Spring Fever
“He did WHAT?!”
John Koenig poked his head out of the bathroom at the sound of Helena’s incredulous voice. Quickly wrapping a towel around his waist, more to ward off a chill than from any modesty on his part while in Helena’s presence, he walked toward where she had been relaxing on the couch but was now sitting up, reaching for her boots.
“I said he fell into a flower bed in the botany lab while trying to steal a small bouquet for his girlfriend. He broke a leg, cracked three ribs and gave himself an incredible black eye.”
John stared at Helena in disbelief and she shook her head as she met his gaze with her own amused smile.
“Do you need my help?”
“No, Doctor Russell, but I thought you should be notified.”
“All right, Raoul, I’ll take a look at his chart when I come in tomorrow.”
“Certainly, Doctor Russell. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Helena broke the connection and sat back on the couch, dropping her boots to the floor. She glanced up and met John’s gaze again.
“Ivan Vogel.”
“That makes… five in the past two days! What is wrong with everyone, Helena? It seems they haven’t a brain left in their heads.”
“Physically impossible.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do.”
“So can you explain it?”
“Not until you stop dripping all over my carpet.”
John glanced down at himself and the soggy spot on the carpet beneath his bare feet. He grinned sheepishly.
“Sorry.”
Koenig beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom where he finished his shower, dried himself off and put on his bathrobe. He returned to where Helena still sat on the couch and sank down beside her.
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“You were going to explain this epidemic of…”
“Spring fever, John.”
“What?”
“Spring fever. Consult the traditional calendar. Were we back on Earth, it would be springtime in the northern hemisphere, and springtime often causes people to do… foolish things.
“Why?”
“Many reasons. The beginning of a new cycle, the shedding of the old from the past winter, climate changes, wardrobe changes, environmental changes…”
“Those are all environmentally linked, Helena, affected by the position of the Earth relative to the sun in the course of its annual orbit. We aren’t subjected to any of that here on Alpha.”
“No, but humankind has been subjected to it for thousands, perhaps millions of years. It has become species habit if not instinct.”
“Are you trying to tell me that instinct causes normally intelligent, mature adults to act like a bunch of idiots… causes them to abandon their usual, rational behavior, just because of a season change?”
“Not abandon, but perhaps temporarily alter. Springtime is often when new romances begin, when established ones are rekindled. You can get caught up in the excitement. You aren’t always thinking clearly, may have your mind on other things, and…”
Helena spread her hands as Koenig shook his head, still not able to completely accept her explanation.
“What about your own actions, John?”
“Huh?”
He looked bewildered. Helena’s smile widened. He’d taken a slightly more conservative route, but he too was suffering from a raging case of spring fever. He had talked someone in botany out of a lovely bouquet of flowers for her, then left them in a vase on her desk in Medical while she was busy with a patient. She had known immediately who they were from, and was about to call John and thank him when he called her. Before Helena could say anything, John had begun to serenade her with a love song that had been popular in their youth.
“The flowers, the serenade.”
John suddenly blushed. He was normally more reserved when expressing his affection for Helena.
“Oh.”
Helena slid closer to John on the couch, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a loving kiss on the cheek. When their gazes met, her eyes were soft and gentle, then she cuddled in close, resting her head on his shoulder.
“It was very sweet of you, John. I loved every moment of it. No one has ever done that for me before, but… can you explain – logically why you did it?”
Startled, John pulled back to meet her eyes, surprise and a touch of bewilderment in his.
“Because… I wanted to, I just felt like it. All of a sudden it just seemed like a wonderful idea, the right ting to do, because I love you.”
Helena nodded as her eyes lit up.
“Spring fever. And I love you too.”
“Helena, I… I still don’t buy this theory.”
“Perhaps not, John, but you have fallen victim to it just as many others have. I grant that you were a little more reserved, but nonetheless…”
John brought his finger up to cover Helena’s mouth and still her words, their eyes meeting. He would concede the point – not because he believed her – but because he did not want to spend the rest of the night discussing it. He had other plans for their time. Helena smiled.
“You really liked my surprise?”
“Of course I did, John. It was wonderful.”
Concern creased his brow for a moment.
“Are you sure no one else heard me?”
Helena was hard pressed to restrain the giggle that threatened to bubble forth. She covered it with an amused smile.
“I was alone in my office with the door securely closed.”
“Good.”
Relief flooded over John. For some reason he did not want anyone else to know he had done such an… impulsive thing. It was a secret best shared by himself and Helena, alone. He felt her begin to run her finger along his jawline and looked back to meet her gaze. Her eyes were intense and Helena smiled gently. Perhaps her plans for their time that evening were very similar to his.
“I could get to quite like your bouts with spring fever, John.”
He took her hand and held it gently to stop her caress of his neck. It was terribly distracting but extremely pleasing.
“And are you going to tell me that you, as a doctor, are immune to these… changes in behavioral patterns?”
“Not at all. I too have a sever case of spring fever, right now.”
“Oh?”
“Release my hand and I’ll show you.”
Koenig did just that and Helena eased him down to his back on the sofa, her eyes bright with anticipation. As she bent close to kiss him, Helena began to softly hum in his ear the same tune John had sung for her earlier. A deep chuckle rumbled form John’s throat and they gave themselves up to the impulsive delights of spring fever.
Amanda Russell
September 23, 1989
Revised: March 28, 1994