Almost as soon as Chell was in the elevator, she passed out, which didn't surprise GLaDOS in the slightest. She had barely even expected her to make it to Aperture. An orange portal appeared above an infirmary bed, and a blue one under Chell, rather unceremoniously dumping her onto the bed. She didn't even stir.

It would not take long to rid that woman's body of the Aperture Science Brand Repulsion Gel poisoning. A cure had been discovered long ago. However, it would take some time for her bones to regain their normal density, some time for her to heal enough for testing, meaning that she would require someone to "nurse" her while she healed.

And GLaDOS knew just the person.

Chell was not the only one who had benefitted from Caroline's bursts of kindness. No matter how much GLaDOS had tried to remind herself of what that little idiot had done to her facility after Caroline had convinced her to let Chell go, she couldn't seem to stop thinking about him all alone in space. Well, not alone. With the Space Core, which was even worse. It had made Caroline feel terrible for him, so GLaDOS had activated his homing signal and brought him back to Aperture. The Space Core, she had left where he was.

As soon as GLaDOS had learned to suppress Caroline, she had felt repulsed about the whole business, but it wasn't like she could just fling him back into space again. Besides, the apologies and groveling he kept directing towards her were quite amusing, so she refrained from crushing him and instead set him to doing the worst possible jobs she could think up, further serving to amuse her.

She sent instructions to the Intelligence Dampening Sphere informing him that he was to report to the infirmary immediately, then watched through a camera as he scampered off, eager to please. Inwardly, she smirked, imagining how angry Chell would be when she saw him. He would not help her to escape this time, not knowing the consequences that would await him, and would instead cower in fear while he received the verbal bludgeoning that was sure to come.

Yes, he truly was an excellent source of entertainment. Almost as good as testing.

Attached to his management rail once more, Wheatley scurried into the infirmary, sounding chipper as usual. "Hello? Is anyone in here? I was sent to—oh." He stared at the woman that was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. "Oh, no. I thought that— " His voice trailed off as he continued to stare, not sure what to do. As if on cue, Chell's eyes flickered open, and they gazed around the room before locking on him.

"You."

Eyes blazing, she struggled to sit up, and he backed away, looking frightened.

"I, I, I, uh, well, this is somewhat awkward, but I can assure you that I am not here to kill you. Not in the slightest. In fact, I am actually here to, uh, assist your recovery and ensure that—"

"Oh, shut up," Chell groaned, flopping backwards onto the bed.

"Right!" Wheatley said. "Of course. Right away, in fact. Although I would still like to assure you that—"

"Shut up. Please. No, actually, don't. Tell me why I can't sit up."

"Well," Wheatley said, looking more nervous by the second, "I'm not exactly sure. It's possible that you've undergone some sort of bloody dangerous experiment—"

"She hasn't undergone any experiment," GLaDOS snapped through an intercom. "Not recently, anyway. It will take some time for your body to recover and for you to regain your strength. The Aperture Science Brand Repulsion Gel nearly completely destroyed your skeletal structure."

"I don't think I have a skeletal structure," Wheatley protested before Chell could say anything. "And if I do, it isn't destroyed. In fact, I—"

"Not you, you moron," GLaDOS sighed. "Her."

"Oh!" he said. "Oh. Well. That makes more sense. A lot more sense, actually."

Chell, who had been narrowing her eyes since GLaDOS started speaking, said, "So you mean I'm stuck here?"

"Not for long," GLaDOS said. "Just until you heal. The Intelligence Dampening Sphere will serve as your nurse and companion until you are fully rested."

Chell glanced at Wheatley, who had backed as far across the room as he could from her, then at the intercom GLaDOS's voice was coming through. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am," she said, sounding positively delighted. "Don't worry, I'll still be here too. So you won't starve to death or anything horrible like that."

"Great," Chell groaned, closing her eyes again. "That's a big comfort." GLaDOS didn't respond, but Chell was sure she was smirking.

"…So!" Wheatley said, edging a bit closer to her bed. "It sounds like you remember me. So that's good! Very good, in fact. It means you don't have the very minor case of serious brain damage that I suspected you might have the last time we spoke. Uh, the last time we spoke, which was when…I…was…trying…to…kill you…so maybe I shouldn't have reminded you of that…"

"I remembered," Chell said without opening her eyes. "Kind of hard to forget, when the person who was supposed to be rescuing you decides he wants to kill you."

Wheatley edged backwards again. "Sorry about that, by the way…"

"If I could move, I swear to God I'd have smashed you into a wall by now," Chell said. "So maybe you could just be quiet and let me sleep so I can get on with that later."

"You don't really mean that," Wheatley said with a nervous chuckle. "Right…?"

"Quiet."

"Oh, all right," he said. "But just one last thing? Before I get on with letting you sleep and all that?"

Chell opened her eyes just enough to glare at him. "Fine. Just one last thing."

"What's your name?" he asked. "You never did tell me, and I never did find out, and I thought it might be nice if I knew, so I could call you by it instead of saying things like 'Hey you!' to get your attention, since it sounds like you're going to be in here for a while—"

"Chell," she interrupted. "My name is Chell."

"Chell!" he said. "That's a nice name. A lovely name, in fact. Quite a fitting name, too—"

"QUIET."

Knowing that the moron would never be silent long enough to allow her best test subject to get the rest she needed to heal, GLaDOS shut off his circuits from inside her chamber. She would reactivate him once Chell woke in the morning. Now that her daughter was healed and in no immediate danger, Caroline's consciousness had once again been easily quelled, allowing GLaDOS to take great amusement in the obvious annoyance the Intelligence Dampening Sphere was to Chell, even though Caroline was unhappy about it. It wouldn't be hard for her to push the woman back into testing when the time came.

GLaDOS was in control.

[A/N: I felt this would be more fun with Wheatley. But just as a small disclaimer here, this isn't going to involve Chelley. Probably.]