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[blissimmunity]

He'd spent Friday soaking wet, running from dinosaurs, shirtless and sockless for at least half of the time.  By Monday, his cold is in full bloom.  He's feeling particularly cranky, achy, tired and just all over bad.  The rain has quit, but he's too busy lying in bed, trying not to feel too sorry for himself to enjoy it.  The fact that Carolyn has

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[blondieburke]

Juliet had taken up residence in the hut across from Joshua's just after the dinosaur incident. She was chased by a T-Rex and lived to tell about it - her first thought is that Steven Spielberg must have been brought to this damn island at one point for him to have made a movie about dinosaurs the way that he did.

Her feet are mostly sore, she has cuts and bruises, but she knows that Joshua is sick after everything, so she manages to get her hands on chicken soup. Somehow handling an extra blanket, the soup, and a new book for him, she makes her way to his hut just to check in. Doctors make the worst patients, so mostly she wants to be sure he's resting the way he should be. Opening his door, she calls out softly enough to be heard if he's awake, but not loud enough to wake him if he's sleeping. "Joshua? It's Juliet, I brought some things for you. I'm coming in."

[blissimmunity]

"Don't come in," he yells, though it comes out more like a whisper. He's surprised, yet again, by his own weakness. Failing at keeping her out, he just lies there miserably.

[blondieburke]

She's not worried about getting sick, she's worked in a hospital too long. She's worried about Joshua though, so she sets up what she's brought before walking empty handed except for the blanket into his bedroom.

"Hey," she says quietly, reaching out to feel his forehead. "How are you feeling?"

[blissimmunity]

He doesn't want to be touched, but he's too tired at the moment to move. He knows it's a kind gesture any way. "Glad to be back here," he replies moodily. It's his best attempt at being optimistic. He's knows about a million ways in which it could be worse.

[blondieburke]

Juliet frowns a bit at the heat radiating from his body and puts the blanket to the side.

"How long as it been since you've eaten anything?"

[blissimmunity]

Doctors are the worst doctors sometimes too. At least to other doctors. The last thing he wants is to be taken care of as though he's incapable of it. Forget the fact that he can barely stand, let alone walk all the way to the compound.

At least she doesn't put the blanket on him. He sniffles a few times before giving up on that and just wiping his nose with a spare shirt. And his eyes start to water from his pounding headache.

"I don't know," he finally answers with just as much attitude as before. "What time is it?"

[blondieburke]

"Early afternoon. Hang on," she says before disappearing and coming back with acetaminophen and water. "Take this for your fever and your headache."

She helps him sit up and she knows he hates this, but she's not letting him win any kind of illness induced argument. "I won't make you eat, but I brought soup."

[blissimmunity]

"I never said I have a headache," he says, crossing his arms. After a moment, he relents since it's obvious she's not going to let him win this argument. He takes the pill and then drinks a good eight ounces of water.

He doesn't answer her question about when he'd last eaten. His question about time had only been a distraction. Yet he finds himself scanning the room for the soup. He thinks he's being stealthy about it, but his fever has really thrown off his senses.

[blondieburke]

Juliet's trying so hard not to smile, because she knows he doesn't feel well.

"You have a cold, the symptoms are pretty universal, Joshua," she says gently. "If you want some soup, I'll bring you some. Hang on." She makes her way back to the kitchen and dishes out the soup into a bowl before making her way back to his room.

Helping him sit up again, she hands him the bowl. "After this you need to sleep."

[blissimmunity]

"I didn't say I wanted any soup," he mumbles when she's out of the room. He'd leave if it wasn't for the fact that he's in his own hut. And the fatigue. And also wanting some soup.

"You're as bossy as Carolyn," he says, snapping at her when she returns to the room. "She won't let me enjoy the rain and you want me to sleep on command."

"Not that I enjoy the rain anymore," he adds as an afterthought in a quiet mumble while slurping on the soup. In the back of his mind, he thinks he ought to be thankful for the soup and the fever/pain meds, but the thought only registers for a moment and is gone again.

[blondieburke]

Juliet's mostly unflappable, and she rolls her eyes. "I'd say you enjoyed the rain plenty, and this is proof."

She disappears again, giving him some privacy because she doesn't need to hover while he's trying to eat. She figures he'll eat until he's full or ask her if he wants more.

When she does come back, she holds out a book. "I don't know if you'll feel up to reading, but I brought you something just in case," she says in her quiet voice. It's a book called Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders.

"It caught my attention, anyway and based on your bookshelf, I thought you might enjoy it."

[blissimmunity]

His mood has lightened now that he's eaten and the fever is going down. His headache isn't throbbing as bad either. The wooden bowl is on the table by his bed and he's slumped back down into more of a reclining position.

He'd actually gotten curious about whether or not she'd left. "I thought you'd gone," he says, quietly now. Not quite himself, but much closer. He's certainly not as snippy though still confrontational.

His eyes are watery from his cold and they don't really want to focus on words from the headache, but he manages to make out the title of the book. A weary smile appears on his face, but his eyes are closing. He's fighting his fatigue which to him feels like trying to swim over a tidal wave. He'd thank her and apologize, maybe even ask her to stay and keep him company, but all he manages are a few incoherent mumbled sounds, not even words.

[blondieburke]

"I can leave," she offers, putting the book down on the nightstand and picking up the bowl. "But you need to sleep, at least for a little while, okay?" She's not using her doctor/patient voice because she'd find that condescending as hell if he did that to her, as a doctor, but she is concerned.

And she doesn't really plan on leaving. Instead, she goes to the kitchen and puts up the bowl, then picks out a book and brings a chair in from outside to sit in his room.

[blissimmunity]

He's fallen asleep before he can hear her offer to leave or anything after that. As a matter of fact, he doesn't hear anything for several hours. He has weird dreams about dinosaurs and humans. His home planet and the Mother Ship.

"Erica?" he asks, still sleep addled. Yet as soon as he says it, he realizes his mistake. He's back on Tabula Rasa infected with a cold.

[blondieburke]

Juliet looks up, marking her place with her finger in the book.

"No," she says gently. "Juliet, remember? How's your head?"

[blissimmunity]

"Right," he replies, quietly, not looking at her. He lies back, putting a hand on his forehead. The movement to stabilize himself and not so much to get a feel for his temperature. Part of him believes it's pointless for him to want to go home. He's dead there or will be dead about a half second after he disappears or reappears or whatever happens. Yet part of him doesn't want to just give up.

"It's better. You gave me something, right?" he says, trying to recollect. He rolls to the side of the bed opposite of her and stands up slowly.