When Emma returned, she had been snotty-nosed and coughing and Jac had made sure to lecture Jonny on the dangers to young children that the common cold could have.
She kept her well dosed with Calpol and made sure she always has a pack of tissues with her wherever she goes. Jac barely even clocked it the first time she sneezes, but when it was followed by another, she realised what this means.
Jonny got an earful about the threat of contamination in the hospital, and she felt slightly guilty for picking on him so much but frankly, he deserved it.
By Saturday morning, she was a disease-ridden cesspool of germs. Her approach can be heard simply by the wheezing of her chest, and everybody at work was subdued around her, scared of the effect that illness had upon her temper.
"You want some tea?" Fletch offered, waving a Pulses cup in front of her as she lifted her head from the desk to pay attention to him. Gratefully, she accepted it and took a sip which warmed her entire body.
He rubbed her back soothingly, knowing that she would be working herself to the bone whether she was sick or not. Somewhere behind all of the bravado was a woman who wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week, and he was looking after her whether Jac liked it or not.
Telling herself that the paperwork she had stacked on her desk could wait a little while, she humoured him and allowed herself to relax for a short while.
"Haven't you got things to do?" she asked sarcastically, entertained by the way he watched her every move as she might collapse. "I'm not actually a patient, in case you'd forgotten."
He scoffed at her, rolling his eyes as he pulled out his phone, busying himself with something that wasn't Jac Naylor. It was only about ninety seconds until he glanced up the first time to check on her, though she didn't say a word, too enamoured with how caring he was.
Frieda was the only other member of staff that she had seen all day, poking her head in occasionally for second opinions on things or simply to make sure that everything was in order. Whether she liked it or not, Frieda had to admit that she was attached to Jac like a limpet now.
"Frieda, go deal with your patients and leave me to suffer in peace. I'm sure Mr Fletcher isn't going to sit there and watch me die," Jac reasoned, not bothering to try and raise her voice in the knowledge that she couldn't anyway.
Though a little begrudged, the Slav left without another word and allowed Jac to relax a little. It was going to be a long day, they were only a few hours into the shift and she was already getting antsy. What if someone coded on the ward? Jac was the consultant on call and she couldn't reasonably go within ten feet of any pre-operative patient.
Despite her attempts to hide it from Fletch, she was in a terrible mood and frankly, the last thing she wanted to do when she felt like this was spend her day with him. For possibly for the first time in her life, it is not because he is annoying but rather because he is so wonderful that she wants to be at her best in his presence.
"Why don't you take a nap? That paperwork can wait and I know that because I gave most of it to you. There's no harm in taking a break," Fletch offered gently, looking toward her and seeing how drained she was.
It was difficult for Jac to accept his help, everything she did was second-guessed by the idea that she looked weak. She had to force herself to agree, crossing to the couch where she laid out with her head in Fletch's lap.
Before long she had fallen asleep and was snoring lightly. Fletch ran his fingers through her hair and smiled down at her. He stayed there, thinking about nothing significant, until she woke and he had no idea how long it had been.
"Sorry, you should've moved me, you probably wanted to get some work done while I was accounted for," she mumbled, stretching voraciously before sitting up and curling into his side instinctively. "I'm sure you have far more important things to do than play nurse for me."
He couldn't help but chuckle at that, she never lost that hint of cattiness. She had still been the same snarky Naylor, from the moment she woke up after being shot. Even when she was entirely relaxed, even when she was in the best mood, she could still pull that cattiness out of nowhere when she wanted to.
It felt bizarre that they were like this; curled up on her office couch making bad jokes as she recovered from the flu. Sometimes Jac forgot that it had only been a couple of months since all of this had first started, since everything between them had kicked off and she had actually given herself the freedom to love somebody - even if it had taken a therapist, a very determined man, and a lot of risk-taking to get her there.
For the rest of the shift, they sat on the sofa and laughed and ate prawn crackers until the clock hit five and Jac could go home. She wouldn't, of course, because sick or not, Evie would be personally offended if she didn't come over to watch a movie with them all tonight.
Braced with a big pack of tissues and more Lemsip than she'd consumed in her entire life, she would head to Fletch's and she would shove the first she thing she found into the oven and she would make Evie take care of her until Fletch got back. Fletch kissed her on the forehead before heading to his office, ready to rake himself through one last hour of work.
