Quarantined (5/6)
Title: Quarantined
Character/Pairing: Wash/Elisabeth (friendship), Wash/Taylor, Jim/Elisabeth, Mark/Maddy, Skye/Carter, Mira/Guzman
Word Count: ~3050 for this chapter
Genre: Romance, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: As far as she’s concerned, he’s never allowed to set foot near one of Malcolm’s research projects ever again.
Author’s Note: Fill for morganel’s Friday one word prompt “Quarantined” for Wash and Elisabeth. Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but definitely not necessary to read those for this to make sense - just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie, and the Sixers have come back to Terra Nova.
And I lied again. There will be an epilogue to this one, up some time this weekend. : )
Disclaimer is as usual - no profit, not mine, just borrowing.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Curled into his side, Alicia can tell when Nathaniel goes back to sleep. His whole body relaxes, and his labored breathing evens out slightly. She stays where she is, her hand clutched in his scrub top, head resting on his shoulder. As much as she’s happy to be able to touch him without the gloves on, she's also sitting here mentally berating herself for not being more careful. She knows she could have checked to be sure she could jump up on the table without damaging her suit or herself, but in the moment, she’d just wanted to help Malcolm as quickly as possible.
She gets lost in thought, brooding on her mistake and knowing she needs to be more thoughtful because they have Gracie to consider. She’s so preoccupied, she doesn’t hear the door open behind her. A moment later, she jumps when a hand grasps her shoulder.
“Sorry, Alicia.” Alicia turns to see Elisabeth standing there, looking contrite. “We’ve finished the drug, and I was wondering if you could help me run an I.V. for Nurse Ogawa, Skye and the two other patients?”
Alicia carefully disentangles herself from Nathaniel. He stirs slightly but then settles again as she gets to her feet. “Sure, Elisabeth. And don’t you and I both need them as well?”
Elisabeth nods. “I’ll get Nurse Ogawa to run yours.” At Alicia’s strange look, Elisabeth holds out her hands. They’re shaking slightly. “I got Nurse Ogawa to rest some yesterday, but I haven’t slept at all. The tremors started two hours ago, right after we helped Malcolm. Seems the adrenaline rush and then its subsiding made my body sort out just how tired it is.”
“Damn it, Elisabeth.” Alicia does something she rarely does, steps forward and wraps the smaller woman up in a hug. After a moment, she steps back. Her mind catches up, and she asks, “It’s been two hours? Have you already given the medication to Malcolm?”
With a small smile, Elisabeth replies, “Over an hour ago. Before we sedated him this morning, he asked to be the test case. Demanded it, really. He’s already responding. The level of the toxin in his blood has already been cut in half, and his breathing is easing. Mira told us that the infection can subside quickly, but I had no idea it would be this quickly. That said, his chest is still very congested. I think he’ll be recovering for a while. But no nasty side effects thus far.”
“Do you have the dose for…” Alicia begins to ask about the medication for Nathaniel.
Elisabeth wordlessly answers by simply holding out a syringe. “Just inject into the I.V. port. We might be able to do this via our usual hypos, but honestly, going in gradually is probably a little easier on the system.”
Alicia takes it and walks around the bed to Nathaniel’s I.V. pole. She injects the liquid into the port and drops a kiss on his forehead. After cupping his cheek in her palm and looking at him for a moment, Alicia steps away, back over to Elisabeth.
“How is Skye doing?”
“She’s tired but OK. We need to run her I.V. and get her medicated.”
Alicia eyes the comfortable chair in the corner of the room. She goes over to it and then pushes it close to Nathaniel’s bed. “I want you to take a break, Elisabeth, and Skye needs to as well.” Elisabeth starts to argue, but Alicia isn’t having it. “You’re about to drop. I want you in a bed, now. I’ll run your I.V., and I’ll sedate you if necessary. I’m going to ask Skye if she’ll hang out here so Nathaniel doesn’t wake up alone.”
Elisabeth looks stubborn for a moment, but then she just nods. “I’ll go crash in the bed near Malcolm’s.” Alicia frowns, but Elisabeth says, “That’s my condition. I’ll agree to take a break, but I want to stay near him in case he goes into distress again.”
Alicia motions towards the door. “Fair enough. Let’s go. We’ll get your I.V. run, and I’ll get your dose on board. I assume it’s a smaller dose for contact patients? Maybe 5 mls?” Elisabeth smiles as they exit the room, and Alicia gets a little confused. “What?”
“I sometimes forget how well-trained you military medics are.”
Alicia laughs. “They didn’t have much choice. For units like ours, always out in the field, the medic had to be able to handle triage, emergency care, virology, infections, you name it. I even did a tracheotomy in the field once, with little more than a knife and a drinking straw.”
Elisabeth grins at that. “Really? And the man is still alive?”
Alicia’s face falls a little. “No. But he didn’t die that day, it was in an ambush in Somalia two years later.” Seeing Elisabeth about to apologize, Alicia stops and puts a hand on her arm. “It’s OK, Elisabeth. It was a long time ago, and it was a war. That doesn’t make me less sad about it, those guys were our family for a long time. But it does make it easier to reconcile, at least all these years later.”
With a nod, Elisabeth turns again towards the area where Malcolm’s bed is. Before they get there, they run into Skye and Nurse Ogawa. Alicia looks at Skye. “Skye, will you go sit with Nathaniel? We just gave him his meds, but he’s still asleep. It’d be nice for him to see a friendly face if he wakes up. Nurse Ogawa or I will come and run your I.V. and give you your meds in a moment.”
Skye looks happy to be asked. “Of course, Lieutenant.” She turns and heads to Nathaniel’s room.
“And Skye?”
Skye turns back to her. “Yes, ma’am?”
“If you haven’t, call Carter. He was freaking out last night.”
Skye coughs a little and blushes lightly. “I already did. And you’re right, he really was freaking out.” She smiles and goes.
“Nurse Ogawa, I’m going to run a line on Dr. Shannon. She’s going to take a rest in the bed near Dr. Wallace’s. Can I get the meds for her and for Mira, and will you please run a line on the other two patients and get them their meds?” The nurse looks at Alicia, slightly surprised. Alicia is amused when the nurse then looks at Elisabeth, clearly seeking an OK.
Elisabeth nods to the nurse, who exits quickly, Alicia assumes to get the supplies she needs. A few minutes later, Alicia has the line run on Elisabeth, and she’s injecting the meds. “All right, you’re all set, Elisabeth. I’m going to go give Mira her meds, then I’ll go get Skye set up.”
“And when will you get yours?” Elisabeth lifts an eyebrow at her.
“When everyone else is taken care of, I’m going to find Nurse Ogawa. I’ll run hers and let her run mine. I promise.”
“OK, Alicia.” As she begins to turn away, Alicia feels Elisabeth’s hand on her arm. “Thank you for the help.”
“No problem, Elisabeth. Now sleep, please.” Alicia smiles gently at her friend.
She heads for the room where she knows Mira is, syringe of medication in hand. She knocks lightly on the door when she gets there. Mira looks up, obviously tired but looking a little better than Nathaniel and a lot better than Malcolm. “Drug delivery.”
“Wash, what the hell? Why are you here and why aren’t you suited up? Taylor must be having kittens.”
Alicia gives her a rueful smile as she approaches her I.V. stand to inject the meds. “He’s not exactly happy, but he’s too tired to be too mad at me. Anyway, I came in to deliver the plants, wearing the bio suit, but Malcolm coded just before we lost power earlier. I ripped my suit when I climbed up to do CPR. That’s why I’m down to the rebreather. Once I was exposed,” she holds up her arm to show off her bandage, “It didn’t make much sense to stay in the suit.”
“Is Malcolm OK, and what about Taylor and Skye?” Mira’s concern doesn’t really surprise Alicia, given how well the Sixers have been integrated into the colony.
Alicia injects the meds into Mira’s I.V. “Malcolm is improving. Elisabeth gave him the meds over an hour ago, and the toxin is already diminishing in his bloodstream. Skye is OK, I’m about to go run her meds. Nathaniel is struggling, but I’m sure he’ll be fine.” She perches on the edge of the bed. “How are you?”
As if to answer, Mira coughs a little, putting her hand to her oxygen mask. After a moment, she says, “I’m not bad. Really learning to appreciate the tech you still have here. I would’ve been dead in our old set up. Without help, I’m pretty sure this isn’t the kind of thing you beat twice.”
Alicia nods. “Do you want a comm so you can talk to Guz?”
Mira seems to light up. “If it’s all right, yeah, I really would.”
“Of course it’s all right. He’s probably going nuts. I’ll find you one and bring it or have Nurse Ogawa bring it.” She takes Mira’s hand. “I’m glad you’re OK, Mira, and not just for Guz’s sake.”
Mira smiles and squeezes Alicia’s hand. “Thanks, Wash. I hope Taylor starts improving soon.” She smirks at Alicia. “Though I’d guess the old bastard is way too stubborn to let something as annoying as this beat him.”
“Who’re you calling a bastard?” Alicia smirks back.
Mira laughs. “No objection to the old thing, eh?”
Alicia releases her hand and shoots her a grin. “No comment. I’ll find that comm for you. Take it easy, OK?”
“Thanks, Wash, and will do.” Mira gives her a wave as she leaves.
*****
Thirty minutes later, after everyone has had their meds and been checked on, Alicia sinks into the chair next to Nathaniel’s bed, careful not to pull on her own I.V. She and Nurse Ogawa just finished giving each other their meds. Alicia chuckles to herself. In all the years she’s been here, Nurse Ogawa has always been Nurse Ogawa. Alicia is embarrassed to admit, even to herself, that she has no idea what the woman’s first name is. She makes a mental note to ask Elisabeth or Nathaniel later.
The nurse is now taking a break in a chair between Malcolm and Elisabeth, and Skye, who just vacated the chair Alicia is in, left to go call Carter again. Alicia also took the comm to Mira, who was talking to Guz when Alicia left her.
She sighs and observes Nathaniel, who is still sleeping. While she’s not thrilled that he’s been asleep so long, she’s encouraged by the fact that his color is already improving and his breathing is less labored. She rubs her hand across her eyes, relieved that the rebreather is gone.
The environmental sensors are showing no traces of the toxin, and now that she’s getting the meds, Elisabeth endorsed all of them removing the rebreathers. Even with that, Alicia radioed Malcolm’s science staff a moment ago and asked them to find a way to usefully aerosolize the plant so that they could spray down the infirmary. Once that’s done, hopefully very soon, they’ll be able to open the infirmary again.
Yawning, Alicia leans back in the chair. She has it situated so that she can reach Nathaniel’s hand, so she takes it in hers, props her feet up on the edge of his bed, and lets her head drop back against the headrest of the chair.
She must have dropped off, because a while later, she is startled awake by a loud noise in the hallway. She notices that it’s a little colder in the room and that the fans are blowing. A look at the window makes her realize that the sun has set. Looking over at Nathaniel, she sees that the noise also woke him up. After looking disoriented for a moment, he reaches for his oxygen mask and pulls it off.
She smiles at him, releasing his hand and standing up to take the mask and help him sit up in the bed. “How are you feeling?”
His voice still sounds congested, but she can tell that his breathing has improved significantly, if the readings on the biobed are accurate. “Better. It’s a lot easier to breathe.”
She sits on the edge of the bed. “Your sats are a lot better. Steady in the 90s, which is good. You were scaring me earlier.”
“Sorry about that.” He coughs a little, and he reaches for her. He grasps her waist and slides her closer to him. He slips his hand into her hair, gently tugging her forehead down to meet his. “Did they give you the drug too? Is that why you have the I.V. You didn’t get sick too, did you?”
“No, I’m not sick. Smaller dose, just for contact. I’m fine, Nathaniel.”
He nods, and then he pulls her even closer to him and presses his lips to hers. Even though she knows that shortness of breath for him will likely require that the kiss be short, she still presses her body to his and allows him to deepen the kiss.
As expected, he pulls back after a moment, but he’s smiling when he does. He presses his forehead back to hers. “I’m really glad you’re not sick, Alicia. I was almost physically ill when I saw you without the bio suit.”
She sighs. “I’m so sorry, Nathaniel. I’m angry at myself for tearing the suit. I don’t know what I was thinking.” She looks down at her hands, starting to feel upset with herself again.
“Hey.” He uses his hand to tilt her face back up to look at him. “You were thinking you needed to save Malcolm. And I’m glad you did. He’s not just our lead scientist, he’s our friend. I know you’ve likely been sitting here beating yourself up. Stop that now, Alicia. It’s not like you were cavalier about the risk, and you didn’t expose yourself on purpose.”
She laughs softly. “You know me far too well, Nathaniel.”
He smiles. “Well, it’s been twenty years.” He pauses briefly. “How is everyone else? Elisabeth? Skye? Mira?”
She stands up for a moment, removing her own I.V. line and bandaging the place where the line had gone in. “They’re all either ok or they will be. Elisabeth is exhausted, but she never actually became sick. Also, neither the two patients who were here when this began nor Nurse Ogawa got sick. Mira is probably better, and Skye never showed much more than the symptoms of a bad cold. After Malcolm, you were definitely the sickest.”
“I guess if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”
She sits back down on the edge of his bed. “Not funny, Nathaniel.”
He grows more serious again, his eyes meeting hers. “I know.”
He’s clearly about to kiss her again when they both look up sharply at the sound of voices out in the hall. A moment later, the door swings open. Alicia can’t help but grin at the sight that greets her eyes. It’s Mark Reynolds, and he has a clearly very sleepy toddler on his hip. She’s dressed in her pajamas, has her stuffed dino in one hand, and the thumb of the other hand is in her mouth. Alicia feels bad about the latter, because these days, she only ever sucks her thumb when she’s upset or scared.
In a flash, she’s up off of the bed crossing the room to meet Reynolds. Gracie sees her, and by the time Alicia gets to them, Gracie is leaning away from Reynolds and stretching her little arms out for Alicia. Alicia takes her, and Gracie immediately clings to her with a small whimper. “Mama home.”
Alicia looks up at Reynolds, a little surprised by how upset Gracie is. He gives Alicia an apologetic look. “Sorry, Wash. We’d told her you’d be back tonight, and when you got stuck here, well, it didn’t go over well. She was pretty scared, especially when I had to tell her she couldn’t talk to the Commander either.”
Alicia nods. “Thanks for looking after her, Mark, and thank Maddy too.”
He smiles. “It was nothing, ma’am.” He leans down and kisses Gracie’s forehead. “Good night, Bug.”
Gracie clings tighter to Alicia, but in a tiny voice, she replies, “G’night Unca Mark.”
He smiles at them again, and after giving Nathaniel a quick nod, he disappears out the door. Alicia turns back to the bed and carries Gracie over to Nathaniel’s bedside. She sits back down next to Nathaniel, turning towards him a little.
Without releasing Alicia, Gracie looks Nathaniel over. Her eyes widen at the sight of his I.V., and she clings even tighter to Alicia. “What that?”
“Daddy wasn’t feeling good, Bug, so Aunt Elisabeth gave him that to give him medicine.”
Gracie is quiet for a moment, then she reaches for Nathaniel with the hand not clutching a dinosaur. He takes her in his lap, and she curls up on his chest. He coughs a little, and Gracie turns wide, wary eyes up to him. “Daddy feel better now?”
“I do, little Bug. I just have a cough now.” As he speaks, he wraps an arm around Gracie and leans back into the bed.
“’K, Daddy.” She gives him a smile, and then, clearly trusting that everything is fine, she clutches her dinosaur even closer, snuggles her head up under Nathaniel’s chin and closes her eyes.
Alicia settles next to them, her arm going around both of them and her head resting on Nathaniel’s shoulder. She feels Nathaniel relaxing into the bed, and she leans up and kisses his cheek. She whispers, “Go back to sleep, Nathaniel.”
He nods and closes his eyes. In moments, she feels his breathing even out again. Not long after, Elisabeth appears in the doorway, obviously coming to check on Nathaniel. She looks surprised at the picture they present.
Alicia catches Elisabeth’s eye, and Elisabeth just mouths, “Good night, and call if you need me.”
Alicia shoots her a grateful smile and mouths back, “I will. Good night.”
Elisabeth turns out the light as she leaves, and Alicia settles back down next to Nathaniel, sighing quietly and closing her eyes.
Character/Pairing: Wash/Elisabeth (friendship), Wash/Taylor, Jim/Elisabeth, Mark/Maddy, Skye/Carter, Mira/Guzman
Word Count: ~3050 for this chapter
Genre: Romance, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: As far as she’s concerned, he’s never allowed to set foot near one of Malcolm’s research projects ever again.
Author’s Note: Fill for morganel’s Friday one word prompt “Quarantined” for Wash and Elisabeth. Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but definitely not necessary to read those for this to make sense - just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie, and the Sixers have come back to Terra Nova.
And I lied again. There will be an epilogue to this one, up some time this weekend. : )
Disclaimer is as usual - no profit, not mine, just borrowing.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Curled into his side, Alicia can tell when Nathaniel goes back to sleep. His whole body relaxes, and his labored breathing evens out slightly. She stays where she is, her hand clutched in his scrub top, head resting on his shoulder. As much as she’s happy to be able to touch him without the gloves on, she's also sitting here mentally berating herself for not being more careful. She knows she could have checked to be sure she could jump up on the table without damaging her suit or herself, but in the moment, she’d just wanted to help Malcolm as quickly as possible.
She gets lost in thought, brooding on her mistake and knowing she needs to be more thoughtful because they have Gracie to consider. She’s so preoccupied, she doesn’t hear the door open behind her. A moment later, she jumps when a hand grasps her shoulder.
“Sorry, Alicia.” Alicia turns to see Elisabeth standing there, looking contrite. “We’ve finished the drug, and I was wondering if you could help me run an I.V. for Nurse Ogawa, Skye and the two other patients?”
Alicia carefully disentangles herself from Nathaniel. He stirs slightly but then settles again as she gets to her feet. “Sure, Elisabeth. And don’t you and I both need them as well?”
Elisabeth nods. “I’ll get Nurse Ogawa to run yours.” At Alicia’s strange look, Elisabeth holds out her hands. They’re shaking slightly. “I got Nurse Ogawa to rest some yesterday, but I haven’t slept at all. The tremors started two hours ago, right after we helped Malcolm. Seems the adrenaline rush and then its subsiding made my body sort out just how tired it is.”
“Damn it, Elisabeth.” Alicia does something she rarely does, steps forward and wraps the smaller woman up in a hug. After a moment, she steps back. Her mind catches up, and she asks, “It’s been two hours? Have you already given the medication to Malcolm?”
With a small smile, Elisabeth replies, “Over an hour ago. Before we sedated him this morning, he asked to be the test case. Demanded it, really. He’s already responding. The level of the toxin in his blood has already been cut in half, and his breathing is easing. Mira told us that the infection can subside quickly, but I had no idea it would be this quickly. That said, his chest is still very congested. I think he’ll be recovering for a while. But no nasty side effects thus far.”
“Do you have the dose for…” Alicia begins to ask about the medication for Nathaniel.
Elisabeth wordlessly answers by simply holding out a syringe. “Just inject into the I.V. port. We might be able to do this via our usual hypos, but honestly, going in gradually is probably a little easier on the system.”
Alicia takes it and walks around the bed to Nathaniel’s I.V. pole. She injects the liquid into the port and drops a kiss on his forehead. After cupping his cheek in her palm and looking at him for a moment, Alicia steps away, back over to Elisabeth.
“How is Skye doing?”
“She’s tired but OK. We need to run her I.V. and get her medicated.”
Alicia eyes the comfortable chair in the corner of the room. She goes over to it and then pushes it close to Nathaniel’s bed. “I want you to take a break, Elisabeth, and Skye needs to as well.” Elisabeth starts to argue, but Alicia isn’t having it. “You’re about to drop. I want you in a bed, now. I’ll run your I.V., and I’ll sedate you if necessary. I’m going to ask Skye if she’ll hang out here so Nathaniel doesn’t wake up alone.”
Elisabeth looks stubborn for a moment, but then she just nods. “I’ll go crash in the bed near Malcolm’s.” Alicia frowns, but Elisabeth says, “That’s my condition. I’ll agree to take a break, but I want to stay near him in case he goes into distress again.”
Alicia motions towards the door. “Fair enough. Let’s go. We’ll get your I.V. run, and I’ll get your dose on board. I assume it’s a smaller dose for contact patients? Maybe 5 mls?” Elisabeth smiles as they exit the room, and Alicia gets a little confused. “What?”
“I sometimes forget how well-trained you military medics are.”
Alicia laughs. “They didn’t have much choice. For units like ours, always out in the field, the medic had to be able to handle triage, emergency care, virology, infections, you name it. I even did a tracheotomy in the field once, with little more than a knife and a drinking straw.”
Elisabeth grins at that. “Really? And the man is still alive?”
Alicia’s face falls a little. “No. But he didn’t die that day, it was in an ambush in Somalia two years later.” Seeing Elisabeth about to apologize, Alicia stops and puts a hand on her arm. “It’s OK, Elisabeth. It was a long time ago, and it was a war. That doesn’t make me less sad about it, those guys were our family for a long time. But it does make it easier to reconcile, at least all these years later.”
With a nod, Elisabeth turns again towards the area where Malcolm’s bed is. Before they get there, they run into Skye and Nurse Ogawa. Alicia looks at Skye. “Skye, will you go sit with Nathaniel? We just gave him his meds, but he’s still asleep. It’d be nice for him to see a friendly face if he wakes up. Nurse Ogawa or I will come and run your I.V. and give you your meds in a moment.”
Skye looks happy to be asked. “Of course, Lieutenant.” She turns and heads to Nathaniel’s room.
“And Skye?”
Skye turns back to her. “Yes, ma’am?”
“If you haven’t, call Carter. He was freaking out last night.”
Skye coughs a little and blushes lightly. “I already did. And you’re right, he really was freaking out.” She smiles and goes.
“Nurse Ogawa, I’m going to run a line on Dr. Shannon. She’s going to take a rest in the bed near Dr. Wallace’s. Can I get the meds for her and for Mira, and will you please run a line on the other two patients and get them their meds?” The nurse looks at Alicia, slightly surprised. Alicia is amused when the nurse then looks at Elisabeth, clearly seeking an OK.
Elisabeth nods to the nurse, who exits quickly, Alicia assumes to get the supplies she needs. A few minutes later, Alicia has the line run on Elisabeth, and she’s injecting the meds. “All right, you’re all set, Elisabeth. I’m going to go give Mira her meds, then I’ll go get Skye set up.”
“And when will you get yours?” Elisabeth lifts an eyebrow at her.
“When everyone else is taken care of, I’m going to find Nurse Ogawa. I’ll run hers and let her run mine. I promise.”
“OK, Alicia.” As she begins to turn away, Alicia feels Elisabeth’s hand on her arm. “Thank you for the help.”
“No problem, Elisabeth. Now sleep, please.” Alicia smiles gently at her friend.
She heads for the room where she knows Mira is, syringe of medication in hand. She knocks lightly on the door when she gets there. Mira looks up, obviously tired but looking a little better than Nathaniel and a lot better than Malcolm. “Drug delivery.”
“Wash, what the hell? Why are you here and why aren’t you suited up? Taylor must be having kittens.”
Alicia gives her a rueful smile as she approaches her I.V. stand to inject the meds. “He’s not exactly happy, but he’s too tired to be too mad at me. Anyway, I came in to deliver the plants, wearing the bio suit, but Malcolm coded just before we lost power earlier. I ripped my suit when I climbed up to do CPR. That’s why I’m down to the rebreather. Once I was exposed,” she holds up her arm to show off her bandage, “It didn’t make much sense to stay in the suit.”
“Is Malcolm OK, and what about Taylor and Skye?” Mira’s concern doesn’t really surprise Alicia, given how well the Sixers have been integrated into the colony.
Alicia injects the meds into Mira’s I.V. “Malcolm is improving. Elisabeth gave him the meds over an hour ago, and the toxin is already diminishing in his bloodstream. Skye is OK, I’m about to go run her meds. Nathaniel is struggling, but I’m sure he’ll be fine.” She perches on the edge of the bed. “How are you?”
As if to answer, Mira coughs a little, putting her hand to her oxygen mask. After a moment, she says, “I’m not bad. Really learning to appreciate the tech you still have here. I would’ve been dead in our old set up. Without help, I’m pretty sure this isn’t the kind of thing you beat twice.”
Alicia nods. “Do you want a comm so you can talk to Guz?”
Mira seems to light up. “If it’s all right, yeah, I really would.”
“Of course it’s all right. He’s probably going nuts. I’ll find you one and bring it or have Nurse Ogawa bring it.” She takes Mira’s hand. “I’m glad you’re OK, Mira, and not just for Guz’s sake.”
Mira smiles and squeezes Alicia’s hand. “Thanks, Wash. I hope Taylor starts improving soon.” She smirks at Alicia. “Though I’d guess the old bastard is way too stubborn to let something as annoying as this beat him.”
“Who’re you calling a bastard?” Alicia smirks back.
Mira laughs. “No objection to the old thing, eh?”
Alicia releases her hand and shoots her a grin. “No comment. I’ll find that comm for you. Take it easy, OK?”
“Thanks, Wash, and will do.” Mira gives her a wave as she leaves.
*****
Thirty minutes later, after everyone has had their meds and been checked on, Alicia sinks into the chair next to Nathaniel’s bed, careful not to pull on her own I.V. She and Nurse Ogawa just finished giving each other their meds. Alicia chuckles to herself. In all the years she’s been here, Nurse Ogawa has always been Nurse Ogawa. Alicia is embarrassed to admit, even to herself, that she has no idea what the woman’s first name is. She makes a mental note to ask Elisabeth or Nathaniel later.
The nurse is now taking a break in a chair between Malcolm and Elisabeth, and Skye, who just vacated the chair Alicia is in, left to go call Carter again. Alicia also took the comm to Mira, who was talking to Guz when Alicia left her.
She sighs and observes Nathaniel, who is still sleeping. While she’s not thrilled that he’s been asleep so long, she’s encouraged by the fact that his color is already improving and his breathing is less labored. She rubs her hand across her eyes, relieved that the rebreather is gone.
The environmental sensors are showing no traces of the toxin, and now that she’s getting the meds, Elisabeth endorsed all of them removing the rebreathers. Even with that, Alicia radioed Malcolm’s science staff a moment ago and asked them to find a way to usefully aerosolize the plant so that they could spray down the infirmary. Once that’s done, hopefully very soon, they’ll be able to open the infirmary again.
Yawning, Alicia leans back in the chair. She has it situated so that she can reach Nathaniel’s hand, so she takes it in hers, props her feet up on the edge of his bed, and lets her head drop back against the headrest of the chair.
She must have dropped off, because a while later, she is startled awake by a loud noise in the hallway. She notices that it’s a little colder in the room and that the fans are blowing. A look at the window makes her realize that the sun has set. Looking over at Nathaniel, she sees that the noise also woke him up. After looking disoriented for a moment, he reaches for his oxygen mask and pulls it off.
She smiles at him, releasing his hand and standing up to take the mask and help him sit up in the bed. “How are you feeling?”
His voice still sounds congested, but she can tell that his breathing has improved significantly, if the readings on the biobed are accurate. “Better. It’s a lot easier to breathe.”
She sits on the edge of the bed. “Your sats are a lot better. Steady in the 90s, which is good. You were scaring me earlier.”
“Sorry about that.” He coughs a little, and he reaches for her. He grasps her waist and slides her closer to him. He slips his hand into her hair, gently tugging her forehead down to meet his. “Did they give you the drug too? Is that why you have the I.V. You didn’t get sick too, did you?”
“No, I’m not sick. Smaller dose, just for contact. I’m fine, Nathaniel.”
He nods, and then he pulls her even closer to him and presses his lips to hers. Even though she knows that shortness of breath for him will likely require that the kiss be short, she still presses her body to his and allows him to deepen the kiss.
As expected, he pulls back after a moment, but he’s smiling when he does. He presses his forehead back to hers. “I’m really glad you’re not sick, Alicia. I was almost physically ill when I saw you without the bio suit.”
She sighs. “I’m so sorry, Nathaniel. I’m angry at myself for tearing the suit. I don’t know what I was thinking.” She looks down at her hands, starting to feel upset with herself again.
“Hey.” He uses his hand to tilt her face back up to look at him. “You were thinking you needed to save Malcolm. And I’m glad you did. He’s not just our lead scientist, he’s our friend. I know you’ve likely been sitting here beating yourself up. Stop that now, Alicia. It’s not like you were cavalier about the risk, and you didn’t expose yourself on purpose.”
She laughs softly. “You know me far too well, Nathaniel.”
He smiles. “Well, it’s been twenty years.” He pauses briefly. “How is everyone else? Elisabeth? Skye? Mira?”
She stands up for a moment, removing her own I.V. line and bandaging the place where the line had gone in. “They’re all either ok or they will be. Elisabeth is exhausted, but she never actually became sick. Also, neither the two patients who were here when this began nor Nurse Ogawa got sick. Mira is probably better, and Skye never showed much more than the symptoms of a bad cold. After Malcolm, you were definitely the sickest.”
“I guess if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”
She sits back down on the edge of his bed. “Not funny, Nathaniel.”
He grows more serious again, his eyes meeting hers. “I know.”
He’s clearly about to kiss her again when they both look up sharply at the sound of voices out in the hall. A moment later, the door swings open. Alicia can’t help but grin at the sight that greets her eyes. It’s Mark Reynolds, and he has a clearly very sleepy toddler on his hip. She’s dressed in her pajamas, has her stuffed dino in one hand, and the thumb of the other hand is in her mouth. Alicia feels bad about the latter, because these days, she only ever sucks her thumb when she’s upset or scared.
In a flash, she’s up off of the bed crossing the room to meet Reynolds. Gracie sees her, and by the time Alicia gets to them, Gracie is leaning away from Reynolds and stretching her little arms out for Alicia. Alicia takes her, and Gracie immediately clings to her with a small whimper. “Mama home.”
Alicia looks up at Reynolds, a little surprised by how upset Gracie is. He gives Alicia an apologetic look. “Sorry, Wash. We’d told her you’d be back tonight, and when you got stuck here, well, it didn’t go over well. She was pretty scared, especially when I had to tell her she couldn’t talk to the Commander either.”
Alicia nods. “Thanks for looking after her, Mark, and thank Maddy too.”
He smiles. “It was nothing, ma’am.” He leans down and kisses Gracie’s forehead. “Good night, Bug.”
Gracie clings tighter to Alicia, but in a tiny voice, she replies, “G’night Unca Mark.”
He smiles at them again, and after giving Nathaniel a quick nod, he disappears out the door. Alicia turns back to the bed and carries Gracie over to Nathaniel’s bedside. She sits back down next to Nathaniel, turning towards him a little.
Without releasing Alicia, Gracie looks Nathaniel over. Her eyes widen at the sight of his I.V., and she clings even tighter to Alicia. “What that?”
“Daddy wasn’t feeling good, Bug, so Aunt Elisabeth gave him that to give him medicine.”
Gracie is quiet for a moment, then she reaches for Nathaniel with the hand not clutching a dinosaur. He takes her in his lap, and she curls up on his chest. He coughs a little, and Gracie turns wide, wary eyes up to him. “Daddy feel better now?”
“I do, little Bug. I just have a cough now.” As he speaks, he wraps an arm around Gracie and leans back into the bed.
“’K, Daddy.” She gives him a smile, and then, clearly trusting that everything is fine, she clutches her dinosaur even closer, snuggles her head up under Nathaniel’s chin and closes her eyes.
Alicia settles next to them, her arm going around both of them and her head resting on Nathaniel’s shoulder. She feels Nathaniel relaxing into the bed, and she leans up and kisses his cheek. She whispers, “Go back to sleep, Nathaniel.”
He nods and closes his eyes. In moments, she feels his breathing even out again. Not long after, Elisabeth appears in the doorway, obviously coming to check on Nathaniel. She looks surprised at the picture they present.
Alicia catches Elisabeth’s eye, and Elisabeth just mouths, “Good night, and call if you need me.”
Alicia shoots her a grateful smile and mouths back, “I will. Good night.”
Elisabeth turns out the light as she leaves, and Alicia settles back down next to Nathaniel, sighing quietly and closing her eyes.