Sick Day

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Part 3

by JP
11/22/01

I'm glad you guys like it. This is the rest of it. Sorry if it's too long.

"Just get better Dwayne," Garth whispered.

"Dwayne, lay down," Dr. Slate said, taking off his helmet.

"You're going to be all right, Lieutenant Hunter," the other doctor said, injecting something in Dwayne's arm. Dwayne winced and coughed.

Slate checked his temperature. "He's burning up," she told the doctor.

"Here," the doctor said as she handed Slate a wet rag. "Keep him cool."

"Uhh. Okay," she replied as she looked at Dwayne who was breathing really hard and sweating. She began to wipe Dwayne's face with the cold rag.

"Will he be okay, Doc Simons?" Mack asked.

"He'll be fine once we get his fever down and find what's wrong with him," Dr. Simons replied.

"How far is it to the DARK HORSE?" she asked.

"About 40 miles," Jo replied, looking up from the helicopter controls for a moment.

"How far is it to Quark?" Simons asked.

"Uhh. I think about 10 minutes," Slate said.

"He'll never make it to the DARK HORSE. We'll have to take him to Quark," Dr. Simons said, looking at Jo.

"Right," Jo replied, and changed the helicopter's course.

"Agh. hu...." Dwayne mumbled in pain.

"Come on, Dwayne. Hang in there," Simons said.

"I'll call ahead," Dr. Slate said, picking up a cell phone.

Dwayne clutched a sheet to him. He turned on his side slightly and cried out it pain. Dr. Simons grabbed him by the shoulders and held him still as the medication that was injected into his arm took effect.

"Yes. Thank you. We will be there shortly," Dr. Slate replied and hung up the phone.

Dwayne took long gasps of breath, still holding his sheets in a death grip. Slate wiped more sweat from his face and neck.

Jo landed the helicopter on the roof of the Quark Tower. Two other doctors were ready with a stretcher. Dr. Simmons and Dr. Slate helped Dwayne out of the copter and onto the stretcher. He was then wheeled into Dr. Slate's lab, where some medical supplies were already set up.

Slate had chosen for Dwayne to be cared for in her lab because she was there most of the time and could watch him. Plus she liked the feeling of Dwayne close to her. She never got to see him that much and always worried about him getting hurt inside of the Big Guy. But this time, he was really sick. She didn't know what was going to happen to him. As Dr. Simons hooked up life supports and bandaged a couple of injuries Dwayne had, Slate contacted Garth in the Big Guy.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"Not too bad, actually. Rusty had an idea and it actually worked!" Garth replied. " How's the Lieutenant doing?" he asked more seriously, noticing Dwayne lying on the stretcher with doctors buzzing around him.

Dr. Slate looked towards the floor. "He's not too good. He has a really high fever and...and...." Dr. Slate stumbled.

"Don't worry, Doc. Dwayne's a fighter. He'll pull through," Garth replied. "He better," Garth thought to himself.

Dr. Slate closed off the link and went over to Dwayne.

"His temperature has dropped." Dr. Simmons said with some relife.

Slate smiled and touched her wrist to Dwayne's cheek.

"Gosh! He was soo cute when he's asleep," Dr. Slate and Jo thought at the same time. Jo smiled at Slate. They somehow strangely knew what they both were thinking. Dr. Slate smiled back and forced a small giggle.

Dwayne coughed and started to breath a little slower

Jo, Dr. Slate and Dr. Simmons all sighed with relief.

"He should be fine now," Simmons said. checking a monitor. "I have to get back to the DARK HORSE. Call me if he wakes up or anything happens." Simmons exited Slate's lab.

"Oh my gosh!" Jo exclaimed, looking at the time. "Got to go too," Jo said as she followed Simmons out.

Dr. Slate heard the chopper take off. She pulled up a chair next to Dwayne and held his hand. She laid her head down on his chest to feel his heart beat. "Hang in there, Dwayne," she said softly. "Don't die on me."

Dwayne gasped suddenly. Dr. Slate sat up in alarm. He seemed to be okay. Probably just taking a deep breath.

All of a sudden, she heard Rusty cheer over the intercom. "We got him, Big Guy! We got him! Whoo hoo!!!" Rusty cheered.

Dr. Slate turned on the TV to the news channel. She saw Big Guy getting up from under some rubble and Rusty dancing in the air.

"The Big Guy and Rusty the boy robot have done it again, I see," a voice said behind Dr. Slate. It coughed.

"Dwayne!!" she exclaimed. She rushed over to his bedside and hugged him. She felt like kissing him.

"Was I gone that long?" Dwayne asked in a raspy voice.

Dr. Slate moved closer to kiss him on his lips, but stopped herself. She immediately blushed. "I, uh...." she stammered.

Slate was clearly happy to see Dwayne awake again. Dwayne smiled at her. Dr. Slate drew back slightly. Dwayne raised up and kissed her on her cheek. Dr. Slate pulled away in surprise.

Dwayne chuckled slightly as Slate blushed deeply. "You were going to do something like that, weren't you?" Dwayne asked.

"I.. umm," Dr. Slate stammered again. Dwayne gave her a big grin.

Slate smiled and bent down and kissed him on the lips. She closed her eyes.

Dwayne's eyes grew big at the Doc's sudden display of emotion. She kissed him long and deeply. She drew back after a minute gasping for breath.

"Careful, Doc. You might get sick," Dwayne said playfully.

Dr. Slate couldn't believe what she had just done. She had wanted to kiss Dwayne ever since they first met. "How do you feel?" she asked, holding her hand to his forehead.

"Okay, I guess," he replied and coughed.

"You still have a fever. Here. Dr. Simons said for you to take these," Slate said, handing him a pill and a small cup of water. He swallowed it and instantly coughed loudly. Dr. Slate smiled sadly as Dwayne coughed uncontrollably. Dwayne breathed in deeply when he stopped coughing.

"I'll let you rest," Dr. Slate said, unbuttoning his flightsuit at the top and pulling a sheet up. Dwayne smiled as he fell asleep.

Dr. Slate went back to monitor Rusty and Big Guy. "Any progress?" she asked Garth.

"We've almost destroyed the monster. Rusty is doing most of it," Garth said. He noticed Dwayne giving him a thumbs up behind Slate. "Dwayne's awake?!"

Garth's image faded. The Big Guy had lost its communication system!

Dr. Slate and Dwayne shared the same striken look. Dwayne tried not to fall asleep, but he lost the short battle.

"Garth?!" Dr. Slate asked through a commlink. There was no reply.

"Garth! What happened?!" Mack yelled.

"I lost my visual. When Rusty destroyed the alien, it blew out my backup system," Garth replied.

Mack and Jo's faces popped up on the screen after a moment.

"You did it, Rusty," Dr. Slate smiled as she thought to herself.

 

A day and a half later...

"Thanks again!" Dwayne waved to the helicopter pilot as he took off from the deck of the USS DARK HORSE. He walked into the Big Guy hangar where Jo, Mack, and Garth all embraced him in a group hug.

"Glad you're back!" Garth said.

"I was gone THAT long?!" Dwayne asked in surprise.

"You were real sick," Mack answered.

"Yeah. No one thought you were going to make it. Darlene even called, worried about you," Jo added. The crew chatted for a few moments.

"So, what did I miss?" Dwayne asked.

THE END

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