts of this series do you like the most? The serious romance stuff? The angst? Or others? Please review. :)