You Are On My Mind

Early Morning Fever

Danny walked into his house around 1:30 in the morning. He was tired; the case he was working on had just gone south.... again. It seemed that every clue that he and Jackie found led them on a wild goose chase. All the detective wanted to do was see his kids and hold his wife. He was convinced his wife had some sort of magical powers. She could have his mood go from sad and angry to happy and joyful with a touch of her hand.
Danny walked into his room, and stood next to the bed. He smiled as he unbuttoned his shirt, seeing that Linda was wearing the only real pajama shirt he had. She had given the royal blue silk pajamas to him as a fourth anniversary present. He loved them, but hardly ever wore them. He claimed they were hot and slippery, and he preferred a T-shirt and underwear, or a tee and sweatpants, or just sweatpants, or just underwear.
Danny watched as Linda rolled over, and he noticed that the covers were resting low at her hips. It was a cold winter night, and Linda got cold at night easily; the detective knew something was wrong.
Linda put her hands on her face, then ran them up and through her hair. She groaned and looked at the clock; 1:45. She smiled a little at Danny, "hey."
"Hi." He watched her sit up, the shirt falling open. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" He stepped into a pair of sweatpants.
"Can't." She reached for her thermos with water in it, only to have Danny hand it to her. "Thanks."
"Aren't you cold?"
"Mm-mm."
"Then you can't have a fever."
"Mm-" Linda swallowed the big sip she had taken. "Not me. I know when I have a fever."
Danny pressed his lips to her forehead, "I'm gonna get the first aid kit. I don't like how hot your head feels."
"Okay." Linda watched him go into the en-suite as she took another cooling sip.
Danny came back and found Linda without a shirt. He bit his tongue, convincing himself not to get turned on. If she was sick, the last thing she'd wanna do was have sex. He sat on the bed and prepped the thermometer. He stuck it in her ear and waited for the beep. "One-oh three point eight." He frowned and repeated the instructions on the other ear. "One-oh three point six."
"That's not good...."
"Mm-mm. Take these," he dispensed two Tylenol and gave them to her.
"Thanks." She slowly took the pills.
*********
An hour later, and Linda was still awake. She groaned again, putting a hand on her forehead.
"You still hot, baby? Temperature wise, I mean," Danny propped himself up on his elbow.
"Yeah, I think so."
He kissed her forehead again, "wait here."
"What else can I do?"
He smirked and swung out of bed. He went to the en-suite once more, and grabbed a washcloth from under the sink. He wet it with cool water, wrung out the excess liquid, and walked back to Linda. "Here," he pushed her sweaty bangs away from her face, and placed the cool cloth on her forehead. He leaned over and kissed her cheek before climbing back into bed.
"Thank you. I love you."
"I love you more."
"I love you the most." She kissed his cheek, and snuggled up with him. Readjusting the cloth on her head, she mumbled, "hardass. Pfft!"
Danny smiled and gave her a squeeze. He watched her through out the night, not wanting her fever to spike. She threw up a few times, and was grateful to her husband as he held her hair back and rubbed her back. She promised once she was completely over the virus that plagued her body, she was going to thank Danny for all his caring efforts.