A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing... and sorry for the delay but thanks to Pinkin for the extra encouragement ;o)

Chapter Thirty - Day Fourteen

I have decided that I will tell my Yankee that I am sleeping in his room. Hopefully it will help him feel closer to me, and let him know that he is still giving me comfort and perhaps in turn it will help to ease his nightmares later.

I still have not gotten over the idea that he dreams about me being his wife… okay I know it was not a good dream, but it means that the idea is in his head, da? Floating around in there with lots of other flotsam but who knows, maybe someday it might surface…. stranger things have happened.

The phone handset is on his bedside table, right next to the clock. I watch the numbers on the clock turn to 12:00, exactly midnight… and then 12:01.

I am cross. I know that is unreasonable, he is probably busy and could not get away on time, he is doing very important work and it is not something you can just drop… but he knows how much I need to hear from him! My world is upside down, he is my one constant, and I need him to keep his word. Even something as small as this, three, no four minutes late… it is too many.

Sighing, I flop back on the bed and stare at the future skylight. Perhaps if I do not look at the clock it will not seem like as long… except that I keep sneeking a peek because it actually seems longer if I do not know. 12:10… 12:30… 01:00!

That is it, one hour late! Obviously he cannot be trusted, I am not answering it now. If he cannot be bothered to call me on time, then I cannot be bothered to stay awake and wait for him. I turn my back on the phone as if he would know that I am ignoring him, and resolutely close my eyes.

02:45. What if something has happened to him? Nyet, the others would have called me instead… would they know I was waiting? Would they even care? Nyet I am over-reacting, they would let me know or Gaia would.

It has not really been that long, they probably just cannot stop what they are doing, or they might be too far from the geo-cruiser. Wheeler is probably freaking out because he cannot get back to the phone, he will be in a worse state than I am… probably…

03:58. I do not know when I started crying but I cannot seem to stop. I feel like I am the last person in the world still alive and the walls are closing in. Oh please Yankee moya, call me soon…

Seven in the morning and I am still awake… Where is he? I am worried sick, but I cannot bring myself to go to the Crystal Chamber and ask Gaia. She would tell me if something had happened… wouldn't she?

I cannot let Gaia see me like this… so weak. She would use it against me, stop me going on more missions… and leave me stuck here alone again wondering what has happened to my friends… to Wheeler.

Snuggling further down his bed, I do not take my eyes from the phone, willing it to ring. How long will I wait until I give up and ask Gaia? I can feel the panic rising slowly in my chest, I cannot keep it at bay much longer.

When it finally rings I nearly jump out of my skin, as it is, the handset falls to the floor and I scramble frantically to retrieve it.

"Hello?" I try to keep my voice calm but it is tinged with hysteria.

He says one word but I know who it is immediately. "Linka!"

My relief is audible and echoes his. "Wheeler!"

"Babe! I'm so sorry!" He apologises.

"What happened? I was so worried!" I demand, wishing he would just keep talking and let his voice soothe away my fears.

"I know, I figured! I wanted to call you sooner, but by the time I realized what time it was, it was the middle of the night on Hope Island, I knew you'd be asleep…" He explains.

I wish! "Da, but I was not asleep… I was waiting for you to call." Not that I really had a choice, I could not sleep without hearing from him.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to call…I really did…Ma-Ti, tell her," He passes the phone over to our young friend who corroborates his story. I do not want to be unkind, but it is not Ma-Ti I want to talk to and I wait impatiently for Wheeler to take back the phone.

Fortunately it is not long. "Uhh, so you see Babe, I tried."

"Where are you now?" I ask, actually a little surprised that Ma-Ti is with him at all.

"In the Geo Cruiser." He replies.

I want to see him, I cannot get it out of my head that there is something wrong. "Are you setting up the com link?"

"I can if you want." He offers casually… too casually, what is going on?

"Of course I want… you need to make up for missing your call earlier!" the fear that had started going away when I heard his voice is returning, I need to see him, to be as close to him as I possibly can at such a dreadful distance.

All thoughts of Gaia banished from my mind, I rush back to the Crystal Chamber and wait for his signal.

"Good morning Beautiful!" He says cheerfully as his face appears on the screen.

"HI!" I grin, overjoyed to see him and relieved all over again as if hearing his voice did not really prove that he was alive. After a moment though, his appearance sinks in and my relief turns to alarm. "Bozhe moy Wheeler! You look horrible! Why are you so pale? Are you sick?"

"Yeah…I uh…got the flu bug," He tells me.

He does not sound convincing, but why would he lie? He does look terrible maybe it is more serious and he does not realise. "Flu bug? Are you sure it is not a parasite? When you go to places like that… and there is stagnant water, and raw sewage I am sure…"

"Calm down Babe, it's not a parasite." He sounds sure, so I guess it must be okay.

I am still a little worried though. "Well, it is good to see you, even if you do look awful."

"Gee thanks." He replies.

"I did not mean it like that… I am just happy to see you." I just wish you were here so that I could make sure you are really okay… and look after you.

"I know. I'm happy to see you too. And I've got something to tell you." He is up to something I think, I can always tell.

"Oh yeah? What is that?" I ask, playing along.

"In about five hours, you'll be able to tell me how crappy I look… IN PERSON!" He grins, anticipating my reaction.

I cannot help it, my heart leaps in response and my lips curl up into a delighted grin. "What? Do you mean…?"

"Yep! I'm comin' home Babe!" He is smug now.

"Oh Wheeler! That is wonderful news!" I exclaim, not even caring how obvious I am being. "I cannot believe you are done there already!"

"Well, my…illness was a big part of our getting sent home…" he is hesitating.

"Wait…they are sending you home just for the flu? Why not just keep you in bed and let the others finish?" Something is not right, but he will be home soon, with me, and then everything will be okay.

His next words distract me however, "Umm, I guess they don't want me getting everyone else sick. Besides, we called Cap and he did most of the hard work."

"You did? You were able to?" Maybe that is why he is weak, I worry… using two rings might have some sort of side effects…

"Yep. So our theory is still in tact." He replies, reminding me of our earlier conversation and drawing a smile.

"Good. I am glad to hear it. I cannot wait to see you!" It is hard to remain worried when we are so close to being together again.

There are actually tears in his eyes! "I can't wait to see you either Babe. I better let you go. Try to get some more sleep…it'll make the time go by faster, and I want you well rested." He glances away and then tries to explain himself. "Uh…because we have a lot of catching up to do…talking…and uh, how are you feeling? How's the muscle soreness?"

"It is still a problem." I answer. I am guessing that Kwame is giving him a hard time about us again. Why can he not just let things be, it is not as if we are doing anything wrong… in fact we would not be doing anything wrong even if we were doing something, which we are not!

"Oh, ok. Good…I mean, NOT good, but good that I'm coming home." He digs himself deeper, poor Yankee.

"Da, it is good that you are coming home." I agree.

"Well, like I said before, I better let you go. We'll be home for lunch…so pick out your favorite yogurt and fruit, and I'll make the toast!" That soon?

"Sounds…delicious." I reply, keeping my face neutral.

He responds as I expect him to. "Really?"

"Nyet!" He is so easy to fool, it is adorable.

He laughs. "Sorry, I'm not used to you being the sarcastic one! See you soon Babe."

"Not soon enough Yankee!" I tell him truthfully, not caring what the others think.

Once he closes the link I sigh and head back to his bedroom. I should be able to sleep now for a couple of hours at least.

As I make myself comfortable I wonder vaguely where Gaia was, she must really not want to talk to me… perhaps she does not want me around much longer and is just waiting for me to get well enough so that she can ask me to leave.

I bury my face in Wheeler's pillow, I wish he were here! But he will be, soon now, then everything will be okay.

To be continued…

A/N: And don't forget, to get the full affect of the story, you HAVE TO read Wheeler's side of the story in Becks7's Co-dependents Chapter 30! Let us know what you think!