Erratic Sensitivities (Forever, Henry) Part 15 posted.

[Shay]

This isn't really a sequel, but more of a side story. It actually takes place between chapters 8 and 9 sometime during the few day gap between those chapters and it's really more of a deleted scene than anything and I have entitled it Not the Best Match. I had orginally decided not to put this in the story itself just because there's absolutely no plot in it that relates to the rest of the story, but I thought some people might like to read it anyway and decided to go ahead and write it. Share and enjoy!

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As Jo entered the bar she heard the now familiar sound of her partner's sneezing. She scanned the room and saw Henry sitting at the bar hunched over his drink and blowing his nose into his handkerchief. She made her way over and sat on the stool next to his. "Hey Henry." He nodded a greeting to her and she noticed that he looked a lot worse than he had when she'd seen him at work earlier that day. Both his eyes and nose were much redder than they had previously been and he looked worn out and miserable. Given the state he was in, she was surprised he was out drinking instead of at home resting. She ordered her whisky and she knew something was wrong when he didn't bother to chastise her about drinking cheap alcohol and intervene. "Rough night?" she asked sensing that something else was going on other than his allergies kicking his ass.

"That is putting it mildly," he answered his voice thick with congestion. He brought his handkerchief up to his face, sneezed twice into it, sniffled, and then took a sip of his cognac.

"What happened?"

"Abe set me up on a blind date," Henry answered with a sigh.

Jo looked at her watch and knew it was way too early for a date to be over if it had gone well. "That bad huh?"

Henry inhaled sharply and then doubled over with a particularly large sneeze. He blew his nose before answering. "I really wasn't feeling up to going, you saw what I was like earlier at work, but this was a spur of the moment thing that Abe set up and he did not give me enough notice to cancel."

Jo nodded knowing Henry was too gentlemanly to back out of a social engagement last minute even if he felt like crap. "So I'm guessing you didn't make the best first impression." Though granted he didn't always make the best first impression even when he wasn't sneezing his head off. She fondly recalled the first time they met when he'd pulled his Sherlock Holmes routine on her telling her so many things about herself that most people wouldn't have noticed. She had thought it rather creepy at the time, but now she had come to value his powers of observation when they worked cases together.

"Indeed not. My allergies were already bothering me quite a bit and she was wearing an excessive amount of fragrance. I'm sure you can imagine the effect it had on me," Henry replied taking a long sip of his drink.

Jo nodded at him wincing in sympathy remembering how much her own perfume had made him sneeze when he'd developed an allergy to it and she had always used it sparingly.

"Let's just say that she wasn't nearly as understanding as you were and the date was over before it had barely begun. I think she was both disgusted and offended by my reaction," he explained and massaged the bridge of his nose trying not to sneeze again as he recalled the earlier events of the evening.

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Henry took a deep breath before entering the restaurant where he was to meet Nicole, the woman Abe had set him up on a blind date with. He wasn't looking forward to this at all. He didn't enjoy blind dates in the least and he would have politely canceled if this hadn't been a last minute thing, which is why he suspected that Abe had given him barely any notice. In addition to his dislike of blind dates, he was exhausted and not really feeling up to making small talk with a stranger. It had been a long day at work and his allergies had been bothering him on and off without much relief. He had debated taking a second dose of medicine before coming here, but for some reason that second dose always seemed a lot more sedating than the first and he didn't want to risk nodding off during the meal. He spotted a woman just inside the building entrance matching the description Abe had given him. "Excuse me, but are you Nicole Wallace?" he asked greeting the woman.

"Yes I am and you must be Henry Morgan," she answered. "You're just as handsome as Abe said you'd be."

"You look quite lovely yourself," Henry responded flushing a bit knowing that he really didn't look his best at the moment. He sniffled as he quickly became aware of a rather potent floral fragrance in the air. He didn't see any flowers and concluded that someone must be wearing perfume. He just hoped it was coming from one of the other women standing around the entryway and not his own date. He quickly got them a table and rubbed his nose trying his best to stave off the sneezing fit that he could already feel building. As soon as they were seated it became clear that it was in fact his date wearing the overpowering perfume. He tried his best to breathe through his mouth, but his nose was already tickling badly and he knew it was a lost cause.

A waitress brought them water and listed off the specials of the day, then left to give them time to select their meals. Henry hid behind his menu so that his struggle would be less obvious to his date, but only a few seconds later the battle was lost. He quickly pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and sneezed, rather more loudly than he would have liked, several times into it.

"Bless you!" Nicole exclaimed startled at the sudden outburst.

Henry started to thank her, but his nose interrupted him with another three harsh sneezes. She blessed him again sounding a bit irritated this time and when he looked up he saw a fairly disgusted look on her face. "I'm terribly sorry. I think I might be reacting to your perfume."

"But this is a high quality fragrance," Nicole protested.

"I never said it wasn't," Henry answered. "I just said it was making me sneeze." He muffled another series of sneezes into his handkerchief and blew his nose as quietly as possible.

Nicole sighed. "Is this going to be a problem for our entire date?"

"It might not be too much of a problem if you'd be so kind as to go try to wash it off as best you can," he gently suggested before succumbing to another sneezing fit. The look on her face seemed completely out of proportion to what he had proposed and he thought she couldn't have looked anymore shocked than if he had suggested that they engage in cannibalism.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think this is going to work," said Nicole curtly. She then stood up, grabbed her purse, and stalked out of the restaurant in a huff.

Henry watched her go, his eyes wide with surprise, but he didn't have much time to contemplate her rudeness before he started sneezing again. As soon as there was a break in the sneezing he pulled his pill box from his pocket and swallowed a couple of antihistamines with a gulp of water. He quickly made his way to the men's room as the sneezing started up again and locked himself in one of the stalls until the worst of the attack had passed. Not wanting to go home and face Abe just yet, he made his way to the bar at the end of the block.

------

"Oh Henry I'm sorry," she said placing a comforting hand on his arm, "but anyone who can't tolerate a medical condition that you have is not someone you want in your life anyway."

Henry smiled weakly at Jo with red watery eyes. "Yes I know. I just wish Abe would stop trying to fix me up with women that come into the shop. Sharing a love of antiques is not enough to base a relationship on."

"Yes you need to hold out for someone that loves both antiques and scarves," Jo teased.

Henry rolled his eyes but couldn't help laughing. "To scarves," he said and raised his glass.

"To scarves," Jo agreed with a smirk and clinked her glass against his. "For what it's worth, your date sounded like a real bitch."

Henry silently agreed with her, but he would never say such things out loud. He was glad he had run into Jo. He was certainly in a better mood than he was in before she had showed up. He was grateful that she seemed to accept him for who he was, even if she had been wary of him when they had first met, especially when it came to his allergies. He wasn't sure if he would ever tell anyone else about his immortality, but if he did, it would probably be her. He knew she'd probably have to find out eventually anyway if they worked together long enough. "Well it was lovely seeing you Jo, but I should probably head home and rest now." He drained the rest of his drink and stood up. He suddenly felt dizzy and swayed on his feet.

Jo raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like Henry to drink enough for it to affect him like this. She realized that he had been slurring his words a bit, but it had been hard to detect with his voice sounding so congested. She found it hard to believe that he would get himself drunk over a bad blind date. "Henry how many drinks have you had?"

"Two," he answered and sat back down on the bar stool before he fell over.

Jo stared at him puzzled. Two drinks should not be affecting him like this and she wondered if someone had drugged him. Then she realized that he might have drugged himself. "Did you take any allergy medicine?"

"Yes though it hasn't fully kicked in yet." He sneezed three times into his handkerchief as if to prove his statement.

"Jeez Henry, you're a doctor. You know better than to mix those pills with alcohol," she said shaking her head not quite believing that he did that considering that she had refused to let him have alcohol when he was on medication the last time they had drinks together.

Henry shrugged knowing it didn't matter. He could drink himself to death and it wouldn't matter. He'd still come back. "I'll be fine," he said dismissively. He stood up again and felt another wave of dizziness and gripped the bar tightly to steady himself.

"Sure you'll be fine if I drive you home."

"You just got here Jo. I wouldn't want to spoil your evening."

"It would spoil my evening even more if you got yourself killed trying to cross the street," she pointed out.

"Very well, if you insist," he replied with a slight grin knowing she only seemed annoyed with him because she cared.

"Don't worry Henry, you're going to make it up to me," Jo said grinning back at him.

"And how am I to do that exactly?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure I'll think of something." She led him back to her car only having to grab his arm a few times to steady him. It didn't take long for him to doze off on the ride back to the antiques shop. Jo shook her head and smiled wondering if Henry falling asleep in her car was going to become a regular thing. He opened his eyes and yawned just before they reached the antiques shop. "Have a nice nap?"

"I wasn't napping, I was just resting my eyes," Henry insisted groggily.

Jo chuckled. "Sure you were." She parked the car and walked him into the shop noting that he seemed a bit steadier on his feet than he had been earlier. The nap must have done him good. Henry walked over to the phone and read a note that had been left there and frowned slightly. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's nothing. Abe's just gone out bowling with some friends."

"Oh too bad, I was going to say that you could make up for ruining my evening by providing me with one of his home cooked meals. I guess we're ordering Chinese takeout."

"I can cook," Henry said narrowing his eyes.

"Never said you couldn't," Jo replied, "but are you really up to it right now?" Henry sighed and shook his head. "Chinese takeout it is then."

"If we must," Henry said with another sigh of defeat.

"You don't like Chinese food?"

"No it's just that I'd prefer to eat it in a nice restaurant over ordering takeout," he explained.

"As nice as that sounds, I don't think you're up to that either." Jo called one of her favorite Chinese takeout places on her cell phone, placed her order, and gave them the address of the antiques shop. They chatted, about work mostly, while they waited for the food to arrive. Jo was glad to see that Henry's allergies were starting to settle down as the medicine started to take full effect. He was still sniffling a lot and blowing his nose, but he wasn't sneezing nearly as much. When the food arrived Henry paid for it with cash that he purloined from the cash register.

"What?" Henry asked seeing Jo giving him a funny look.

"I didn't say anything."

"I don't usually keep a lot of cash on me," Henry explained. "I'll pay Abe back later." Jo nodded at him and they carried the food upstairs and set the bags down on the kitchen table. Henry started to retrieve plates from the kitchen cabinets.

"What are you doing now?"

Henry raised an eyebrow. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to set the table."

Jo laughed and shook her head. "But Henry, part of the fun of Chinese takeout is eating right out of the containers."

Henry gave her a look of mild disdain. "While I did agree to this meal, I most certainly did not agree to that. At the very least I intend to create the illusion of a home cooked meal."

"Ok, I suppose that's a fair compromise," Jo conceded and motioned for him to proceed and watched as he set the table and arranged the food on their plates so that it did indeed look like a home cooked meal.

"What would you like to drink?" Henry asked her. "I'd offer you wine, but since I'm sure you won't let me have any, it's off the table," he said with a slight grin.

Jo laughed. "Tea will be fine." Henry prepared two mugs of tea and Jo thought it tasted better than any tea she'd ever had before. Perhaps there was something to be said for making it the old fashioned way over using tea bags. They talked as they ate and the conversation moved on from work related stuff to discussing their various likes and dislikes from books to music to movies. Of course their preferences seemed to be polar opposites most of the time with Henry always having a preference for older classic things. It was exactly what she had expected of him and while she had never been all that interested in those sorts of things for the most part, seeing how passionate he was on the subject intrigued her and made her wonder if she should give the classics a chance. After dinner he showed her his collection of books and she selected one to borrow. "Thanks for dinner and the book," she said after he had walked her to her car.

"And thank you for being my lady in shining armor as it were and rescuing me tonight," said Henry with a twinkle in his eyes. "You're probably right that I would have gotten myself killed trying to cross the street if you hadn't intervened."

"No problem," said Jo laughing. "Goodnight Henry. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Jo." He watched her get in her car and drive off, then went back inside and cleaned up in the kitchen. When he was done he put on some classical music in the living room and settled down with a good book to read until Abe returned.

Abe entered the apartment about ten minutes later and saw Henry reading in an armchair in the living room looking rather content. "How was your date?" he asked after sitting on the couch adjacent to Henry.

Henry placed a bookmark in his book and set it down on the end table. "It was an unmitigated disaster," Henry answered glaring at Abe slightly.

"Really? What happened?"

"Miss Wallace was wearing enough fragrance for ten women. Naturally my immune system decided to mount a full on offensive strike. Let's just say she was not nearly as understanding about my reaction as Detective Martinez was. In fact she seemed to be rather offended by it and walked out on me before we had even ordered our food."

"Wow that's harsh," said Abe wincing. "I guess she wasn't the best match for you. Maybe you should have gone on a date with the Detective instead."

"Funny you should say that," said Henry with a wry grin. "She ran into me at the bar that I was drinking at after I left the restaurant. I was more than a bit tipsy due to drinking after taking allergy medication and she drove me home. We then had dinner together."

"Well at least the night ended well," said Abe with a slight chuckle.

"Yes it rather did didn't it?" said Henry thinking back on their dinner conversation fondly and realized he had had quite a nice evening after all. "Do me a favor though Abe. If you plan on fixing me up on any more blind dates, please let them know not to wear any perfume. If that's not a condition they are willing to live with, then they aren't the right person for me."

Abe nodded. "Yes I'll definitely remember to do that. Well I'm going to bed now, enjoy your book." After he was out of Henry's sight he allowed himself a big grin. When Nicole Wallace had entered the shop he had definitely noticed the strong fragrance she was wearing and she seemed rather proud of her scent when he had remarked on it. He knew when he set her up on a blind date with his father that the whole thing would be a complete catastrophe. He did feel guilty for putting his father through what he was sure had been quite a severe allergy attack, but it was all part of his plan to push his father toward Detective Martinez who he knew was the right person for him. The fact that they had run into each other and ended up having what was tantamount to an impromptu date was just an added bonus to his schemes.

[AngelEyes]

Sneaky, sneaky Abe! I really enjoyed this. I love your casual relationship between Henry and Jo as the get to know each other. Jo's continuing curiosity about Henry and his deepening affection for her are perfect.

[2NewGuy]

Swell deleted scene. I found Henry charming while intoxicated. His choice of music seems similar to my own.

[Shay]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it. Yeah Abe is sneaky. I'm not sure he'd go so far as to do anything like that on the actual show, but he definitely did seem to want to nudge Henry towards Jo even from the first episode where he was all "Invite her in" at the end of it.

[Shay]

Here's another deleted scene entitled Sanctuary. This takes place shortly after chapter 15, but I still don't really consider it to be a sequel, because in the event that I decide to continue the main story, I really don't see this chapter having much with the rest of the story plot-wise. Share and enjoy!

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When Henry came home from work he found Abe in the living room with the chessboard set up. "I take it you were wanting a rematch from this morning's game?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Yes I thought we could play while dinner is cooking. I'm going to beat you one of these days if it's the last thing I do," said Abe smirking.

"If you do beat me, I really hope it's not the last thing you do," Henry replied giving Abe's shoulder an affectionate squeeze and kissed him on the forehead. "Just give me a moment and I'll be right in." He went up to his room and removed his coat, scarf, and waistcoat and put them away before rejoining Abe in the living room. About ten minutes into the game he could feel himself starting to become congested and his nose was starting to itch as well. He frowned unsure what was bothering him as most of his allergies had disappeared after his last death and as far as he knew there wasn't anything in the apartment he was allergic to. He sniffled and did his best to push these concerns aside and focused on the game and made another move. Over the next few minutes the symptoms of an impending allergy attack escalated until he finally sneezed muffling it against the back of his arm. Abe blessed him with a raised eyebrow. After the fourth time he sneezed Abe reached over and felt his forehead. "I'm not ill," he said pushing Abe's hand away.

"You could have fooled me. I suppose you're right though being a doctor and all. Repetitive sneezing must be a sure sign of good health," Abe answered sarcastically. "You don't feel feverish though," he conceded.

"That's because I'm not feverish and I can tell the difference between a cold and an allergic reaction," he retorted then muffled two sneezes into the back of his wrist. He didn't have a handkerchief on him, so he grabbed some tissues from the box on the end table next to him and blew his nose.

Abe frowned. "But the only things that showed up on your last allergy test were cats and dust. We don't have a cat and the house is clean."

Henry shrugged. "I suppose I must be allergic to something that I didn't test for, and as I've told you there are a lot of things that can't be tested for with a skin test because medically speaking they are chemical sensitivities rather than true allergies even if the symptoms are much the same." He thought for a moment before continuing. "I don't suppose you've started using a new shampoo or laundry detergent or anything like that?"

"Nope," Abe answered with a shake of his head.

Henry nodded and sneezed again into a wad of tissues. "I should probably check anyway given my history. Just because a product never bothered me before doesn't mean it's safe now. Perhaps I should do that now while you finish up dinner. We can continue this game later."

"You just want to stop because you know I'm winning," said Abe jokingly.

Henry rolled his eyes and got up and left the room. He made his way to the upstairs bathroom and sniffed Abe's shampoo, soap, and other personal care products as well as the ones he used himself. None of the products seemed to exacerbate his symptoms, but he did feel himself getting gradually worse the longer he was in the apartment. He even tried sniffing all of the laundry and household cleaning products and didn't have any luck there either. He then went down to his laboratory and performed another allergy test just in case there had been any false negative results on the last one. When the test was finished it showed the exact same results as the previous one had, that he was allergic to cats and dust. Knowing he wasn't going to get any further figuring this out tonight, he decided to go up to his room and take some allergy medicine before he got any worse. Just as he was swallowing the pills he heard Abe calling him down to dinner. He stuffed a couple of handkerchiefs in his pants pockets and headed back down to the kitchen.

Abe winced in sympathy when he saw how much worse his father looked compared to earlier. His eyes were all red and watery and his nose was definitely taking on a dark shade of pink and he suspected it would become bright red before the evening was over. "Any luck figuring out what's causing this?"

Henry shook his head and caught a set of three wet sneezes in his handkerchief and blew his nose before answering. "Unfortunately not, my symptoms have been getting worse, but I have been unable to pinpoint a cause. I even performed another allergy test just to be sure, and it had the same results as the last one."

Abe nodded. "Did you take anything for it?"

"Yes, just before you called me down, though there's no telling how effective it will be since this is the first time I've had to take allergy medicine since my most recent death." They sat down at the kitchen table and Henry saw that Abe had prepared a splendid meal of roast beef, salad, and soup, though the type of soup surprised him. "Matzah ball soup?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

"What? It's good for congestion."

Henry shrugged and tasted the soup. It was much spicier than he was expecting and the spices were too much for his already irritated nose and caused him to sneeze twice forcefully into his handkerchief. After he blew his nose he could indeed feel the congestion in his sinuses starting to break up. "What did you put in this?"

"Not telling," said Abe with a wink.

Henry shook his head and smiled at his son and then continued to eat the soup. After dinner they finished up their chess game and Henry managed to win despite the fog his allergies had left him in. Sometimes he wondered if he should just let Abe win from time to time, but he knew Abe would never want to win that way. Normally at this point he'd read for awhile, but he was tired so he decided to watch TV with Abe before bed. Abe put on some old black and white sitcom reruns and really seemed to be enjoying them. Henry wasn't paying much attention to the shows and he let his mind wander. He found himself wondering what he could possibly be reacting to right now and wondered if Adam had something to do with it. The medicine he had taken had helped somewhat, but it hadn't completely eliminated his itchy nose and sneezing. At least Abe's soup had taken care of the worst of his congestion.

At some point he must have dozed off, because he was suddenly jolted awake with a sharp tickle in his nose that caused him to double over sneezing into the crook of his arm. He looked over and saw that Abe had fallen asleep as well next to him on the couch. He pulled a throw blanket from the back of the couch and covered his son with it before heading up to his room to go to bed properly. The next time he woke up his nose was tickling like crazy and he groaned thinking it was surely way too soon for the medicine to have worn off. He also felt like there was a large weight on his chest and he started to panic a little thinking he was having an asthma attack. That was a very real concern for him since it was the cause of his last death. He sneezed four times in rapid succession and when he opened his eyes he found himself staring face to face with a rather large cat that had decided to curl up on his chest. At least that explained the weight on his chest and he breathed a small sigh of relief that he wasn't actually having an asthma attack, or at least not yet. It also explained why he'd been sneezing since he got home. The cat must have gotten in somehow after he'd left for work in the morning. He tried to push the cat off of his chest, but it wouldn't budge and actually seemed to be digging its claws into his pajamas. He sneezed again explosively and instead of being startled, to his astonishment, the cat actually started purring. Then the cat did the worst thing it could have possibly done and started nuzzling his face. He shouted for Abe after sneezing several more times.

Abe woke with a start hearing his father shouting his name and ran up to his father's bedroom. He almost burst out laughing at what he saw, his father trapped underneath a very large cat sneezing his head off, but he managed to restrain himself. He scooped up the cat off of his father's chest and cradled it in his arms scratching its belly. "Hey cutie, how'd you get in here? I'm sorry, I guess I was wrong. It seems we do have a cat."

Henry managed to sit up and caught another sneezing fit in a handful of tissues that he grabbed from the box on his nightstand and blew his nose repeatedly. "Not for much longer though I trust," he answered with a hoarse congested sounding voice.

"You aren't suggesting that I throw him out in the middle of the night are you?" Abe asked with an appalled look on his face. "What if it's someone's pet?"

"There's no collar," Henry pointed out and muffled another set of sneezes into a fresh batch of tissues.

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything. He's in better shape than I'd expect for a stray."

"Abraham, even if you throw the cat out of this house right now, I'll still be sneezing from all the dander left all over the apartment until the whole place is thoroughly cleaned. I'd really rather not exacerbate matters by letting him stay."

Abe sighed. "Look it's late, but I'll try calling one of my lady friends who owns a cat. Maybe she'll be willing to take him given the circumstances. If she doesn't answer though, I'll shut him up in my room and figure out what to do with him first thing in the morning."

"Fine," said Henry with a small groan of defeat. "Just get him out of here." He watched Abe carry the cat out of his room and surrendered to another harsh fit of sneezing. He blew his nose and got up and took another double dose of allergy pills. An hour later his symptoms still hadn't calmed down and now he was starting to feel a slight tightness in his chest and knew that if he didn't get out of there he'd wind up having an asthma attack for real. He got dressed and packed up an overnight bag and let Abe know he was going to find somewhere else to spend the night before he left the apartment.

------

An hour later Henry found himself outside of the door to Jo's apartment. He wasn't sure why it had been his first instinct to come here, but as long as he was here he figured that he might as well knock and hope she wouldn't be too upset with him showing up this late unannounced. He knocked on the door and when after a few minutes there was no answer he was just about to turn around and leave, but then the door finally creaked open. Jo was standing there looking disheveled with sleep tousled hair wearing a powder blue bathrobe and matching slippers. It was probably the first time he had seen her without makeup on and he rather thought he liked her better that way.

"Henry it's one in the morning, what are you doing here?" she asked in a rather irritated voice. Then she saw how awful he looked. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot and his nose was even redder than his eyes were. "Huh, I guess the allergy remission didn't last very long."

Henry sniffled. "No the hay fever didn't come back, but I told you that I was still testing positive for a few things."

"Yes and I recall you saying that they were minor allergies. This certainly doesn't look like a minor reaction."

"When I said minor I was referring more to how easy I thought it would be to avoid the allergens rather than the severity of the reaction," Henry explained and muffled a couple of sneezes in the crook of his arm. "Clearly I was wrong. Look I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here. I apologize for waking you up."

"No it's ok, but what exactly did you come here for?" she asked wondering if he had run out of tissues and couldn't find anywhere open this late.

"I was actually hoping to claim sanctuary here," Henry answered gesturing to the overnight bag sitting on the floor. "I know I should have called first, but I really had to get out of the apartment."

Jo raised an eyebrow wondering what exactly had happened to him. "Well this isn't a church, but come on in."

"Thank you," said Henry as he followed Jo into her apartment. It had a more modern look to it than his own home, but it was warm and inviting. "I had briefly considered asking Lucas if I could stay with him, but I didn't think you'd appreciate the murder/suicide that would be waiting for you in the morning," he said with a wry grin.

Jo laughed. "You're right, that would really have ruined my morning."

Henry sat down on the couch in Jo's living room and set his overnight bag down next to it. "If you don't have a guest room, the couch will suffice."

"I do have a spare bedroom and I'm sure you'll be more comfortable there than on the couch," she answered sitting down next to him. "Tell me what happened though."

Henry pulled his handkerchief from his pocket, sneezed wetly into it, and blew his nose before answering. "Somehow a cat got into the apartment sometime after I left for work. My allergies started acting up shortly after I got home, but I didn't find the cat until after I woke up sneezing and discovered it curled up on my chest. It was too late at night to do anything about it, but Abe is going to get rid of the cat first thing in the morning. I stuffed myself with antihistamines, but they weren't doing much good, and I knew I had to get out of there when I started to have trouble breathing."

Jo nodded and smiled sympathetically at Henry. Now that he mentioned it, she could hear a slight wheeze in his breathing. "You've really got to get yourself an inhaler."

"Yes I know, but even if I had one, it probably would have been unwise for me to remain in the apartment under the circumstances," Henry pointed out. "It will probably take a couple of days at least for Abe to clean all of the cat dander out of the apartment, but I don't want to impose on you any longer than necessary, so I will check into a hotel tomorrow."

"Don't be silly. You're welcome here for as long as you need to stay," Jo assured him.

"Are you quite sure?" Henry asked raising an eyebrow.

Jo shrugged. "It gets lonely here sometimes. I wouldn't mind the company. I'll be right back. The guest room is down the hall, second door on your right if you'd like to go get changed for bed."

Henry nodded. "Thank you, I think I'll go do that." He picked up his overnight bag and made his way to the guest room. He changed into a pair of pajamas and put on a robe over it and slippers on his feet. He was almost hesitant to go back out to the living room dressed like this but he wasn't sure why he felt self-conscious about it. Jo had seen him naked after all when she had found him emerging from the river, and yet somehow this seemed more intimate. Still she didn't seem to have a problem with him seeing her in her sleepwear, so he supposed there was no need for him to feel embarrassed for her to see him this way. He went back to the living room and sat on the couch again and gazed around the room. He was surprised at the lack of photographs around the residence. He had expected to see at least a few of her deceased husband, but perhaps it was still too painful for her.

Jo returned to the living room carrying two mugs of tea. She couldn't help grinning when she saw what Henry was wearing. The robe he had on was so old fashioned and elegant looking that it seemed like it was from a time long past and that it should be referred to more as a dressing gown than a robe. She shook her head as an odd image of him wearing a fez and smoking a pipe came to mind. She sat down next to him and handed him one of the mugs.

"Is there a reason you look so terribly amused?" Henry asked noting the smirk on Jo's face.

Jo shook her head. "I guess I really shouldn't be surprised that you dress as fancy for bed as you do during the day."

Henry sniffled and took a sip of the hot drink. "Peppermint tea?" he asked surprised at the flavor.

"Yeah, I drink this stuff all the time when I have a cold so I thought it might help you breathe easier," Jo explained.

Henry nodded and stifled a sneeze into his handkerchief. "Thank you Jo. That was very thoughtful of you." He took another sip of his tea and savored the warmth of it and how good it felt sliding down his throat.

As Jo sipped her drink a strange thought occurred to her. "I wonder if... no nevermind," she dismissed the question she had been about to ask.

"What is it?"

"Do you think it's possible that your stalker let the cat into your apartment?" she asked feeling slightly ridiculous even broaching this theory.

"The thought did cross my mind. I certainly wouldn't put it past him. No way to know really, unless he decides to contact me to take credit for it." He rubbed his nose feeling like he was going to sneeze again, but the urge faded. "Well I think it's past time we were both asleep," he said and finished his tea.

"No arguments here," Jo took the empty mug from Henry and finished her own drink. She got up and put the mugs in the kitchen sink and then returned and walked back to the bedrooms with Henry. "Hold on one second." She opened up the hall closet and pulled a box of tissues from one of the shelves and handed it to Henry.

Henry smiled. "You do think of everything don't you?"

"I wouldn't be a good host if I didn't," said Jo smiling back. "Do me a favor though. If you start having trouble breathing during the night, please don't wait until you're nearly dead before you come and get me."

Henry couldn't help chuckling in spite of himself. "I promise, but I don't see myself deteriorating again unless you've got a cat hidden somewhere in the apartment. Thank you again for letting me stay here tonight."

"No problem. I'm sure you'd do the same for me if I needed a place to crash."

"Yes, indeed I would," Henry answered without hesitation.

"Goodnight Henry. Feel better"

"Thank you Jo, goodnight." As Henry drifted off to sleep in Jo's guest room, he smiled and began to formulate a plan to repay her for her hospitality.

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This is probably going to be it for now. If anyone has any ideas for other deleted scenes or ideas for how to continue the main story, I'm certainly open to suggestions. If there are any ideas you have for other Forever stories, feel free to PM me with those ideas as well and I'll certainly be open to considering them, but I won't make any promises. You can even request non-fetish stories for Forever if you wish and I'll post them on AO3.org if I decide to write them. I've just been having so much fun writing for this fandom and I can use all the inspiration I can get.