Hey everyone! I decided that this little short really didn't add anything to the storyline, but I just cannot resist a good story involving some pining, a bed, a shower and some angst. There is so real character development here, no Anubis, no questions answered, just some good old too stupid to admit their feelings enjoyment. I hope you enjoy and I am working on the next volume in the real saga right now!!
XOXO
Bri
She heard the phone ring and looked at her alarm clock. She hated Mondays anyway but any Monday that began with a phone call was just going to be that much worse. Glancing at the alarm, she noted that the clock read 5 a.m., way too early on a Monday morning.
“I swear someone had better be dying,” Adrienne said aloud to herself, reaching for the small black rectangle sitting and glowing on her nightstand, peering groggily at the screen.
Indy
“I think I just figured out who is going to die,” she muttered and hit talk.
“Daniel, I still have at least an hour before I have to get up so this had better be good,” she hissed into the phone.
“Ad, listen, I need your help,” he whispered weakly. Instantly,Adrienne sat up in bed worried paying closer attention to the voice on the phone, a voice that sounded terrible.
“What’s wrong shug, are you ok?” she asked as she stood from her bed, slipping on some yoga pants that she had laid onto the chair the night before.
“Not really, I’m sick and I hate to ask you this but can you bring me some Gatorade or something. I can’t keep anything down and I need to stay hydrated,” he explained, his voice fading in and out. Rushing around the room, Adrienne grabbed some socks out of her drawer and slipped them on stuffing her feet into her open combat boots.
“You at home or on base?” she clarified.
“At home. I actually went home Saturday night to relax. Woke up yesterday like this,” he replied.
“Yesterday!?!?” Adrienne exclaimed, “Why didn’t you call me?”
“You had that thing with Cameron and Teal’c and I didn’t want to bother you guys. Besides, you left a few Vitamin waters in my fridge the last time you were over here so I drank them. But I got worse about 1 this morning,” Daniel answered abruptly, followed by heaving and the clear sound of him vomiting, or at least trying to, on the other end. She pulled the phone away from her ear in disgust.
“Ad!” his voice voice shouted in pain. Dammit Daniel, I love you, but it is too early for this shit, Adrienne thought, but brought the phone back to her ear anyway.
“Yea shug, I’m here,” she answered, “I’m coming right now. Just stay put ok,” she ordered and ended the call, scrolling down her contacts to dial Sam next. Time to wake someone else up.
“Adrienne, what’s going on?” her voice answered, sleepy as well.
“Sam, you’re two geeks down today. Daniel’s puking his guts up and I’m gonna go over there and take care of him,” Adrienne explained.
“Addy, I don’t need you both sick, last thing we need with everything that has been going on is to have to shut down your department for a week,” Sam responded despondently, Adrienne considering her point. If she did catch whatever Daniel had managed to catch, she would be the one puking the other half of the week and Daniel would most likely take care of her, or at least she hoped he would. Either way, she really didn’t want to be sick.
“I’m going to down some zinc and C before I head over there and hope for the best. I can’t just leave him Sam; he sounds awful,” Adrienne defended her decision to help her best friend, the love of her life. There was a pause, and then she heard Sam laughing on the other line
“He called you for help?” Sam questioned, finally putting everything together in her head. Of course he had called her, so she called a spade a spade, “Sucker.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll keep you posted. Bye Sam,” Adrienne ended the call, not wanting to admit anything to Sam that she already knew, and walked to her bathroom to down the promised Zinc and vitamin C. She tucked the bottles into her purse and scurried to the kitchen, grabbing a cooler from the corner of the room, filling it with saltines, organic peanut butter, and some more bottles of vitamin water. Dragging the cooler slowly to the dining room, Adrienne set it down, heading back to her bedroom to get her latest vampire novel and other various things she had planned to do in case she had time. She felt like she was missing something, so she scanning the room one last time, a light bulb going on in her head and she grabbed her yoga mat and headed out for the bug.
Daniel only lived about a 10 minute drive away, but Adrienne felt like it was taking forever, so she was relieved when she finally arrived at the parking garage for his complex, pulling in beside his jeep. It looked like a lot of people had already left for work, fortunately for her, despite the fact it was only 6 a.m. Hoisting the bag up on her shoulder, she grabbed the cooler, heading for the stairs up to his place, forgoing the elevator. When she arrived at his door, she let herself in, using the key he had given her a few months ago.
“Indy!” she shouted into the apartment, reaching over to turn on the light. It flickered on slowly, revealing a complete and total disaster in front of her. Daniel was a spreader when it came to his desk, but his apartment was usually so neat and tidy that it’s current state was a clear indicator of exactly how sick he was. His messenger bag was thrown onto the couch, clothes were strewn all over the floor and the coffee table was littered with empty bottles and wrappers for individuals packs of crackers of an uncertain origin. Even more concerned, she set her bag on the one clean piece of furniture, his side chair, and took the cooler into the kitchen.
“Daniel!” she shouted again, “I’m here, where are you?” she yelled from the kitchen, leaving the cooler on the floor as she made her way to the bedroom. Opening the door, she saw that his bed was a disaster, but he wasn’t there either.
“Ad,” she heard his voice faintly calling her name from behind her and whipped around to find him sitting on the bathroom floor holding onto the toilet. He was only wearing boxer shorts and looked so pale, like he was severely dehydrated and he had nothing with him other than his phone, tossed haphazardly by his knee.
“Daniel, oh my god, shug, you look awful,” Adrienne said as she rushed into the small bathroom, trying to sit him up. His skin was on fire, sending her into a spiral of worry as she took him into her arms, touching her check to his forehead.
“You’re burning up!” she exclaimed, reaching for his phone, scrolling down the numbers in search of command, or better yet, Dr. Lam, who needed to get here and get here fast, but Daniel was already shaking his head.
“It’s just a stomach virus, please don’t call the docs and make a big deal out of this. I just need more fluids and then you can leave,” he argued.
“Leave my ass, this is insane. Why didn’t you tell me that you were this bad?!” she demanded, holding him closer and kissing his head. He didn’t resist, just leaned back onto her while she felt his head again and examined him carefully.
“I’m a grown man, I can take care of myself,” Daniel tried to argue, poorly, since he was laying back onto her like a child.
“Apparently not, look at you. Look at this apartment. Daniel I’m not going anywhere,” Determining that he was truly very ill, Adrienne stood once again, heading for his bedroom and removing her top shirt, leaving on her tank top that was layered underneath. She walked over to his dresser to find a pair of drawstring shorts and removed her yoga pants, switching them for the shorts and pulling the string tight. A woman on a mission, she went back into the bathroom, pulled back the shower curtain and plugged the drain, turning the water on, room temperature and letting the tub begin to fill, looking back at Daniel.
“In the tub,” she ordered.
“What? Why?” he asked.
“Can you keep anything down?” she inquired.
“Not really,” he answered honestly.
“Well, we need to break the fever first, so we’re going to do it old school because if you can’t keep anything down then you can’t take medicine. While that is happening, I’m going to clean and disinfect your bathroom and bedroom,” she replied.
“Alright,” he relented, knowing she was right, and started to stand, only to falter, sitting back down on the toilet.
“Wait, wait, we can let it get some more water. When you get in there, I just want you to try to sleep or relax. Do you have a bucket?” she asked.
“No, why?” he said from his hands, where he was now resting his head, appearing to be in pain.
“Just in case you need to throw up again, I don’t want you to fall. I’ll just grab a trashcan,” Adrienne replied, rushing back into the living area. Daniel didn’t move as requested, and she was back in seconds, his small plastic desk trashcan in hand, setting it beside the bathtub leaning over the edge to shut off the water. Glancing back over at him, she reached out her hand to offer her assistance.
“Come on, let’s get you in here,” she said as she helped him stand and take a few steps towards the water. Once they were at the edge, she peered up at him, feeling guilty already for the question that was going to cross her lips.
“Before I ask, remember this is me that is asking ok?” she prefaced her question, hoping he wouldn’t misunderstand, “On or off?” she asked as she tugged at the side of his boxers.
“Ugh, really? I wasn’t thinking about that,” he answered, not sure what to do. Understanding, Adrienne reached up and put her hand on his shoulder.
“I just didn’t think wet underwear would be very comfortable. I won’t look shug, I promise. We just need to get your fever down,” Adrienne said as she squeezed his shoulder. Daniel nodded and reached down to his waist, slipping his boxers to the floor and trying to turn himself away from her and Adrienne kept her eyes on his so as to not make him feel uncomfortable and helped him in, unable to completely hide her view. Dear God, she thought, amazed at his physique, turning around quickly and shutting the curtain behind her. Trying to focus on the task at hand and not on his spectacular body, she grabbed the trashcan, talking from the other side.
“The trashcan is right here, beside the back of the tub if you need it. If you can’t reach it just yell because I’m gonna start in the bedroom and then work my way here,” she informed him.
“Adrienne, you don’t need to clean,” he argued.
“Whatever, just lay back and try to nap or Kelnareen or something. I’ll check on your fever after I get the bedroom done,” she replied and left the bathroom, pinching her nose to dispel the image. Not fair, she thought to herself, not only do I have to fall in love with the man, but he has the body of Adonis. Starting to regret coming over just a bit, Adrienne began with the bedroom, ripping the sheets and blankets from the bed, taking them into the laundry closet, starting a load. Clothes washing, Adrienne came back to the bedroom, dusting, vacuuming and spraying down the entire place with disinfectant. She put clean sheets on the bed and got the spare blanket she used when she crashed here for the night. It took about 20 minutes to get the room to her liking, just enough time, hopefully, for the fever to break, so she returned to check on Daniel.
“Sit back Indy, so I can reach in and feel your head,” she said to the curtain, just in case he had adjusted and was leaning forward. There was a shuffle, the sound of water moving, and she heard him respond weakly from the other side.
“Just open the curtain, I’m over it by now,” he answered. Glad you are Indy, she thought, because I’m not. Willing herself not to peek, not even once, Adrienne opened the curtain looking straight in his eyes, reaching for his head, and placing the back of her hand on it. He felt a bit cooler so she got on her knees and brought her cheek to his and she was right, it was bit cooler, but still hot. Kissing his cheek, she backed up, forcing eye contact.
“Still too warm, but better, where’s your home thermometer?” she asked, sitting back on her heels.
“I don’t have one,” Daniel answered.
“Why not?” Adrienne made a face at him.
“Because I don’t get sick,” he replied.
Rolling her eyes, she shut the curtain on him. He made fun of her for her homeopathic remedies, but he was no better. No damn thermometer, she thought, you have got to be kidding me.
“Have you thrown up again?” she asked, but got her answer glancing in the trashcan still sitting where she had left it beside the tub.
“No, but I’ve been holding very very still,” he responded. Adrienne rolled her eyes because of course she had to fall in love with the most stubborn man in the galaxy. Standing once again, she decided to give him just a bit longer to soak.
“Alright, let me clean in here and then we can get you out and see what you can keep down,” Adrienne declared and went to the kitchen to get cleaning supplies, rushing back into the bathroom, beginning to clean with a fury.
“Thanks Ad,” she heard him say from the other side of the curtain as she furiously scrubbed the toilet.
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you feel that you can count on me,” she said as she worked and she truly was glad, glad that she was the person he called, that he always called.
“I do, that’s why I called you first,” Daniel answered, making her smile. She tossed the last paper towel into the trash bag she had brought in with her and opened the curtain again slightly, feeling his head. He was cooler, much cooler, although she wished that she had a thermometer to judge correctly, but this was enough.
“Much better,” she said, “Now let’s get you out and dressed and propped up in bed with some fluids,” She grabbed a towel from the cabinet under the sink and reached to help him stand, diverting her eyes the best she could while helping him over the edge of the tub. Daniel slowly wrapped the towel around his waist, no longer seeming to care if she saw him naked or not, which she certainly did not mind and let her walk him over to the clean bed, pulling the blanket back and placing his hand on headboard to help him keep steady. Still worried, Adrienne ran her hand down his bare arm gently gazing up into his eyes.
“Hold on a sec and don’t puke,” she ordered, running over to the dresser and grabbing a black t-shirt and some boxers, walking back over to him. He was standing where she left him, weak, clinging onto the headboard for dear life, holding the towel around his waist. He was a total disaster, and he looked as if he could fall over an moment. How much had he thrown up? Feeling guilty about her earlier thoughts, she zoned into caretaker mode, pulling the shirt collar over his head and kneeling at his feet, picking them up one by one, stepping them into each leg of his boxers and pulling them to his knees, looking up at him to see if she should continue. Adrienne was used to taking care of people, but Daniel just seemed so embarrassed that she didn’t want to make him feel any worse. Instead, he apologized.
“I am so sorry you have to do this, I’m just so weak,” Daniel told her as he tried and failed to remain standing while he pulled up his underwear. Shaking her head, she reaching, placing his hand back on the headboard and taking the elastic waistband into her hand.
“I know shug, vomiting does that to you, you just have to trust the person that is caring for you and go with it, not be embarrassed. I’m going up under the towel, on the sides, so just tell me if, well, if I need to be more careful,” Adrienne answered, not wanting to add snapped private parts to his list of ailments.
“Well, for an lab rat, you’re sure good at dealing with sick people,” Daniel tried to joke as his assistant, the woman he loved, was quite literally pulling up his pants and stopped, remembering, and feeling horrible at his poor choice of words.
“It’s ok Indy. This is nothing. Dad was far worse on chemo than you with a fever and a stomach bug,” Adrienne answered.
“I’m sorry Ad, I completely forgot,” Daniel tried to apologize but Adrienne leaned up and kissed his cheek again, giving him a half hug.
“Stop shug, get in bed. I’m gonna pump you with some fluids,” she ordered and she left the room quickly. Adjusting his boxers, she’d shoved them up his butt slightly trying to avoid his manhood, he did as she asked, slowly crawling into bed. He felt like such an ass, of course she would be good at taking care of sick people, she had spent a good portion of her life doing just that. Here he was worrying about her seeing him naked while she was probably having flashbacks of dealing with her father post-chemo. He cursed himself as he crawled the rest of the way onto the bed, noticing that she had changed the sheets and propped up the pillows a bit in case he needed to be sick. Just when he thought that she had foreseen every scenario possible, she came back into the bedroom, vitamin water in hand and passed him by to go to the bathroom, returning with the trashcan, a towel and a bottle of ibuprofen. Setting the trashcan beside him on the floor she laid the towel across his legs walking over to the other side of the bed and getting in with him.
“Ok, we’re gonna to start slow and see what you can and can’t keep down. Take three Advils and start sipping this,” she ordered shaking the pills into her hand. He took them, popped them into his mouth and started to drink slowly.
“Not all of it,” she amended, “About a third. If that stays down, we try the remaining 2/3 of it next round.” She looked at the clock.
“How long do we wait?” he asked, catching her glance.
“30 minutes,” she answered and clicked on the TV in the hopes of finding something distracting as Daniel leaned back against the propped pillows. 10 minutes later Daniel was leaning in another direction, over into the trashcan and Adrienne didn’t say as word as she rubbed his back while he puked. Once he had finished, she took care of everything and returned to him, feeling his head once more and making a face at the result.
“Not good huh?” he asked, looking worse than before.
“No, not really, how long have you been throwing up again?” she asked.
“About,” he looked at the clock, “a day, well less than.”
“That’s too long without fluids, we’re gonna try something else and if that doesn’t work then I’m going to call Dr. Lam,” Adrienne stated.
“Ok, what?” Daniel looked desperate and he didn’t want Adrienne to call the doctor; the stomach flu just seemed like such a stupid thing to bother her with.
“Let’s try same amount of fluid with a few crackers to absorb. Then, no propping up, I want you to try to sleep,” she instructed. He nodded and she handed him the vitamin water again and two saltine crackers. Downing both, Daniel started to remove pillows so he could lay down, but, instead, Adrienne reached over for him and pulled him into her lap.
“What are you doing?” he asked, nerves racing through his stomach as he lay there, so close to her.
“Leave my set-up alone. I need to be able check on your fever without moving you around too much, ok?” she lied deftly. The truth was that he just looked so sick and so sad, she wanted to hold him and make him feel better.
“Alright,” he didn’t argue, feeling safe and comfortable with her. Deep inside he wished he didn’t feel so awful because he was starting to work up the courage to tell her everything, but keeping silent, he laid across her and adjusted himself slowly feeling her start to run her fingers through his hair. It was soothing and he wanted to tell her, but it was so much so that he drifted off to sleep.
Daniel woke up to the feeling of heaving again.
“Up, up, up,” Adrienne was pushing him upward and crawling over the bed to his aide and the trashcan. She shoved it in front of him, just in time and he weakly grabbed it, throwing up once more. She held onto him until he finished and then, without complaint, she cleaned everything up like earlier. She brought the trashcan back and brought her face to his, pressing their cheeks together and paused, feeling for fever. A puzzled look on her face, she turned her head, bringing her lips to lightly brush his face, running them across his cheek making his heart pound in his chest at her gentle touch.
“MUCH better!” she exclaimed, breaking the moment, and crawled over him, getting back into the bed. Daniel looked over at her confused.
“How? I got sick, again,” Daniel seemed discouraged.
“You’ve been asleep for three hours. That means that something had to be digested and your fever is gone!” she sat back, proud of herself, grabbing the Vitamin water for a third time, some Advil and some crackers, “Let’s try this again,” she passed them over. He did as she requested, trusting her completely, and handed the empty bottle back. Satisfaction across her face, she set everything beside her and pulled him back over to her again and he didn’t hesitate this time, just laid in her arms. He hadn’t done this since the visions from Kasuf and then he really hadn’t been thinking of anything else other than desperation for sleep but now he was laying here thinking how wonderful this was, sick or not, just laying here, being here with her. Being this close to her. She returned her hand to his hair and he curled himself into her arms, letting her hold him. I’m going to do it, he told himself, I’m going to tell her.
But he didn’t say a word, he just laid there quietly, letting himself float in and out of sleep that his body so desperately needed. Adjusting, Adrienne draped her arms around him and this time was running her hand up and down his bicep so lightly, so caring that instead of talking, he fell deeper asleep.
Adrienne looked down at Daniel as he slept again. Good, she thought, he looks awful, and he needs to sleep more. His color was getting better, he was much cooler and she couldn’t believe that he didn’t own a thermometer. Add that to the list of things she needed to fix about him. He stirred a bit and she took the opportunity to slip away, pulling herself from under him and resting his head on the pillow. She needed to slip away because sick or not laying there with him she was having the overwhelming desire to kiss him and that wasn’t good. She needed a break from her own thoughts and a break from lying so close to him, so she stood, hurrying to the living room.
The disaster she saw when she arrived greeted her there. Shaking her head, Adrienne started to clean, absorbing herself in the cleaning and the ritual of organization. She wanted to put on her headphones and let some music take her away, but she needed to listen out for him as well, so she tried to push away thoughts of crawling back into the bed with his, nuzzling in beside him, running her hand across his stomach and down..
“Stop Adrienne, get a fuckin grip,” she swore, picking op the items from the living room, getting it straight first, then making her way to the kitchen, which, since he could not eat much, wasn’t in that bad of shape. I truly am his personal assistant, she thought, I’m cleaning his apartment. When she finished, she went back to the bedroom to check on him to find that he was still asleep, laying sideways on the bed, as if he stretched out in his sleep looking for her. She was touched, he did seem to be cuddling someone who wasn’t there, so pretending that it was her, she smiled and tiptoed over to him and felt his head. It was still cool and he moved a bit, reaching out for something, someone once more. Smiling, Adrienne moved the pillows around, gently sliding one under his outstretched arm, resisting the urge to just slip into that space herself, and pulled the blanket to his shoulders. She kissed his head lightly, probably slower than she should have and returned to the living room.
Apartment cleaned and not knowing what else to do, Adrienne looked at the clock over his bookshelf, deciding that she was going practice yoga while he slept, to take her mind off of him. She pulled out her mat and turned on the TV, hoping that he still had Netflix, since he had cancelled everything it seemed using her ability to hack as his own personal entertainment. Cueing up a workout she knew was on there, Adrienne muted the TV and got down to business.
She was holding upward dog when she heard a shuffle behind her and peeked over her shoulder. There was Daniel, blanket wrapped around him, making his way slowly to the living room and she stood immediately to see what was wrong.
“No, no, finish, I just got tired of sleeping,” he said and sat down in the chair. Adrienne made a face at him and stood completely, putting her hands on her hips.
“Go back to bed,” she ordered.
“I haven’t thrown up in,” Daniel looked at the clock, “two hours and I don’t have the urge to. I just wanted a change of scenery. Finish what you’re doing and I can try to eat again. Have you eaten anything today?”
“No, I haven’t,” Adrienne answered, but to be honest it was hard to have an appetite when he was like this. Knowing that he wasn’t going to leave, she turned back to the screen, cueing the video to where she left off.
“Wow,” she heard him say as she got into her first pose, a trickily bind.
“What?” she asked, glancing over to where he was sitting, watching.
“How do you bend like that?” he was staring at her in disbelief.
“Practice,” she replied and broke the pose.
“How often do you do this?” he continued. He knew she did yoga, he had seen her various props all over her apartment tons of times but he had never actually seen her practice. She kept it a secret for some reason, so he felt kind of honored that she was doing it now with him sitting right here.
“Four times a week,” she answered and stood, bending her legs deep.
“That’s impressive. Why have I never seen you do it before? You don’t do it on base,” Daniel figured he might as well ask her, he was curious.
“Honestly, I hate the assumption that men make about women that do yoga. Yoga keeps me strong and centered. I don’t practice yoga to enhance my sexual abilities. That’s always the first thing I get asked when people find out how long I have been practicing,” Adrienne answered.
“I’d never make that assumption,” Daniel replied quickly, feeling the need to defend himself.
“I know you wouldn’t, which is why I am bent over like a pretzel in your living room,” she said as she lowered herself slowly to the ground. That had to hurt, Daniel thought and she must have been reading his mind because she looked back at him and smiled.
“Wanna see something cool?” she asked.
“Sure,” he grinned.
Adrienne completely disregarded what the women on the screen were doing and bent backwards, crossing her arms and legs and literally bent herself into some strange contortion pulling her body upright. It looked excruciatingly painful and he had no idea how she even moved like that.
“That doesn’t hurt?” he asked.
“Nope,” she held the pose for a bit longer and let go, turning once more to face him.
“Ok, I’m done showing off, let’s get you something to eat,” she said, changing the subject and heading for the kitchen. Daniel went to stand and follow but Adrienne just pointed back to where he had been sitting.
“You can move to the sofa but that’s it. When I said let’s I was talking about myself,” she stated. Starting to grow tired of being treated like a baby, but understanding nonetheless, Daniel, made a face at her, but moved to the sofa.
Adrienne went into the kitchen, deciding that lightly buttered toast was his best option. She started some food for him and looked through his fridge for something for herself, finding that it was filled with take out boxes of chinese and pizza. She laughed and shook her head; looked like she was getting toast too. As she added more slices to the toaster oven, she heard him changing the channel on the TV, the smooth soothing yoga music replaced with the blast of uselessly loud commercials.
“Nothing work related!” she shouted. He laughed, but she knew that unless prompted otherwise, he would pop it right on the History Channel. The toast finished, so she brought their pitiful lunch back into the living room and sat beside him on the sofa, handing him his paper towel of toast and facing the TV. There was a tall viking vampire on the screen.
“Oh Eric!!” Adrienne was thrilled and Daniel looked over, grinning in pleasure.
“I figured I’d make up for being such an awful sight all day,” he joked.
“You’re never an awful sight,” Adrienne answered without thinking. Shit, she thought to herself, make it more obvious Ad but Daniel just continued to smile.
“You’re a good liar,” was all he said. Thank god, Adrienne thought to herself. Trying not to think about how NOT awful of a sight he was, she gazed ahead at her vampires.
Maybe I just should, Daniel thought to himself, that couldn’t have been a joke. He looked over at her out of the corner of his eye, watching her as she was watching Alexander Skarsgard on TV. Who was young. And looked like a greek god. And didn’t wear glasses. And was famous. That was who she deserved, not an old washed up scientist, regardless of how cool a job he had, so Daniel just ate his toast in silence.
When it was over, Adrienne was pleased that he had kept everything down. Taking the napkin from his hands, she leaned over again, pressing his cheek to her own to cheek for a fever, finding that he was still relatively cool. She kissed his softly again, cursing herself for her weakness and stood quickly to get more medicine from the bedroom. He took it with no question, thinking to himself that he should have called her yesterday; it would have saved him at night of severe pain and sitting on the bathroom floor. Feeling a tug on his hands, Daniel peeked up over his glasses, wondering what was next on her agenda.
“Back to bed,” she told him.
He smiled and whined like a child, “I don’t wanna...”
“Nice try, but we don’t want to push our luck,” she replied and he let her pull him to his feet, following her back to bed. Pulling back the covers this time, she helped in him, covering him to his shoulders before walking to the door.
“Adrienne?” he said.
“Yeah shug, whatcha need?” she answered as she looked back from the doorframe.
“Where are you going?” he asked, making her cheeks flush. Internally she was saying, I’m leaving Daniel because I want to wrap my arms around you and not because you’re sick. I want to hold you, kiss you, touch you... Externally she said, “I was gonna go read on the couch.”
“Oh, I just thought you were going to stay in here, in case I didn’t keep lunch down,” Daniel replied sheepishly. Good job genius, he thought, you either sound like a lazy pig or a six year old; that’s real attractive.
“I can if you want,” she responded. I’d be more than happy to stay, she said inside. “Can I get my book?”
“Oh, sure, I didn’t mean...” he tried to cover his tracks but just stopped mid sentence. Beaming, and blushing just a tad, Adrienne hurried to her messenger bag to get her book, grabbing it and dashing back to the bedroom. Daniel had rolled over to his side like he was going to go to sleep and Adrienne’s heart stopped for a second when she entered. Would this be what it was like? she thought. No hauntings, no injuries, no nightmares, no repeating days. Just him, just this. It made her hurt inside. She had never wanted anything so bad, and not just the physical, she just wanted to hear him say it, and hear it when she was awake. She wanted to hear him tell her that he loved her and be able to tell him that she loved him too. Forcing back emotions, Adrienne sucked in a few tears, and got in the bed beside him, opening her book to focus on a certain sheriff of area five.
When Daniel woke up it was six o’ clock in the evening and, miraculously, he was starving. He sat up and found he could move a little better, the aching and nausea gone.
“Ad, I think we licked it!’ he exclaimed excitedly but she didn’t answer. He rolled over to see if she had left, but she was asleep, just like she had done back on their road trip, finger tucked in a stupid vampire novel. The road trip that had Teal’c actually been on world instead of with Rya’c would have never happened. Fate was so funny that way. He lay there looking at her for a moment, remembering when Sam had first suggested he get an assistant, when he had met Adrienne, how crazy she had driven him. She still drove him crazy, but not in the same way; she had become his best friend and now he was madly in love with her. He wanted to tell her, so bad, and not when she was asleep, but really tell her. She must love him because after everything, everything he had put her through, she had shown up here 12 hours earlier just to take care of him while he puked his guts out, no questions asked. He decided he was going to to his, and leaned over her, shaking her shoulder gently.
“Adrienne?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” he heard her reply.
“I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life,” he confessed, his heart pounding in his chest. Please let this not be a mistake.
“I love you too. But I also love Bill and I don’t think I can be with either of you,” Adrienne said and rolled onto her back. Her eyes were closed.
“Bill?” Daniel asked, confused.
“Eric, don’t, I can’t do this right now...” her head flopped to the side.
Daniel sighed. “Damn vampires,” he said out loud and got out of the bed, heading for the shower, deciding that this was fate’s way of telling him to give it up; it just wasn’t meant to be.
He heard her enter the bathroom as he was finishing his shower.
“I take it you’re feeling better?” she asked as she sat down on the toilet.
“Much better and I’m really hungry, so I think that’s a good sign,” he replied.
“Ok, well, I’m gonna sit right here to make sure you don’t fall to pieces, ok?” she declared.
“That’s fine, but I’m better. I promise,” he answered as he rinsed out his hair. Adrienne turned to the cabinet and dug around looking for something that did not smell like man she could use to shower herself and figured that she could steal shorts and a t-shirt while she washed her own clothes. Finding what she needed, she set everything on the sink, waiting patiently for not only her turn but to make sure that he didn’t go crashing down into the tub. Thankfully, the water shut off so Adrienne grabbed the towel to shoved it into the curtain without looking, to allow him to preserve his dignity and to prevent her from anymore glances which would just drive her crazy all over again. Daniel dried off and pulled back the curtain, having wrapped himself in the towel. Honestly, he figured that was pointless at this junction; she had probably seen everything he owned this morning and he honestly didn’t care. He just hoped that if she did see, that she wasn’t disappointed, even though it didn’t matter. It was just a fantasy anyway, a nice dream where in the end he got the girl and lived happily ever. It was never going to happen. Pushing the thought aside, he stepped out, noticing what she had laid out on the counter.
“You need me to wash your stuff?” he asked.
“Yeah, I will toss it on the floor after I get in if you are feeling up to it. And strip the sheets again, I need to disinfect them,” she instructed, “again, only if you are up to it.”
“I’m good now,” he answered and he was. He felt 100% better, “I’m going to order some dinner, and don’t worry, I won’t order anything awful.” She smiled and started the water, reaching her hand in to see how fast it would heat up again. Taking her silent signal, Daniel turned to leave, when he stopped, peeking over his shoulder.
“Thanks Adrienne. As always I can count on you to come through for me,” he said, looking down at his feet and shutting the bathroom door behind him.
“Because I love you Daniel,” she choked back tears and began to undress.
*sniff, sniff*
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