Chapter Thirty-Eight

Thankyou to all of you reviewers – love to you all!

This chapter is for Unidentified99, for such a lovely review. Thankyou!

Disclaimer: Somebody should make a "disclaimer-maker", shouldn't they? Then you could just click a button and out would pop the disclaimer, ready-made! :-P But at the moment we poor fanficcers must be content with the old-fashioned "Don't own, don't sue". :-(

"Captain Harkness!" A loud voice jolted them both awake, Jack quickly wiping away the dribble of drool from the corner of his mouth. "What have we told you about sleeping here?"

"Sorry, Sister," Jack looked unusually contrite.

"Blame me," Ianto said, rubbing his eyes, "I asked him to stay."

"We have plenty of beds elsewhere if you really wanted to stay," Sister Kate said sharply. Her short-cut blonde bob with its brown roots quivered in annoyance. "There was no need to disturb Ianto."

"He didn't disturb me," Ianto protested. "Honestly, it was me that suggested he stayed."

"Humph." Sister Kate looked disbelieving.

Jack made to get out of bed, but Ianto put a hand on his arm to stop him. "I did ask for a camp-bed," he reminded her with a polite smile.

Sister Kate rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you just ask for a bigger bed?"

Ianto raised an eyebrow. "Well, I figured that you wouldn't take that particularly well," he said. "Given your reaction this morning, I think I was right."

"I'll just go now..." Jack tried to slip away, but Ianto grabbed him again. "…or not."

The nurse regarded them thoughtfully for a moment. "Maybe," she said, "or maybe not."

Ianto smiled at her. "So we can have a bigger bed?" he asked hopefully.

"I'll think about it."

"Also, whilst you're here, can I have the day out today?" Ianto decided to try and push his luck.

Sister Kate's eyebrows rose a couple of inches up her forehead. "A day out?"

"Please, Katie?" Ianto asked, trying to look as healthy as possible. "I haven't been out for ages."

The nurse sighed, her walnut-brown eyes amused. "Provided you don't get up to anything too strenuous," she eyed Jack, "then yes. But come straight back here if you feel at all unwell."

"I feel fine," Ianto insisted. "I don't get why I'm stuck in here all the time. Most patients get to go out whenever they want."

"Most patients aren't meant to be dead," Katie retorted crisply, though her mouth crinkled up into an affectionate smile.

"I'll take care of him," promised Jack.

"Good, 'cos if you don't you've got me to answer to," she said. "Be back by three."

"Six," Ianto said.

"Four."

"Seven."

"Four."

"Six."

Katie sighed. "Look, come back at three and I'll let you go out for dinner. Deal?"

Ianto grinned, pushing back the covers. "Deal."

Katie shook her head. "Do you need me to help you dress?"

"I can do that," Jack said. "I've had plenty of practice doing the reverse."

Katie paused, her hand on the doorknob. "Remember, nothing strenuous," she warned.

"Sure, sure," Jack waved a hand in the air. "The golden rule."

Katie quirked an eyebrow, before vanishing back out, into the corridor. "And don't forget to check out at the reception."

"No problem." Ianto stood up, grabbing his jeans from the cupboard and trying to wriggle into them one-handed.

Jack laughed, helping him into them and picking up the first t-shirt in the cupboard.

Ianto shook his head vehemently. "Not green," he insisted. "Too like these gowns." He plucked at the loose hospital gown.

"Pink?" Jack held up a fuschia-coloured polo-shirt.

"The other pink one. I'm not a Barbie-doll."

Jack grinned. "Not even a Ken?"

Ianto pretended to consider it. He shook his head. "Nope."

Jack rooted through the pile, carelessly letting clothes drop to the floor. Ianto winced and swooped to pick them up, attempting to fold them.

"Leave that," Jack ordered, having found the requested shirt. "Arms up."

Ianto obeyed, letting Jack pull the gown over his head. "So, where are we going today?"

"Your choice," Jack said. "Gwen's dealing with the fish-cleanup."

"We could help her," Ianto suggested, standing still as Jack buttoned up his shirt.

"You want to do clean-up on your day off?"

"…good point. Katie says that there's a concert at the castle in the evening."

"The castle?" Jack quirked an eyebrow, tying off Ianto's sling. "Didn't know that there was a castle in Guernsey."

"You blind all of a sudden?" Ianto teased, sitting down to pull on his socks. "What d'you think that massive fort thing by the marina is?"

"My eyesight is fine, thankyou very much," Jack affected insult, but his pout quickly morphed into a grin at Ianto's eyeroll. "What sort of concert?"

"It's open-air," Ianto said, frowning with concentration as he laced up his trainers, "with different musical groups playing all over the castle."

"Sounds like fun. What time does that start?"

"Seven, I think, but I can talk Katie into letting us go." Ianto stood up and brushed a quick kiss across Jack's lips.

"Won't you be tired?" Jack asked anxiously. "That'll be late."

Ianto groaned. "Jack, I'm fine. I'm not about to break if you touch me too hard."

"Sorry, sorry… I just worry about you." Jack smiled tightly.

"Come on, no more depressing talk," Ianto took his hand and tugged at his arm. "We still haven't decided what we're going to do today."

"There are some leaflets in the reception," Jack said. "We could have a flick through those."

"Good idea. But before we do that, I want to get something to eat."

-T-

Ianto stuffed another slice of toast in his mouth, chewing furiously.

Jack watched him, a pleased smile on his face. "Nice to see you eating properly," he commented.

Ianto shrugged and swallowed his mouthful with difficulty. "I'm hungry," he said.

"You weren't yesterday," Jack said, not bothering to finish his own mouthful before speaking.

Ianto wrinkled his nose. "Don't speak when you're eating, Jack," he scolded.

"Whatever." Jack shovelled a forkful of scrambled egg into his mouth. "I didn't know that there was a restaurant here."

"It's hardly a restaurant," Ianto objected, "more of a café."

"They serve food, don't they?" Jack waved his knife around in the air. "Then it's a restaurant."

Ianto rolled his eyes, buttering a slice of toast. He bashed his elbow against the table edge and hissed in pain.

Jack reached out and grasped his arm gently, turning it over to examine his elbow. He noted the spreading red marks. "You'll have a bruise there."

"Great," Ianto sighed, "another one to add to my collection."

"Collection?"

Ianto withdrew his arm quickly, picking up the slice of toast. "You know how prone I am to getting bruised."

Jack narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't push the subject. "I was thinking that it might be a good idea to get your sister over here," he said. "She's been asking to see you."

"When do I start chemo?" Ianto poured out more orange juice for them both. "I'd prefer to see her whilst I've still got my hair."

Jack swallowed, pushing back the pain he felt whenever he heard Ianto talking casually about his illness. "The doctors say next week at the latest. But they also want you to transfer back to the hospital in Cardiff."

"They've got more facilities there," Ianto agreed, sipping at his juice. "It makes sense."

"I'd go back with you, you do know that?" Jack asked. "The Doctor and Gwen can deal with the situation here."

"I'd talk to the team before you start making decisions," Ianto said. He put his knife and fork together neatly on his plate. "You finished?"

Even though he wasn't, Jack nodded. "Sure. Shall we go and have a look at those leaflets now?"

Ianto stood up, and nearly sat back down again. He put his hand to his head, closing his eyes in the hope that that world would stop spinning around him.

"Ianto?" Jack's hand touched his cheek, his voice scared. "What is it? D'you need me to get a nurse?"

Ianto opened his eyes again. "I'm fine. Just a dizzy spell."

"I think it might be better if we don't go out today—"

"We're going out today, and that's final," Ianto said. Jack flinched at his snappy tone, and Ianto flushed. "Sorry. That wasn't meant to sound like that."

"Doesn't matter," Jack forced a bright smile. "Shall we head off, Mr Jones?"

Ianto took the offered hand and smiled sheepishly. "That sounds like a superb idea, Captain."

"Call me Jack." Jack winked.

"Why, sir, I couldn't possibly do that," Ianto replied, deadpan. "It would be disrespectful."

Jack laughed, a sound that made Ianto smile involuntarily. "What if I like disrespect?"

Ianto smirked. "Well, then – Jack."

Jack slipped an arm around Ianto's waist and they ambled from the café-come-restaurant with easy smiles on their faces.

You've had it easy the last few chapters… it's about to get tough again! ;-)

Remember the equation: REVIEWS = HAPPY WRITER = PRODUCTIVE WRITER = MORE, LONGER CHAPTERS, FASTER