Challenge #82: A question
Author: Ann
Title: Those bloody questions
Rating: (G to NC-17) G
Spoilers/Warnings: Ranger's sister asks him a question he'd rather not answer

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for Aurelia…

Those bloody questions

"Why?"

Now there is a question I didn't want to answer. First of all because it would normally mean that I have to say more than one word. Second, because it was asking for my motivation, and I like to keep the things that make me tick private.

"Come on! Tell me!" Mmm, she obviously wasn't letting go. How could I save myself from this one without having to give away too much information?

"Why do you want to know?" Mmm, that wasn't a smart move, because she would quickly realize it was just a distraction, and then her curiosity would only increase say… tenfold?

"I'm curious. I am always interested in your lovelife…" Then she gave a small snort.

"Or, as I am supposed to believe lack thereof" She gave me a 'yeah right' look.

"Come on, spill it!" How to get out of this one? Thinking back, how did I get myself into this situation?
"Listen, you said so yourself, I am supposed to rest" I said while I tried to look as sick as I felt. It was a weak shot, but you never know.

"As your personal doctor I find you fit enough to answer this question" she shot back.

Okay, the plan to play on her guilt just went out of the window.

"Don't tell me you suddenly have lost your interest in the ladies!" She raised an eyebrow. I just gave her a look. She started laughing at that.

"Or are you getting more interested in guys?" She knew that that wasn't the case, but she couldn't resist baiting me.

"You know I prefer girls" I gritted out.

"Well then, give me the reason why you are no longer interested in all my single friends when you used to sneak into my room to copy their numbers from my diary"

I actually felt myself blush a little at that statement. That had been a long time ago, or at least it had felt like a long time ago.

"Come on Aurelia, let it go" I was trying the 'watch out, I'm getting annoyed' look now. I should have known better than to think it would scare her off. She was like a bloodhound on a trail.

"Oh no, Ricardo, you can look as angry or threatening as you want, you are not going anywhere until I hear an answer" She actually smiled at me, triumphantly when she added:

"Besides, as your doctor I ordered you to stay in bed, so you can't go anywhere without my permission anyway."

Here was the thing. I had been visiting my family for the birthday of my father, and I had gotten sick. Stop laughing, it is true. I hadn't felt 100 for a few days, but that didn't mean that I allowed some kind of bug to slow me down. However, the bug had decided to show its true strength, and at the end of the dinner I had started to throw up. There had been a lot of ladies on the party (friends of Aurelia) who had been more than willing to take care of me, but I had made it clear I was going to bed alone. About an hour after I went to bed, Aurelia (the dutiful doctor and my darling sister) had come up to check on me. She had asked me what was wrong. First I had tried to blame the dinner (there was some seafood in it, so I thought it was a safe bet) but she hadn't believed a thing. She simply had pulled out her kit, and with a quick movement she had pinned my head down and took my temperature with one of those ear things. Let's just say it was a dead give away. After some prodding and checking my throat she had simply said:

"You have the flu, and you should have been in bed 3 days ago. So now I am ordering you, as your doctor, to stay in bed for 5 days" When I started to protest she had held up her hands and said:

"No discussion" Hmm, we would see about that, but right now being in bed wasn't so bad. Actually, it was the only place I wanted to be right now. She already had her hand on the door when she turned around and had asked me the question (with a very mischievous grin) that had let to my current situation.

"So, which of my girlfriends should I sent up?" I had actually blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"Oh, come on, Ricardo. I know you are sick, but I have never seen you deny a beautiful woman who wants to take care of you" Oh, shit. This was not a discussion I wanted to have while my head was pounding and my muscles stiff from all the retching.

"Sorry, not tonight"

"They will be very disappointed, Ric. They were almost fighting to get a place beside you at dinner." Really, I hadn't actually noticed… guess the flu had made me sloppy.

"I just don't want that kind of thing anymore" Shit, that wasn't supposed to come out, because I knew her next question: why.

This explains how I got into my predicament, but I still didn't know how to get out. Aurelia had walked back to the bed and sat down. Truth was that if one particular woman had been there, she would have been more than welcome. But my Babe was still at her apartment, unaware of my sickness (and I wasn't going to inform her that Batman got sick). However, I didn't want Aurelia to know that I was having serious feelings for a woman. I would never live it down, not with my reputation of womanizer. Besides, I didn't want my family start prodding in my personal life. They lived a little too close to my Babe to avoid any 'chance' meetings.

"Come on, Ric! Tell me why you are no longer interested in my friends. I know you slept with half of them!" Damn, I couldn't deny that. Suddenly her eyes got big and I feared her next words.

"Are you in love? Is that why you are no longer interested in a quick fix?" She looked at me, and I could see the wheels in her head come into motion.

"That's it, isn't it? You are in love! Oh, tell me, who is she, do we know her? Oh, I definitely want to meet the woman that managed to tame you!" I groaned.

"Aurelia! I didn't say I'm in love" But my words were wasted.

"Oh Ric, this is great! Why didn't you bring her? Tell me, who is she?" Not another question!

"Listen, I'm sick and I'm tired and I feel like shit. I am just not in the mood right now okay?"

"Mmm, really? I'm not so sure. I still think it's because you have finally fallen in love."

"Aurelia!"

"Hush, hush, darling brother, you're secret is safe with me. I will let the girls know you are too sick" She stood up again and walked towards the door. She opened it and just before she went through it, she smiled at me.

"Wow! Ricardo in love" she said softly, grinning. The pillow that I threw at her only hit the closed door. Damn, how could this happen. I didn't even say anything! With a deep sigh I turned onto my side and snuggled into the blankets. I felt too tired to think about this now. Tomorrow I would have to start thinking about how to do damage control. Right now, that was another question that I didn't want to think about.