Life drabble for revelininsanity

[cmk418]

revelininsanity's prompt is as follows:

Charlie gets sick. Dani has to take care of him, since Ted is in Spain, and drags Tidwell along. Then she has to go out and get Gaterade and ginger ale and apples, and Tidwell has to take over. Bonus points for Tidwell's "protect my cops" instinct coming out, despite his better judgment.

I'm not sure I qualify for the bonus points, but here's the result. Feel better soon!



Tidwell seemed uncomfortable in Crews’ room. Perhaps it was the lack of a place to sit, except the bed – and Reese didn’t seem to mind sitting there. Maybe it was just the cop thing, getting the lay of the land, sizing up unfamiliar surroundings, which had the Captain pacing back and forth.

“Are you upset that Reese sat on the bed?”

“Course not. She’s your partner.”

“Do you think she’ll be gone long?”

“You need something?”

“I think I felt my temperature go up another degree.”

“You can’t feel that. Nobody can feel that.”

“There’s a group of monks in Tibet who are so attuned to their bodies that they are aware when their body temperatures rise even a miniscule amount.”

“One, you’re making that up. Two, you’re a cop, not a Tibetan monk. And, three, you can’t feel that.”

“Can you check?”

“Your temperature didn’t go up.”

“Can you check?”

Tidwell sighed and placed a hand on Crews’ forehead. “I don’t know. It seems like you have a fever.”

“I had a fever. I need to know if the fever has gotten higher. Can you check?”

“Are you always this much of a pain in the ass?”

“Ask Reese. I think she put the thermometer by the bathroom sink.”

Tidwell sighed and disappeared out the door for a moment.

Crews called out. “Could you bring another blanket too? There’s one in the hall closet.”

“God, you’re high maintenance.” Tidwell returned to the room with the blanket and the thermometer. He unceremoniously draped the blanket over Charlie.

“I don’t get colds. I get four hundred percent of the daily rec -“

Tidwell shoved the thermometer in Crews’ mouth, effectively shutting him up. After a few moments, Tidwell removed the thermometer.

“Recommended dose of Vitamin C,” Crews continued. “I think it’s all the fruit.”

“What was your temperature when Reese took it?”

“Ninety nine point eight.”

“You’re up to a hundred point five.”

“I told you.”

“It didn’t go up a degree. It went up seven tenths of a degree.”

“So that means I’m more sensitive to changes in my body not less. More sensitive than Tibetan monks,” Crews said with awe.

Tidwell rubbed a hand over his face. Reese had better get back soon.