he who hesitates is toast

There's no flexibility either in his voice or in the gentle-but-still-firm hand he has keeping her in bed, and Sharon sulkily settles back down again into her pillow.

"Then I'll take the aspirin," she says, sullen. "And juice."

A few seconds later she turns to cough again, almost butting facefirst into Alpine, who has padded up along the length of her body to see what's happening here at the head of the bed.