Chapter 15

Ted and Cody were already in the room, but Randy, Taker and Edge were nowhere to be seen.

"Where's everybody else?" Shawn asked.

"Randy went to go pick up the food from the clerk's office. The delivery guy left it there. I don't know where the other two of them are," John answered.

"Mark was taking a shower," Kat said. "He'll probably come when he's done. That just leaves Goldilocks."

As if on cue, Edge opened the door. "Damn rain," he mumbled, stepping in.

"Well hello to you too sunshine," John said with a grin.

"Where's Randy and Taker?" Edge asked looking around.

"Getting the food and taking a shower, in that order," John answered.

A minute later the door opened again, and Randy walked in holding two bags of Chinese food.

"Well I got the food. It might be a little soggy. The delivery guy came on a bike," he added, putting the bags down on the table.

"In this rain?" John asked. "That guy must be nuts."

"No kidding," Randy said. "He looked like he had fallen into a lake." He looked at Kat and mischief crossed his face. "Or a pond."

Kat stuck her tongue out at him. "Stuff it," she said.

"You'd better be nice," Randy said. "Or else."

"Or else what?" she asked daringly.

"Or else no dinner for you," he said wickedly gesturing to the food.

"One of you will share with me, won't you?" she asked turning to the other guys. "If he doesn't give me any?"

Cody looked at her. "That depends."

"On what?" she asked.

"On whether or not Randy threatens to punt us."

Randy grinned at this comment. Kat turned back to him.

"I'm not scared of you," she said.

"No?" he asked stepping toward her.

Instead of stepping back, Kat stepped forward. "No."

He raised an eyebrow and looked at the rest of the guys. "She's got more guts than some of you," he said with a laugh. He handed her a container of food. "You earned your dinner," he said.

She took it from him and laughed. "You're too much."

He handed out the rest of the containers, and everyone started eating. Twenty minutes went by, and Taker still hadn't shown up.

"I wonder what's holding him up," Shawn said.

Kat shook her head. "I thought he was just taking a shower. Maybe he doesn't feel well?"

"Maybe one of us should go check on him," John said.

"He can take care of himself. Besides, if he doesn't feel good, the last thing he wants is one of us bothering him," Randy said.

"That's true," Shawn said."No need to be annoying."

"You're like the king of being annoying Shawn," Randy said. "Especially to Taker."

Shawn laughed. "I know. But it isn't any fun annoying a sick person. They're not really themselves. But you're one to talk about being annoying, Mr. Pranks-A Lot."

Randy grinned. "Be nice, or you might be next."

"Oh God," Shawn groaned. "I'm still recovering from the last one."

Randy laughed. "Then be nice."

Kat looked at Randy. "What did you do to him?"

"It wasn't just him," Ted said. "He got me too." He shot Randy a look. "Me and Shawn went hunting together once. Before we left I asked Randy to fill the truck up with gas. The gage wasn't working, so I had no idea how much gas was in it. Randy comes back and says it's all good. Me and Shawn went hunting, no problem."

"But on the way back, the truck ran out of gas," Shawn said. "Me and Ted were in the middle of nowhere. We waited in the truck for four hours before Randy finally came to find us."

"We were freezing our asses off," Ted said. "Both of us got sick afterward. Shawn was sneezing for two weeks."

"Aww," Kat said sympathetically. "That wasn't very nice of you Randy," she said turning to him.

He shrugged and grinned in response. "That's why you don't mess with The Viper."

Kat rolled her eyes. "I'll keep that in mind."

All of a sudden, there was a loud beeping sound from the corner of the room. Everyone jumped.

"Jesus Christ John, do you have to keep the volume on that thing up so loud?" Randy said.

"Sorry, sorry," John said standing up to get his cell phone. He quickly read the message. "It's a weather alert. Apparently we're in for some lightning and hail in the next half hour."

"Hail?" Cody asked. "You've gotta be kidding."

"Wish I was, but that's what it says." John shrugged. "I guess we should finish up and you guys should go back to your rooms. I don't think anybody needs to get hit by lightning trying to walk to their room."

"I always thought lightning was pretty," Kat said. "I just never liked the thunder."

Edge looked at her. "You wanna step outside to view it more clearly?" he asked playfully.

"You first," she said. "Lightning is attracted to tall things. You'd get hit before me."

"Alright you two. Let's all get out of here," Shawn said. The rest of the guys cleaned up quickly. Cody and Ted left first. It was still pouring outside and there were a few bits of hail starting to fall.

"This is the strangest weather I've ever seen," Ted said. "It was so warm out before." He and Cody quickly got to their room and closed the door.

Shawn stood. "Alright let's go." He looked at Kat.

"Are you going back to Taker's room?" he asked.

She nodded in response. She picked up a bag with an extra container of food. "I'll take some for him. Maybe he just fell asleep."

"I'm coming with you. I wanna make sure he's alright," Shawn said.

Edge peeked out the window. "You might wanna get a move on then. I think I just saw a flash of lightning."

Edge, Shawn and Kat made for the door. Edge made it to his room and dropped down on the bed. He picked up his book and started to read.

Shawn and Kat had gotten to Taker's room. When they got in Kat put the food on the dresser. They saw Taker laying on the bed. He looked like he was asleep.

"He's sleeping doll," Shawn said. "We should leave him."

Kat's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute." She stepped over to Mark. He was asleep, but his skin looked pale and feverish. "Shawn, I think he's sick."

Shawn quickly came closer and looked at Taker. "I think you might be right. He looks like I did before. Food poisoning?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"I'm going to go get that medicine, just in case. I'll be right back." Shawn left the room and headed toward his own.

Kat climbed onto the bed and crawled next to Mark. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Mark?"

When he didn't answer, she shook his shoulder lightly.

He groaned as his eyes opened. He blinked a few times and then his eyes focused on her.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You don't look so good."

"I don't know. I was fine, but then I felt sick all of a sudden. I must've fallen asleep." He tried to get up but Kat pushed him back down.

"Stay where you are. Shawn went to get the medicine."

"I was just going to get some water," he said. "My throat feels dry."

"I'll get it. Stay where you are. If you do have food poisoning, which I'm guessing you might, you could get dizzy and faint. And there's no way in hell I could help you up." She went into the bathroom and filled a glass with water. She gave it to him and stood looking at him. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Shawn came back in.

"Well look who's alive and kicking," he said looking at Taker.

Taker laughed dryly. Shawn handed the medicine to Kat. She placed it down on the nightstand and looked at Mark again. She wanted to make sure that he looked like he had food poisoning. She didn't want to give him medicine for the wrong thing.

She stepped over and looked at him closely. His eyes weren't clear. They looked glazed, just like Shawn's had been. "How do you feel?" she asked him.

He sat up and leaned back on the headboard. He took a sip of water and then placed the glass on the nightstand. "Not so good. My stomach is in knots."

Shawn grimaced. "That's how it started with me." Just then a rumble of thunder could be heard. "Oh man. The storm is getting worse," Shawn said.

"Why don't you go back to your room before you get stuck in here?" Kat said. "I can deal with him."

Shawn looked from her to Taker. "I don't know. He's a hard ass sometimes."

"I'm right here you know," Taker said.

Shawn grinned. "No offense Deadman, but you can be a real pain in the ass, especially when you don't feel good."

Taker rested his head back. "I'll be fine."

"If you say so," Shawn said. "I'll go then. I don't wanna get stuck in here all night. We'd be a tight squeeze." He turned to Kat. "Call me if anything. If his phone doesn't work, use the room phone and ask the clerk to call me."

Kat nodded. "Okay."

Shawn pulled up the hood on his jacket and headed outside. Kat quickly shut the door. The wind had really picked up, and it was blowing rain under the overhang toward the door.

She turned back to Mark. "I'm going to give you some of the medicine." She gave him a spoonful of the liquid medicine and then put it down. She picked up the pill bottle and read the label. "Hmmm you're supposed to take two if you have a fever, but only one if you don't. Do you?"

Mark shrugged. "I don't really know. I feel a little cold actually."

Kat tilted her head in thought. "You don't have chills do you?" He shook his head no. "Get under the blanket," she said.

"Yes nurse," he said wryly.

She shook her head. "Just do it before I start acting like Nurse Ratched."

Taker shook his head with a laugh. "I'm terrified."

"You're a real smartass for someone who's sick."

"I'm pretty good at covering it up."

"We'll see how that goes when it hits you full force like it got Shawn." She picked up the bottle and sat next to him on the bed. "Now do you have a fever or don't you?"

Mark opened his mouth to reply but suddenly grimaced. Kat raised an eyebrow. "Stomach cramp?"

He nodded. "I'm starting to feel like I did before I fell asleep."

She leaned close to him and put her hand against his forehead. He flinched. "Your hand is like ice," he said.

"Sorry," she said, taking her hand away. "Let's try again." She leaned close to him and kissed his forehead like she had done to Shawn. She frowned. "You don't have a fever," she said. "But your skin feels a little clammy." She handed him one of the pills and the water.

"The medicine should take about twenty minutes to start working. Why don't you try to go back to sleep?"

"My stomach is in a vise grip. I don't think I can sleep."

She nodded. She looked at him and then smiled. He looked at her questioningly.

"Shawn was wrong. You're not such a terrible patient."

"It's hard to be terrible when you're at another person's mercy," he said with a half smile.

"Shawn seems to think you're a real pain in the ass," she said with a laugh.

"That's because I am…to Shawn. He always seems to get stuck around me when I'm sick. It's hard to be nice when you're sick and around someone that's always so cheerful. I guess I make things difficult for him."

"And why aren't you being difficult with me?"

"You're not Shawn. You're not driving me crazy." He paused. "That and the Nurse Ratched threat," he added with a half smile.

Kat grinned. "Don't worry Mark. I'll be nice."

"That's good," he said settling down under the blanket. "Shawn was right. You're a pretty decent little nurse."

"I probably should have mentioned that my dad is a doctor."

"That explains a lot," Mark said. He yawned suddenly. "Is that stuff supposed to make me fall asleep?" he asked.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "You'll be out cold in about ten minutes, and completely at my mercy."

"I've suddenly got a bad feeling," he said.

She laughed. "I'm just joking, relax. I'm not going to do anything to you. Go to sleep," she said. "I'm going to go get a soda from the clerk's office."

He yawned again. "Christ, did you double up the dose on me? My eyes feel so heavy."

"Then close them. I'll be back, not that I think you'll be awake to notice." She smiled. A minute later he was fast asleep. Kat stood up and put the room key back in her pocket. She picked up her wallet and pulled some dollar bills out. She was going to get a soda for herself and ginger ale for Mark if they had it in the vending machine.

She pulled her hood up and stepped outside. The rain was still coming down in buckets and now that it was night, the sky was pitch black save for when it was lit by a bolt of lightning. Kat ran to the clerk's office and stepped inside.

"Terrible out there isn't it?" the clerk asked her.

She nodded. "This weather is crazy." She stepped over to the vending machine.

"You're sharing a room with Mr. Calaway aren't you?" he asked.

Kat nodded. "Yea. That's kind of why I came in here. Do you have ginger ale by any chance? It's not marked on the machine."

"I might have some in the back. You sick?"

She shook her head no. "Mr. Calaway is."

The clerk nodded. "I'll go check." He disappeared into a back room, leaving Kat alone. She bought herself a soda from the machine and took a sip of it. She walked over to the clerk's desk. He had a nameplate on it. If it says Bates I'm heading for the hills, she thought with a laugh. She picked it up. "E. Danner," she read.

"The E's for Edward," he said coming out of the back room. "Most people call me Ed though."

Kat jumped slightly. She hadn't noticed him come back. "Oh. I'm Kat," she said.

"I know," he said.

"You do?"

"I heard those guys talking about a girl named Kat. Figured it must be you," he said quickly. Too quickly, Kat thought to herself.

"Ohhh."

He handed her the ginger ale. "Here you go. Maybe this'll make him feel better. You know, you and Mr. Calaway don't look like a couple."

"That's because we're not," Kat said. "I'm just sharing the room with him."

"I see," he said, his eyes glinting. "So you're not with him."

"No," she answered slowly. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "Just curious. I figured since you were sharing a room with him, you two must be together."

"Oh. Well I'd better get back to the room…"

"Of course," he said. "Come by and talk to me again if you're not busy," he added with a smile that gave Kat chills.

Kat nodded and gave him a half smile. She quickly headed back outside and started toward Mark's room. That was definitely creepy, she thought to herself. She turned a corner and went right into Edge.

"Whoa!" she said.

"Sorry, I didn't think anybody else would be wandering out in this," he said. "Is Taker alright?"

"He's got food poisoning like Shawn had. He's asleep right now though."

"Come to my room then. You don't wanna bother him. Let him sleep for a while," Edge said.

Kat followed him to his room and went inside. She put her soda and the ginger ale on the table.

"I'm actually glad I ran into you," she said shaking her head and sitting down.

"Yea? Why's that?" he asked sitting opposite her at the table.

"I went into the clerk's office and oh man. I gotta say that guy is really starting to freak me the hell out."

"No kidding," Edge said with a laugh. "He freaks all of us out."

"I'm serious. I introduced myself, and he already knew my name. How creepy is that?" she said shaking her head.

Edge looked at her with raised eyebrows. "You're kidding?"

"I wish. He told me to come back to talk to him if I wasn't busy. He was even asking me if me and Mark were a couple."

Edge laughed. "What did you tell him?"

"I said no."

He shook his head. "You should have said yes. Then he would leave you alone. Now he's gonna think you're single and available," he said with a laugh.

"I am single and available," Kat said. "Just not to him. There's something about that guy that creeps me out."

"I'm gonna make a bet with you that he finds some way to talk to you again."

Kat frowned. "Let's hope not."

"Why were you in there anyway?"

"I wanted a soda, and I wanted to get ginger ale for Mark. Me and my bright ideas."

He shook his head. "You should have made one of us go with you. Bet he wouldn't have said anything."

"I didn't think I needed anyone to come with me. How was I supposed to know he was stalkerish creepy?"

"Umm maybe since he looks like a serial killer?" Edge asked.

Kat laughed. "You've got me there."

"Don't worry, if he starts bothering you, one of us will pretend to be your boyfriend or something. I'll spear him if you want," he said with a grin.

She smiled. "That's okay. I don't think you need to spear him. I might have to take you up on that other part if I run into him again though."

"I'll be happy to play the role of protective boyfriend," he said with a smirk.

Kat rolled her eyes and laughed. "Of course."

"So you don't have an actual boyfriend?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Hmm interesting."

She looked at him. "Why is that interesting?"

"Oh, no reason." He looked at her mischievously. "So if I pretend to be your boyfriend, and I scare him off, what do I get out of it?"

"You get the satisfaction of knowing that you helped someone," she said with a grin.

He laughed. He sat there for a minute and then a thought occurred to him. "You know, I ran into you and I forgot the reason I went out in the rain in the first place. I was going to get myself something to drink."

"You're going to the office?"

Edge thought to himself for a minute. "I'm not. You are."

"I'm what?" she asked incredulously. "No way. I'm not going in there with that guy again."

"Hear me out. We'll kill two birds with one stone. You go in and get another soda. Creepy'll strike up a conversation with you again, I'm sure. Then I'll come in, ask what was keeping you, blah blah, and pretend to be your boyfriend. He'll get the message, and he won't bother you."

Kat thought it over. "You know, that's actually not a bad plan Goldilocks. That just might work."

"See," he said. "I'm not a total idiot."

Kat smirked. "Not total, just mostly."

"Be nice or I'll tell the clerk that you like him," he said teasingly.

"Oh God no. I'll be nice."

"Alright then. Come on, let's go."

.

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Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! I totally love when you guys make predictions, especially since some of you seem to be reading my mind ;-) This is going to be my last post until after Christmas, so hang in there. (merry xmas to those of you that celebrate btw) The next chapter should be up by Monday at the latest. =) Don't forget to review!