By:  Kaitlyn Rose

Kristin stepped into Lucas' room to check on him.  He had been asleep now for about two hours.  She was surprised to see something that Lucas hadn't used in a while.  She recognized the familiar lump R.B. made under the covers. 

Kristin put her hand to Lucas' forehead and smiled.  She looked up when a shadow fell over her.  Nathan was standing in the doorway smiling at her.  She held her finger up meaning she would be out in a minute.  She tucked the blanket around Lucas and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.  Carefully she stood up and then stepped out of his room, pulling his door to behind her.

"Everything okay?" Nathan asked.

"He's fine.  He had a headache earlier and I was a bit surprised that he went to bed so early."

"It's been a rough week.  The stress probably caught up to him," Nathan said.

"I know," Kristin replied.  "I just wanted to make sure he was just tired and nothing else was wrong.  But he's sleeping peacefully."

"That's what I want to be doing in the next fifteen minutes," Nathan said.

"What's that?"

"Sleeping peacefully," he replied.

"Why do you have to wait fifteen minutes?" Kristin asked.

"Because I was hoping for a quickie," he grinned mischievously and started nuzzling her neck.

"I think I can accommodate that request," Kristin giggled.

________________

The need to go to the bathroom woke Lucas at a little after five am.  He crawled out of his bed and walked quietly through their quarters to go.  He noticed that his body was stiff and he hurt just about everywhere.  What surprised him was the enormous headache that he still had from last night. 

When he was finished he washed his hands and drank down two cups of water.  He realized that he really wasn't feeling very well, and he was so cold all of a sudden.  He thought about waking up mom, but she would be getting up in two hours so he'd just go back to bed and wait. 

He hurried to his room and under his covers.  God he was so cold.  Maybe the temperature control was off or something.  He thought about getting up and going to the computer to see if environmental controls were working properly, but then decided against it.  He was just so tired and at the moment tinkering with the computers didn't entice him.

He pulled his blanket all the way up to his chin and tucked it under his toes, trying to get warn.  A few minutes later his whole body was shivering.  So cold…he was so cold.  He curled up in a ball on his bed trying to stay warm but it seemed like nothing would help him to warm up again. 

He looked at the bedside clock.  It was five-thirty.  Mom would be up in an hour and a half.  Maybe he'd let Mom sleep for another half an hour and wake her up at six he thought when his teeth started chattering and his shivering turned into jerking motions.  She wouldn't mind.

________________

The alarm went off at seven am and Kristin reached over and shut the horrid little clock off.  She didn't have any pressing experiments going on today and she contemplated rolling over and going back to sleep for a bit longer.

Then she remembered that Lucas wasn't feeling well last night and she wanted to check on him.  With a sigh she sat up and threw on her robe.  The shifting of the bed caused Nathan to roll over and mumble something.  She stepped into the family room and turned on the coffee pot, then headed for Lucas' room.

As she got close to him she knew instantly something was wrong.  Lucas' skin was shiny from sweat, and a ghastly gray color. 

"Lucas?" she said having a seat next to him.  She touched his face and gasped.  "Oh my goodness!  Lucas!  Lucas, wake up!" Kristin exclaimed and shook him slightly.  "Lucas can you hear me?"

"mom" Lucas whispered so softly that it was barely auditable.  "hot"

"I know sweetheart.  I'm going to get you to med bay and we'll see what's wrong."  She waited for him to say something but he seemed to slip back into unconsciousness.  "Lucas!  NATHAN!" Kristin yelled.  "NATHAN!"

Nathan had been comfortably dozing when Kristin's screams woke him with a start.  In the next instant he was out of bed and racing to the sound of her voice.  His heart froze when he saw her in Lucas' room pulling the blankets off of the boy and trying to unbutton his pajama shirt.

"What's wrong?  What happened?" Nathan demanded.

"I think Lucas has developed an infection or something.  He's burning up and barely conscience.  I watched him so closely to make sure this didn't happen.  I know open wounds in the jungle are dangerous, but it's been a week and I pumped him full of antibiotics to prevent an infection."

Nathan helped her to pull Lucas' shirt off and then she quickly pulled his bandages off of his arms looking to see which ones were showing signs of infection.

"I don't understand this.  These wounds are just fine.  None of them are swollen or emitting puss.  We have to get him to med bay now.  I have to figure out what is wrong with him."

The fact that Kristin was on the verge of panic frightened Nathan.  Usually she was the voice of calm reason when Lucas was sick, but today her calm bedside manner was gone.  She was afraid, and that made Nathan very afraid.

He quickly slipped his arms under Lucas and hoisted him out of the bed.  The boy's skin was on fire.  Memories of Carol burning up with fever and slowly slipping away from him came to his mind.  Was Lucas also going to succumb to a fever and leave him?

It was early morning on seaQuest and many of her occupants were just waking up.  Several crew members stopped to stare as Nathan and Kristin hurried through the corridors with Lucas in Nathan's arms, but none of them stopped to interfere or inquire what was wrong.  One look told them that Lucas was very sick. 

Kristin held the door open for Nathan and he quickly placed Lucas on a bed.  Lucas was still burning up but Nathan noticed that his body was starting to shake as if he had the chills.  Kristin placed a thermometer in Lucas' mouth and waited for the readout to appear. 

"Dear God," she said.  "He's 104.2."

Nathan felt his stomach tighten into knots.  "What's wrong with him?  Why is he so sick if he doesn't have an infection?" 

"I didn't say he didn't have an infection.  I said his wounds weren't infected.  I'll need to run some blood tests to find out what's wrong with him."  Kristin paged Pamela and Jennifer.  First priority was to get Lucas' fever down.

Kristin hurried to the medicine cabinet and filled a syringe with antibiotic and a fever reducer and injected Lucas.  It was precautionary.  Until she knew why Lucas was sick she couldn't really treat him effectively.

Jennifer was the first to reach med bay.  "Kristin what's the big emergency?"  Then she saw Lucas on the bed.  "Lucas."

"Jennifer, I need you to get some ice from the mess.  Pack Lucas' neck and chest in cold clothes and ice packs now."  Kristin was drawing blood from Lucas while issuing directions.  Jennifer ran from the room to fetch the ice.

Nathan stood next to Lucas and held the boy's sweaty hand.

"D-Dad…dad…help…can't find you…no…Darwin…Darwin come back…Dad…Dad where are you…"

"Lucas its okay.  I'm right here.  I'm right here and we're going to take care of you."

"No…no…Dad…he's coming…" Lucas was shaking his head back and forth wildly, the tremors his body was experiencing were increasing in intensity.

"Lucas, no one's coming.  Lucas can you hear me?  Lucas, I need you to be strong.  I need to you to be strong and fight."  Nathan's heart was shattering as he watched Lucas suffer.  The boy was delirious.

Jennifer came back into med bay with a large bucket of ice being carried by Dr. Knight, the temp who was filling in for Dr. Levin.

"Captain what's happening?" Dr. Knight asked, setting the bucket next to Lucas' bed.

"Kristin is doing tests right now trying to figure it out.  When she checked on him this morning this is how we found him."

Jennifer layered Lucas in wet towels and then used more towels to make giant ice packs.  Then she started placing them around Lucas' neck to keep his brain cool, and over his chest.

"NO!" Lucas screamed.  "NO…AAHHGG…" Lucas began to thrash wildly on the bed.  Both Nathan and Dr. Knight grabbed at the boys arms to hold him still.

"Lucas, it's okay," Nathan insisted.  "We need to cool you off.  Lucas please, hold still."  Nathan's words were having no effect on him.  The boy was out of his mind at the moment and who knew what terrible hallucinations he was having.

Suddenly Nathan knew how to calm him down.  He closed his eyes and concentrated on Lucas.  It was working.  Lucas stopped struggling and seemed to settle into a deep sleep.

Jennifer went back to putting the ice on Lucas' neck.  When she was done she took Lucas' temperature again.  "104.8," she said.

"It was only 104.2 twenty minutes ago," Nathan exclaimed. 

"We need to let the medicine and ice have a little time to bring it down," Jennifer told him.

"What if it doesn't?" Nathan asked, though he already knew the answer to that.  It would be Carol all over again.  Lucas would get hotter and hotter until he died.

"We just have to hope that it does," Dr. Knight told him.

Pamela entered the lab and went to Kristin to help her run her tests, as did Dr. Knight.

Nathan brushed the sweaty hair back from Lucas forehead.  "Hang in there kiddo.  I really need you to be okay."

______________

Lucas found himself lost in the jungle.  He was running wildly from something that was following him, but he didn't know what it was.  Where was Dad?  He had been there just a moment ago.  Lucas had felt him, spoke to him, but just as soon as Lucas was starting to feel safe he disappeared and Lucas was all alone again.

He continued to run.  It felt as if the plants themselves were reaching out trying to grab him.  Vines wrapped around his feet and he fell to the ground.  "Let go!" Lucas cried, pulling and tearing at the vines.  Instead they began to circle around his body, pinning his arms to his sides.  "No."  The vines continued to snake around his body, raising up to his throat.  Lucas' eyes went wide as they vines twisted around his throat and began to choke him.  He couldn't breath.  He started to thrash and then suddenly he managed to pull his arm free.  He grabbed the vines around his neck and heard the vines snap as he ripped them away.  Soon he had his other arm free and he pulled the remaining plants off of him.  He got up and took off running once again. 

Where was Dad?  Why did he leave him alone in this terrible place?  "Dad!  Help me!"

_________________

Once again Nathan was holding Lucas down on the bed.  Out of the blue the boy became restless and then started calling for help again.  Lucas worked himself into a frenzy before he finally exhausted himself and quieted back down.

Nathan quickly scooped more ice out of the bucket to replace the ice Lucas had knocked to the floor when he tried to sit up.  He felt the boy's face hoping to see that the fever was breaking, but his skin was still burning up.

"Nathan," Kristin said.

He turned around to look at her.  The look on her face was not a reassuring one. 

"What?" he asked.  "What did you find?"

"Lucas doesn't have an infection," she said.  "He has malaria."

Nathan felt himself sit heavily in the chair next to Lucas' bed.  He shook his head back and forth.  "Is…is he going to die?"

"Malaria is treatable, but Nathan…I'm not going to lie to you.  This is serious.  There's a chance that…that he might not make it.  I'm going to do everything I can, though, to make sure that he does."  She walked over to the medicine cabinet and started searching though the various drugs in there.  Then she spied what she was looking for.  She grabbed a needle and filled it.

"What's that?" Nathan asked.

"Chloroquine.  It's the standard drug for fighting malaria.  There are three stages to this disease, the cold stage, hot stage, and then sweating.  Lucas must have gone through the cold stage during the night.  Why didn't he wake me up to help him?  He's obviously in the hot stage right now.  This usually lasts about six hours."

"How high will his fever go?" Nathan asked.

"Well, it can reach 106, but I would like to try and not let it go that high.  He can start to have brain damage.  Hopefully the drugs and the ice will keep it around 104, which isn't great, but at least it isn't fatal.  Once this stage passes he'll go into a stage of profuse sweating.  It'll be vital that we keep him hydrated."

"How long does that go on for?" Nathan asked.

"About four hours," Kristin answered.

"So if he survives the next ten hours it'll be over, right?" Nathan asked.

"Not necessarily.  If the drug works then yes, but if it doesn't then in about two days we will go through all of this all over again."

"What?  Why two days?"

"It takes that long for the parasites to rebuild in his liver and then flow into his bloosstream.  Often the relapse is worse than the primary attack."

"Worse than this?" Nathan said, pointing at Lucas' trembling body.  "It'll kill him!"

"Nathan, he's strong, he can beat this.  We'll help him."

Kristin grabbed an IV bag and hooked Lucas up to it.  It would help to keep him hydrated when he went into the sweating stage.  She had told Nathan that Lucas would beat the malaria, but the truth of the matter was she wasn't sure if he would.  About 300,000 people a year died of malaria.  She closed her eyes and began to pray.

_______________

Lucas was in his bedroom, but it was the wrong bedroom.  It wasn't his cramped little room on seaQuest, but the bedroom he lived in when he still lived with Lawrence.  Terror ran through his body.  How had he gotten here?  He didn't remember coming here. 

"Lucas!  Lucas answer me!"

Lucas hurried over to the closet and hid inside like he did when he was a little kid.  He backed into the corner and sank down to his bottom.  He hugged his knees to his chest and stayed absolutely still. 

"Lucas answer me or you'll be sorry!"

"Go a way," Lucas whispered to himself.  "Go away.  This isn't real.  It's a dream.  Just a dream.  Go away.  Dad I need you."

Without warning the closet door was opened so forcefully that it flew right of its hinges and crashed to the floor.  Lucas screamed.  He screamed until his voice gave out.  Lawrence was standing there, but the man was different.  Lucas knew somehow that he had seen this version of Lawrence before.  The man had razor sharp teeth and glowing eyes.

"Hello son."

"Ahhhhhh!" Lucas screamed again.

______________

Nathan had been sitting in the chair next to Lucas when he suddenly had this overwhelming feeling that Lucas was in danger, which was crazy since Lucas was right next to him, not that he wasn't in danger, though.  At last check his temperature had gone up another two tenths of a degree.  He was up to 105.

"Dad…Dad he's here," Lucas mumbled.  "Dad…please…stop him."  Once again the boy was becoming restless. 

Suddenly Lucas's body began to jerk violently and he was taking hard gasps of air.  The heart monitor began to sound off and alarms were ringing.

Kristin and Dr. Knight came running in.

"Convulsions!" Kristin yelled.  "Nathan, hold him down so he doesn't hurt himself."  Kristin quickly stuck a bit in Lucas' mouth so he couldn't swallow his tongue and Dr. Knight ran to the medicine cabinet to grab something to end the convulsion.

Nathan couldn't believe how violently Lucas' body was jerking.  His eyelids were open, but his blue eyes were rolling up into his head.  Nathan felt like he was trapped in a nightmare.

Maybe Nathan couldn't help Lucas to fight the malaria, but he could help the boy battle his deliria.  Nathan sat back in his chair and took Lucas' hand in his.  It only took a moment for the picture of Lucas' nightmare to form in Nathan's head.

___________________

Lawrence reached into the closet and pulled Lucas out by the scruff of his shirt.  "You were bad, and you have to be punished."  Lawrence opened his mouth wide and looked like he was going to ripe his throat out.

"No!" Nathan yelled.  For a moment he looked as terrified as Lucas did.  He had heard about the creature that had come on the boat turning into a monstrous version of Lawrence, but he had never actually seen it himself, until now.  It was little wonder that Lucas had gone into shock when he saw it.  

"Lucas, you can stop this.  It's a dream."

"Dad, help me!" Lucas screamed. 

Nathan ran right up to Lucas and forced him to look at him.  "Lucas, make this all disappear.  You can do it.  Stop this madness right now."

"I can't," Lucas whined.  "Make it stop."  Lucas was struggling to get out of the monsters grasp.

"Lucas you're going to have to make it stop," Nathan insisted.  "This is your dream.  You're in control. I can't save you.  Only you can save yourself from this nightmare."

Lucas looked at Dad.  Tears were falling down his face.  He nodded his head and closed his eyes.  Nathan watched as Lawrence disappeared from sight and Lucas collapsed to the floor.  Nathan was down next him immediately.  He pulled the boy into his arms and held him tight while Lucas sobbed.

"Dad what's wrong with me.  I've seen so many horrible things.  I can't make them stop.  As soon as one nightmare ends the next one begins.  I was lost, but then you were there, and I felt safe, but you left, and then I was in the jungle, and the vines were attacking me, choking me.  Then I was here and Lawrence…he…he had these teeth…I don't understand."

"Shh…they're just dreams.  They can't really hurt you," Nathan said.  "Just remember that."

"Something's wrong with me isn't there?  What's happening?  Why can't I wake up?"

"You can't wake up right now because you're sick.  You have a high fever but don't be scared.  Mom's taking care of you and I'm with you too."

"Why am I sick?  Did I get an infection like Mom was worrying about?"

"Yeah," Nathan lied.  "You got a little infection and your body is fighting it with a fever, but like I said, Mom's taking really good care of you."

"Please stay with me," Lucas begged.  "I don't want to be alone with the nightmares anymore.  I can't stand it."

"I'll stay as long as I can," Nathan said, squeezing Lucas a little tighter.

________________

Kristin felt Lucas' episode coming to an end.  She saw Nathan holding Lucas' hand and concentrating hard.  She knew that he was with Lucas.  She was careful to be quiet and not break their connection.  Lucas seemed to be much calmer now, no longer convulsing, and she suspected it was because of Nathan helping Lucas to fight the demons in his head as well as her and Dr. Knight treating his body.

Lucas' heart rate was finally returning to normal.  She hoped that didn't happen again.  They had to get the fever down.

________________

Two hours passed and Nathan was still with Lucas, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stay much longer.  He had never maintained a connection this long before and it was draining him of his energy.  He didn't want to leave Lucas though.  Even with Nathan being there they were being bombarded with terrible images.  Frank Cobb had come to torment them, as did Dr. Price.  For a moment Nathan found himself sinking in quicksand with Lucas but he had calmed the boy down enough to make him stop it before they went under.  Nathan found himself wondering what would happen in real life he died in Lucas' nightmare world.

Finally Nathan didn't have the strength to stay any longer.  "Lucas, I have to go.  I don't want too but I can't keep the link going any longer."

"Please don't leave me," Lucas said.

"I don't have a choice, but even though I won't be here in your head I'll still be with you, right next to your bedside.  Just squeeze my hand and you'll feel me there.  Go on, squeeze your hand.

Lucas did but then shook his head.  "It's not the same."

"It'll have to do for a little while," Nathan said as he was already fading away.

"Dad!  Dad, come back!" were the last words Nathan heard as he finally lost the connection completely.

_______________

Nathan opened his eyes in med bay and saw Kristin sitting in a chair next to him.

"Welcome back," she said.

"How long?" Nathan asked.

"Almost two and a half hours.  How do you feel?"

"Exhausted," he admitted.  "I didn't want to leave him, but I couldn't hold it any longer."

"Is he having terrible nightmares and hallucinations?" she asked.

"Oh yeah.  He's petrified."

"The poor boy.  I wish I could help him.  Well, at least I can help you.  You sit here and rest.  I'm going to get you some coffee and something to eat so you can get your strength back.  If I know you, you're just waiting for the second you can hop back in there," she said tapping her finger to her head.

"Thank you," Nathan said, squeezing Lucas' hand.  He felt the boy squeeze it back.  "Hang on kiddo.  The fever should start coming down soon."

__________________

An hour later Kristin took Lucas' temperature again and sighed in relief.  It was 104.5.  The fever was dropping.  But Lucas still wasn't completely out of danger yet.  He would soon start the sweating stage, and considering how weak his body was from the fever, he would have to be monitored carefully so he didn't dehydrate.

"The fever is finally starting to go down."

"Thank god," Nathan said.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Better."

Just then Lucas started to trash around yet once more.  "Mom…mom run…"

"Darling I'm right here.  Everything is okay," she said, taking hold of Lucas' other hand.

Nathan closed his eyes and tried to help Lucas once more.

                _________________

Nathan found himself in Dr. Price's castle, and the cyborg Herman was after Kristin.  Lucas was chasing the cyborg, trying to save Kristin. 

"Lucas!" Nathan called.

Lucas stopped and looked back at Nathan.  "Dad, is it really you?" Lucas asked nervously.  "Are you real or are you a dream?"

"I'm real Lucas."

Lucas ran and threw himself into Nathan's waiting arms.  "There, see, you're okay."

"Mom!"

"She's a dream Lucas.  She's not really being chased by Herman.  She's with you in med bay taking care of you."

"Oh."

Nathan led the boy over to a small sofa in the corner and they sat down.  "Your fever has started to come down so the nightmares should be stopping soon and you should be able to wake up."

"Good," Lucas replied.  "I want out of here."

Lucas huddled in the safety of his father's arms.  He looked around the old castle and saw that it was changing.  The walls seemed to simply melt away and reform into the corridors of seaQuest.  Lucas was staring at the aquatube, looking for Darwin.

"Lucas, what's happening?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know," Lucas said.  "I don't know why things are changing."

Nathan and Lucas both heard what sounded like nails on a chalk board.  The sound was eerie and Lucas tensed up and clutched all the tighter at Dad.  Then they saw it.  In the aquatube was one of the sea creatures they had discovered in the undersea caves.  The octopus like creature scraped its long claws against the glass of the aquatube.  Its one eye stared straight at them.

"Oh god," Lucas mumbled.

"Lucas it's a dream," Nathan said.  "It's not real."

"I want it to go away.  Go away!!"  Lucas closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, but still the monster was there, still it scratched at the glass.  "I can't make it go away," Lucas said.

"It's okay.  Just don't look at it," Nathan said.  "It can't hurt you."

Just then the glass broke and water pummeled on them.  The force of the current was so strong that Lucas was torn out of Nathan's arms even though his father had tried desperately to cling to him.  The two went sailing down the length of the corridor, riding the flow of water. 

Lucas looked back to see that the monster was right behind them, swinging its claws wildly.  Lucas screamed.

___________________

Nathan was jolted out of Lucas' subconscious and found himself in med bay still gripping Lucas' hand.  He had been thrown out of the dream.  He looked at Lucas and understood why.  Lucas was awake.  His eyes were traveling back and forth trying to figure out where he was.

"Dad," Lucas croaked. 

"Right here son," Nathan said, standing up to look Lucas in the face.  "I'm right here."

"So cold," Lucas said.

"You're packed in ice," Nathan told him.  "We're using it to lower your temperature."

"Get it off me," Lucas said.  "It's freezing."

"I can't.  It needs to stay there for a bit longer.  You really scared all of us.  Your fever went up to 105 degrees."  Nathan noticed that Lucas didn't seem to really be listening.  He might be awake but he still wasn't completely lucid just yet.

"I'm freezing.  Get it off.  Where's mom?" Lucas asked.

Nathan looked around the room but he didn't see her anywhere.  "She'll be back in a minute.  She's been very busy taking care of you."

"Dad, you have to get Darwin out of the aquatubes.  The monster is going to get him.  You have to go save him."

"Lucas Darwin is just fine.  We got all the monsters off the boat already.  They went back to their cave."

"No…I saw one more.  He's there…hiding."

"Okay," Nathan said.  "I'll tell Ben to have Darwin go to the moon pool and close the pool doors.  Then Darwin will be safe.  Is that okay?"

"Promise you'll save Darwin?" Lucas mumbled.

"I promise," Nathan said.  "Are you thirsty?  Would you like a drink of water?"

Lucas nodded his head up and down.  Nathan poured a cup of water and stuck a straw in it.  He held the straw to Lucas' mouth and the boy downed the entire cup in a matter of seconds.

"More," Lucas said.  Nathan filled the cup again and Lucas drank about half of it. 

"Where's Mom?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know," Nathan replied. 

"Dad, you have to go save Darwin."

"Didn't we just have this conversation?" Nathan said with a smile.

"Monster is hiding in the moon pool."

___________________

Kristin injected a high potency vitamin into Lucas' IV drip.  The boy was so weak.  He had been sweating buckets for the past hour.  She picked up the glass of electrolyte solution and held it to Lucas' lips.  The boy gulped it down.

"Mom?" Lucas whispered.

"Yes darling," Kristin said.

"Am I…dying?"

"No!  Do you hear me?  No you are not going to die.  I know you feel terrible right now but you only have to go through this for just a little bit longer.  You're almost at the end of the last stage."  She looked up to see Nathan's pained expression.

"What's wrong with me?" Lucas mumbled.

"Lucas, you caught malaria," Kristin explained.  "It probably happened when you were in the swamp.  It's a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and since you only had on a pair of shorts and no repellent an infected mosquito bit you."

"I'm so cold," Lucas said, looking as if he were about to cry.

"Let me check your fever.  Maybe we can get these cold clothes and ice packs off of you."  She stuck the thermometer in his mouth and waited for the reading to show.  "Good news.  101.2."  She quickly started removing the towels and ice packs from his chest,  and then the ones around his neck too.  She realized that his bed was soaking wet and ice cold. 

"Nathan, help me get him to a dry bed."  She tried to help Lucas sit up but he was simply too weak. 

"Here, I'll do it," Nathan said. 

"Careful not to pull his IV out," Kristin warned.

He slipped his arms under Lucas and lifted him up and waited for Kristin to grab his IV bag before he then deposited him in the next bed a few feet away.

"Jennifer, please strip that bed down and get the bedding in the laundry, and pushed the bed to the side until we can get the mattress cleaned."

Jennifer set about to doing what she was told.

Lucas was shivering but the sweat was pouring from him.  Kristin filled a basin with warm soapy water and grabbed a washcloth.  She draped a very thin blanket over most of him, and then she set about to washing him up, face and neck first, then his arms and chest, and finally his legs.

"There, that should feel a little bit better," Kristin said.

Lucas gave her a small grin and nodded his head.

"Do you think you can eat something?" Kristin asked.  "You've expelled a lot of energy today and you won't feel so weak if you eat."

"I can't.  Not right now," Lucas replied.  "But I'm thirsty."

"How about some broth?  Is that okay?"

"Okay."

"Good," Kristin smiled.  "I'll be right back."

Nathan stepped up to Lucas and saw that the boy was already covered in sweat again even though Kristin just bathed him.  He took Lucas' wet hand in his.

"Dad…thank you for staying with me…in my head I mean.  You looked as scared as I was half the time."

"You're welcome," Nathan said.  "Although, I don't want to repeat the experience any time soon."

"Neither do I," Lucas smirked, his eyes closing for a second. 

Nathan could see the boy was weak, and tired, but he was fighting sleep.  "Since your fever is down its safe to go to sleep now," Nathan told him.  "If the nightmares do come they shouldn't be so vivid, and you'll be able to wake up now."

"I'm not tired just yet," Lucas lied.

"Captain."

Nathan turned to see Commander Ford standing there.  "Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak with you for a moment."

"Of course."  Nathan turned to Lucas.  "I'll be right back, I promise."

Lucas' eyes were closing.  He was falling asleep whether he wanted to or not.  Nathan stepped just outside the med bay doors to talk privately with Jonathon.

"How is Lucas doing?" Ford asked.

"It was touch and go there for a while I think, but he's slowly improving.  He's very weak though.  What do you have for me?"

"We have a lead on Drake.  Tim intercepted a communication.  It seems Drake is currently on a small island about two miles from here.  From what we've gathered it's one of those little places not on a map."

"Position seaQuest so that we are in between this island and that one.  Then, send out several launches to try and find this uncharted island.  I want this Drake apprehended, along with anyone else who is selling sex slaves in this area."

"Yes sir," Ford replied.

 ____________________

Even though he barely had the strength at the moment to lift his own arms off the bed, Lucas was feeling better.  He had finished with the last stage of his illness about an hour ago.  As embarrassing as it was, he was grateful that Mom had given him another sponge bath and had even washed all the slimy sweat from his hair, and then Dad carried him to another dry bed, his third for the day.

Lucas couldn't remember ever being as sick as he had been today.  He really thought he was dying there for a while, and that Mom and Dad were simply telling him he would be okay so he wouldn't be afraid.

He turned his head and saw Mom enter the room carrying a tray from the mess, which she set down on his table and then rolled it up to him.

"Where's Dad?" Lucas asked.

"He's on the bridge, but don't worry, he's coming back very soon.  Now before you tell me you're not hungry, I'm going to tell you that you are going to eat something."

Lucas raised his arm and picked up the fork and speared a piece of broccoli and tried to bring it to his mouth, but his arm gave out and he dropped the fork with it clattering on the floor.

"Sorry," Lucas mumbled as Kristin picked up the dirty fork.

"It's okay," she said.  "Let me do it."  She washed the fork off and then came back.  She sat in the chair next to Lucas' bed and slowly fed him his dinner.  Several times Lucas said he was done but she shoved another bite into his mouth.  Lucas didn't understand how critical it was to build his system back up as quickly as possible.  Hopefully he wouldn't have a secondary attack, but if he did, and he hadn't recovered at all from his primary attack, his odds of surviving next time would be even less.

"Can I go to my own room?" Lucas asked once dinner was done.

"I think it would be better if you spent the night in med bay tonight," she said.

"Why?  It's over right?  I should be okay in my own room."

"Yes, you probably should, but I want to keep you here anyway.  I'll feel a little bit better knowing you're being monitored."

"But,"

"Lucas no buts, you're staying here tonight."

"I don't want to be here alone."

"You won't be.  Trust me, if you're here then I will be too."

Lucas looked away from her, almost embarrassed.  "Promise?"

She smiled.  "Yes, I promise."

*********

That's it for this part.  Of course you already know that Lucas' malaria isn't over just yet~~he he he he~~um, I mean, isn't that just terrible (not)  ;-)