Chapter Text
In the morning, Mina heard the alarm on AJ’s nightstand go off. Mina was still in that same position: her hand on his chest, head on his shoulder, and her legs between his.
“AJ...can you turn it off? The noise is killing my head…” and she waited for a response, but received none. “AJ? AJ?” and suddenly she became aware of her senses. He felt extremely hot underneath her palms, he was barely moving, his breathing was very soft and uneasy, but his heart was beating normally, so that was a plus at least. Her first instinct was to lower the fever, so she went to the bathroom, turned on the cold water, went back to the bed, gathered her strength, and then dragged him into shower with her…
She stayed there with him until she felt that his temperature had lowered, as she used her cheek to feel the heat. When she felt okay enough, she sat him up against the giant shower wall, and went to go get the thermometer, her phone, and some clothes for the both of them. Then she called 9-1-1 and got him dressed as she awaited the Paramedic’s arrival.
At Chastain, Mina had Conrad run every type of test possible, and in the end, it happened to be that AJ suffered from an intense kidney infection.
“Ugghhh, he has been doing many five to ten hour surgeries lately without any breaks, that's enough to give an infection this quickly,” Mina confessed, “and I bet that he’s been sneaking soda and that surely doesn’t help the situation.”
After a few hours, AJ was discharged, his fever was under control, and he was able to walk a bit, so that helped her be able to get him into a cab, though Devon insisted on helping by driving them home, assisting AJ in getting in and out of the car, as well as getting him up the millions of stairs of their house. Before she got home though, she made sure to have Devon stop at a few restaurants so she could buy AJ’s favorite soups, then they quickly stopped by a supermarket to get some apple sauce, jello, liquids, and pick up his medications. And so, Devon watched AJ for her in the car as she ran those errands.
During the day, Mina checked AJ’s temperature every twenty minutes and got acquianted with a very comfortable recliner that was in the guestroom on the main floor as she couldn’t be carrying him up and down the stairs on a daily basis.
“Mina, can you stop poking and prodding me every few minutes? This isn’t very relaxing. I can’t heal if I can’t sleep in peace,” he complained.
“Well, if I don’t do it, will you do it?” she answered a bit pissed, and then grabbed his head and took his temperature. Seeing that it was just a little bit on the more normal side, she proceeded to give him some soup.
“Yuck...I don’t like this at all,” he whined and he passed the bowl back to her as he sat against four Queen-sized, fluffed up pillows.
“But, this is your favorite soup...from Valentino’s,” she said.
“I can’t stand this, the smell, the taste. It makes me want to vomit. Some chicken soup right now would be great,” he stated.
“Ok, drink some of this for now, while I get you more soup.”
“I don’t want any of that, or anything else. Just some chicken soup, with little diced tomatoes and carrots, and those little crackers that are shaped like bunnies,” and then he took the bit of strength he had and made little hopping motions with his hands.
Mina snorted, and realized that his medication needed to be given to him within the next hour meaning that his stomach had to be filled quickly-so there just wasn’t time in between then to be arguing. Also, then she remembered that AJ had recently bought some chicken and placed it in the fridge, along with all the ingredients to make soup. So without anymore hesitation, she swiftly ran out the room, went into the kitchen, and stared at AJ’s stove for a few minutes.
“If this man weren’t such a Diva I wouldn’t have to use the stove,” she thought. And then she got to work chopping, boiling, checking, and mixing until the soup was ready. She noticed that AJ didn’t have bunny-like crackers in his cabinets nor in the pantry, but he had regular-shaped ones. So to satisfy his need for bunny-shaped crackers, she decided to outline with a special marker that was specifically for drawing on cakes and cookies, and then she cut the rabbits out with special kitchen scissors.
When she got back to the room, Mina presented the soup to him, which he ate about half of. However, he complained about the crackers not being authentically bunny shaped and that they didn’t taste the same.
“Mina, these aren’t the bunny crackers I like,” he complained.
“You know, if you weren’t sick and you acted this way on a regular basis, I would have left you a long time ago,” she snapped. And she took his temperature again and gave him his medication, which he refused to swallow. “You better take the medication or I’ll shove it down your throat for you.” And at least he obeyed her there, because she really would have shoved it down his esophagus.
As the days progressed, AJ’s cold sweats persisted, his fever raised and lowered, his crabbiness got worse, and his demands were ignored more and more. Mina got accustomed to changing the bed sheets and having him strip off his clothes every few hours because he would be drenched in sweat, or she’d have to drag him verbally and or physically to the bathroom to give him a cold shower. On day three, he was able to walk around a little bit, he brushed his teeth on his own, and he no longer needed to be monitored when urinating or getting rid of other waste, as he would pass out from the fever or couldn't stand upright. During those days, Mina made sure he took some sun and fresh air, so she’d haul him out onto the porch where he’d complain about the heat and how his skin was going to melt right off of him.
And Mina knew that this wasn’t her AJ, this was fever-ridden AJ, who she would gladly like to throw out the window…if she could lift him. But regardless, she loved him, and all she wanted was for him to feel better. In fact, her sisters would be pretty intense when they were sick as well, though, they weren’t quite the Divas that AJ was, but they were pretty annoying to be around, so she had the experience to handle him.
On day four, Mina saw that AJ was a bit better, and she had to get back to work. There, she took up AJ's patients, with Nolan as her substitute Attending, as he let her do all the work on her own. However, even while in surgery, she’d have Jessica call AJ every twenty minutes to check up on him, to have him check his temperature, to make sure he took his meds, etc. And when he didn’t pick up, Mina made sure that they’d call him until he did. On her breaks, she’d quickly rush home and take his vitals, where he’d complain again and insist that she didn’t need to worry. The next few days proceeded the same, Mina prepared his meal for the following day so that it would be ready for him, she’d place his medications in little daily containers, she’d leave jello and applesauce in the fridge for him, fed and tended to Thelma & Louise, then slept on the recliner, and checked his temperature and vitals every few minutes. When she’d get to work, she’d have to take many shots of caffeine to get through the day, but her work was always on point.
On her day off, though, AJ was completely sick and tired of the whole twenty minute check up routine. And to say the least, who wouldn’t be? It got to the point that at six am, when Mina went to take his temperature and give him his fever medication, he completely snapped.
“Mina! I’m glad that you never became a nurse, because if you did, you would’ve smothered me to death by now with all your check ups. I prefer to be dead. I can’t sleep, I can’t take any seconds to rest. It’s all too much!”
Mina didn’t expect his words to hurt her as much as they did, but she felt a giant,piercing pain within her heart. She knew that he was right, in part, she was a bit excessive, but she was only taking care of him in the best way that she could. And so, she decided that on day six, she would back off a bit.
AJ woke up, refreshed and nothing but utter silence surrounded him. He slowly sat up and looked at the recliner and noticed that Mina wasn’t there. He turned his head and saw that she wasn’t lying next to him either. So, after relieving himself, he walked around the house in search of his Queen and finally found her asleep on the sofa by the kitchen, surrounded by books and papers of all sorts, and then there were dozens of lined sheets with charts, as well as her phone on the coffee table. AJ went and got the blanket off the couch and then placed it around her legs and waist and then sat down and looked at the charts and Board Exam questions that were on the table. Then one document caught his eye, one that said Department of Homeland Security: VISA Department. And he knew he shouldn’t read it, that by doing so it would betray her trust, so he didn’t, but deep inside he was curious nonetheless.
“Her VISA information. We actually haven’t discussed anything in regards to her immigration status. I suppose one of us needs to bring it up soon,” he thought. And then suddenly, Mina’s alarm went off, “AJ’s Medication,” the note on it said. And Mina, upon hearing the noise, immediately got up, turned off the alarm, sleepily walked towards the kitchen, and started preparing his meal.
“Hey, let me help you,” AJ said as he got up from the sofa.
“No...I’ve got it. Stay seated,” she said rather coldly, sparking AJ to wonder why she would act that way. After a few minutes, she came to the sofa with two bowls of soup, one with his authentic bunny crackers, and one without, and she also had his medication in her hands.
“Oh, so you eat the soup too?” he asked, rather surprised.
“That’s all I’ve eaten for the past few days,” she said and then sighed, “if you can’t enjoy the taste of the food you so love, then why should I torture you with the smells and such within our house? You won’t heal quickly if you don’t eat things that will help you get better.”
And AJ was struck with speechlessness, and started thinking about all the other things that she was sacrificing in order to make sure that he was healing adequately, causing his love for her to grow ever so much.
As the day progressed, he noticed that Mina wasn’t as attentive as normal, she no longer checked his temperature every twenty minutes, but did so every hour or so, but she made sure to give him his medications on time. That night, she even slept on the bed, but didn’t cuddle with him, which was very odd for her to not do, and when he awoke, she wasn’t wrapped around his body. He wondered if perhaps she, too, was sick, so he took her temperature and vitals, but she was perfectly fine. She was in deep sleep longer than normal, but maybe it was because she hadn’t truly slept for days. However, when she did wake up, she was still not herself with him.
“Mina, I know I’ve been a real pain in the a** this week,” he admitted as she was preparing their meal. “I just wanted to apologize and say thank you for taking care of me,” and he went to go and hug her...but she backed away instead.
“I have to get to work, your food is on the stove and your meds are on the counter,” she said. That day she only texted him a few times to check up on him. AJ didn’t know what to do, and then he kept going back in his memory to see what went wrong and then he remembered what he had said to her before she started acting indifferent and he got pissed off at himself because of it.
That night, he made her dinner, and also made her a scrumptious lunch for the next day. He prepared a warm bath for her with flower petals that came from the roses in his garden. “She’d be happy that I took time to stay outside and enjoy the air and sunlight,” he thought.
When she got home, she was a bit surprised that he had arranged all of those things for her, but she gladly indulged in the bath and then hungrily ate everything on her plate. She was ecstatic that the meal didn’t include any style of form of chicken, as she didn’t think she’d have anymore of that creature in the near future.
In bed, AJ tried to cuddle with her once more, but she didn’t return the affection, and she stayed facing the wall instead of his person.
“Mina...Mina, what’s wrong? I know I’ve been an a**, and I do apologize for what I said. I really didn’t prefer to be dead. That was completely uncalled for, cold, stupid, and selfish of me. I know you were taking care of me the best you could,” he confessed.
And that caused her to turn around and meet his gaze. “AJ, for the record, I know that you were, and still are, sick, and when someone doesn’t feel well they tend to say and do things that are not normal for their character. With that said, I know that you didn’t mean what you said…” and then she looked down at her hands.
“But…” and then he dared put his hand on her arm and started to caress her elbow.
“I didn’t think it would affect me like it did...your words...but they really did.”
“I know, and I promise I won’t say something like that ever again. I truly am sorry,” and the pain he saw radiating from her facial expressions were enough to make his heart ache and teardrops started to flow to the brim of his eyelids. “I’m sorry…,” he whispered.
“You were right...I was smothering you…”
“You were just taking care of me, Mina. That was the sweetest thing, next to cooking for me, that you could ever do…” he assured.
“But it was excessive, and I wasn’t letting you heal like you should be. I just-”
“Just what?” he asked concerned.
“...it was my job to take care of my sisters, and they died under my care…”
“Mina, that wasn’t your-”
“And I was supposed to take care of Micah’s new heart, but I almost killed him when he was under my care…” she continued.
“Wait hol’ up Mina-”
And then she broke down, something Mina rarely did. “And you’re my boyfriend-you’re the best thing that has happened to me in a long time, and you were under my care...what if you got hurt too? What if you were one of those people, within that small percentage, that died from this kidney infection? Or had some terrible long lasting consequence from it? I’m your girlfriend, we live together, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that I take care of you, just as you do for me. I just wanted you to be okay…” and a tear rolled down her eye. “You could say it’s an irrational fear, that it’s a simple infection. But you know the odds, simple doesn’t always mean simple. I don’t want you to be another person that I have in my life to be hurt by my actions...and apparently, I did hurt you…”
“No...no, Mina. You didn’t,” and he started kissing away every tear that came out of her eyes as he caressed her cheek. “I’m very grateful that you took care of me. Those words, please erase them from your memory. I didn’t mean them, I will never mean them. I want nothing more than to be here with you….alive. Because of you I am feeling better.”
And so, she looked up and met his gaze, “You think my reaction’s stupid, don’t you?”
“Not at all, your emotions and feelings are valid, Mina. Just because people may not understand how you feel doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to feel or express them. And you can always do so with me, no matter how stupid or wonderful you believe the feeling to be,” and he pulled her into an embrace while caressing her back. “Do you hear me?” he whispered.
And Mina sniffled, her nose congested after the cascade of tears dried up, and she slowly nodded her head. “Ok,” she whispered. And normally, Mina didn’t express what she felt, she expressed through action, but in light if his words and the moment she added, “AJ...I’m scared…” And then his mind went to the immigration document that he had seen resting upon the coffee table, and then he too became paralyzed with fear.