Requested by NCISFORLIFE
He thought it was just the stress from returning to Intelligence after his brief switch to the justice department. Stress while switching jobs was totally normal, wasn't it?
Antonio Dawson thought his persistent headache was just from stress; after all, it had been a busy and difficult time switching jobs twice in a year, to say the least. He'd had a headache for the past couple days, but didn't think too much of it until he woke up on Wednesday.
He woke up Wednesday morning at 7:30 to the blaring of his alarm. He reached over and turned it off, sweating, his head throbbing, and his stomach aching.
"Maybe it's still from stress? I can't take a sick day when I haven't even been back in Intelligence for a week!" He thought to himself. And with that, he made himself get ready for work and go, taking an Uber instead of driving himself because of his headache.
When he arrived at work, he stumbled into the building, ignoring Platt's comments and making his way upstairs.
"And he finally showed... whoa Dawson, you look like Hell." Erin told Antonio as he walked to his desk.
"Have we caught a case yet?" Antonio asked, avoiding the subject altogether.
"No, not yet. Voight said to just get caught up on paperwork." Jay told him, observing his physical state.
Antonio nodded and began rummaging through a stack of papers on his desk just as Hank emerged from his office.
"We caught one, let's go."
They all filed out, Olinsky watching Antonio carefully.
Antonio rode to the scene with Kevin, who continually checked on him as he drove. Antonio figured he could muster the strength to get through the day, but he knew he was wrong when his stomach started churning.
"Kev, man, pull over." He said, clutching his stomach. Kevin did as instructed and as soon as he did, Antonio jumped out and threw up.
He took a minute to breath and relax as Kevin radioed the team. "This is Atwater. Voight, Dawson and I won't be arriving on scene."
Hank radioed back. "Why not?"
"Antonio's sick, he's throwing up."
"Take him home and stay with him."
"Yeah, you got it."
-/-/
The rest of the day, Kevin stayed with Antonio and took care of him. At 6:30 pm, Gabby came over and relieved Kevin from his duties.
Gabby found her brother in his room with a bucket beside his bed.
"Hey, Antonio. How ya feeling?" Gabby asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Like I'm dying." He muttered, not moving from where he was curled up.
"Don't worry, you're not dying. A nasty stomach bug's been going around. Give it a day or two and you'll be back in Intelligence."
