"I went ahead and ran it through the GCMS," Adam said, scratching at his short beard.

"And?"

"Huh?"

"You ran it through the GCMS and what happened, Adam?"

"Um, it came up as," he trailed off, looking for his notes. "Here. Shampoo, nail polish remover, liquid make-up and several household cleaners, along with the toilet water."

"Why would someone mix all that together?"

Adam shrugged.

"I'm not a girl, I have no idea."

Stella nodded and looked over the test results, while watching Adam out of the corner of her eye. He had been distracted all day, not his usual chattery self. He sat there tapping his pen on the table and she suppressed a grin. Lindsay had gone home early with a terrible cold and Adam was definitely thinking about her.

"Adam?"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Finish up the rest of this and then go home."

"Stell-"

"You haven't got much left to process, your shift ends in an hour and you're totally distracted. Now do what I said."

"I'm not distracted, Stella."

"You're worried about Lindsay."

He just looked at her, surprised that she knew.

"Go check on her, take care of her, whatever you need to do."

"Thanks, Stella."

"But finish up with this trace first. I don't want Mac all upset that something was left unprocessed."

She gave him a smile and then headed to her office while Adam began processing the trace evidence. He did it on auto pilot, the whole time imagining Lindsay huddled up in her bed, coughs ripping through her while her fever went higher and higher. She had been fine the last few days, but this morning when she walked into work, he could tell something wasn't right. She was pale, squinting her eyes at bright lights, running her hand over her forehead. Her skin had been too warm when he had pressed his hands against it, then clammy half an hour later when Mac forced her to leave. He'd never seen her sick before, and the speed with which this had hit her had him worried.

He finished up with the trace, determined it was bee pollen and printed the results for Stella. He delivered it to her and with a knowing grin she told him to get out of there. He didn't waste any time in getting out of the building and heading to Lindsay's. He stopped part way there to pick up some cold medicine and other things to make her feel better, including a few gossip magazines. He made it to her apartment twenty minutes later and let himself in, finding all the blinds drawn and the lights off. He walked quietly across the floor, peeking into her bedroom to find her buried up to her forehead in quilts. He put the grocery bag on the chair by the door and walked over to the bed, brushing her hair back from her face. The mattress sagged a little under his weight and she opened her eyes, trying hard to give him a smile.

"Hey sweetheart. How are you feeling?"

"I hurt," she croaked, her tongue darting out to wet her dry lips. "I'm freezing."

"Want another blanket?"

"I don't have any more."

He laid down next to her and pulled her close, leaving tiny kisses all over her flushed face.

"You're going to get sick," she protested, even while snuggling into him.

"You don't get to worry about me. Have you taken anything?"

"No, I'm all out. I didn't think I was going to get a cold in the middle of the summer."

"Well, you're lucky you have me then. I got some NyQuil and cough drops."

"Thanks."

She sniffled and coughed lightly and he stood up from the bed to get the grocery bag. He brought it over to her and started pulling things out, giving commentary on all of it.

"First I got you some magazines because I know how much you love to hate them. And then I got you some tissues. The mentholated kind and the regular just in case the mentholated kind make your eyes burn. I got some chicken soup, but this is the powdered kind you mix with boiling water. It's easier and it tastes better. Some Vicks to rub under your nose and then wipe off three minutes later because it burns. I got some oranges because they didn't have any orange juice, and I got some orange flavored candy because it looked good."

She smiled.

"You're perfect, do you know that?"

"You keep telling me."

She smiled and reached her hand out for his.

"Come back in here," she said.

He obeyed, tucking her under his chin and holding tightly to her.

"I was worried about you all day."

"I'm fine, Adam."

"I know. Doesn't mean I don't worry some though."

"Thank you."

"Why don't you take some NyQuil and go back to sleep. You're making the headache grimace."

She smiled and took the bottle of cough syrup from him, looking it over to see how much to take.

"I'm going to go and watch your TV and run up your cable bill, so holler if you need anything, okay?"

"I will. Thanks, Adam."

She came out of the bedroom a few hours later, stumbling across the kitchen as she rubbed her eyes.

"Hey, you should be in bed," Adam said from his spot on the couch.

"Too hot in there," she replied, her voice as scratchy as a Louis Armstrong record. "What are you watching?"

"Just flipping through the channels. Are you feeling any better?"

"My headache is gone, but now my ears hurt. So pretty much the same. Not as tired though."

She sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around herself and sniffling. They sat quietly for a lone time, watching snippets of TV shows and making comments to each other. She giggled a lot, managing to forget the fact that she was sick for a few minutes. She started to get sleepy again and she laid down across the couch with her head in his lap. His fingers ran through her hair, stroking across her ear and making her want to fall asleep.

"Hey Linds?"

"Yeah?"

"Boy Meets World. Who do you identify with?"

She chuckled and rolled over so she was staring straight up at him.

"That is the most difficult and important question anyone has ever asked me," she said seriously. "And I have thought about this before. I think it's Morgan."

"Cory's sister? Interesting."

"What about you?"

"Eric, most definitely."

"Yeah, I can see that. Especially the episode where he sits on the couch eating Cocoa Puffs all day long."

"Hey, I'm not that pathetic."

"No, you just really, really like Cocoa Puffs."

"That is a true statement," he agreed with a nod. "How about Step by Step?"

"I was never a fan of that show. It bored me."

"Really? Lindsay I think we are about to have our first disagreement."

"Uh-oh… you're a Code-Man fan?"

"He was awesome!"

"Maybe, but to watch Step by Step, you have to look at Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Summers. No one in their right mind is going to do that for twenty two minutes. You'll be praying for the commercials."

"You have made me very sad, Lindsay."

"I apologize for my honesty."

"Seriously though. Why didn't you like it?"

"It was too convoluted. I mean who lives in their van in the backyard in the Midwest in the winter? Besides that, how were there so many bedrooms in that house? Too small. And how was that woman still fertile when she was fifty and her kids were in college? And the sexual tension between Dana and J.T. was just… ug."

"But television is supposed to be an escape."

"A believable escape."

"Believable? Lindsay, you like that "not the mama" dinosaur show!"

"Hey, dinosaurs were real!"

"The dad was a contractor! With a trailer on his job site!"

"So they took creative liberties."

"Yeah, but… I mean… they were dinosaurs! And not even good looking ones. They were people in costumes."

"Have a little imagination, Adam."

"If I can imagine enough to enjoy Dinosaurs, you can imagine enough to watch Step by Step."

"I can't believe we just got into an argument about TGIF."

"Ooh. We're pathetic."

"At least we can agree on Full House."

"Amen."

"And Harry Potter."

"Well yeah, because the Harry and Hermione relationship is just screaming to be given credence."

"I love you, Adam."

"I'd kiss ya, but you sound like sand paper."

"You're supposed to love me no matter what I sound like."

"I do."

"So?"

"You're going to be the death of me," he muttered before leaning down to kiss her.

"Don't worry, I've never been fatal before."

He chuckled and ran his hand over her stomach.

"You should go back to bed, get some sleep."

"Yeah, probably. Thanks for taking care of me."

"I didn't really do much."

"That's what I needed."

"Want me to stay for a little while?"

"Meaning you want to stay and finish watching Men in Black."

"Yeah."

"Go ahead. Kiss me goodnight when you leave."

"Yes ma'am."

He held her for a moment then let her go, watching her walk back to her bedroom on shaky legs. Everyday, even though he never thought it possible, he loved her just a little more.