#<100

Kaycee grabbed her purse and took a final look at herself in the hallway mirror. Already behind schedule, her hand was nearly on the front door when Ethan called out from the bedroom. Rushing down the halls in her high heels, she was nearly out of breath when she reached him.  

“Hey!” she breathed. “You OK? You need something?”

“Yes. I needed you to wake me,” he said as he stepped out of bed. But as soon as he was on his feet, dizziness seized him, and he nearly tumbled to the floor.

“Ethan!” Kaycee yelled. “Get into bed right now! There’s no way you’re going to work today!”

“Why? I’m not... I’m not... I’m nahhhh....ahhhhh-chhhhooo.” He sneezed so loud that the sparrow perched on their windowsill took off for the heavens. But he remained adamant. “I’m not sick!”

Kaycee shook her head, arms crossed defiantly in front of her chest. “You know, when they said doctors make the worst patients, you were exactly who they had in mind.”

“But I’m not....”

Kaycee smiled smugly when he couldn’t complete his sentence. Sneezing once, then twice... they just kept coming. Walking toward him with a box of tissues, she teased.

“Yep. You’re the picture of health."

“This is ridiculous,” he complained, crawling back into bed. “I never get sick!”

“Honey, everyone gets sick sometimes. Now, you’re staying home and getting some rest today! Trust me, Edenbrook will still be standing when you return.”

“Yeah, and I can work on cases from home.”

“Really?” she asked. “Do I need to call Tobias and tell him I’m taking the day off, too... to babysit?”

“No,” Ethan sighed. “If you leave Tobias alone to run things, Edenbrook may not be standing when we return.”  

“You can’t stop yourself, even when you’re sick,” she laughed.

“Hey, if I praised Carrick’s abilities, I’d tell you to consider calling a priest for last rites.”

“Ethan, you’re an atheist,” she smirked, pulling the blankets over him.

“Do you need anything before I go?”

“A hug?”

“A hug..." she cringed. "I'd love to, but... cooties.”

“Cooties?” he asked with a raised brow.

“Yes, cooties.”

“This is what happens when I marry someone who went to Perelman instead of Hopkins,” he smiled.

“Oh really? Keep this up, and maybe your second wife will be from Hopkins. But trust me, she’d never make you as happy as me.”

“You can say that again.”

“She’d never make you as happy as me.”

“I didn’t mean literally,” he groaned.

Kaycee leaned over and placed a kiss on his forehead. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll run home on my lunch break to check in on you, OK?”

“You don’t have to...”

“No, I insist. You’re the only patient I’ll make house calls for.”

“And you know,” he winked, “if I’m feeling better....”

“Oh no!” she replied, rushing away from him. “No way, because...”

“Cooties,” they said in unison.

Ethan’s heavy eyelids began to shut, and he was already sleeping when Kaycee turned out the lights. She looked at her watch; she could just make it to work on time, but her mind was already on her break, eager to give her favorite patient a house call.

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