AN: There are some/a lot of references to Star Trek in this (and maybe following) chapters, as a reminder I own nothing but the plot and Alison.
{Alison}
Pacing was a sign of uneasiness, she knew this, but she didn't want to cling to his side, she wouldn't want that. Not yet, plus she didn't know what to do, so she decided to go stand in the kitchen, aware of the irony as her hands picked up a fork. This would begin and end the same way, her holding the four tined utensil. She fought back laughter at the prospect that it could be the same fork. Staring at it she poked each tine.
It was only moments after that Sheldon turned and ran down the hallway, she ran after him, letting the fork clatter to the floor. She arrived at the door, she wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say. 'Are you okay' would be beyond stupid; she could hear from this side of the door that he was not okay. She hated asking stupid questions, it was demeaning both to her and the person who had to answer it.
Eventually the noises indicated that he was no longer vomiting, and it wasn't long before he announced, "Alison I know you are standing there, I can see your feet under the door."
She opened the door and stepped into the bathroom.
"I know, I just don't know what to do, I've never been in this situation, and I'm not entirely sure of the socially appropriate response," She mumbled, deciding to be totally honest.
"Dr. Carter, a woman of your intellect shouldn't worry about the socially appropriate response, so what is your response," Sheldon scolded her b. She couldn't imagine him saying that, it wasn't how he would tell her to live by her rules, not the world's.
"I wish I could…" She sighed offering her hand to help him up.
She guided him to his spot on the couch, another example of his own rules. He was thought of as crazy for his rules, but in her eyes it is much better to be called crazy, but not care about other people's opinions, than to live by rules set by people who don't know you. Especially when those rules drive her crazy.
"Dr. Cooper, I truly believe you to be in a state of feverish semi-delirium," the clinical euphemism free tone hitting her ears, it felt a bit shocking, but something about it felt familiar, perfect. "Not that what I am about to say will help that any, but I might as well get it out of the way now," She paused, hoping she could hold the matter of fact tone a bit longer before she broke down into a wavering nervous disaster, "I kind of sort of know how you got sick, and it is kind of sort of my fault." The stoic mask crumbled.
"What?" Sheldon gasped.
'Here we go Carter. This is everything, you just got yourself right where you need to be, you have to finish your explanation.' She thought nervously.
"I swear it was a total accident!" She stopped for a deep breath, "You have fallen ill to a genetically modified form of Adenovirus 40. It is significantly weaker than the wild type, but it is clearly still volatile, and more than likely highly contagious, you have every right to be totally mad at me, but keep in mind that for one week I'm all you've got. Plus even if you decide that I'm an unnecessary risk in your life, I've taken one for you just by being here."
"Just exactly how wa-" he started, before closing his eyes and placing his hand back over his stomach.
"How were you infected?" she asked, knowing what he was asking, he nodded and she explained, "It all started in the lab on Monday, I borrowed your hand sanitizer, you remember that… in the lab Lisa accidentally got some of the solution that was supporting the virus on my hands, I used the hand sanitizer and threw it back in my bag. I returned it to you before I handed you a fork, but I got eye shadow on my hands when I zipped my backpack, so I washed my hands before I set out their forks…"
{Sheldon}
He was miserable. Nearly every part of him wanted to be furious with her, but something wouldn't let him. All he wanted to do was sink down into the couch and ignore it all. He knew why she had seemed so worried and had something to hide.
"I'm not angry…" he managed.
"Open your eyes," Alison directed.
He blinked his eyes open, the colorful geneticist was standing in front of him, holding a plush koala. He fought to maintain a balance between melting entirely and not worsening his condition.
"How did you-?" he mumbled before giving up on talking.
"I do my research…" her tone of voice was one of complete glee. As if his happiness made her happy…
"And on another note, I brought the tea for you… I figured you would appreciate that, as soon as you noticed…" she held the still warm cup out to him still smiling.
Alison was more than just worth having around. She genuinely wanted to make him happy. He had to admit this, he found out that Leonard had intentionally stranded him alone with a cold, and Penny had to come take care of him. She easily could have done that. Instead she cleared the others out to protect them, and stayed behind to take care of him, a man she had only known for 8 days.
All of this appreciative thinking was getting to be a bit much given his condition. "Alison, will you get the season one Star Trek box out of the front pocket of my suitcase?"
She nodded and he took another sip of his tea. Alison's sweetness was not an effective counteractive force to his nausea, but it was nice to feel truly cared for. Penny was kind, but she was Penny, and this is Alison. Penny was tough, Alison was compassionate… Howard had said that he and Raj stuck around because they liked Leonard, not that he cared, but it was special to have someone choose him as a friend. Plus it meant that someone else appreciated his genius.
"If it wouldn't be a total pain, we should start from the beginning; I have to do things in order…" She requested.
"Well is there any other way?" he asked, her only response was a smile and a click of the remote.
{Alison}
He understood the importance of following intended chronology. She set the remote down and watched. She knew beyond doubt that this was Sheldon's favorite show in the history of existence. She hoped she would like it… She really did. But she didn't react well to pressure, and she didn't think she could fake it forever if she didn't. She had to like it, it was important to Sheldon, and Sheldon is definitely smart enough to know what he is talking about…
It didn't take her long to realize that the game the characters that she presumed to be main were playing a game in shocking resemblance to the chess gamed she had accidentally interrupted on Sunday. Of course she knew the three player replacement to be of Sheldon's creation. This proved the show's importance to the guys, beyond anything. She didn't notice it, but she scooted a tiny bit closer to Sheldon. Increasing her infection risk crossed her mind, but she shook it off. She was almost guaranteed to catch it, no matter what. She had to keep that off her mind. She was here to take care of Sheldon; she couldn't let her concern get in the way of that.
A scene change and a half later it hit her,
"He played most illogically. His next move should have been the rook," the sentence came through the TV speakers and hit her eardrums. She knew the character that said it to be Mister Spock, a name she had heard tossed about the group, she had heard before, but she never knew… Her mind was whirring. She wanted to know everything, she wanted more context. She wanted to know for sure that this was the source of Sheldon's repetition of the word, it was the only thing that made any sense, but she didn't trust her instinct. She still had to say something.
"Sheldon-" She mumbled hitting pause, "Remem- no. The second thing I ever said to you was: 'Well, I guess it's totally logical to start with the labeled boxes, huh? People smuggling in cocaine don't right "Cocaine" on the box...' since that time you have said the word logical twice. This is why," She stated flatly, she couldn't just ask, she had to know.
{Sheldon}
He nodded in reply.
"This makes so much sense that I can't explain it!" she nearly shrieked, before throwing her arms around him rapidly. She stopped only an inch away from hitting him, and then softly let her arms touch his chest and back.
Her soft hug was comforting without being too much. He was grateful for it. He set one of his arms on her shoulder, he didn't want to move. Sure she had just painfully contradicted herself, but her gentle, detached physical contact was welcome. It was warm, but not smothering. He wanted to ask what, even though he could take a guess, or at least remain there in the loose hug for a few moments longer. His standards faded quickly to where he would have been happy to flop over and lie in stillness on the couch. There was a moment where he would take anything other than the reality he knew to be impending.
He pulled both of his hands back over his stomach.
"Oh, Sheldon!" She gasped, grabbing a washcloth from seemingly nowhere, turning on the sink and thoroughly drenching it before throwing it in the freezer.
He hardly had time to acknowledge the gesture. Nausea consumed his awareness. All he could see was the hallway, and it was only a moment before he felt Alison's hand, damp and cool, touch his back. Blurry, that was the most fitting description of how he felt.
His stomach violently expelled its contents into the toilet. Alison's hand remained unwaveringly in place.
He didn't have to try to picture her, it was all too easy. She would be standing there; her hand might as well be super glued to his back, biting the inside of her lip, almost unnoticeable, unless you are looking for it. Stiff as a board except for her eyes, they would be darting around the room giving away the occupied state of her mind.
The attack subsided, and he leaned his back against the sink.
"I forgot to blink. For like 3 minutes."
That was all she said, her eyes were red, but not tearful. Maybe she wasn't making excuses or covering something up but maybe her stiff attitude did cause her to forget to blink.
"We should call the guys. They need to know you are definitely not feeling better," she suggested.
They managed their way to the couch. Alison set the partially frozen washcloth on his forehead. The first moment it touched his head the chill was startling, but as it slipped into his skin it was relaxing, he couldn't think anything other than how good the cold towel felt.
"I better call the guys, they need to know that you are definitely not feeling better," She suggested pulling out her phone.
{Penny}
She was waiting for the call. When her cell rang and the picture of the eccentric scientist popped up on the screen she answered it immediately.
"Penny, Hey, I'd say that I'm Alison, but that would be totally unnecessary, you have my number in your phone, and you know what my voice sounds like," She rambled through the phone line.
Alison is the only person where such a statement was normal, not a sign of kidnapping, or an imposter.
"You are on speakerphone to Howard, Bernadette, and Leonard," Penny announced.
"Sheldon seems to have been hit by a terrible case of Viral Gastroenteritis, Sheldon say something," She tried to explain, but while everyone else in the car knew what that meant she was clueless. The casual tone that Alison had used to express something, upset, but so casual for such complicated words.
"Hello," She heard Sheldon mumble into the phone. He sounded terrible. Whatever Alison said he had must be dreadful…
"I'm sorry what is that?" Penny inquired feeling stupid for having to ask.
"That was Sheldon!" Alison explained, almost yelling.
"No, the viral um… I don't know…" She should have known Alison wouldn't see anything to question there.
"Viral Gastroenteritis…" She repeated flatly.
'yes, of course that is so much clearer…'
"But, um what is that?"
She overheard Sheldon quickly mumble something in the background before Alison replied.
"Well, for those who have fallen victim to an excruciatingly over perpetuated misconception, the stomach flu, despite having absolutely no relation to Influenza," Alison rambled on.
She clearly had two modes for explaining things, technical terms or ridiculously big words she didn't know.
"So… he has the stomach flu?" She asked checking her understanding.
"Sure, if you insist on saying it like that…" the geneticist sighed.
Of course, this is the cost of dating Leonard. Living in direct contact with 7 scientists, most people would know that not understanding half of what they say didn't mean you were stupid. It only meant that you don't have the same talent for memorizing useless information. Alison was actually cool, when she tried.
And when she didn't, Penny needs a dictionary. The difference between Alison and Sheldon was a few quirks and an understanding of social rules. If they spent too much time together they would definitely win an award for cutest couple, but also most impossible to be around.
"I'll call the other car," Bernadette volunteered from the front seat.
Penny hung up her cell and set it down on the seat. Leonard leaned his head on her shoulder.
"You okay?" She asked giving him a little hug.
"I'll be fine," Leonard smiled a bit and sat up.
Bernadette placed the call; it was short, cut off by Howard asking Leonard if he would want to drive.
"Maybe at the rest stop, I'll be fine until then," he assured, and then put his head back on her shoulder, "This actually makes it a little worse, but it's worth it."
"Well, alright, but make sure you are okay…" she whispered.
She caught herself feeling a bit jealous of Alison. Not because she had a chance with Sheldon, but because she had something so perfect, and she didn't even see it yet. It was cute. It was picturesque.
The Fluff shall be forthcoming! And prepare for the tales from the hotel! My apologies for any glaring Star Trek related errors (as well as others) I only found an online typed transcript to work off of.