"Hailey Upton." Came my automatic response as I sat up from the couch, blinking back the morning sun filtering through the windows. It had been a long night up and up downs, so I decided after the third time she had called me in the middle of the night, I would sleep on the couch.

"What's going on? Will said you called Natalie yesterday but never called her back." Jay's tone was worried but understanding as he awaited my response. It took me a minute to gather what he meant, although I never remembered telling him about what was going on with Eva. The only other person I had called was Natalie.

"Eva got pretty sick yesterday. Whatever she has seems to have hit her pretty hard." I filled him in as he listened intently on the other end. "Her fever broke around two this morning, so hopefully the worst is over. Are Will and Natalie talking again?"

"To a certain degree. They were the ones who treated you that night you came into the ED, they have a reason to talk to each other. Since we're partners, Will was asking me how you were doing. It didn't take much to put two and together what he was getting at, so I thought I would check up on how things are going."

"I called her about Eva." I admitted, looking around at the thermometer and extra washcloths that were now scattered across the coffee table. I had spent many hours changing the cloth to help break her fever to get comfortable. Unfortunately, that didn't come until almost two this morning."

"What kind of sickness are we talking about here? Something serious?"

"At first I thought it was because of anxiety, like we had been talking about before. It still could be. But it never occurred to me she could have picked something up from school."

"Kids are germ magnets." He mentioned, although I had already gathered that from the articles I had read about children. "What do you need? Voight gave us the morning off so I'm free to help if you need anything."

"Honestly, I don't know what I need. I think we're on the tail end of this, at least I'm hoping we are." I caught myself on the fact that maybe I was jumping the gun, even though I was secretly hoping she was better and would finish recovering over the weekend so she wouldn't miss school. "Her fever broke around two this morning. I was reading up on what to give a child after a stomach bug."

"What did you come up with?"

"Maybe some dry toast and eggs. Or just eggs. I can hardly get her to eat anything."

"Loss of appetite is one of the first things to go when sick. Maybe try something she likes to eat." He suggested helpfully, which made sense if I could find something she really liked.

"I'll keep that in mind." I told him, although I already had something in mind. Pancakes may not be that horrible, if she was feeling up to eating them, although they may be heavy on an already sensitive stomach. "I'll see what she wants to do when she wakes up."

"Sounds good. You going to call Natalie back?"

"I think I will in a little while. I might need her on my side if this gets worse, or even at another time. I feel like I kind of dug myself into a hole on that one by calling her in the first place." Peering down the hall, I thought I heard Eva calling my name. "I think Eva is waking up, so I'm going to check up on her."

"Keep me updated." That was Jay's way of saying okay and letting me go, even though personally it sounded like an excuse to my own ears. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Hailey?" This time I definitely heard her voice echoing down the hall. She sounded sad but hopeful that I was somewhere nearby that I could hear her. Or maybe she was hearing bits and pieces of my conversation with Jay and knew that I was close.

"I will. I'll text you later." Hanging up, I pushed my phone into my back pocket, I stood up from the couch and walked down to Eva's room. I opened the door to see her still lying in bed. "I'm here. What's going on?"

"My head still hurts." Even through the darkness, I could still feel her pain as she held back the tears. I made my way carefully towards her, sitting on the edge of her bed as my hand rested against her forehead.

"Your head still hurts?"

"A lot. Like someone keeps poking me in the head." She poked her index finger softly in the middle of her forehead before placing it back by her side.

"Okay. What about your stomach? Is it still hurting?" I gestured to her stomach as she stayed covered in her bed. She frowned and nodded, contemplating what she was going to say next.

"A little. My stomach keeps making funny noises."

"You could be hungry. You haven't eaten anything since yesterday" I reminded her gently, stroking my fingers through her hair. "The good thing is you still don't have a fever, but I do want you to try to eat something."

"I am a little hungry. But what if I throw it all up?"

"Then we'll know your stomach is not ready. Tell you what, why don't we try some broth first?"

"What about the pancakes. Are we not going to make any?" Jutting out her bottom lip, she pulled it into a frown as she looked hopeful that I would change my mind. I had to admit, she did look cute when she was pouting. Even so, I wasn't about to clean up another round of puke.

"I was thinking about that, but I'm not so sure that's the best food after you've been throwing up."

"Please? I haven't puked since early this morning."

"Let's see how you hold down the broth, then I'll consider making pancakes."

"Fine." She relented, pulling the blanket up over her arms as I made my way out of the room.