It took everything he had to let Brenner set the pace, as she gently explored his mouth with hers – her tongue lazily stroking his. She broke the connection only to nibble on his lower lip, adding fuel to the fire as Keeton strained to stay in control; taking the kiss deeper after Keeton's sharp intake of breath.

Lily's hands left Keeton only to remove her headband and the pins securing her bun at the nape of her neck, running her fingers through her now un-trapped hair. It was all very simple and efficient - something she did everyday - but right now, to Keeton it seemed incredibly sensual.

"Touch me, Ben," she begged. "Please, I need to feel your hands on me."

And with that, Keeton's control snapped. He buried his hands in Lily's hair, angling her head to take the kiss deeper. He was setting the pace now, and hoped to hell that she could keep up. His hands found their way to Lily's hips, dragging her off her chair and onto his lap, her thighs straddling him; the need to feel her against him was so strong. Lily instinctively started to rock against Keeton, his hands at her hips helping to set the pace - the friction of his hardness against her sensitive core pushing her towards something that was just out of reach. Closer, she needed to be closer.

Desperation - he was consumed by it. He never saw it coming – never knew that he could want so much. Keeton struggled for at least a tenuous grasp on control, knowing that if he didn't, things would be over as quickly as they started. As he tried to slow Lily's rocking motion against his lap, he gentled the kiss, lifting his hand to tenderly cup her neck. The woman in his arms was deserving of so much more than a quickie in the lab. She was lovely and amazing, and hot, and…hot?

Christ, she was burning up! The heat emanating from Lily's body was shocking, considering that Keeton hadn't noticed it prior to his hand touching her neck. He had been so wrapped up in getting into Lily's pants that he'd stopped being a doctor. This was basic stuff, here - Doctoring 101. He'd missed the warning signs – her flushed cheeks, glassy eyes, her out of character behaviour. Her wound hadn't been that inflamed when he was removing the teeth, had it? Keeton was disgusted with himself. He had been so distracted by the woman on his lap that he let her condition worsen – unintentionally, sure…but negligently, most definitely.

"Lily, sweetheart," he said softly, as he gently but determinedly tried to extricate himself from her grasp. No response.

He tried again. "Brenner," he said sharply, trying to snap her out of her reverie, trying to connect with the doctor inside her, "You're burning up. You've got an infection from the snakebite that's driving up your temperature. You've got a fever, Lily. We've got to get your fluids up and get some antibiotics into you." Keeton tried to reason with a still clinging Lily. Giving up the battle with reason, he shoved his hands under her bottom and scooped her into his arms, carrying her over to his quarters. He could have brought her into the ward, a more appropriate place for her, but he needed to keep her close and away from potentially prying eyes that would see too much. His room would be much more convenient to check on her throughout the night since the couch was right there.

And as he kneeled on the mattress to lay her down on the bed, Lily's eyes opened and looked unseeingly into Keeton's guilt-filled eyes. Gently removing her arms from around his neck, Keeton got to work removing most of her clothing, giving only a cursory glance at her bra and panties before bringing the thin sheet up to cover her. Backing away from the bed, his mind started to race thinking about what he'd need from the pharmacy, taking stock of any hooks on the wall he could hang IV bags from since he wasn't going to waste time running to the ward.

"Please don't leave me." Lily's small voice broke through Keeton's thoughts, but when he turned to look at the woman lying in his bed, she was asleep. He had to fight the urge to crawl into bed with her and gather her small form up against him, but right now he wasn't her lover or her boyfriend. He was her doctor, and he had work to do.

After gathering everything needed to treat his patient, including gauze and tape for her still un-bandaged arm, Keeton got to work inserting the IV into the hand of Brenner's wounded arm, since she would still be favouring it when her fever broke and less likely to yank it around. The saline and antibiotic drips started, he got to work bandaging her arm where the snake had left its' calling card. She'd definitely have a battle scar from that one, but something told him that Brenner would downplay the courage she'd displayed today and look at her scar more as a flaw – not enough of a flaw to let Fuller try to correct it, but more of a reminder of her imperfections.

Taking her temperature to establish a baseline…103.6…concerning, but not alarmingly high, Keeton dragged a chair over to the bed. It wasn't like he was going to sleep much anyway. He poured himself a scotch and positioned the chair so that it faced Brenner's profile. Sitting down and propping his feet up on the bed by her legs, he stared at his patient and thought back to how his day had started and how the beautiful, defiant woman from this morning seemed so far away from the fragile, china-doll beauty sleeping in the bed in front of him. Her vulnerability as evidenced by her plea, "Please don't leave me," cut right through him, as he remembered saying those same words to a different woman 5 long years ago.

Reaching over to brush a stray lock of hair away from her face, Keeton answered, "I'm right here," to Lily's sleeping form. His attention focused on his patient, he never even noticed the redheaded woman standing in the doorway, nor the moisture that threatened to escape her tear-filled eyes, before she quietly turned and walked away.