When Charlie woke up in her bedroom she had forgotten what taken place before she blacked out. Her head hurt terribly and she felt that something hard had hit her. She put her hand to forehead but she didn't feel any bruises or marks.
"What happened?" She thought out loud.
She was about to get out of her bed and find the answers herself when she heard someone knocking at the door.
"Who is it?" She asked.
"It's Millie honey." A sweet voice called from the other side. "Are you feeling well enough to have a visitor?"
"Yes."
The door opened and in walked a petite woman with short black hair.
"What's going on?" Charlie asked her. "Why am I in my room? Where is everybody?"
"Well according to Solomon you picked up a small virus last night." Millie said. "Nothing serious but you'll need bed rest for about a day or two."
"I don't feel sick. But my head hurts."
"Headaches are common symptoms for a virus. But bed rest is the best medicine."
"Is anyone else sick? What about Alastor? Vaggie? Angel?"
"Vaggie and Angel are just fine. They're in class right now but they'll come by to see you later."
"And Alastor?"
"I'm sorry sweetie, but he can't see you for awhile. He fell off the roof last night and hit his head so hard."
"He fell off the roof? When did-" Then she remembered. "Oh my God! They were playing on the roof last night! And Al...Al fell! Oh is he alright?! Did he break his skull?!"
"Calm down, he's okay." Millie told her. "His body isn't like most people's. A fall from the roof won't break his skull but it will hurt enough to where he'll be bed-ridden for sometime."
"Can I see him?"
"No. Solomon doesn't want to risk Alastor getting sick while he's recovering. If you both just stay in bed and rest like your supposed to, you'll be alright. I promise."
"Can you at least keep me updated on how he's doing?"
"Of course. Now you lie back down, I'll put in a movie for you, and maybe later I can start a nice bubble bath for you? That's what my mother always did for me when I was sick."
"Alright."
She covered Charlie with a blanket, put a movie into the small TV set up in her room, and then left. She walked down into the agent lounge to inform everyone that Charlie was awake and that she understood Solomon's terms.
"She's awfully confused Solomon." Millie said. "And frankly so am I. You say she has a virus but if that's true then why is everyone save for Alastor permitted to see her? Wouldn't want at least Angel and Vaggie to keep their distance from her?"
"The virus relates to Charlie's angelic bloodline. It only effects her, we're immune but I know Alastor will want to see her and I don't want him moving until his injury has been fixed." He explained. "Speaking of which, Moxxie how is he?"
"Well sir the first thing he did was ask to see Charlie." Moxxie said.
"Awww." Millie cooed. "You know I can't get over how adorable those two are with each other. Reminds me of us when we were young, right Moxxie? Remember how we would sneak behind the hay bails at my daddy's farm to kiss?"
Moxxie blushed and smirked nervously.
"Ahem! Moxxie what did you tell Alastor when he asked for Charlie?" Solomon continued.
"Exactly what you told me to tell him sir." Moxxie answered. "That she was sick and that the both of them needed rest for a couple days."
"How did he respond?"
"A lot more calmly than I thought he would. He said he understood your reasons and that he would do as he was told."
"Uh-huh." Solomon said suspiciously. "Excuse me everyone."
Solomon went down the hall and turned left to where Alastor's room was located. He then hid himself behind the corner and quietly watched as the door opened and Alastor, who had a gauze wrapped around his head, looked both ways to see if anyone was around. When he thought that no one was in the hall, he proceeded to tip-toe out of the room. However Solomon easily crept up behind Alastor and scooped him up.
"Nice try short stuff."
"Rats! How did you know I was sneaking out?" Alastor asked.
"Oh please, when Moxxie told me that you accepted my instructions without my complaint I knew that was just a cover. I've raised you long enough to know your game."
"Put me down!"
"Certainly. I'll put you down. I'll put you down in bed where you belong."
"But I'm fine Solomon. Really. I don't need bed rest."
"Yes you do. Now don't make me tie you to the bed post."
"You can't do this to me! I have rights!"
"You don't have rights until you're eighteen. Until then I decided what exactly you have a right to."
"But I don't want to stay in bed all day. There's too much to do."
"Well there won't be much for you to do again if you cause those stitches to come out too soon. If you want to get better then you have to rest. Besides it won't be that bad."
"Are you joking? It'll be terrible. Stuck in one place for hours, how could it not be that bad?"
"Well you'll get to miss a few days of class, have your meals in bed, and listening to all the music you want on the radio and watch television. Listen to several radios and watch several televisions."
Alastor had about ten radio sets and six TV sets in his room. They were old ones found in storage which he managed to convince Moxxie to repair and rewire to work again.
"I still don't understand why you need more than radio and TV?" Solomon said.
"To stay informed." The boy answered. "You say I'm not allowed to go out in the world right now but that doesn't mean I have to be ignorant about the world. I educate myself as much as possible."
"But Alastor the majority of the programs you watch and listen to aren't even facts. What are you going to learn about the world from watching the B-Horror movie channel, the cooking network, and listening to swing music at the exact same time?"
"Hey that's just for entertainment. I watch and listen to the news at the same time too."
"Well as long as it keeps you resting when you should be, I don't care."
He placed Alastor back into his bed.
"How long do I have to stay in bed?" Alastor asked.
"Until the time comes to take your stitches out. Which for someone like you will only take about a week."
"A week?"
"Don't complain. Just accept it."
"Fine." He groaned.
"Good. Glad that you're using your head. No pun intended." He grinned. "But I know you're tricky and restless. During your recovery I'm going to check up on you every hour, so don't get anymore ideas about sneaking out."
"Yes sir." He rolled his eyes.
"Hey what I have told you about rolling your eyes at me? Don't forget who's in charge here mister."
He left Alastor's room and went to his office to continue with his usual filing and research.
"So how did it go?" Husk asked him. "You really think they bought that bull shit about the virus?"
"Millie was skeptical but as long as Charlie and Alastor believe it I have nothing to worry about." Solomon answered.
"You know I always thought you religious types didn't approve of lying."
"I'm not exactly proud of my deceit but it was for their own good. You know Charlie and Alastor can't keep away from each other. Not even as infants. One would always crawl into the other's crib."
"Oh yeah. I remember when you told them they had to sleep separately because of their genders. Took you a whole year to make it work. By the way, I forget, how did you get them to do that?"
"They were six at the time and I told them if they were ever caught in bed by the chastity angel, they would be spanked."
"And they seriously bought that crap?"
"They were six, of course they bought it. Now they don't believe it anymore but they've become accustomed to sleeping alone now."
"Why didn't you just tell them about the birds and the bees?"
"Husk you're a demon so I'll forgive this moment of ignorance to the obvious problem with that option. In the human world it's illegal to expose any kind of sexual information to small children."
"You humans are so sensitive."
Solomon gave Husk an eye roll and then sent him away so he could finish his work in peace.