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Frances woke and stretched, taking a few precious moments to enjoy the pocket of warmth beneath the covers. Her first prayer of the day was said before she rolled herself up to sit on the edge of the mattress and she didn't allow herself to linger there. Up onto her feet, pull on her dressing gown and slippers, washbag, towel and bathroom. By the time she'd washed and brushed her teeth, she usually felt awake enough that putting on her habit and getting downstairs for Lauds was not quite such a struggle.She knocked on the closed door of the bathroom automatically, just to let whoever was inside know that she was waiting. It took her a minute to realise that she hadn't gotten a response and that there was no sound of water or movement inside."Sister?" she asked, knocking again. It might not be one of her sisters but at this time of day it was a safe assumption. When she still didn't hear anything, she turned the handle and let the door open slowly. Usually, the bathroom door was left ajar when it was empty, but maybe someone had closed it over without thinking about it. The light was on, though, and they were usually very good as a household at turning them off. When no one objected to the door opening, she stepped cautiously inside and then, seeing the bare leg lying on the tiles she pushed the door fully open and rushed forward. The figure curled on the floor stirred, as Frances fell to her knees next to her.“Sister Julienne?” she asked, reaching out to clasp her cold hand.“Mmm…” Julienne said, blinking and beginning to shift, trying to push herself up.“Don’t,” Frances said, seeing her struggling. “Just take a minute,” she encouraged, using a hand on her shoulder to try and dissuade her. “What happened?” she asked..“I… I must have fallen asleep,” Julienne said after a moment. “I’m so sorry,” she continued, pushing herself up onto her elbow despite the pressure of Frances' hand. Once she’d gotten an elbow underneath her though she stalled. “Have you been unwell?” Frances asked. She was struggling to think of any other reason that might have resulted in her sister falling asleep on the bathroom floor. “You’re frozen,” she continued, realising that she must have been lying there in nothing but her nightgown, possibly for hours. Frances undid the sash of her dressing gown and shrugged out of it.“I was just… I woke up in the night and was a little nauseous. I only meant to wait until I was sure it had passed…” Frances helped Julienne to sit up and draped her dressing gown around the other woman’s shoulders. She was shivering at least, Frances noted though her colour still looked far from right. “I must have fallen asleep…”“Well you must have been pretty exhausted to do that,” she said gently. “It’s hardly comfortable. Do you still feel sick?”“Mmm,” was the tight lipped response as Julienne stirred, moving in the direction of the toilet. Helping her to kneel beside the bowl, Frances sat quietly rubbing gentle circles on her back as Julienne clung onto the rim. Despite her careful breathing, or perhaps because of it, she wasn’t actually sick.“What’s this?” Hilda asked from the doorway, her own wash bag held tightly in front of her.“Sister Julienne was taken unwell during the night,” Frances said quietly, looking up at Hilda and hoping that she could see her concern. The frown that formed on her face suggested that she did. “I found her in here when I came in a few minutes ago,” she added, as Hilda crouched down next to them.“I did say you didn’t look right last night,” she said gently. “It’s nothing rea…” Julienne’s protest was cut off as she knelt up over the bowl and started retching.“Yes, clearly nothing wrong at all,” Hilda said with an eye roll. “Is that your dressing gown?” she asked Frances. “It is,” she replied, reaching down for the bare ankle still on show beneath Julienne’s own nightgown. “I don’t know how long she was lying on the tiles but she’s still half frozen.”“Well once this has passed we’ll get you into bed and get you warmed up. Would you go and put the kettle on?” Hilda asked Frances and she nodded. “I’m sure you could borrow Sister Julienne’s dressing gown for now.” Frances nodded and stood, grimacing. Once she’d filled the kettle and put it on to boil, Frances nipped to the downstairs loo before collecting a hot water bottle and making a pot of tea. She took a tray upstairs and, finding Sister Julienne's room empty, left the tray on top of the chest of drawers. The sheets were in such disarray it looked like Julienne had fled quickly when she’d left them in the middle of the night. Frances took the time to straighten them out, retrieving the blanket from where it had been kicked to the floor before sliding the hot water bottle inside in the hope that she could at least take the chill off.When she went back into the hall she could hear a quiet conversation coming from the bathroom.“I’m just a little under the weather, it's fine really."“Well you look like a wrung out dishrag,” Hilda pointed out.“Appearances can be deceiving,” Julienne said wearily from where she was still sitting on the floor, as Frances hovered in the door. “I’m feeling much better than I was. Sister Frances, could I bother you to fetch my toothbrush?” “Of course,” she said, turning to go. “Well then, up you get,” Hilda said truculently.By the time Frances returned with Julienne’s washbag, she felt as though she was walking into some kind of stand off. “We’re just waiting for Sister Julienne to manage to stand up under her own steam,” Hilda said from where she was standing by the bath with her arms folded. It was frustration rather than real antagonism Frances knew, but clearly a little peacemaking was required. “Sister?” Frances asked. “Would you like a hand?” She held out the washbag to Hilda who took it and moved across to the sink. “Please,” came Julienne’s quiet response, and Frances leaned down so she could help her stand with a firm hand at each elbow. She was unsteady on her feet and so Frances helped her to the edge of the bath so she could sit and gather herself.“Even if you are feeling better than you were,” Frances began gently. “I know you wouldn’t want to risk getting any of our patients sick by working when you’re still not well.”“I can attend to my offices,” she said, her gaze still focussed on the floor. “And to the overflowing intray on my desk without endangering anyone.”“Here you go,” Hilda said, holding out a cup of water and her toothbrush. Frances could see her begin to swallow convulsively just looking at them. “Thank you,” Julienne said, though she made no move to take either item. “At least rinse your mouth out,” Hilda said. “That will make you feel much more human.” Julienne nodded jerkily and took a sip of water and then spat it back out into the cup. Hilda took the cup away to dispose of the water while Julienne pressed her hand to her mouth, clearly resisting the urge to be sick again.“You’re still feeling rotten aren’t you?” Frances said, mostly to herself as she sat beside her sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Quite,” she admitted, allowing herself to lean into Frances' embrace. “Bed and sleep. Ideally in that order.” Hilda said affectionately. “I’m so sorry,” Julienne said. “I might need a basin. I’m not certain that I won’t…”“That, we can manage. You’re bringing almost nothing up at this point in any case,” Hilda pointed out. “Come, let’s try and get you warm and comfortable so you can rest.”“I’m so sorry,” she repeated.“Hush now, enough of that,” Hilda said gently. “Sister?” she continued, looking over at Frances, her intention clear. The two of them helped Julienne to stand and guided her towards her bedroom.“I’m sure I’ll be fine in a few hours,” she said, when she was sitting on the edge of the mattress. “I can’t think where I’ve picked this up from.”“Well wherever you did, it’ll take as long to pass as it does,” Hilda chided gently.“You must be sure to disinfect the bathroom and to wash your hands particularly carefully. I don’t want… don’t want anyone else…”“We will,” Hilda said, placing the metal waste paper bin beside the bed.“I’ll take the tea away,” Frances said, once they’d manage to get her settled. “But there’s water and aspirin on your bedside table.” Julienne was already half way asleep though, clearly exhausted despite her protestations.She and Hilda left the room, closing the door quietly behind them.“I knew she wasn’t right last night,” Hilda said with a sigh.“Well even if she wasn’t feeling right, it doesn’t seem to have really hit until the middle of the night.”“Well, hopefully it’s just a short lived bug. But she’s right though, we’ll have to try and limit the spread.”“Maybe we can convince her it’ll be in everyone else’s best interest if she quarantines herself. At least that way she might stay in bed.”“She’s overdue a few days quiet in any case,” Hilda said. “I’ll see if I can convince Dr Turner to ‘happen to drop in’ later.”“Sister Julienne must be due her retreat soon?” Frances said, trying to work out the maths in her head. She was going to the mother house next month but the senior sister hadn’t been away since she’d arrived at Nonnatus.“I believe she deferred her retreat last month,” Hilda said, sharing an exasperated eye roll. “A couple of days in bed with some sort of stomach flu will hardly make up - but it might get her to slow down for more than twenty minutes.”“Maybe,” Frances said, unconvinced. “I’ll clean the bathroom,” she continued, trying to return to the practical. “We’ve missed Lauds but we should get going.” And then she had a list of tasks to attend to, not least of which was going to be to see if she could convince Mother Mildred to insist Sister Julienne take the rest that was due her.