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Dukat felt as though he was freezing to the core. No matter how many pillows and blankets he added to his bed, how much he raised the temperature of the room, how many times he laid in a hot bath and tried to submerge as much skin as possible while still being able to breathe, he was cold. He couldn’t stop shivering, his skin and ridges pale, and all of his muscles were sore, aching and weak whenever he moved.
His doctor had told him it was normal when one was pregnant, to feel so cold. It would be better to just wait it out. His body would focus on a different symptom eventually, and he was bound to find somehow to relieve the chill without any medical intervention.
For now, he was curled up and shivering in bed, a pile of blankets on top of him, pillows around him forming a sort of nest. A half-finished cup of red leaf tea was sitting on his nightstand, having only provided the briefest of relief from the cold. A small plate of crackers was next to it. Supposedly, they were supposed to be easy to stomach. He’d tried eating some, but they’d come right back up within minutes, nausea churning his stomach. Doing his best not to throw up had been difficult, but it was evening now and he hadn’t vomited nor eaten since that morning.
Though he worried about his inability to eat, the doctor had given him a hypo before breakfast full of the vitamins and nutrients he needed, and would soon come back with another one. He and the baby would be fine. Still, he wanted to keep something down. So he turned over and pushed himself up on his elbows, his arms trembling. Exhausted already from the simple act of propping himself up, he winced and reached out over his stack of pillows with one shaking hand for the crackers. Before he could grab them, his other arm slipped.
Strong but gentle hands grabbed him before he faceplanted into his pillows and helped him lay down. Naprem gave him a soft smile, but there was worry in her eyes, accented by the dark circles underneath them from long nights looking after him.
“Shh, the doctor said you aren’t supposed to be moving much when you’re this sick.” She brushed back some of his messy hair as she spoke, and then rubbed lightly with her thumb in the dip of his hunter-eye. “If you’re hungry, I’ll get you something that’ll taste better than crackers.”
The warm touch was soothing, and he almost whimpered when she pulled her hand away to walk off towards the replicator. She was too far away for him to hear what she was ordering, so he just watched her and pulled his blankets up to his chest. Settling his hands on his belly, he sighed and did his best to ignore how his stomach lurched at just the thought of food.
Naprem soon returned with a small, steaming bowl of blue broth he recognized as zabu broth on a tray. She set it down on the nightstand and sat down on the edge of his bed. Instead of starting to feed him, she rubbed his belly. “You’re probably still nauseous, aren’t you?” He nodded, and she leaned over to kiss his cheek. Once he was relaxed, she took the bowl and spoon in her hands and fed him, every so often taking a break to rub his belly again. The heat of the broth and touch of her hand was nice, but not enough to warm him all the way through.
Though his stomach protested he didn’t feel an overwhelming urge to vomit even as the bowl emptied. Naprem looked pleased to see him finish off a meal, even a small one, and it made him feel better seeing her smile.
Leaving the tray and empty bowl on the nightstand, Naprem took off her boots and got under the blankets with him. Dukat knew it was too hot for her to be comfortable even just standing in the raised temperature of his quarters, so for her to get underneath the covers just to lie down with him…
She helped him turn onto his side so he could press against her. Putting his head against her throat, he was pleased to find that for once she wasn’t wearing a high collar like she always did while out and about on the station. The warmth of her skin against his face was comforting, and he could feel the scar on her neck that she kept hidden.
Now with her body heat under the covers, the whole nest started to warm up. Naprem wrapped an arm around him, and the chill in his core gradually faded away.