Kate got to the guys' apartment and knocked on the door. It opened.
      "Hey, Kate. Did you find the key?" Lewis said.
      "No, we're gonna look some more tomorrow. How's Lauren?" Kate said.
      "Not bad. She's sleeping at the booth," Lewis replied.
      "I wonder what she's gonna do about her classes," Kate said.
      "Oh, yeah..." Lewis said, realizing.
      "Listen, don't let her out of here, okay?" Kate said, then shook her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this. Anyway, she's probably gonna be really sick tomorrow and going outside won't be a good idea."
      "Yeah, okay, besides, she was sniffling all evening," Lewis said.
      "I'll come by in the morning with some more of herstuff. See ya tomorrow," Kate said, then turned to go.
      "Bye," Lewis said, then closed the door. He went over to the booth. "Lauren?"
      "I heard," I mumbled. "I'm not gonna want to leave tomorrow."

      the enxt morning, Oswald got to the apartment.
      "You look well-rested," Lewis commented.
      "The benefits of sleeping in a tree every once in a while," Oswald said. "How's Lauren?"
      "She hasn't gotten up yet, but she's started coughing," Lewis replied.
      "Man, I can't believe we did this to her," Oswald said.
      "Well, last night she wasn't angry. Today might be a different story," Lewis said.
      There's a knock at the door.
      Lewis opened the door. "Hi, Kate."
      "Hey, Lewis," Kate said. "Oswald, you got out of the tree! Good for you!"
      "This stuff for Lauren?" Lewis asked, seeing the bag Kate was holding.
      "Oh, yeah," Kate said, then handed Lewis the bag. "I think I got what she might need." She paused. "Well, I'm gonna get going... Oh, Oswald, you want a lift to work?"
      "Sure," Oswald said, then left with Kate.
      Lewis closed the door, then put the bag down beside the wall. He went over to the booth and leaned on it, looking down at me.

      Drew's at his desk, typing up a report.
      "Hey, Pig!" Mimi said.
      Drew turned. "What?"
      Mimi shot a spitball at Drew and hit him in the forehead.
      "Oh, yuck!" drew said, disusted.
      Mimi started laughing.
      "Now, I have to find some disinfectant!" Drew commented.
      Kate came over to Drew's cubicle. "Now, what'd she do?"
      "She got me with a spitball! I fell for the oldest trick in the book," Drew complained.
      "So much for originality," Kate commented. "Have you called to see how Lauren't doing?"
      "I tried about 10 minutes ago, but the line was busy," Drew said. "Who could Lewis be talking to?"

      Lewis is sitting next to the window, still on the phone. "Yeah, I'll try that, see if something helps. Thanks. I'll tell her. Yeah, it was nice talking to you, too. Bye." he hit a button on the cell phone and looked over the pad of paper. "Don't have that... or that... or that... too expensive... don't have that... or that... don't know what that is..."
      "What time is it?" I asked, half asleep.
      Lewis looked at his watch. "About 10 o'clock."
      "I didn't sleep through any whole days, did I?" I said, yawning.
      Lewis cracked a smile. "No." He came over to the booth. "I called your parents..."
      "What!?" I said blting up, almost making myself dizzy. "What'd ya do that for?"
      Lewis rolled his eyes. "Because I'm not good at taking care of someone who's sick. I couldn't even fix you some soup last night."
      "Oh," I said.
      "So... you feeling any better?" he asked, changing the subject slightly.
      "No, not really," I answered. "What'd they say?"
      "Well, your mom gave me a list of stuff to try, but we either don't have it or I don't know what it is," Lewis said.
      "It's the thought that counts," I said, then leaned on the table. "I feel like crap." I plopped my head down on the table.
      Lewis sat next to me and starting rubbing my back.

      A couple hours later, Oswald came back to the apartment. He came in.
      I was asleep with my head still on the table. Lewis had fallen asleep with his head tilted back.
      Oswald started laughing, then stopped, then started again.
      Lewis opened his eyes & looked at Oswald, upside-down. "What're you laughing at?"
      "You," Oswald said.
      Lewis sat up. "Very funny." He looked at his watch. "Shouldn't you still be at work?"
      "I'm taking a really long lunch break. I wanted to stop and grab a beer," Oswald said, then went to the fridge and got a beer. "All set. See ya later." He left.
      "Wow," Lewis said. He paused, then looked at me. He got p and went into his bedroom. He came back out with a pillow and slid it under my head. His hand brushed my foreead. 'What the..." He pressed the palm of his hand against my forehead. "Crap," he said, agitated. He started to think. "And everyone's at work, dammit." He paused again. "lauren?" He shook my shoulder.
      My eyes fluttered open. "Wha-?" I looked at him blankly.
      "I think you've got a fever. What do I do?"Lewis asked.
      I brought my hand to my forehead. "I do?"
      Lewis put his hand over mine and took it away. "Geez, your hand's cold!"
      I took mine away and plopped it back onto the table. "Liquids... and a cold compress."
      "Even groggy you know what to do," he said then went to get the stuff.
      The phone rang.
      "Man..." Lewis said, irritated. He grabbed the cell phone. "Hello?"
      "Hey, Lewis. It's Drew, who were you talking to all morning?"
      "Lauren's parents. I called them for advice. Anyway, I'm glad you called," Lewis said.
      "Yeah, why?" Drew asked.
      "I don't know what I'm doing. She keeps getting worse. Now, she feels warm!" Lewis said, amazingly starting to sound a bit hysterical.
      "First, you calm down. Second, I'll be out of here in about 30 minutes, so I'll come by. Third, as long as she's conscious, everything will be okay," Drew said.
      Lewis let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Drew."
      "Better," Drew said. "I'll be there in a little while. Bye."
      "Bye," Lewis said and hung up. He went back to getting the stuff for me. He grabbed a face cloth and ran it under cold water, then came back to the booth."Still awake?"
      "Yeah," I said.
      "Umm..." Lewis stammered, then swallowed. "I mean this purely as making you feel better, but I think you'd be better off on a bed than this booth." He backed off.
      "Alright," I said.

      There's a knock at the door.
      "Hey, Lewis, it's Drew!"
      Lewis entered the room and opened the door. "Hey, Drew."
      Drew came in. He looked over at the booth. "Where's Lauren?"
      "In there," Lewis said, motioning for Drew to follow him.
      They entered the room.
      "She fell asleep about 15 minutes ago," Lewis said.
      Drew noticed the compress. "Cold compress, good. Liquids?"
      "Yeah, she mentioned those two things," Lewis said.
      "Good," Drew said. He noted Lewis's tone of voice. "You want me to keep an eye on her for a while so you can take a break or something?"
      "You'd do that?" Lewis asked.
      "Sure, no problem," Drew said, then handed him his key. "Just don't lose this one."
      "Thanks," Lewis said, then left.

      Lewis went around to Drew's backyard and found Kate looking for the house key.
      "Haven't found that key yet, huh?" he asked.
      "No... what're you doing here, anyway?" Kate asked, without looking up.
      "Drew's watching Lauren so I could take a break," Lewis said.
      Kate looked up. "Oh, umm, don't take this the wrong way, but you look like crap."
      "Really? I hadn't noticed," Lewis said, sarcastically.
      "Ah ha!" Kate said, then stood up. She held out the key. "Now, I can go home." She went inside and came back out. "You staying here?"
      "No, I'm gonna go back," Lewis said, then left while Kate locked the door.

      The middle of the night. I woke up with the worst headache. I got up and left the room, slowly. I went into the bathroom. I came out, went back into the bedroom and found Lewis waiting for me.
      "You okay?" he asked.
      "A bit better, but now I've got an awful headache," I said, then sat back on the bed.
      He sat next to me and I immediately rested my head on his chest.
      "Didn't even give me a chance," Lewis said, paused, then put his arm around me. "Okay, I'll stay till you fall asleep."
      I yawned. "Thanks." I paused, "What happened to Oswald?"

      Oswald is sleeping in the tree in Drew's back yard, again.

      The next morning, I woke up to find I hadn't moved since I fell asleep.
      "Morning," Lewis said.
      I looked up at him. "I thought you were gonna leave?"
      "Well, my arm fell asleep... and then I did, so technically I didn't have the chance," he said. "Speaking of which, I can't feel my arm."
      I moved so he culd. Lewis stood up gingerly and shook his arm out. He turned back to me.
      "Feeling any better?" he asked.
      "Yeah I think it's just a stuffy nose now," I said.
      Lewis put the palm of his hand on mforehead. "And you don't feel warm."
      "You know, it's kinda too bad, though," I said.
      "Why?" he asked.
      "Because, even though I wasn't really with it, I liked being here with ya," I said.
      "Thanks," Lewis said, then kissed me on the cheek.

The End