xp_logs | Nathan and Madelyn, Thursday morning

Madelyn checks on her usually uncooperative patient and is startled to discover that he's behaving himself rather meticulously. Pod person? He frets about Moira and the baby, she reassures him.

He ought to be more restless, Nathan thought dimly, shifting a little on the bed. Restless and wishing himself somewhere other than the medlab. That would be... what, in character? Something like that.

But his chest hurt and his head hurt, and just the thought of trying to sit up, let alone get up, was enough to make him wince. Besides. He couldn't push. Had to focus on getting better, for Moira and the baby...

There was a tap on the door, and then Madelyn came in, announcing herself since obviously Nathan couldn't _see_ her. "Nathan? It's Maddie. Time for your morning poking and prodding." His colour was better, she noted, and he was lying quietly and not doing anything drastic like getting up, which probably meant he was planning something spectacular instead. "Planning your escape?"

"No," he murmured tiredly, his voice cracking. "Not going anywhere... feeling very un-Houdini-like." He listened to the sound of her shoes on the floor, trying to pay close attention. "I'm in... one of the rooms on the left side of the hall," he said. "Right? Otherwise the door would be on the other side..."

"Points for observation." Unhooking his chart from the end of the bed, Madelyn came around to his side, making sure her movements were clearly audible. "Your temperature's going down," she told him, reading the figures in Hank's neat handwriting. "Although you might have noticed that from the fact you're actually coherent this morning."

"Room's not cold anymore, either," he said with a half-sigh, listening to her move around. "Virus hasn't settled down yet though, has it? My chest still hurts..." The thought was a frightening one, but there wasn't much to do, lying here, but face it head-on.

"Not quite. We've got you doped up as much as possible, but your immune system is still taking a beating," Madelyn said frankly, knowing Nathan wouldn't accept platitudes. "Fortunately, you've got the consitution of an elephant - must do, to cope with the battering you give yourself." A slight smile touched her lips as she reached for his wrist. "I'm just going to take your pulse," she added before actually touching him. Blindness in an ex-merc who had contact issues? Not a good combination.

Despite the warning, he still jumped a little as she touched him. His breath caught in his chest, and he tried very hard to keep his breathing steady, not wanting to start coughing again. "Where's Moira?" he finally managed. "Told her she needed to rest, but she told me not to worry..."

"Sacked out on the couch in her office, the last time I saw," Madelyn replied, waiting for his heart rate to calm down before she actually started counting. "The thing about her being pregnant is her body is being a lot more demanding about the whole being looked after issue, and she's more likely to listen to it as well, so she's actually being pretty good. Of course, Hank and I riding herd on her when she isn't helps." Pulse still elevated, indicating his system was fighting the virus fairly hard still. And his skin was rather warm to the touch. "How's your chest? Breathing still difficult?"

"Hurts." And that was putting it mildly. "Can't breathe too deeply... start coughing up blood again." But the image of Moira sleeping soundly on the couch in her office was oddly soothing, and he found himself relaxing a little. If she was resting, not pushing too hard, that was important... "It's just... I can't hear her," he whispered raggedly. "Head's still off..."

"And will be for a while, from what Charles tells us," Madelyn said, sliding her hand from his wrist to his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "She's okay. Worried about you, but that goes without saying. But we're keeping an eye on her for you, until you're up and can do it yourself."

The firm pressure was steadying, and Nathan relaxed a little more. "Looking forward to that," he murmured. "Supposed to be fussing over her, you know... that's my job." The sooner he rested and healed and got back on his feet, the sooner it would be his job again. It was something of a oxymoron to say that one concentrated to relax, but Nathan did then, slowing his breathing down and breathing as deeply as he dared, trying to let the tension drain away. "Thanks... glad she's got you guys..."

"You both have us, whether you like it or not." Madelyn gave his hand another squeeze before letting go and noting down his pulse rate on his chart. "Now the fun part," she said, laying it down again and reaching for her stephoscope. "At least for me - I get to see you without your shirt on again. But I promise, the 'scope's not as cold as usual - Clarice made me a warmer for it. Too bad you can't see it, it's rather colourful. And it has a googly face on it."

"Bless her," Nathan joked a bit lamely as Madelyn hit the control for the bed and the head of it rose slowly. Once it was far enough up, he leaned forward, with her help - and immediately started to cough again. She held onto him, steadying him, and Nathan gripped her arm with unthinking strength as the coughing went on and on, feeling as if it was tearing something in his chest.

Holding on until the paroxsym passed, Madelyn frowned at the blood flecking his lips, wiping it away with a tissue before going about the actual listening to his chest. The congestion was still fairly severe - they'd have to keep a close watch on him in case he developed pneumonia. And chest x-rays later to check for damage to the lungs themselves were definitely on the cards. "It still sounds like you're rattling chains underwater in here," she said, easing him back against the pillows and refastening the buttons of his pyjama top. "But a bit clearer than yesterday. I'd say you've still got a few days' worth of bedrest before we can think of letting you out of here, I'm afraid."

"S'okay," Nathan wheezed, wondering if his voice was going to sound like metal scraping over gravel permanently, after this. "Whatever's best... your call. Not going t'mess around..."

Madelyn blinked. And blinked again. "Okay. Who are you and what have you done with Nathan Dayspring?" she asked, only half-joking. All this agreeableness, the lack of protest about staying in medlab, no complaining... it was unnerving.

He concentrated on steadying his breathing for a few moments before he answered. "Baby," he said hoarsely, managing a wan smile. It was all the answer he thought he really needed to give.

Of course. Nathan would do anything for Moira, and now with the baby, she needed him healthy and whole, so that would be what he'd do... It was just as well Nathan couldn't see the sudden brightening of Madelyn's eyes, although he would have appreciate the warm smile. "That makes sense," she said simply, giving his shoulder a pat. "Too bad I can't use that method on all my difficult patients."

"No... definitely not widely applicable..." In fact, the very thought, knowing some of Madelyn's more difficult patients as he did, was kind of disturbing. Nathan relaxed back against his pillows, listening to the rather appalling sound that was passing for his breathing at the moment. "Tell you... a secret?"

"I'm all ears," she said, checking his temperature. Still far too high, but at least not enough to cook his brains right now.

"I'm... kind of scared." Well, not at all what he'd meant to say. But it had sort of slipped out, and what was it that Jack always said? Things that slipped out generally wanted to be out?

Finishing what she was doing, Madelyn sat on the edge of his bed, reaching for his hand again. "I'd be surprised if you weren't," she said softly, laying her other hand on his hot forehead, soothing him with its coolness - she always had slightly cold hands in medlab, the place was impossible to heat. "Even without the prior history, it's a fairly daunting prospect, becoming a parent." She smiled a little. "My mother was thirty-eight when my little sister was conceived, did I ever tell you that? She thought my brother and I were going to be it, but then along comes Carlie, completely by surprise. She and Dad were nervous wrecks, she tells me. Then when she was born... well, none of it mattered."

"I worry," Nathan managed hoarsely, swallowing painfully. "Even if... it all goes well, the... prior history is still there. Wouldn't want it to get in the way, make either of us... overprotective, or fearful..."

"The fact you're thinking about it indicates to me that it's not likely to happen," she said. "Most problems come about because people either don't know what they're doing, or ignore the fact they're doing it." Noting the difficulty he was having with talking, she let go of his hand to reach for the water on the bedside table. "Here, drink this before you shred your vocal cords."

She made sure that the cup of water was securely in his hands, and he sipped at it gratefully, then let her set it aside again. "It's different, too," he murmured, his voice a little steadier as he let his head sag back against the pillows. "Being here. Moira... was almost alone, with Kevin." Maybe that wasn't fair to Rory, but the fact that Moira still cherished doubts about the strength of his support, even years later, at the very least showed that she had felt more alone. "And Tyler..." His eyes stung suddenly. "As good as a hostage, you know," he rasped. "Never looked at it that way, back then... but he was." He heard the quiver of desolation in his voice and couldn't summon even a twinge of offended pride.

Fucking Mistra. Madelyn's expression turned hard at Nathan's words. "It's a hell of a lot different," she said, working on keeping her tone calm and soothing - Nathan didn't need to be stirred up at this point. "As chaotic as this place can get, you both have all the support you could need here. And then some." With a faint smile, she added: "Once you announce it, you'll be inundated with offers of help, I can guarantee it."

Nathan squeezed his eyes shut, telling himself to calm down. Focus on breathing again. He knew damned well that he felt this... raw about it because he was flat on his back in a hospital bed feeling like shit. "I know. So glad that we are here..." He opened his eyes again, turning his face in her general direction and hoping he wasn't too off-center. "I tell you I slipped, in Vegas, told Haroun?"

He was looking over her shoulder, but otherwise he wasn't far off. "Slipped how?" she asked. "Haroun tends to be fairly tight-lipped about mission details to non-team members."

"Hadn't slept... and I grumbled about stupid casino owners taking me away from my pregnant fiancee." Nathan couldn't help a small, fond smile at the memory of Haroun's reaction. "He's a big g-goof. Already told me... plans to spoil the baby rotten..."

She chuckled. "He would. You should see him with Alison - positively nauseating." Her tone said that was exactly as it should be. "I think that tutor of Amanda's knows something too - he sent Moira a little figurine, some sort of patron goddess of pregnant women. She thought it was very cute. Once she figured out why he'd sent it, that is."

"And Catseye, with the mice..." Nathan stared at the blackness, the nagging, bleak voice in the back of his mind pointing out that it really was blackness. He wasn't even picking up a hint of movement. "I think... it was tweaking my precog, too."

"If anything would, that would. I daresay that little witch of yours would have picked up something as well, if she'd been in reasonable shape at all lately. Damn hard to keep a secret around here," she mock-grumbled. "When are you planning to announce it? Or are you just going to let everyone think Moira's getting fat?"

"Just before the Christmas break... that was the plan..." He trailed off, wondering if that was still the plan. It wasn't as if the two of them had had much chance to talk about what little revisions might be needed, with all of this...

"The best-laid plans of mice and men, hmm? Don't worry, this is just a hiccup in the grand scheme of things. You'll be up and about and able to fulfill your proud father-to-be roles in no time." Madelyn patted his hand again, seeing the doubt on his face. Without his vision, Nathan was the proverbial open book. "Now, would you like me to read to you for a bit? You're our only patient at the moment - Amanda's been moved to her own room, since she's a terrible patient and doesn't have your excuse to behave."

"That'd be good," Nathan murmured gratefully. It hurt too much to make sleeping easy, and lying here thinking was not so good, either. "Thanks, Maddie..." He and Moira were both very, very lucky to be here, he thought with a smile.