Chapter 3: Fever
Temperance held her tongue against advising the nurse how to draw blood in a more efficient manner at the pleading look Seeley cast over the young woman's shoulder and settled instead for glancing around their private ward, now somewhat more populated with the addition of detectives Esposito and Ryan, who had arrived half an hour after detective Beckett's colourful proclamation.
Continuing her perusal, Temperance watched Rick as he paced back and forth in front of the window, evidently on the phone to his daughter, judging from the gentle look on his face as he murmured assurances of his continued health. Temperance considered it unlikely that he would relay the possibility of severe side-effects from the chemicals they had been exposed to, despite her recommendation to the contrary.
"There, all done!" the nurse exclaimed cheerfully, beaming a wide, entirely over-enthusiastic smile in her direction. Temperance eyed her balefully, opening her mouth to ask what had taken so long before she caught sight of Seeley's pleading expression again from where he also was dealing with his own, far more competent, nurse and changing her words accordingly.
"Thank you," she replied, crisply. It was the best she could do without outright lying, she supposed. As the nurse bounced off, her ludicrously high ponytail swishing energetically with each step, Temperance caught the knowing gaze of Patrick Jane, who winked and smiled rakishly at her in amusement. Temperance smothered a smile, grateful for the other man's understanding, before shifting to reach her chart so she could begin reviewing the information.
"Hey, Bones," Seeley greeted as he came alongside her bed. Temperance pursed her lips chidingly and peered up at his pale complexion with poorly concealed worry.
"Sit back in bed, Booth, we can still talk and you can get your rest. You appear about to collapse, if your pale skin and profuse sweating is any indication." Her partner grimaced and hobbled back to the bed.
"Thanks, Bones, good to know my profuse sweating has gotten noticeable," he grumbled.
"'Has been noticed,'" Temperance corrected, absently as she scanned her chart's notes.
"What?" Seeley asked.
"The correct phrase is 'has been noticed,' Booth," Temperance repeated and glanced up after a long moment of incredulous silence had passed. Booth favoured her with a fondly exasperated look and raised his eyebrows.
"Really, Bones?" he said, "That's what you're going to comment on?"
"Proper grammar is crucial to efficient understanding, right Tempe?" Rick interjected, dropping his phone onto his bed as he sidled closer.
"Castle!" Beckett snapped as he passed, "Get back in bed and stop giving everyone a free show!" Rick glanced down at his hospital gown and then peered over his shoulder to see his partially exposed rear at the back, before he glanced up and wiggled his eyebrows playfully.
"No one else noticed, detective," he teased.
"I did," Theresa piped up in the other woman's defence. "Just thought it should be her who reigned you back in." The brunette shared a sharp, conspiratorial grin with the New York detective. Rick looked chagrined for a moment before perking up slightly.
"If you both want to double-team me, I certainly won't object!" he replied. Patrick guffawed from his bed and shook his head pityingly at the other man.
"Oh, that was a mistake!" he laughed. "Shouldn't have gone there, you really shouldn't!" Rick glanced between the two women carefully and sighed at the twin devilish grins they sported.
"Noted," he murmured, looking resigned as he trudged back to his bed, holding the gown tighter behind him. Temperance felt her short-lived smile fade as she turned her attention back to the sheets in front of her.
"What's the verdict, Bones?" Seeley asked, now properly situated on his bed and propped up by a mound of cushions. Temperance met his eyes and sighed.
"I'm unable to make any concrete conclusions, unfortunately. There just isn't enough data."
"You have an idea, though," Patrick commented, his face sombre. Temperance nodded.
"Yes," she agreed. "My chart, and I would hazard a guess as to say the same for all of yours as well, shows extremely elevated leucocyte levels, meaning that we are experiencing a strong immune response to the substance that we have been exposed to. That's why they have drawn more fluids to test," Temperance explained, turning to each of the others in turn. "I notice that Booth is not the only one experiencing profuse sweating."
"I thought I pulled it off well," Javier joked.
"That's because you always look sweaty," Kevin sniped, a weak grin on his lips.
"Oh, you gonna go there, bro?" Javier replied. Temperance tuned out the subsequent good-natured bickering, recognising it for the coping mechanism it was and stared into her partner's eyes, absently noting the increased glassiness that shadowed the man's expressive eyes.
"Sleep, Booth. We're all going to need it," she assured, following her own advice and settling her aching body back onto the bed to sleep.
Further over, Beckett stared at her hands as they fisted the starchy material of the hospital bed and forced herself to relax them one finger at a time. Feeling thirsty, she reached for the small glass of water on the bedside table, accidentally catching Rick's eyes when she glanced up.
"Staring," she murmured softly, prompting a small, brittle smile from the author.
"Sorry," he answered, equally quiet as he continued to stare, his eyes holding a depth of emotion rarely seen but constantly felt by the brunette detective. Kate swallowed, feeling unnerved and broke his gaze by taking several large gulps of water, only to frown at the glass in frustration when she found it swiftly empty. "Here," Rick murmured, reaching for the pitcher of water that had been out of her reach, "let me."
"Thanks," Kate said with a quick grateful smile. She could already feel her temperature spiking and plucked at the hospital gown fruitlessly, abruptly deciding to abandon the gesture when she realised how much it annoyed her when others did the same. Refocusing on her partner, Kate steeled herself and met his brilliant blue eyes searchingly. The laughter lines at rick's eyes crinkled as he smiled at her.
"Always," he stated easily. Kate allowed her eyes to trace his features, taking in the unspoken promise lurking behind his eyes as she memorised his face over and over for several long, silent minutes. After her gaze returned to a deep gouge a mere finger-width from his left eye for the eighth time, Kate gave up and stared at it thoughtfully, taking in the furrow it had carved into his skin, how close he had come to losing one of his eyes and how it strangely managed to seem quite at home on his face.
"That's going to scar," she pointed out, nodding at the wound and smirking at Rick's self-conscious expression when he reached up to gently probe at the puckered flesh, stitched closed by one of the residents after they had removed a twisted piece of shrapnel that had embedded itself into his flesh.
"I think it'll add an air of danger to my mystique," he replied with faux offense, wincing after he prodded a particularly tender spot. Kate grinned, letting the easy banter paste over the concern that seethed below the surface of her emotions.
"It'll add an air of something, that's for sure," she teased. Her grin slipped away as a wave of exhaustion sapped any strength she had to maintain it. "Alexis and Martha?" she asked.
"On their way," Rick confirmed.
"Did you tell them?" Kate prompted. Rick looked uncomfortable for a moment, before sighing and easing himself back into the mountain of fluffy pillows that had mysteriously appeared shortly after a pretty young nurse had left earlier, giggling and blushing like a schoolgirl. Kate eyed them enviously for a moment before settling back herself, knowing that he would offer to get her some if she really needed them.
"No, not yet. I will when they get here," he assured at her dark look. "What about your dad? Or Doctor Motorcycle Boy?" Kate sighed at the author's ridiculous name for her current boyfriend, Josh, but avoided mentioning it by mutual silent agreement.
"No, though Captain Montgomery will probably tell dad straight away. He usually does," she confessed without thinking. At Rick's raised eyebrows, she grimaced and turned away. "I didn't mean it like that," Kate muttered. Without looking, she could see the author's crooked grin.
"Sure you did, but that's okay," Rick assured her gently, grinning when he spotted her glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes.
Across the room, Patrick watched the unfolding conversation with unfocused eyes that occasionally sharpened before drifting again. Theresa watched this with amusement.
"You should take a break," she ordered, "even you can't be on point when you're pumped full of morphine." Patrick allowed his head to roll in her direction with an expression that attempted to look affronted, but ended up merely looking comical.
"I can, too," he objected, abandoning his expression when he spotted the heightened amusement evident on the petite CBI agent's face. "I'll prove it to you!" he exclaimed. Theresa had no desire to watch the fallout of a drugged-up Patrick Jane's horrifically accurate observations if he was overheard, so shook her head frantically and made shushing motions, belatedly wondering if the doctors had also slipped her some morphine when she wasn't looking.
"That's okay!" she hastened to assure, "I believe you!"
"No, you don't," Patrick replied stubbornly. Theresa deflated slightly, realising that there was no way to avoid Jane proving, even if only to himself, that he could still perform to task whilst high on painkillers.
"Just be quiet!" she hissed, already annoyed at the smugly satisfied look on her consultant's face. "Fine, go ahead. Wow me," she waved on sarcastically.
"Oh, my dear, you should know better by now," Patrick chided, his voice low and expression challenging. Theresa shifted uneasily. "Now, the lovely detective is in love with her author, but is so terrified of commitment that she won't try. On top of that, she's worried about his ability to commit due to his playboy image. Plus, she's gotten herself a stand-in to make herself unavailable whilst getting some typical comforting. Some devilishly handsome, brilliant, yet unsuitable man that she'll throw over in a month or two, I'd imagine.
"On the other hand, he's so in love with her that it's not even remotely hidden, though he's getting tired of waiting. But not so tired that he'll give up. He's in too deep for that, too dedicated."
"That's enough, bro." The low tones of Javier Esposito interrupted before he could continue further. "The sitch's already bad enough without you throwing stones into the pond to watch the waves, you know what I'm sayin'?" The Hispanic detective shuffled closer, his forehead beaded with sweat as he gave Patrick a gimlet eye.
"He gets it," Theresa assured when Patrick took too many seconds to respond. A quick glance showed he wore a familiar glazed expression. Javier nodded in satisfaction and shuffled back to his bed, followed by the low rumble of hushed conversation with his partner. Theresa scrutinised Patrick for a moment before scowling. "You are so faking it," she accused. He blinked at her innocently.
"I have no idea what you mean, my dear Lisbon," he replied, his smile practically admitting his guilt. Before she could reply, Theresa felt herself flush with a rapidly spiking temperature and sank back onto the bed, an unwelcome ache creeping through her veins. She fumbled for a moment with the on call button before she managed to depress the bright red button, meeting Patrick's concerned eyes as she did so.
"Getting a fever," Theresa ground out as her stomach twisted painfully. "Pretty bad one," she admitted, having nursed her brothers through several fevers in years past.
"Lie back and rest, Theresa," Patrick soothed, feeling his bandages becoming uncomfortably hot on his skin. He refrained from further platitudes, well aware of their present situation despite the drugs and watched the nurse enter the room, complete a swift assessment and rush back out again, her face grim. Catching the stoic gaze of Temperance Brennan and the well stifled sympathy therein, he sighed. Life was about to get uncomfortably interesting.
AN: Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? I've had this one floating around in my head constantly, so I thought it was time to bite the bullet and get on with writing it! If anyone's interested, I wouldn't mind a proof reader or someone to bounce ideas off of! PM me or send me a tweet! lliraeden on twitter. See you on the flip side and remember: feedback is the coin of the realm! Review, would you kindly?