Work Text:
Amy knew it was going to be a long day when she awoke to the dry, burning scratch of a sore throat. Her crusty eyes peeled open to squint against the sunlight infiltrating their blinds, and the triumphant blare of her alarm clock reminded her that it was just past 5AM. She had a 6:30 shift today, she needed to get moving.
However when she sat up, a headrush dizzied her instantly, and an overwhelming scourge of nausea bubbled up in her stomach. Sore muscles working in overtime, she sprang from the bed and stumbled toward their adjoining bathroom to fall in front of the toilet. She made it just in time to vomit noisily, groaning at the disgusting return of last night's pizza.
Crouched over the toilet, feeling grimy and nasty, Amy weighed her options. She could call the captain and tell him she’d be out sick today, but she had an important briefing with her uniformed officers and didn’t want to miss it. Jake had been at the precinct overnight; he and Charles had gotten a break in their string of B&Es and were trying to get it all wrapped up as soon as possible. He’d probably be home soon, so if she wanted to get to work like this, she’d try to get there as he was leaving. If he knew she was working in this condition, she wouldn’t hear the end of it.
She considered it an accomplishment that she only threw up once in the shower. She tried to comb her ratty hair into something manageable, not feeling well enough to put on any makeup. The dark circles under her eyes were prominent, and her skin had a grayish-green hue to it that made her wrinkle her nose in distaste. She didn’t feel well enough to eat, but she downed some medicine before heading out to catch the subway. She definitely wasn’t in any condition to drive.
Amy made it to work in record time, hoping and praying that she didn’t pass Jake on her way in. He hadn’t texted in a while so she figured he was either still out working the lead with Boyle, or he’d gone home and crashed.
“Oh, good morning Sergeant.” Gary greeted her as she stepped off the elevator onto her floor and headed for her desk. He eyed her up and down worriedly, before asking, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine Gary.” she replied shortly, “Just a little under the weather.”
“Okay...well, let me know if you need anything.”
“Thank you Gary.” Amy offered him a tense smile and got back to prepping for their briefing. At 6:45 she walked into the conference room, setting up her paperwork at the podium and nodding at her officers as they entered.
“Good morning team.” Amy began, trying not to let the scratchy, raw tone in her voice seep through and crack the authoritative tenor she’d managed to achieve over her time as a Sergeant, “Hope everyone is doing well. First off on our agenda today is the missing security footage from the Sunoco robbery on Meeker Ave.”
A small swell of dizziness curled up around her, but she swallowed hard and focused on the faces of her team. She just had to make it through the briefing. Amy ignored the wobbly feeling in her knees.
“We know the robbers had someone case the gas station for two days prior,” she informed them, “What we need to figure out is how they got their hands on the security footage to get rid of the evidence.”
“Could it have been an inside job?” Officer Alvarado inquired, “Maybe the cashier?”
Amy swallowed back vomit, nodding, “It’s plausible, Della. But all of the cashiers have been there for years, it just doesn’t…” Amy blinked as blurry spots began to dance across her vision, but she powered through, “...seem likely that they’d-” Her sentence cut off as blackness enveloped her sight and her body hit the cold floor below her.
“The Sergeant passed out!”
“Find someone! No, don’t move her!"
“Get Detective Peralta!”
The words were fading in and out of Amy’s ears as she struggled to claw her way back to full consciousness. Her head felt like it was full of lead and she couldn’t control her limbs, no matter how much she wanted to.
Her eyes drifted open, vision blurry as Gary’s face came into view. He was squatted beside her, he’d taken off his jacket and stuffed it under her head on the floor. He was surrounded by several pairs of worried faces in uniforms.
“Sergeant?” Gary asked gently, “Are you with us?”
“What…” Amy’s throat felt like it was made of lava, and each breath took the energy of dragging a chariot, “What happened…”
“You passed out.” Della explained, “Officer Pryce went to go grab your husband, he’s on his way down.”
“My….Jake…” Amy didn’t feel fully in control of her lips as she struggled to form a sentence.
Before anyone could reply, a panicked voice rang through Amy’s ears, “Ames!”
Suddenly, familiar hands were on her face and body, worriedly combing over her as she blinked slowly, and Jake’s face came into view. He was still wearing the blue plaid shirt and brown leather jacket she’d last seen him in, more than 24 hours ago. His curly hair was a disheveled mess, and there were tired bags under his worried brown eyes.
“Jake.” Amy reached out for him.
“Officer Steve, can you get her some water?” Jake was speaking to her officers now, and if Amy were all the way coherent she’d take a moment to be grateful that he cared enough to know the names of the people on her team,“Della, my car keys are on my desk would you mind grabbing them please?”
The uniformed officers were quick to oblige, rushing off to follow his orders as Jake pulled Amy up into a sitting position and she leaned all of her weight into his chest, nestling her head against the familiar smell of his deodorant.
“Gary what happened?” Jake was speaking over her head.
“She said she wasn’t feeling well when she came in.” Gary replied, “Guess she wasn’t kidding.”
Steve returned before anyone could reply, a cup of room temperature water from the dispenser in the bullpen in his hand. He passed it to Jake, who slowly brought the cup closer to Amy’s lips.
“Hey, Ames? You with me?”
She nodded, but felt too exhausted to reply, eyes still lazily opened.
“Alright babe, drink some water for me.” He guided the paper cup to her mouth, and she sipped slowly at first, but grew more eager as she drank. After she’d finished the water she felt a little better and was able to pull herself off of Jake’s supporting chest.
“Babe?” Jake asked softly, eyeing her as if she were an IED about to blow.
“I’m okay.” she nodded, but instantly regretted the motion as it sent another bout of dizziness crashing through her skull. She was unable to stifle the small groan that escaped her lips and she dropped her throbbing head into her hands, trying to stop the room from spinning.
“Alright, we’re getting out of here.” the jingling of keys being passed from hand to hand was heard, and Jake said, “Thanks Della.”
“Amy,” Jake was murmuring in her ear now, “We’re getting up, okay? Just try to relax.”
Arms moved underneath her legs and back and with a small grunt of effort, Jake had swept her off the cold tile and up into his arms, bridal style. Amy threw her arms around his neck and held on for dear life; desperately afraid he was about to drop her. Jake wasn’t a picker-upper, and she wasn’t one to enjoy being manhandled. Not that she didn’t trust him, but he wasn’t exactly a Terry in the muscle department.
But, his grip was secure and steady, though she could tell he was feeling the strain of her weight, he didn’t let on. Gary ushered in front of them, opening doors for the pair as they walked out of the conference room, across the bullpen and toward the elevator. Amy couldn’t even focus on how humiliating it was to have her husband carry her out like a child; she was impressed by his strength.
Gary rode with them in the silent elevator ride, Jake still grasping her body in his arms. His fingers were curled around her thigh so tight that it pierced through the fabric of her uniform, but the hand curled around her bicep was rubbing soothing circles there. It felt like forever, but finally the elevator doors slid open and the trio walked out. Gary grabbed the front door for them.
“Feel better Sergeant!” He called as Jake nodded a thanks to him and began walking with Amy across the lot. A chill of cold New York air rose up around her shoulders, and she curled against his body more, still clutching his neck with a vice grip.
“Almost to the car Ames.” Jake murmured softly to her as they walked, “Just keep holding on to me.”
“Where are we going?” She was able to form the words, vision becoming a bit more clear as the sunlight washed over her skin and the brisk breeze caressed their bodies.
“You tell me.” He said carefully, “Should we go to the hospital?”
She shook her head almost frantically, “No! It’s just the flu.”
They’d reached his car now, “Are you going to be okay if I set you down to open the door?”
Amy assured him, “Yes.”
Tentatively, he bent his legs and lowered her body until her feet hit the pavement. He didn’t release her grasp until she was leaning against the car fully, and he unlocked the passenger side door, pulling it open swiftly. Jake took her arms and carefully helped her into the seat, shutting the door and moving to go get behind the wheel.
She was relieved to find he had a water bottle in the cup holder of his car, and quickly grabbed it to finish off what was left. With more water in her system she could feel her mind becoming a bit more clear and focused, the blurry effects of fainting beginning to wear off.
As Jake navigated the familiar streets back to their apartment, Amy’s mind was racing. She’d passed out in the middle of a briefing, in front of her whole team. Jake had carried her out of the precinct like she was a helpless child. The humiliation had already begun to strangle her.
“I can’t believe that happened.” she groaned, letting her head fall back against the seat, “I fainted in front of my officers. They’ll never respect me again.”
Jake glanced at her quickly before looking back to the road, his brows furrowed, “Amy you’re very sick, is now the time to be worried about work?”
“We have to go back.” she insisted, “I’m fine now, I need to fix this-”
“Absolutely not.” Jake’s tone brokered no room for argument, “We still haven’t discussed the fact that you went to work visibly sick as hell. You look like a corpse.”
“Gee, thanks.” She muttered in a dry voice.
“You shouldn’t have gone to work, Amy.” He said sternly.
“I was taking it easy, I didn’t even drive! I took the subway.” Amy argued, hoping it would help her case.
“If you were aware enough to not drive, you knew better than to try and work.” He hit back, “This FOMOW thing is getting out of hand.”
“I don’t have FOMOW.” She insisted, “I don’t have a fear of missing out on work. It was an important briefing and-”
“And you were so sick that you fainted in the middle of it.” He cut her off, shaking his head, “Don’t try and make excuses Amy, this is a problem. I can’t keep worrying that you’re not taking care of yourself.” He pulled the car up to the curb outside their apartment, letting the engine idle, “Do you realize how scary it was to have one of your officers catch me as I was about to leave the precinct, and tell me you were passed out on the floor?” He shuddered visibly, “We already have to worry that the other is gonna get hurt on the job, Ames. You can’t make that worse by treating yourself so badly.”
“Jake-”
“You’re not a robot, Amy. You are a human and I know you’re a badass but you have to-”
“Jake-”
“Ames, let me finish-”
“Jake I’m gonna-” Amy threw the passenger door open and vomited loudly out the side of the car. She vaguely heard her husband’s quiet “oh shit” as he scrambled out of the car and raced around to kneel beside her, one hand rubbing circles on her back as she coughed up the last of the bile.
“God Ames.” He shook his head, “You’re shaking.” He shrugged off his jacket and threw it around her trembling shoulders, “C’mon honey.”
He leaned in to scoop her up into his arms again, but she held a hand out to stop him, “Let me walk, please.”
Jake seemed hesitant, but he nodded in agreement. With one arm around her waist, securely supporting her weight, they made their way up to their apartment. As soon as they were inside Amy fell forward on to the couch, the soft cushion cocooning her cold body.
Jake approached the couch and she was somewhat aware of what he was doing as he moved around. He slid her boots off her feet, then went into the bedroom before returning with a pair of old sweats and one of his Die Hard t-shirts. Amy eagerly grabbed the clothes and began changing while she watched him head for the kitchen.
He puttered around the kitchen, filling his arms with things and bringing them to her on the couch, propped up on the end table. The first thing he brought her was a large empty bowl, tucked underneath her chest in case she needed to throw up. He then placed a cool, wet rag on her burning forehead, and set some ibuprofen beside a bottle of water on the end table.
Amy smiled blearily up at him as he ran his fingers through her hair, looking down at her with a sympathetic expression. He leaned down to press a chaste kiss on her lips before returning to the kitchen.
Jake brought back a plate with saltines and a quickly made bowl of ramen soup, Amy’s favorite flavor. He’d even peeled an orange for her on the side of the plate.
“Vitamin C.” he explained, gesturing to the orange, “I know you feel awful and don’t want to eat, but you have to try. You’re not gonna be passing out again.” He said it so surely and with such confidence, Amy didn’t bother to argue. When Jake Peralta set his mind to something, he didn’t often fail to achieve it.
He helped Amy into a sitting position, stuffing pillows behind her back to prop her up. He sat beside her then, throwing an arm behind her and leaning his head on her shoulder as she gently spooned the soup into her mouth.
“Sorry for lecturing you.” He mumbled, not meeting her eyes, “I was just really fucking worried Ames. It scares me that you don’t seem to care enough about your wellbeing.” He glanced over at her, his eyes soft and worried, “You’re too important, okay?”
Amy nodded, trying to see his perspective. She wouldn’t exactly love it if he was passing out at work and going in even when he was sick.
“I’m sorry.” She told him sincerely, “It’s just how I’ve always been...I’ll work on it. I promise, Jake.”
“I understand.” He assured her, “I really do Ames, I know you were raised on a culture of competitiveness and never showing weakness. But it’s okay, now. You’re here with me, and I never think you’re weak. I think you’re an amazing person, who needs to treat her wonderful body a little better.”
“I love you, Jake.” She leaned over and nuzzled their noses together, grinning when it made his cheeks flush red, “Thank you.”
“I love you more.” Jake said softly, a yawn breaking through at the tail end of his words. Amy looked him over guiltily; he’d been up all night working on a case and here he was still up and taking care of her. He looked exhausted, completely worn.
“Speaking of taking care of yourself.” She chided gently, “Why don’t you go get some sleep?”
He glanced at the empty puke bowl, eyes still concerned, “I’m okay babe.”
“Jake.” Amy placed a hand gently on his arm, “I’m okay. Please, go get some rest.”
He seemed to deliberate for a moment, but then Amy coughed involuntarily and shuddered as a chill danced up her body. He shook his head and picked up the remote and clicked the TV on, opening up Netflix.
“Hey, you need to sleep.” she urged him, ashamed at how dry and scratchy her voice was.
“Pfft, and miss this documentary on how grill brushes are made?” Jake rolled his eyes as he selected the movie, obviously for Amy’s benefit, “You’re crazy.”
Amy threw the blanket over both of them and snuggled in closer to him, knowing he’d be falling asleep within the first twenty minutes of the documentary anyway. If he wanted to do it on their cramped couch, well, she wasn’t going to say no to having her personal furnace close by.
Of course, before the beginning credits had even rolled, his loud, grating snore cranked up from his throat. She smiled at the sight of him, slumped against her after a long night of work, eyes closed and face peaceful as he finally allowed himself to catch up on some sleep.
That was Jake Peralta for you, constantly worried about others, even if he hadn’t gotten himself taken care of yet. Amy shook her head with pleasant amusement, and turned her attention back to the TV.
Today had been a disaster, but at least she could learn how grill brushes were made, and feel the warmth of her sleeping husband at her side.