CHAPTER 18

NURSE HAYES – after 6x01

It had been almost two weeks since Jason saw Mandy the last time. She worked Monday to Friday, although sometimes she was able to take the Friday off, and her place was far from Jason's, it took hours for her to get there, so she couldn't see him during her week. And the weekend after the Team's ambush she had to take a trip to Seattle for work. They were calling and texting each other almost everyday, but he was missing seeing her, so on Thursday night he wanted to make sure she was coming to VA Beach on Friday afternoon. He had planned some more walks on the beach, brunches, a tequila night at The Bulkhead, and of course, some 'naughty time'.

He knew sometimes she couldn't answer his call, so he texted her.

"Hi. All good for tomorrow? Got great plans for us ]:) "

A few minutes later, Mandy texted back.

"Hey. I don't know. I'm not feeling too well since last night :( I'm working from home today. But if I'm better tomorrow I'll definitely go"

"Oh ok. Something serious?"

"Don't think so, I think it's just my stomach. Or a flu. But I can't really drive"

"Well, hope you get better. I'll talk to you tomorrow anyways ok?"

"Ok, talk to u tomorrow. Xx"

On Friday morning, Jason called her and she didn't answer. She was probably in some online meeting. Close to noon she called him back, saying that she was a bit worse then before and had to go to the doctor. He did some blood tests that would be ready only on Saturday morning, but he advised her to not drive in those conditions. And she really couldn't, she had to get an uber to get to the doctor, and was afraid of getting sick through the whole drive there and back.

Jason felt incredibly sad that she wouldn't be able to go to VA Beach, but he was more worried about her not feeling well at all. While they worked together, he saw her kind of sick only once during a deployment, and she probably missed one or two days at work for being sick during the whole time they worked together and had ops.

"Jason, the doctor gave me something for the nausea so I'm kinda groggy" Mandy mumbled on the phone, "I'm going to take a nap now, ok?"

Jason quickly asked her "Ok, but have you eaten yet? It's noon. Do you have something to eat at home?"

Mandy was barely audible on the phone "U-hum. I'll see. Later. Bye" and ended the call.

He could imagine that Mandy did not have had anything to eat and probably wouldn't, for the whole day. He knew her too well.

Just a minute later, Jason got a text from Emma.

"Hey dad. Just confirming if we're going to The Bulkhead today or tomorrow. You didn't tell me which night you and Mandy decided to go."

"Hey Emma. Sorry, just heard Mandy is not coming here this weekend. She's kinda sick. Tell Brad I'll introduce him to the guys next time"

"Oh too bad! No worries dad. Please send Mandy a hug. Take care of her. We'll talk. Luv u."

Yes, I will Emma.

…

Jason was able to drive his truck now; he avoided it because the belt pressed him right on his shoulder and it hurt, but the pain was bearable. So he drove himself to Mandy's house and got there Friday late afternoon, after dropping Cerberus at his friend's house.

Mandy's yard was now filled with colorful flowers all around, everything green and was well maintained. He glanced at the white picket fence again and smiled.

He was going to text her that he was going there, but he knew she would insist that it wasn't necessary or some bullshit like that, but he was missing her and worried for her, especially if the doctor had requested for blood tests. That was not normal.

He knocked on her door, and waited for a few minutes. No answer. Jason noticed a middle-aged neighbor watering his plants and looking at him, suspicious. Jason tried to look friendly and nodded, with his bag on the floor right next to him.

He knocked again and was about to call her, when she slightly opened the door.

"Jason? What are you doing here?" Mandy answered the door, in a fluffy robe, and her shocked tone immediately reminded him of when he went there the other time to try to get her back.

"Hey. I was worried" he said, and he was glad that he went there, because she looked pale and groggy. Her hair was in a bun, and black locks were falling off of it. She still managed to look adorable, though.

She let him in, hiding behind her door so that noisy neighbor wouldn't see her. Jason grabbed his bag and got in, and he instantly felt at home there.

It was a beautiful house on the outside, not too big, with a cottage charm to it, and inside it was very cozy, with wooden accents, and trinkets from her trips, paintings on the wall, flowers, and some photos. But still contemporary, sunny and clean. It was very feminine. There was a bit of mess in the kitchen and a cup of tea on her coffee table, where a pillow was indicating to Jason that Mandy was probably napping on the dark green the sofa until now. The TV remote was on the sofa as well.

"I'm sorry for the mess" Mandy quickly went to the kitchen to put some more stuff inside the sink, feeling a bit upset that Jason didn't let her know he was coming. I mean, he'd never seen her place inside before, and she usually didn't invite the guys she was seeing to her house, she preferred meeting at their place. She felt kind of invaded to be honest, because she could have cleaned up the mess at least. Not that she was able to do that at that moment, 'cause she was feeling really dizzy. But when she looked back at Jason, it felt really nice that he was worried about her, and drove all this way with his shoulder still hurting. He was smiling at her and already had put his bag beside the sofa and was looking around her house. Lingering on some photos.

"Come on Mandy, you know only women could ever think that your house is messy. I like it. It's cozy".

He smiled again when he saw one of the photos was of the whole Bravo Team, with civilian clothes, at The Bulkhead, raising their glasses of beer. Jason had his arm around Mandy. He had the same photo, it was on one of the nights that Clay paid off the debt of beer he had with the Team once and for all, inviting them for rounds of beer. He regretted it immensely later on, when he saw the bill. But the guys' then pitched in to help. But he still had to pay like 2/3 of the bill.

Mandy was staring him from the light kitchen, behind the island, looking timid, so Jason approached her, trying to kiss her. She smiled but stopped him, keeping him at arm's length, "The doctor thinks I might have a virus, Jace. No kisses or sharing utensils, because he said that this virus is getting everywhere lately".

"Oh" Jason stopped, "That's why he asked for the tests?"

"Hum, no, the virus doesn't show on the blood test. He didn't tell me much, but maybe some other stomach issue? I don't know. He said it was just to check everything".

Mandy was feeling a bit groggy, but she held herself on the island, blinked and offered if Jason wanted something to drink.

He noticed her eyes unfocused and immediately grabbed her and guided her by the arm to the sofa, while she kept mumbling she was ok. But she sunk on the sofa right away.

"That's ok, I'll get me some water. Do you need something?", Jason asked, but Mandy just mumbled that she had her tea there.

Jason opened the fridge and instantly grumbled. It had like, nothing in it that could sustain a person. Water, a yogurt, some milk, lettuce, tomato. One egg. Two bottles of wine; one red and one white. Two cans of diet coke. He opened the freezer and there was one frozen bread, a frozen meat lasagna, and ice cubes. Except for the frozen lasagna, which Mandy obviously shouldn't eat right now, there was nothing for her there. He poured himself some water in a glass, and went to the sofa.

"Jesus Mandy, is your fridge always this empty?"

"Hum.. no… I usually go to the grocery on the weekends, with time, but last weekend I was away, and this week was kinda busy, and I didn't want to buy a lot of stuff if I was going to VA Beach this weekend again." Mandy answered, already laying on the sofa, almost dozing off.

"Ok" Jason continued, this time sitting beside her, next to her feet, "Then what have you been eating since yesterday?"

"Hum… I ordered a bowl of soup from a new delivery place yesterday afternoon. And today some bread. And tea, obviously. Can't keep much in"

Jason was having a feeling she was omitting something, even groggy. And she was too groggy for his comfort. "Why didn't you order the soup again today?"

"Didn't like it that much. I was throwing up a lot yesterday, to be honest. The soup didn't help" she closed her eyes again, humming.

Jason immediately went to her kitchen, trying to find her thrash. It was one of those built in, hidden in the cabinets. There was a container of chicken and rice soup in the thrash. But as he suspected, it was almost full. She didn't eat not even a third of it.

"For fuck sake Mandy, you haven't eaten anything since Wednesday?" Jason now was extremely concern, and he didn't want to sound so harsh, but when it came to food, Mandy either ate a lot, or forgot to eat, and during deployments she would only remember to eat something after Jason kept reminding her.

She didn't answer, she was asleep. Her grogginess obviously wasn't because of some medicine she took hours ago, but because she hadn't eaten enough, and probably didn't stay hydrated either. He touched her cup on the coffee table, the tea was cold, and the cup was still full.

Jason called her again, and when she didn't answer he didn't know what else to do but to shake her. She complained, but he didn't care, "Mandy, where is the prescription the doctor gave you? His contacts?"

"Hum.. in the purse?" she muttered, eyes still closed.

Jason found the paper inside her purse over the table near the entrance, there were very clear instructions: drink at least ¾ of a gallon of water, eat several small meals throughout the day, with healthy and nutritious food such as rice, boiled chicken, soup, vegetables, toasted bread; call the doctor immediately if the nausea doesn't stop in the next 12 hours, if showing signs of anorexia, or if vomiting blood.

So, she wasn't following up with any of the doctor's recommendations, and that last symptom terrified Jason.

"Mandy, did you vomit blood?" he shook her again, and for his relief she mumbled 'no' to him, seeming offended by the question. He took her wrist and felt her pulse very weak. He called the doctor.

"Hey, is this Dr. Vizri's office? Hello. Yes, my name is Jason Hayes and I'm calling to talk to him about one of his patients. Amanda Ellis. Yes, I know he must be almost leaving the office. I just have a quick question. Yes, it's an emergency. She was there this morning. U-hum. Ok." Jason waited impatiently, while holding her wrist and taking a look at Mandy, sleeping on the couch. "Oh, hi, Dr. Vizri. Yes. Jason. Her boyfriend. Oh, yes? That much time? So you know how she is then. Yes. No, she hadn't eaten pretty much anything since Wednesday" Jason glanced at Mandy "No, she didn't eat almost any of it, sir. I found the container almost full. U-hum. I see. Ok. Of course, I'll keep an eye on her. Sure. That would be great, I'm from out of here and I don't know any good delivery services in the area, or pharmacies. Thank you Dr. Vizri. Have a good weekend. Yes, I'll keep you posted. Hope not. Thank you so much. Bye".

...

Jason stayed sitting on the couch for two minutes, when he heard the sound of text messages. He looked at them, Dr. Vizri's secretary sent the number of a pharmacy that delivers in record time, and another from a healthy food place that the doctor recommends for getting soup and other meals with low fat, for people suffering from gastric issues. He called both places, ordering stuff, then filled a big glass of water and made Mandy wake up, sit, and drink all she could. She stopped at a third of the glass, with nausea.

"Come on Mandy, the doctor said that if you don't hydrate right now, you'll have to be admitted to hospital. Breathe and swallow, please. You're probably having anorexia, and it makes you reject water too".

Mandy opened her eyes and swallowed small sips of the water. And had to stop. But she managed to drink almost a full glass of it. Minutes later, the pharmacy delivered some stronger medicine for her nausea that the doctor recommended, and special drinkable fluids containing vitamins, minerals and nutrients for her. She took the pill but again almost threw up with the special drink, it tasted like a kids vomit after having berries, according to Mandy, but Jason made her drink a lot of it. And at least she was awake and talking a bit again. She was blushed from the gagging reflex and disheveled because Jason kept holding her head when she thought she would threw up in the bowl she had by her sofa.

When Mandy calmed down from having so much stuff practically shoved inside of her at once, she looked at Jason. She had teary eyes, from her gagging.

"What a great Friday for you" she tried to smile. He didn't answer, just kept looking at her.

"I'm sorry I worried you and you came all this way. I would be ok. I was planning on ordering something to eat soon. I should have told you it could be a virus, too, so you wouldn't come here, now maybe you got it-"

"Stop, Mandy", Jason interrupted, surprising her. He was sounding very, very irritated. "You were not ok. You hadn't drunken or eaten anything for days, and Dr. Vizri said you lied to him. When you went there today you said you ate a whole bowl of soup yesterday and bread this morning, and he said that if you couldn't eat anything substantial at noon you had to call him immediately. He also said the medicine he gave you at his office for nausea did not cause grogginess".

"Oh" she was listening to it all a bit ashamed, and surprised. Jason exhaled, he didn't want to seem harsh, but she obviously wasn't aware that she was really bad. He put her pale hand into his hands.

"Dr. Vizri said that he suspects you got a specific virus at the plane or in Seattle. There is a new virus that usually is not too serious in adults, if treated, but he warned that it can cause a heart attack if left untreated, because it lowers the blood pressure, and that that problem is more common to happen in babies or elders. Or homeless people. He said that there were a lot of reports of homeless people dying from it, especially in colder weather." Jason blinked, but continued, in a low voice, "You could have stayed here sleeping, alone, for God knows how long, not getting up because of the low blood pressure. Without hydrating or eating. You're a not a homeless, Mandy. You have people. So please don't tell me I shouldn't have come".

They stayed in silence for a minute, Mandy was avoiding any eye contact, but kept her hand in his. The sound of a honk let them know that another delivery arrived. "I ordered some food" Jason said, standing up and getting the delivery. It was a lot of stuff, Mandy thought.

…

Slowly Mandy managed to have some of the soup that Jason served her, it was still hot. The rest of it he put in the fridge and some of it in the freezer. Mandy thought it was actually pretty good.

"Didn't know you had domestic traits in you" Mandy tried to tease him, to see if he was mad at her. He seemed pretty angry before. He was organizing the things in her fridge, meticulously.

Jason laughed, for Mandy's relief. "Actually, as you noticed, I do not do this in my place. Usually Emma comes by every now and then with fresh and healthy food and she organizes it like this for me. It's a very handy method, and I'm trying to replicate it for ya" he turned to look at her, smiling. He walked towards her, happy to see her eating something, even though she did it very slowly and she was obviously holding a bit of nausea yet. "Is it good?"

"Actually… yes. Lacks a bit of salt though" Mandy smirked. Then she looked at her small green cuckoo clock near the kitchen, noticing it was late already. "Aren't you going to eat anything? I have meat lasagna in the freezer, I can put it in the oven for you, doesn't take that long to cook" she started to get up, slowly. Jason gestured her to stay seated. "No, stay there. I actually was looking at one of the noodle soups and honestly it smelled pretty good. I kept it in the fridge and if you swear to me it tastes good, I'll heat it for me".

Mandy laughed, "I swear Jason. You know I wouldn't lie to you about food. Just put some salt in it".

Jason believed her, after all they did have similar tastes when it came to food. She was a carnivore like him, but when she ordered take out or ate at a restaurant, she liked to get fish or shrimp, because 'She only ate these outside, she never cooked that at home, it left a fishy smell in the house' she explained to Jason once. A very rational explanation.

So they both ate their soups at the sofa, and after Jason put salt twice in it, he really thought it was delicious, seasoned, comfort food. They watched some chick-flick movie, it had Gerard Butler in it. Jason made a weird face at Mandy when she suggested they could watch that movie, but when she showed him who the co-star was, he really, really, liked Katherine Heigl, apparently, so he gladly watched it. Mandy laughed, because no man has ever said he 'doesn't like' Katherine Heigl, so she knew we'd want to watch it. She even told him where she kept her stash of chocolates in the kitchen, he pretended to not want any at first, but when Mandy insisted, he finally went to the kitchen. And came back with a Toblerone.

Jason was watching attentively, half-eaten Toblerone in hand, feeling the sexual tension between Butler and Heigl in the elevator. He had to admit that dude was charming and had a nice accent. He tried to figure out if he looked more like him with his beard shorter or longer, like when he slept with Mandy in J-Bad. He thought in both cases they had similarities. Suddenly, the couple in the movie passionately kissed, and he cheered for the couple, "Finally, huh. Get it". He turned to Mandy, laughing, but he saw that she was sleeping, her head on the other side of the sofa, and her feet on his lap.

He gently shook Mandy, because he couldn't carry her up not even if he wanted to, his shoulder probably wouldn't be strong enough. So she hummed when he helped her get up and get upstairs and she said she would go to the ensuite bathroom, first. She still had her fluffy robe on and he said that he would get his bag and stuff downstairs in the meanwhile. She stopped him, before closing the bathroom door, "I have another bedroom you should sleep in. You know, because of the virus". He grinned at her, "Mandy I really don't mind it. I prefer sleeping here with you to keep an eye in case you feel nauseated or something again. I wouldn't sleep well in the other bedroom".

Jason came back up just when she was leaving the bathroom in her robe, and he got in there while she went to bed. He came out already in his boxers and t-shirt, and she was lying on her side, but still awake.

He laid on the bed on his side, behind her. "I'm going to keep my face away from you, just in case ok. Because viruses" Mandy mumbled, half-asleep.

Jason opened a wide smile, that she didn't see. But he was smiling at himself. She was wearing his HAYES t-shirt. She probably was wearing it this whole afternoon underneath her robe. He got very close to her and put his arm around her waist, and rest his face against her hair. He quickly fell asleep, peacefully and not worried at all about getting some virus.

And Mandy finally was understanding how it was like being taken care of.