Rule courtesy of AngryAmerican

6483:With flu season approaching, keep in mind that while emyou /emmight not be very vulnerable to it, this does not apply

6483a: Yes ship girls can be carriers of the flu virus, as well as a wide variety of other viruses, bacteria, infections,

6483b: Saying 'Sharing is Caring' does not make it acceptable. Additionally, more than a few girls are sensitive to sick people around them. It's been very distracting for everyone

6483c: For the love of all that's good, don't try to 'Collect them All'

Somewhere on the East Coast

Oklahoma strode into The Factory, the specialized facility entirely dedicated to rigging and the maintenance thereof. This early it was fairly quiet, with perhaps a dozen people in total working on the CNC machines and what looked to be German cruiser's rigging.

The battleship made a beeline to the walled-off back of the building, marked as 'Precision Mountings'. Inside was more like a modelers hobby room than a machine shop, with paints, files, small pliers, and tiny welding sets. But what immediately struck Oklahoma was that the person she was searching for wasn't there. She hurried over and looked around. His workspace was clear, everything carefully stored away on the shelves.

"Looking for him?" One of the workers asked, looking up from a miniature quad 40 mm mount.

"Yes, I am."

"Duncan called in sick this morning. Sounded pretty bad." The worker saw the battleship go stock still at the news, "Are you-"

"I've got to go. Bye!" With that, Oklahoma took off running for the door.

"What's her problem?"

"Don't ask stuff like that! You'll drive yourself crazy."

Off base

Duncan groaned as someone started pounding on the door. "Hold on a minute!" He grumbled as he dragged himself up and staggered towards the front door. He staggered short as someone physically ripped the deadbolt from the door, followed by the handle.

The next thing he knew, someone had barged in, slung him over their shoulder, and was carrying him through his house.

"Just hold on, you'll be fine, I'll take good care of you-"

"Who are you?"

"Shh," Oklahoma said as she carefully laid Duncan in his bed. "Everything will be fine. I'll take care of you, you just rest alright?"

"Okie? What the hell-"

"Shh! J-just..." Then Duncan noticed the tears in Oklahoma's eyes. "I-I'll take care of you. Just rest, please." He nodded.

That Afternoon

New York, the leader of BATDIV6 tapped her foot impatiently. No mean feat considering she was standing on the surface of the Atlantic. "Where is she?"

The other two battleships shrugged. "I haven't seen her since breakfast," Pennsylvania said.

"She told me she was going to the factory to see someone, but that was around nine," Nevada added.

Sighing in aggravation, New York pulled out her cell phone and dialed the missing battleship's number. Her grip on the specially designed case tightened as the phone continued to ring. Finally, someone answered. "H-hello New York."

New York hit the speakerphone button before growling, "Where the hell are you? We're already at the practice range!"

"I won't be coming today."

"What- Are you crying?"

"H-he's sick. I don't want to lose him too!"

New York looked over at Nevada who shrugged, "I don't know, her boyfriend maybe?" Then she snapped her fingers, "The flu! Remember nineteen eighteen?"

"Yes, I do..." The 1918 pandemic was hard to forget after all. New York suddenly felt very out of her depth listening to Oklahoma crying. Lots of ship girls had something from their past experiences that would set them off one way or another, but she wasn't the one who had to deal with that. But, she was in charge and had to make a call one way or another. "Alright, you stay where you are doing what you're doing, and we'll uh... Make it up later alright?" She sighed as the line disconnected, "We'll make this quick, then we need to find out where Oklahoma and her patient is."

Later,

"I found the place," Pennsylvania said as she studied the destroyed door. "I'm going in to see what's what."

"Send us the address, Nevada called in a favor with Shamrock and we're all loaded up."

"Can do." Pennsylvania hung up, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. "Okie? It's Pennsylvania, I'm here to help." There was no response. "This is a bad idea, Pennsy..." But she stepped inside and set about searching the house. It only took a few minutes for her to find the bedroom.

It was dark, the only light coming from the inside the closet and a few candles. Oklahoma sat beside the bed, gently stroking the occupant's forehead.

"Okie?"

"Shhh, he's sleeping."

Pennsylvania quietly came up beside Oklahoma, dreading what she might see. She was immensely relieved to see that he was indeed alive and asleep, he looked awful, but that was to be expected. "New York and Nevada are bringing Shamrock to help take care of him."

"Okay. I think he'll be fine," Oklahoma said as she brushed some hair away from his forehead. "His fever broke a few minutes ago."

"That's great. I'll be outside waiting for them, alright." At Oklahoma's nod, Pennsylvania left the bedroom.

It only took a few minutes for New York, Nevada, and Shamrock to arrive. As the hospital ship made her way inside, New York pulled the other battleships aside. "Here's what we'll do. I'll tell Briggs about all this, Pennsylvania will deal with the door, and Nevada will stay with her sister. Alright?"

"Yeah."

"Will do."

Briggs pinched the bridge of his nose as New York went over the events of the day. When she had finished, he looked up at the ceiling.

"So, he gets sick, Oklahoma goes AWOL and breaks into his house to take care of him."

"That's the gist of it, sir."

"What's his outlook?"

"Oh, he'll be fine. Just a nasty virus that's been making the rounds."

"Well, it's fairly minor as things go. I'll leave any disciplinary action up to you."

New York shrugged, "Since no one got hurt and the property damage was minimal, I'll have her help Vestal with her notes for a few days."

"Sounds good to me. Dismissed."