Cairo was really sick. Over the next few days she drifted in and out of sleep, her feverish nightmares awakening her every few hours. She would grow very hot and kick off her covers or she would shiver as if she were dying of cold.

One night she was ice cold. Nick clutched her hand and it was like a block of ice, all of her body, except for her head which was burning with fever. He covered her in a few more blankets and then, after much debate, sat on her bed with her head in his lap and tried to give her as much warmth as he could.

Finally, on the third day, when she woke up, she was feeling so much better. Her fever was gone, she awoke feeling refreshed and energetic.

It was early in the morning and the sun was shining through her window. The sky was a cheerful blue and the birds were singing away, their happy melodies echoed through the window she threw open. She breathed in the fresh sea air and immediately felt invigorated by it.

She was about to walk downstairs when she nearly stepped on Nick. He was stretched out on her floor. Smiling down at him, she grabbed a blanket from her bed and covered him up. Poor baby, he must be exhausted. Better let him sleep, she thought to herself.

She tiptoed down the stairs and, ignoring her first impulse to make coffee, walked in the direction of her laptop. She had some writing to do.

A few hours later, Nick woke up on the floor. Sitting up abruptly, he looking towards Cairo's bed and noticed that she was gone. Frowning, he ran downstairs, ignoring the protestations of his stiff muscles (sleeping on her floor for three nights straight) and stopped short, stunned to see her sitting at her kitchen table, typing furiously at her computer.

"Kay? You feeling okay?" he said.

"Yeah-huh. Typing, writing, feels good. Best way to get better," she said brokenly, obviously lost in her thoughts and her story.

"Can I get you anything?" he said, feeling completely out of place. It was like standing in a room with someone who just wasn't there at all, like looking into the eyes of someone who was empty. Cairo was lost in her story, she wasn't in this reality.

"Um, maybe an hour of peace. I wanna finish this chapter, and then I'm gonna take your ass out on the court and whip it back into shape!" she called, looking over her shoulder at him.

"You think that I need to be 'whipped back into shape'? Whatever gave you that impression?" he asked, beaming. His old Kay was back.

"Mr. Tour-for-three-weeks. You didn't have time to play. So get out of here and I'll meet you at your driveway in an hour!" she challenged, turning back to her screen. Chuckling to himself, Nick turned and headed for the door.

"And Nick?" she called.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. A lot. You know, for everything," she said, quietly, hoping that he knew what she meant.

"No problem," he answered.