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“I’m fine ,” Waverly says totally unconvincingly, her voice straining against the burn in her throat.
“Baby, your e’s have a d on the end of them,” Nicole says, running her palm over Waverly’s forehead to check her temperature. “I don’t think you’re fine- d .”
Waverly scowls, knowing that any attempt to prove her own state of health would only condemn her to Nicole’s diagnosis more , because her throat is killing her, so she just scowls instead.
She’s in their bed at Nicole’s apartment, blankets pulled up to her neck until her next hot flash hits, scowling up at her girlfriend. Perched on the edge of the bed, Nicole is still fully uniformed despite having been home for the last half hour, looking down with a concerned frown at a very ill Waverly.
“You’re a bad patient, huh?” Nicole says, smirking slightly before looking over Waverly’s flushed cheeks.
“It’s just a cold,” Waverly insists as Nicole watches her carefully.
“I think it’s the flu, Wave,” Nicole says with a softer voice. “You’re hot one second and cold the next, you’ve got a temperature fit to burn this house down by the feel of your forehead, and….”
“It’s not the flu,” Waverly says stubbornly, even as she can feel the heat rising in her chest again like a furnace. “I do not get sick .”
“Ok, sure,” Nicole says, her voice gentle and placating. “So this is….?”
“I don’t know,” Waverly grumps, throwing the blanket off, unable to stand the heat a second longer. And she could hold out and keep up the charade for a few more minutes, but honestly, she feels terrible and she just wants Nicole to take care of her. “I don’t feel good.”
“I know, baby,” Nicole soothes, placing her much cooler palm on Waverly’s cheek, and Waverly moves towards that more desired temperature as her body begins to heat higher even without the covers on. “I know you don’t. So why don’t you let me take care of you, huh?”
“Ok, maybe,” Waverly grumbles in a barely audible voice.
“What was that?” Nicole asks, trying to suppress her smile.
“Yes, please,” Waverly asks a little louder as her mouth turns in a weak frown. “Yes, please , Nicole, I feel terrible.”
“All you had to do was ask, Wave,” Nicole replies, smiling as she runs her thumb over Waverly’s cheekbone.
“I just didn’t want to put you out,” Waverly mumbles quietly, wringing her hands together where they rest over her stomach.
“How are you putting me out, baby?” Nicole asks with a gentle voice. “You’re my girlfriend, this is what I get to do; take care of you when you’re sick.”
“Because I need you to sit next to me and hold my hand, but I know that’s a crappy way to spend your night off, and I don’t want you to….” Waverly spills, trailing off while Nicole watches her with a sad frown.
“My idea of a nice night off is helping my girlfriend when she needs me, sick or not,” Nicole offers. “You’re never a pain, Wave. Ever , ok? I need you to tell me that you know that.”
“I’m not?” Waverly replies quietly, leaning against the comfort of Nicole’s hand, her own palm covering Nicole’s after a moment.
“Have I ever given you reason to think you are?” Nicole asks with a worried look. “Because I’m….”
“No,” Waverly says quickly, shaking her head, making her brain spin . “Never, I just get worried sometimes that I’m….”
“ Never ,” Nicole returns firmly. “Never, ever, ever . Let me look after you, ok? I want to, baby.”
Waverly doesn’t answer verbally, her sore throat already tightening as she fights back the tears threatening to spill at the corner of her eyes, because it’s so different, this , having someone ready with unconditional care and support, and Waverly’s just not sure what to do with it sometimes.
She looks to Nicole, though — soft, caring Nicole, who Waverly already knows is running through ten different remedies in her head as she strokes Waverly’s cheek reassuringly — and she feels strong enough to nod before she moves to fold her firecracker-hot body around Nicole’s middle by way of a thank you.
Nicole’s hands move over her only bra-covered back, everything else tossed in a hurried heap on the floor when the first wave of heat had hit, and they soothe her, they calm her, they chase away the doubt at the corner of her eyes, that she’s not a burden.
Not anymore .
“How long do the flushes last for, baby?” Nicole asks gently. “Long enough to get you in the shower to cool down so you feel better in bed?”
“They do, but I don’t know if I can get out of bed,” Waverly answers with an uncertainty into Nicole’s middle where she’s still wrapped around her. “I don’t feel strong enough to stand.”
“Are you ok for me to carry you?” Nicole asks, her hand moving over the nape of Waverly’s neck.
“Of course, but….” Waverly trails off with a shaky voice. “What if I get you sick? I don’t want to….”
“I don’t care,” Nicole replies easily, smiling down to Waverly with the light of the stars outside. “I don’t care, baby. I just want to look after you.”
“I can look after you,” Waverly offers as Nicole’s arms slide around and beneath her and she moves, standing with Waverly in her arms. “If you get sick, I can take care of you.”
“And you do it so well when you do,” Nicole says playfully. “Why do you think I don’t mind if I do catch something?”
Waverly smiles, resting her head against Nicole’s chest as Nicole walks them to the bathroom, closing her heavy eyes for a moment. She feels Nicole look down at her before she presses a kiss to the top of Waverly’s head just as they stop in front of the shower.
Nicole readjusts Waverly in her arms before she turns the water on, waiting a couple of minutes while she finds the right temperature, before stepping under the stream, fully clothed.
“What are you doing?” Waverly asks with a half-worried, half-shocked voice as she turns, looking up to Nicole who’s busy smiling down at her. “You’re all wet now.”
“It’s just water,” Nicole says shrugging as she steps more fully under the water. “And you didn’t look strong enough to stand, baby.”
Waverly does allow herself to cry then, because she feels so terrible and so sick, but Nicole is so good.
“Hey,” Nicole says quickly, looking down at Waverly with a worried expression as she tries to catch Waverly’s eye while Waverly’s busy burying it into her chest. “Hey, Wave, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Waverly replies, sniffing as she looks up to a ridiculously half-wet Nicole. “Nothing, you’re just…. sometimes I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
“Neither do I, baby,” Nicole offers with a soft smile before she presses a kiss to Waverly’s cooling forehead. “Neither do I. Do you feel a little better?”
“Yeah,” Waverly nods tearily, closing her eyes against the blissfully cool water. “I do. The water’s lovely.”
“Good,” Nicole says before she drops another kiss to Waverly’s brow. “Just about done?”
“Yeah,” Waverly answers weakly as the first shiver passes through her. “Yeah, I think so, I can feel myself getting cold again.”
Nicole turns off the water carefully before, one-handed, she pulls a towel off the rail and drapes it around Waverly’s shoulders. Her skin trembles against Nicole’s chest, and Nicole moves a little faster to get her back in the warmth of their bed.
When they make it back into their room Nicole stands Waverly on her feet carefully as she helps Waverly dry down before she eases her damp bra and underwear off, pulling one of Waverly’s soft crop tops out of her drawer.
“This ok?” Nicole asks, pushing wet hair out of her eyes, and Waverly can’t help but smile at the lengths Nicole will go to ensure Waverly’s comfort over her own.
“Perfect,” Waverly smiles wearily, lifting her arms above her head to help Nicole pull it down and into place. She slides a pair of soft cotton bottoms up Waverly’s legs too, before she leads Waverly back down into bed.
Waverly looks up to her with what she knows will be a completely pathetic expression, but she doesn’t care, because she needs Nicole next to her, and she knows that there’s no shame in asking for that now.
“Are you…. I mean, will you?“ Waverly asks as she gestures towards the bed.
“There in two seconds, baby,” Nicole says, her voice soft and warm as Waverly watches her pull her own clothes off. She dries her body and hair with a towel quickly, slipping into a bralet and some little shorts of her own before she slides into bed carefully next to Waverly.
She settles against the headboard before lifting her arm up so Waverly can move against her chest, laying her head over Nicole’s heart, and the rhythmic thump, thump , thump begins to lull her heavy eyelids back closed.
“If you need anything, a wet towel or food or anything, you tell me ok?” Nicole asks as she looks down at a Waverly swiftly losing her battle with consciousness. “Otherwise I’ll be right here.”
Waverly shivers again before the warmth of Nicole’s bare skin settles her, and she exhales deeply as safe and warm and calm takes over the pain of her body, and quietly, with Nicole’s hand stroking soft circles on her back, she sleeps .
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