A/N: Another new fic because my muse won't leave me alone. This is a Sick!Hook fic. And of course who else is going to come help take care of the sick pirate but our blonde sheriff princess.

Chapter 1: Pirate in Distress

The week had been crazy enough without having to add random thefts into the mix. Emma had been busy with several random fights and now multiple people were calling in to report missing objects and a break in or two. How was she supposed to manage all of this? Luckily David was there to help with some of the issues, but there was getting to be too many complaints even for the two of them. Mary Margaret ended up stepping in to help out, but it was still going to take some time to deal with everything. Emma decided to stick to the thefts that had been reported, mainly because she had an idea where to start.

Ever since Killian had shown up in town, he had decided to start stealing to get Emma's attention. At least that is what Emma thought most of the time. Most of the things that he stole were small objects that he would really have no use for, so Emma couldn't come up with any other reason as to why he was doing it. He did a good job pretending to act innocent and the items he stole always ended up finding their way to the sheriff's station after she talked to Killian. Emma was starting to wonder when he was going to get tired of playing this game.

Emma was heading toward Killian's ship as she always did when things went missing. It was getting to be something she did on practically a weekly basis. Every time she went there looking for him, he would already be on the deck of the ship as if he was just waiting for her to show up there. It made him all the more suspicious. Somehow he had managed to avoid getting arrested over these instances. She could never actually prove it was him and the missing items always ended up showing up again.

Once Emma got to the docks she headed to where she knew the invisible gangplank was to board the Jolly Roger. She had been aboard the ship far more often than she would like to admit, but she always found it strangely beautiful. Killian had told her with pride that it was made of enchanted wood and she couldn't help but get caught up in his stories sometimes. It was becoming a problem when she realized how distracted she got when she was with him. It made her consider going back to the station and forgetting questioning Hook, but even when her mind told her it was a bad idea, something told her to continue on.

When she boarded the Jolly Roger she expected to find Hook waiting in his usual spot across from the gangplank, but this time he wasn't standing there. It was strange. Every time Killian had stolen something he was always waiting for her. Emma wasn't sure what was going on, but she decided to go below deck to see what Hook was up to. She had never actually been below the deck of the Jolly Roger thought Killian had made comments about her going to his cabin with him. As she walked through the dark hallway below deck she hoped that she wasn't walking into some trap. Still her curiosity got the best of her and she found herself standing in front of the captain's cabin.

Emma decided to knock instead of just barging into the room. She had no idea what she expected, but everything seemed to be silent on the other side of the door. Again, she knocked louder, hoping to hear Hook say something or moving, but once again all there was, was silence. This time Emma opened the door to peek her head in, trying to see if Hook was even there. She was surprised to see him lying in his bed, but something was off. He wasn't moving and he hadn't even acknowledged that he heard her knocking at the door.

Something was wrong. It wasn't like him to actually stay still and as she moved further into the room he didn't make a sound. He appeared to be sleeping almost uncomfortably. Emma bent down to examine his face, expecting him to open his eyes, but they remained closed. When Emma placed her hand to his forehead she pulled it back surprised to find him burning up.

"Hook?" Emma asked. His brow furrowed at the sound of her voice, but his eyes remained shut. "Hook?" she asked again, putting her hand back to his forehead. He was clearly running a pretty fierce fever and he was sweating. When she pulled her hand away, he opened his eyes looking up at her confused.

"Swan?" he asked voice hoarse. "How did you get here?"

"I walked aboard your ship," Emma replied. "What do you think? How long have you been like this?"

"I'm fine," Killian replied weakly.

"You are not fine," Emma stated, feeling his head again. "You're burning up and you probably need to go to the hospital."

"You're not taking me anywhere off of this ship, love," said Killian. "I'll be fine."

"You don't know that," said Emma not even trying to hide the worry in her voice. "You likely need medicine and I doubt you have any here."

"You're worried about me, Swan?" Killian asked with a faint smirk before coughing and grimacing in pain.

"You are clearly not okay, but it's not like I can carry you off this ship," said Emma. Killian didn't seem to be paying attention anymore when she picked up her cell phone and dialed Dr. Whale. Even if she couldn't get him off the ship she could still get Dr. Whale to come here to see him. The last thing she was going to do is let the stupid pirate die because he was too stubborn to ask for help.

Emma waited at the door to the captain's cabin for Dr. Whale to show up. Killian had fallen back asleep. It appeared that the brief conversation they had took a lot out of him. She didn't want to admit it, but she was worried about him. He never told her how long he had been like this and it wasn't like there was a thermometer anywhere to tell her how high the fever he had was running. Emma began to tap her foot nervously as she kept looking back to the bed where the pirate slept.

There was a sound of footsteps coming down the hallway and she peeked to see Dr. Whale making his way to the cabin. She let out a sigh of relief hoping that the doctor would be able to do something to help the stubborn pirate.

"What's going on?" Dr. Whale asked when he made it to the doorway.

Emma glanced back at Killian lying in the bed. "He was like this when I got here. He's burning up, has a cough, and refuses to leave his ship."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," said Dr. Whale entering the room to examine the pirate. "Any chance in waking him enough for him to talk to me?"

"He was awake a little while ago," said Emma walking over to the bed and sitting down on the edge before moving her hand over to Killian's head. She brushed his hair out of his eyes and his brow furrowed again. "Hook, wake up. Dr. Whale needs to see you."

Killian opened his eyes just barley glancing at Emma before turning toward the doctor standing on his other side.

"How did I get here?" he asked.

"You didn't go anywhere, he came to you," said Emma.

"He can do that?" Killian asked and Emma couldn't help but laugh.

"He is capable of leaving the hospital if he needs to," said Emma.

"How do you feel?" Dr. Whale asked.

"Bloody awful," Killian replied weakly.

"I would imagine so," said Whale, pulling a thermometer out of his bag. "I need you to put this under your tongue."

"What the bloody hell is that?" Killian asked, brow furrowing as he attempted to focus on the object in Dr. Whale's hand.

"It's a thermometer," Whale explained. "It is used to tell us what your body temperature is."

"How does it do that?" he asked, suspicious.

"Just put it under your tongue, Hook," said Emma. "We don't really have time to explain how everything here works."

"Fine," he choked out before coughing again. He moved his hand to his chest and opened his mouth so the doctor could put the foreign object under his tongue.

"Now close your mouth," Whale instructed. Killian did so without another word still looking between the two. Neither of them spoke as the electric thermometer beeped noting that it was done. When Whale pulled the thermometer from Killian's mouth he read it out loud.

"103.4," he stated, reaching into his bag again. This time he pulled out a bottle of pills. Emma watched as Killian began to dose off again.

"Hook, wake up," said Emma, pushing against his shoulder. He grumbled and looked up at her. "I'm sorry, but we have to give you something to bring your fever down."

Dr. Whale handed Emma a bottle of water and Tylenol. Before digging though he bag once again. Emma just held the two items as she watched for what the doctor was looking for this time. He pulled out a few packets of pills from his bag and set them on the bed next to Emma. She eyed them curiously before Dr. Whale closed his bag.

"Antibiotics," He explained. "They get some samples at the hospital; I figured he might be able to use them."

"Thank you," said Emma as Dr. Whale stood up.

"I wouldn't leave him alone," he replied, while glancing at the now sleeping pirate. "He isn't likely to actually take care of himself in his condition and wouldn't know what to do with the pills."

"You're telling me I need to stay with him?" Emma asked, horrified at the thought of sleeping on the ship.

"Someone has to," he replied. "And I'm afraid I have other patients to tend to. If you think he can handle this himself then go ahead and leave, but I warn you that he isn't exactly in good condition. The hospital would be the best place for him, but I imagine that is out of the question."

"Yeah," said Emma looking back to Killian, wondering how she was going to take care of the pirate on this ship.

"Get him to take the Tylenol and the antibiotics and keep an eye on him," said Whale heading to the door. "If he gets any worse call me."

"Okay," said Emma as Dr. Whale took his leave.

Emma looked back at the sleeping pirate as he began to cough again. The look of pain on his face made Emma uncomfortable for him. She hadn't been this sick many times in her life, but she knew how horrible it was. There had never been anyone there to help take care of her when she needed it, so she wasn't going to leave him to fend for himself.