TITLE: In Sickness and In Health
AUTHOR: M. Edison
FEEDBACK: Oh yes please! Be gentle though. ;-)
CATEGORY: AU
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: No
SUMMARY: Jim and Megan fulfill their vows sooner than expected.
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters or concepts of the Sentinel


*********
~sniff~

Over the top of the morning paper, Jim Ellison looked at his bride of two days.

"I heard that."

Megan Ellison glared at her husband from where she stood looking out of the
cabin window. "I am *not* sick!"

A patient smile dawned on the Sentinel's face. "I beg to differ, my dear." His
patronizing tone earned him another glare, this one accompanied by a pillow
aimed at his head. "You are. You've got a fever..."

"I do not feel warm!"

"You have a fever." Jim repeated patiently. "You've been sniffing and sneezing
all morning and I heard you coughing in the shower..."

Megan pulled the fluffy towel away from her wet hair and frowned at him.
"Eavesdropper."

Jim shrugged, setting his paper aside and picking up his wife's hairbrush, and
walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. "C'mere..."

Still looking annoyed, Megan sat on the floor and rested back against her
husband's legs. She'd learned early on in their relationship that she loved it
when Jim brushed her hair.

Gently running the brush through her wet curls, Jim stroked his free hand over
the dark mass of her hair. "You are sick you know." He said calmly.

"I am..." Megan sneezed, cutting off her own protest and nearly yanking her hair
tight in the brush.

"You were saying?" Jim's voice was soft and devoid of laughter, save a tinge of
amusement.

Megan sighed and turned to look up at him. "All right...so I'm sick. Now what?"

Smiling, Jim pulled her up onto the bed and pulled her hair aside, planting
kisses along her neck. "Now I've got an excuse to keep you in bed all day."

Leaning against him, Megan's eyes slid shut in pleasure. "Careful Jim..." she
cautioned in a low voice. "Sandy'll kill me if I give you the flu less than a
week into the honeymoon."

Ellison pulled away and grinned at her. "I won't tell him if you won't." He
lifted her left hand to his mouth and kissed her ring finger. "Besides, we did
say in sickness and in health. Might as well get the sickness part out of the
way up front."

Megan laughed. "With you, luv, sickness - or should I say injury is the one
we'll see the most of."

Her husband playfully raised an eyebrow. "I should take offense to that..."

"Why?" Megan sneezed again, accepting the tissue Jim gave her. "It's true."

Jim stood and walked back to the dresser. After a moment's rummaging in a
drawer, he pulled out one of his warmer shirts, which they'd brought in case the
weather turned cold. (The mountain resort was beautiful but the weather was
unpredictable) "Put this on and we'll dry your hair."

Pulling off her robe, Megan ignored her husband's half-teasing whistle, slipped
her arms into the fleecy, oversized shirt and settled onto the bed.

Picking up the towel again, Jim walked back to the bed, eyes focused on the
beautiful woman who, by some stroke of luck or -- in his opinion -- divine
intervention, he'd been fortunate to marry.

The first two days of their honeymoon were spent with Jim playing nurse-maid to
Megan. An act that he took great pleasure in. For those two days, Megan barely
had to lift a finger.

Jim did almost everything for her. He carried her to the bathroom when she
needed to take a shower or relieve herself (despite the fact she was insistent
she could walk there on her own), brought her meals in bed, brushed her hair and
-- the most important of all -- snuggled with her whenever she was feeling
particularly miserable.

In short, he pampered her beyond belief.

When the sun worked its way into their bedroom on the third morning, it found
Megan wrapped firmly in Jim's arms (looking much better than the day before) and
resting her head on his chest.

When the warm morning light landed on Jim's face, the Sentinel reluctantly began
to make his way back to the waking world.

Not quite ready to give up the comfortable sleep he'd been enjoying, Jim lay
still and kept his eyes lightly closed. His only concession to being awake was
when he adjusted his grip on his wife, holding her just a little tighter.

A small smile dawned on his face as he savored the early morning leisure. He
knew once they got back to Cascade, after the honeymoon, moments such as these
would be hard to find.

Alas, the peace he'd been savoring was doomed not to last, for a moment later a
fateful sound filled the room.

"AACHOO!!!!"

"Can't say I didn't warn you." Megan mumbled sleepily, rolling over as Jim
reached for the tissues.

"Not one word," He muttered grumpily before sneezing again.

Finis