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Her alarm jolted Izzie out of a deep slumber. The offending noise amplified the thundering pulse in her head. She sat bolt upright and stopped the alarm from continuing its assault. Falling back against the pillows and she became self aware of her body.
Her throat felt like she had gargled a gallon of sand. A chill had embedded itself in her spine causing her body to be covered in goosebumps. But a sheen of sweat coated her skin causing the bed sheets to stick to her. As well as the rhythmic pounding in her head.
The autumn season had taken over the New England town. The trees had begun to change to colour; transitioning from greens to reds and oranges. The air had become crisp and cold. Izzie could remember the way it burned her lungs as she walked the two miles to the bus station to get to Clayton High. The transition to fall also brought the increase in flu season. Especially with the younger kids in different schools. It was only a matter of time before the flu infiltrated the Taylor house.
The banging on the door of her room had Izzie rubbing her temples for some kind of relief as Gabe poked his head in.
“Izzie get up, the baby is crying, I’m gonna make breakfast and mom is in one of her …. Moods…”
“Gabe, I feel like trash. Can you handle it this morning?”
Izzie felt bad. She usually kept the house a well oiled machine. She’s been raising the kids basically by herself since she was nine and her mom had gotten hooked on the sauce and pills. Recently Gabe had started picking up more of the slack since Izzie was busier with school and hanging out with Casey. It wasn’t fair to put the same pressure on him that she had growing up. He was only 11 and had enough on his plate figuring out puberty. But she’d be lying if she said the help wasn’t nice.
“What’s wrong?”
Gabe flicked the light on to get a better look at Izzie and she winced at the sudden brightness.
“I think one of the kiddos brought home the flu. I feel like I’ve been hit by a cement truck.”
“You need anything? I’ll make sure everyone gets off to school. Can’t help you with mom though.”
“Some NyQuil? I’ll deal with her. She’ll be passed out before noon anyway.”
Izzie picked up her phone to send a quick text to Casey letting them know that she was sick and not coming to school today. Gabe returned with a tiny cup filled with NyQuil. Izzie took it back and was asleep the second her head hit the pillow again. She probably would’ve been asleep all day if her phone vibrating didn’t wake her up. She saw Casey’s name flash on her phone.
“Hello?” Izzies voice was thick with sleep and gravely. She noted to herself to grab a glass of water before going back to bed.
“Hey. Sorry, I was hoping not to wake you but I’m downstairs and the doors locked. I have sick supplies.” Casey sounded apologetic.
“You’re here?” Izzie was still in a fog and she wasn’t sure if it was from the sleep of the sickness. She stumbled out of bed and down the stairs to open the door for Casey.
Casey stood in her doorway holding a brown paper bag from the grocery store and wearing her signature smirk.
“Well good morning sicko.” Casey gave Izzie a quick kiss on the cheek before depositing the bag on the kitchen counter and beginning to pull out a plethora of medicines and snacks.
“What’re you doing here? It’s only …”, Izzie glanced at the clock on the stove, “.. 10 am you should be in third period”
Her nose was clogged and it made every word deeper and huskier than she usually sounded. This was by far the most energy she's used all morning and found her head swimming and the room beginning to spin. Izzie braced herself on the counter and began taking some deep breaths.
As the world began to slow and still a bit she felt Casey’s hand on her back rubbing soothing circles as they placed a kiss to the top of Izzies head.
“I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I didn’t know if you had anyone taking care of you.”
“I can take care of myself.” The sentence didn’t have as much bite as Izzie was hoping. Instead it sounded more like Izzie was trying to convince herself.
“I know you can but you shouldn’t have to. Let’s get you back to bed, yeah?”
Izzie gave a feeble nod and turned to walk up the stairs. She heard Casey digging around in the paper bag before quickly following her up the stairs. Casey kept a comforting hand on her back as they ascended the stairs. When they made it to Izzies bedroom she crawled under the covers as Casey sat on the edge of the mattress.
They pulled two water bottles out of their sweatshirt pocket and opened one before handing it to Izzie.
“Here take a few sips. It’ll help your throat.”
Izzie took a few big gulps and watched as Casey opened the other bottle and dumped a packet of vitamin C in it. Giving the bottle a few good shakes Casey handed that one to Izzie as well.
“Here this one should help with some electrolytes or something. I’m not sure. Elsa always makes me drink it when I’m sick.”
Izzie gave a little chuckle under her breath before taking a few long swigs of that too.
Casey kicked off their shoes and got under the covers next to izzie.
“You’re going to get sick if you stay here. Plus your moms going to be pissed when she realizes you skipped school.” Izzie subconsciously scooted closer to Casey’s body. Torn between wanting to keep them healthy and also craving a comforting touch.
“So, I’ll get sick and Elsa can bite me. Try to get some sleep.”
Izzie didn’t need to be told twice. She curled herself around Casey's body and closed her eyes. Needing the warmth of their skin as she couldn’t shake off the chill in her bones. She almost immediately fell asleep as soon Casey began running their fingers through her hair and gently massaging her scalp.
Casey smiled down at Izzie as she started to snore. She looked so much more peaceful sleeping soundly than she did a few minutes ago trying to keep herself upright in the kitchen. Casey pressed a kiss to the crown of Izzies head before closing their eyes and falling asleep too.
……
A large thud woke Casey up out of their sleep. They glanced down to check on Izzie breathing out a sigh of relief as Izzie was still deep in sleep. Until Izzie's mom threw open the door and it bounced off the wall causing Izzies eyes to fly open. Casey’s arms protectively wrapped around Izzie and gave a tiny squeeze as Sasha entered the room.
“Where the fuck is my medicine.” Her eyes darted around the room but she wasn’t really looking at anything.
“What medicine?” Casey innocently asked. Thinking maybe Sasha was also sick and needed some NyQuil.
“She’s talking about her fun pills.” Izzie whispered so only Casey could hear.
“My pain pills. I need my pills. My back is.. it’s acting up.. again. Izzie what did you do with them?” Sasha feigned pain and grabbed her lower back.
“You probably took them all. I haven’t seen any pills.” Izzie sat up in bed to better look at her mom.
“No. No, you took them. You want them for yourself. So you and your little friend can get high.” Sasha gestured between the two and stepped closer to them.
Izzie was getting frustrated. She knew this conversation was going nowhere good. Her mom would just talk in circles before ultimately blaming Izzie and doing something rash.
“Mom, I don’t have them. I don’t know where they are.” Izzie moved to the edge of the bed and put her hands up in front of her to try and show that she wasn’t a threat.
“You little bitch. You think you can touch my stuff? I bet you wouldn’t like it if I messed with your personal belongings.” Sasha looked around the room before grabbing the closest thing to her. It was a framed picture of Izzie and Casey from Halloween the year before.
“Mom, put it down. I didn’t touch your stuff.” Izzie began to stand and slowly reach forward to grab the picture out of Sasha's hand. Casey was rooted to their spot in bed. Unable to process the situation unfolding in front of them or how to help de-escalate it. It wasn’t until Sasha threw the picture frame down; sending shards of glass all over the floor of the room that Casey finally moved.
Using their height as an advantage over the older women Casey grabbed Sasha by the forearms and began moving her backwards out of the room, not caring that they were stepping on broken glass.
“You need to get out. Leave.” Casey was not playing nice and was using every possible advantage to get Sasha out of the room despite her trying to wriggle out of Casey’s grasp. Casey gave her one last shove out the door, watching her fall into the wall as they shut and locked Izzies door.
….
Casey turned around to see Izzie staring at the broken glass surrounding her. Casey slipped on a pair of shoes to protect their feet.
“Iz don’t move.” Izzie looked up with unshed tears in her eyes. Casey’s sneakers crunched over the broken glass before picking her up bridal style and sitting against the headboard with Izzie in their lap.
Izzies eyes were clenched closed and her head was settled underneath Casey’s chin. Casey wasn’t sure if she was crying or not but held her tighter and kissed the top of her head in an attempt to comfort the sick girl in their arms.
“What do you think about packing up a few things and going to my house until you feel better?”
“I don’t think your parents would appreciate you bringing an illness into their home.” Izzie sniffled and gripped tighter to Casey’s shirt.
Izzie had felt like a burden her whole life. If she wasn’t a burden to her mom who would rather get high and party, she was a burden to her grandma who would often answer a knock on the door to find the Taylor children on the stoop as headlights left the driveway. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden to the Gardners who had shown Izzie nothing but kindness so far.
“Nonsense, Elsa is itching for someone to dote over. Plus she makes a pretty stellar chicken noodle soup.”
Izzie was contemplating the options. She didn’t want to overstep her welcome into the Gardner home. But the sound of pans clattering and cabinets shutting in the kitchen downstairs reminded her of the less than nurturing environment and gave her the extra push to go somewhere she could actually heal.
“Okay, fine. But the second I’m feeling better I’ll go home.”
“You’re so stubborn I’m surprised you can even get sick.”
Izzie smirked and pulled away from Casey’s chest to look up and admire her girlfriend. Casey leaned down to place an all too tender kiss on Izzies lips and in that moment Izzie felt more safe and content than she could ever remember.