Disclaimer: See chapter 1

---------------------

The hallway lights were dimmed and the clock on the wall read 12:15am as General Dr. Mitch Mattingly walked towards the nurses' desk. "Good evening ladies," he said to Mardel and Connie, the night nurses and Jean, the nursing assistant.

"Good evening General," they all said at once rising from their seats.

"Please sit, so how's it going? I haven't gotten over here for a couple of days. There've been a lot of meetings at Fort Dietrich in the aftermath of this anthrax thing," he said as he sat on one of the empty swivel chairs behind the desk. "Let's have a look at those charts."

He perused each chart of the five remaining anthrax patients, all of whom had made significant improvement since the cure had been identified. He looked at the lab work, x-ray results, vital signs and doctor's progress notes saying only the occasional "Um hmm." He finished with the charts and put the last one in the holder. "Thank you ladies, you seem to have everyone well taken care of. Good night." General Mattingly stood and walked away with the straight stiff bearing of a soldier.

------------------

"Dr. Reid, you're still awake," Connie said as she was making her rounds.

Reid put down his MP3 player. "S…sorry, was I bothering someone?"

"No, not at all. I know you don't like to take sedatives but could I interest you in a backrub? A lot of patients find it very soothing."

She had such a hopeful look on her face and he had been refusing the nurses' offerings all week. "Uh yeah, I guess that would be okay."

"Good, you lie down on your stomach and I'll get the lotion from the bathroom." Connie went to the bathroom, ran the lotion bottle under hot water as she washed her hands to get them nice and warm. She returned to the room to find Reid lying prone on the bed. She poured some lotion in her hand, rubbing her hands together to further warm the lotion.

The nurse began with soft caresses on Reid's back spreading the lotion over the whole of his back, then she began to massage deep into the tissues. She could feel the tenseness in her patient's thin physique as she kneaded the muscles causing Reid to moan with contentment. She went over each area with small and large circular movements.

Reid felt the soft hands on his back and at the nape of his neck where a ball of tension seemed to melt away. He closed his eyes as the expert hands soothed his body. He felt an "mmm" escape his lips at the ecstasy. He'd never felt anything like this in his life. The hands were soft and professional yet he felt like he tingled all over at their touch. When he could stand it no longer, he turned and reached for her, "Linda."

"What are you doing?" Connie exclaimed as she sprang back from the bed pushing against Reid as he reached out for her.

Reid was shaken from his dream world to see Connie standing back from the bed looking like he'd just attacked her. "W…what happened?" Connie could see Dr. Reid looked very confused.

"I…I was just g…giving you a back rub and you reached out and tried to grab me. You called me Linda."

The dream came flooding back. The soft hands that had been caressing him weren't Linda's but had belonged to Connie, his nurse. "I…uh, I'm so sorry. I…uh guess I fell asleep and I was dreaming." His face turned a bright scarlet and he hung his head. "Please forgive me, I never meant to be inappropriate with you. I'm so sorry."

"Th…that's okay, sometimes dreams can seem really real can't they," the pretty woman with dark blond hair and green eyes said as she reached for the lotion bottle. "I'll just put this back in the bathroom and then you can try to get some sleep." She almost ran to the bathroom it seemed to Reid, probably in an effort to get away from you, he thought as he sat there desperately trying to think of something to say.

Connie emerged from the bathroom after washing her hands and headed for the door. "Good night Dr. Reid," she said.

"Good night, and I really am sorry," Reid repeated to which Connie merely nodded and turned once again for the door.

Reid got off his bed and started pacing his room. Oh my God, how I could have done such a thing, he thought. What if Connie told all the other nurses which he was sure she would? Would they all laugh at him or would they all think he was some kind of sick pervert? Well he only had two more days here. He supposed he wouldn't be seeing much of the nurses if they thought he was some kind of horny jerk who couldn't keep his hands to himself. They wouldn't write it in his chart would they, for all the world to see. Then the worst thought of all struck him. What if they told Linda?

---------------------

Surprised to have received a summons Linda Kimura hurried along the corridor that led to General Mattingly's office and knocked on the door, entering after hearing a curt, "Come in." The general sat behind a humungous desk which seemed appropriate for a man the size of an NFL linebacker. "Ah Linda, please sit down," he said kindly, indicating the chair in front of his desk. Linda sat as she was told while the general finished writing something on a pad. He then looked up at Linda giving her his full attention.

"How are you this morning Linda?" General Mattingly smiled broadly. He had always liked Dr. Kimura and had a fatherly concern for her.

"I'm well general and you?"

"Good, very good. I was up on the ward last night checking out the anthrax patients. You've done an excellent job with them," he began.

"Thank you general."

"They all seem to be coming along, improvement in the lungs, lesions diminishing, lab work returning to normal. In fact I was wondering why Dr. Spencer Reid is still here since he's now on oral medications. He wasn't infected as badly as the earlier victims and you got the cure to him sooner than with the others. From all accounts in his chart he appears to be doing quite well and not even requiring anything for pain."

"Uh…yes, I realize that sir. I just thought it would be prudent to keep him for a couple of days after switching him to oral medications, just to make sure he's alright," Linda explained.

"Although you may think it prudent, I don't think it's entirely necessary. I doubt that the taxpayers would appreciate footing the bill for the cost of Dr. Reid taking up a bed here for a couple of extra days. You know the president is striving to bring down the cost of health care, not inflate it." General Mattingly argued.

"With all due respect…sir," Linda stated bluntly, her tone clipped, "the taxpayers should appreciate it. Dr. Reid could have gotten out of that house as fast as he got in and possibly spared himself a lot of suffering but he didn't. He put the lives of others before his own. He helped identify Chad Brown and find the cure. General, Dr. Spencer Reid was in every way a good soldier and he deserves the very best we have to offer."

"That was quite an impassioned speech Linda," the general remarked with a slight grin.

"I'm sorry general but Dr. Reid has no family here and his team who basically act as his family are away on cases. I just wanted to make sure there were no complications before I send him home alone."

"Alright Linda," General Mattingly said with a fatherly grin. "We'll do it your way. That's it for now. Keep up the good work and have a good day my dear."

"Thank you general," Linda replied as she stood and left the office.

Once the door was closed Mitch Mattingly began to chuckle to himself. He picked up the phone and punched in a number. "Frannie," he said still laughing jovially. "You might have to give up on your search for someone for Linda."