Chapter Five

Lee hadn't slept in two days. It reminded him a little of when the Cylons had attacked them for about five days straight, every 33 minutes. His eyes were held open by sheer Adama will as he helped Salik administer to the ill, climbing in number by the hour. Boiled water was being sent by the gallons to the crew and other ships in the fleet but the desperate demand outweighed the production time for the supply. It was a relief that the virus could be killed by boiling water, but for those already infected. An antidote was needed and fast.

The death toll had reached one thousand people as of ten minutes ago.

Salik dragged herself from bed to bed, ashen faced and clammy. Exhaustion oozed from her every pore. Lee watched her as she wiped the blood that had begun to seep from her mouth and then pulled a sheet over another dead patient. She lowered her head and her body shook with silent sobs.

"I can't do this anymore...I can't..." she whispered mournfully. Lee raised his hand and rested it on her shoulder, offering comfort. She turned into him and pressed her face into his chest. "We need another doctor, fast. I'm not...I won't..." She hiccuped while Lee held her until she stopped shaking.

A small voice in the back of his head warned against being so close to the obviously dying woman but he bitterly laughed the warning aside. He'd been here since day one and until today, had shown no symptoms. What did it matter at this point? A hug could do no more damage than might already be working inside his body.

"You have to pay attention, Captain. You have to watch me in case they can't get another doctor to come." Dr Salik insisted as she stiffened her shoulders and moved on to the next patient to offer whatever small bit of treatment she had in her arsenal against this viscious virus.

The only alcohol left was Chief Tyrol's homemade hootch and Tigh's no-longer-secret stash of ambrosia. All of which was running dangerously low. Thank the Gods for the boiling water, Lee thought again.

He sat with Jessica whenever he could. Her fever was dangerously high now and Lee marvelled at the fact that as one of the first to be infected, she was still alive. The voice in the back of his head liked to taunt him about that too. Maybe she's a Cylon. No, Lee thought stubbornly. They had run tests. He refused to even consider the possibility. No.

Please, no. Lee prayed weakly as he stroked Jessica's clammy cheek. He wouldn't feel what he felt if she was a machine. Lee would know somehow, wouldn't he? Like the Chief knew? Lee shook his head vehemently. He was just tired and his subconscious was having a field day with him. The Cylons had hurt her. Tortured her. Killed her parents. They wouldn't have done that if she was one of them.

"Momma...no...leave...no! Please!" Jessica cried out, eyes clenched tight.

"Jess, shh...It's okay." Lee whispered, trying to soothe her out of the grip of her nightmare like he had done so many times before.

"Leave her alone! I did it. I did it! Please, don't hurt her anymore! Mommy!" Jessica twisted and screamed on the fever soaked bed and Lee leaned down at tried to gather her against him but she was hooked up to too many tubes so he could only cradle her head against his chest.

"It's Lee, Jess. Listen to my voice. Do you hear me? Hear my voice, sweetheart." He stroked her sweat dampened hair. Her skin felt scalding to touch.

"Lee?" She asked, her voice broken and small. "Oh I'm sorry. So sorry. All my fault. I don't wanna leave you. I don't wanna leave." Jessica wailed, sobbing hoarsely.

His arms around her tightened. "Well that's good cause I'm not letting you go. I love you. Do hear that Jessie? I love you and you're gonna have to get better so you can force me to say it again." Lee said looking down at her. Her eyes were still closed and Lee wondered if she had actually heard him because the next thing she did was start to cry again.

"There's nothing to forgive, Lee. I wished you'd killed him. I wished it had been you."

Lee jumped, startled. Killed who? Was Jessica having visions or were they just fever ravaged dreams?

He turned back to the bowl of clean ice water and dipped a new cloth in it. When he pressed it against Jessica's face, she sighed and arched against him. A look of almost orgasmic bliss on her face.

"Oh Lee...that feels nice. I love you...so much," she sighed.

Lee allowed himself to be warmed by her words. It was okay here because she was so out of it. She expected nothing.

"Then you get better. You get better for me, Jess." Lee demanded, kissing her hair.

"Shhh, Lee. They'll hear." She sighed with a small giggle. "Oh...that's...oh." Then her eyes screwed up again and she was crying. "You're alive...I knew it...I knew...Oh Gods..." Her fingers were digging into his arms with surprising force considering her weakened state.

"Yes, I'm alive, Jess. Wake up and see me. Look at me." Lee pleaded, easing the damp cloth past her gown along her shoulders.

Then she went slack in his arms and for a panicked second, Lee assumed the worst and felt his own heart stop in his chest. But the monitor still counted out her heartbeats and Lee hung on to that sound like it was the sweetest music in the world.

Jessica didn't speak at all the next day. The day after that, she stopped breathing and Salik had to put her on a respirator.

He was sleeping curled up on the floor when the phone woke him and he groggily reached for it wondering why Salik had let it just go on ringing. Then Lee figured she was in one of the other quarantine rooms until he saw her sitting next to one of the patients, her eyes closed. Poor thing, Lee though sympathetically. He'd try and be quiet as he spoke.

"Captain Adama here." He answered, his voice low.

"Captain this is Dr Baltar. I think I've created an antidote for the virus!" Baltar exclaimed excitedly.

If the weasely doctor had been standing before him, Lee would have kissed the man. Relief nearly brought him to his knees and Lee grabbed the wall to keep his legs from buckling.

"Are you sure?" Lee asked, tears burning his eyes.

"I've tested a few small samples against the virus and in all cases the virus was completely eradicated."

"Okay, lets start mass production on this, doctor."

"Well, actually, I was hoping to talk to Dr Salik first. You see I'm not quite sure on what the side effects would be so I'd need a test patient."

Lee's eyes automatically went to Jessica. He discarded the idea immediately. He wasn't sure if the cure would be worse than the virus in the long term yet so he didn't want to take any chances with her.

"Give me a few minutes and I'll get back to you." Lee said rubbing his hand over his face but he couldn't seem to remove the film of utter exhaustion that covered every inch of him.

After hanging up, he leaned against the wall and smiled, feeling tears glisten in his eyes. "Thank the Gods," Lee whispered. He grinned when he crouched down in front of Salik to tell her the news.

"Hey Doc, wake up. We're gonna pull out of this thing. Dr Freakweasel thinks he's found a cure."

Salik remained still. Lee shook her by the arm slightly.

"Doc, rise and shine. You have pick a--" He stopped when he felt her icy skin. Lee's eyes widened and he moved his fingers to her wrist. He leapt back, falling on his butt to the floor as icy realization seeped into his skin to make him shudder. "Oh Gods." He moaned, sadness welling up in his chest.

Dr Salik was gone.

Hot tears of frustration, relief, exhaustion, panic, grief and joy filled his eyes and Lee finally let them fall.

A.N:

Lady Rheena: Thankie! I'm glad you're enjoying the little detour from the BSG show plotline. I had started this series before Doc Cottle came on the show so I needed a way to bring him on and I wanted a way for Lee to be able to discover how much he loved Jess and advance their relationship a little more. I wanted to paint Baltar in a more positive light for a little while. I'm really looking forward to writing how they get Doc Cottle on the Galactica. It'll be interesting!

Mae: Hope you like this chapter!

Professor Simms: Thankie muchly! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Babaksmiles: Thankie for your always entertaining feedback! (laughs) We're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now. As for your question, nope, Doral didn't mean the virus. (evil smile) I'm not sure if I can answer your second question without giving anything away. I'll just say that the Cylons are not as unified as they look and if you wanna know more, feel free to e-mail me.

dark finder: I see what you mean. In this one, Doral snuck in as part of the press during one of Rosilin's conferences. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Cisco: That's pretty much what I patterned it after. An insanely fast moving, contagious version of Aids. Hope you like this chapter too!

Sweet A.K: Thankie for your feedback! (huggies) For answers, see above chapter. (laughs) I enjoy Styles, but not in the same way I enjoy my Archie. Horry makes a nice dessert and I can definitely see him as white chocolate with raspberry… and now I'm hungry. Hope you enjoy this chapter!