Alex had gotten the text, but managed to doze off again before Chase arrived. The buzzer startled him awake, and when he fumbled himself up into a sitting position in the bed, his stomach churned in protest. He gave a small, miserable moan, nursing his stomach as he got up to head to the door. He still had his bathrobe on, this time at least. He had spent the night dragging it on and off himself with the hot and cold chills and the cat he was babysitting for a neighbour was probably extremely put out with how much he had been up and down during the night with her bed in the hall across from the bathroom.

He got to the door and opened it when Chase was turning to leave. "Hey, sorry. I crashed out again. Come in. Ignore the fact I look like hell and pretend I'm totally hot or something," he joked but the humour there was weak, at best. He wasn't feeling well enough for their usual banter.