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Nic doesn't look away when the nurse sticks the needle in her shoulder after swiping the area with an antiseptic wipe. She never flinches anyway, even if it's a tiny pinch. As soon as it was over, she is lead to a room where she is instructed to not leave until 2:30. Conrad follows moments later after receiving his. Since they came together, both would leave the building at the same time, this part of the routine not lost on them since getting the first shot.
They already had their two doses of the vaccine under their belts months prior. The third shot is merely a backup to their immunity protection and is supposed to be ten times more effective. There's no other reason to not get it, especially under these circumstances as this pandemic isn't going away that easily.
While in the waiting room, Nic fixes her surgical mask and pulls out her cell-phone to shoot Conrad a text as being 6 feet across from one another with two other people present made it really inconvenient to have a conversation.
N: Damn it! I can't believe I forgot the vaccination cards.
C: Don't worry, we can bring them tomorrow.
N: But we'd have to make an appointment first.
C: I don't think we need to.
N: Well, we can't just walk in here tomorrow. You know, on our way out, we could talk to the nurses who administered. We could schedule to meet with them specifically to get the cards stamped.
C: Probably, but let's figure that out later. I can't wait to get home.
N: Same here.
N: Chinese or Italian?
And they left the clinic at exactly 2:32 and drove to the nearest Italian restaurant that they are convinced has the best food. Well, second best. Decent is a better word for it, and convenient since it's a couple blocks away from their house and the last restaurant they used to frequent was shut down for good. After they picked up their meal, they also stopped off at a pharmacy for some self-care goodies involving Tylenol, ice packs, and a Milky Way. The Milky Way is obviously Nic's just in case her sweet tooth calls for it. Whatever else they got is fully stocked at home in the event the booster takes ahold of them in an unpleasant spell of side effects. Not that it'll kill them but it has been known to cause mild flu-like symptoms. At least that's the purpose of it; familiarizing your immune system with a copycat virus to toughen it up, so it can fight the real thing. Nic has given out shots like these all the time and Conrad is usually the doctor who recommends them to patients. That doesn't mean everyone enjoys them, so it helps to have a thing or two for comfort, just in case.
Besides, Conrad hadn't felt anything from the last two doses he received and neither did Nic, so maybe this will be just the same as last time.
It started out like a solid rock forming in her stomach. Then it got bigger and bigger. Her moan in agony brought her out of her slumber. Nic shuffles to the bathroom, eventually sitting on the closed toilet with her head buried in her hands. It could've been something she ate. She wasn't that full but what else could it be? She sure as hell couldn't have had COVID because she just got the shot not too long ago, and---
Oh, wait.
Yeah, it's really kicking in now.
As Nic stood up, a sharp pain erupted in her back and then her legs. She hissed but she didn't waver. Instead, she opened the mirror cabinet to locate whatever will bring much-needed respite for a few hours. One thing within her reach was a bottle of Napraxon. She popped two and washed them down with handful of water from the sink. Wiping her mouth, she felt a shiver crawl up her spine and then goosebumps broke out all over her skin, despite the thermostat having been pre-set to room temperature.
Back in bed in a tight blanket cocoon she bundled herself, stealing some from Conrad who slept soundly, she's shifting around and kicking up a storm as the aches and chills continued their relentless assault, unable to contain her groans. Of all the horrible sensations that ailed her, this was pure torture. Her brain might as well have been lodged in some contraption you see on tool benches that just keeps on squeezing, squeezing, squeezing, and squeezing until it bursts. That's how much it hurts and it does so everywhere else. And she thought Barb was the worst migraine she ever experienced.
Soon, she's pushing the blanket off her body as a blazing heat consumed her, rubbing her eyes in exasperation. "Please let it be over soon," she muttered under her breath.
"Nic?"
Eventually, the rustling and restlessness woke Conrad up. She looks to her right and meets her fiancé's concerned gaze.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?" He asked softly, slowly rising and moving a hand to caress her cheek and neck. "You're burning up."
"Booster's taking effect. Don't know which is worse: this or getting food poisoning from that restaurant," she responded.
He chuckled a little.
"I don't hate it. Just a long stronger than I would've liked."
"I know."
Conrad continued to stroke her face before exiting the bed and walking around to her side. "Hang tight. I'll be right back."
One quick peck on her forehead and he's off, sprinting downstairs and coming back moments later with a few ice packs, temporal thermometer scanner and a glass of water. Setting them down on the nightstand, he returns to her side and examines the rest of Nic's body for other red flags that he hasn't noticed yet. "Have you taken anything just now?" Conrad inquired as he discreetly pressed a finger to her wrist (steady pulse).
"Naproxon."
"Okay, good." His eyes search her chest for a brief second, mentally registering the up and down movements made from each breath she takes (regular and moderate), and then helps her sit up before handing her the water. Once he was in doctor mode, it wouldn't shut off until he was satisfied that there wasn't anything else that required urgent medical attention, even if it's something less severe as a sprained ankle or a stomach bug---so long as the latter doesn't morph into something else, that is. It's practically hardwired in his system, but he's also aware that it annoyed Nic to a degree as it bordered on hovering. Best to just downplay it and offer comfort as a significant while the Dr. Hawkins in him stores away little observations to ensure that she was going to be alright. Ridiculously overprotective isn't his real intention. But all in all, he'd never stop worrying about her, let alone take care of her. It's in every promise he made and the vows he hopes to recite with her at the wedding aisle someday. Nothing makes him happier than making her pain and discomfort a little less hellish. Well, that, and just being with her, of course.
She took a few gulps before setting the nearly empty glass back down. Conrad then scans her forehead with the thermometer gun which came back to 99.8 degrees (high fever). After that, he instructs her to lie down and she complies. She gasped as her neck comes into contact with something frozen upon hitting the pillow, and it dawned on her that she was lying against an ice pack. Conrad then picks up two more and applies them directly onto each wrist. Nic raises an eyebrow at him.
"I heard that if you press an ice pack against where there's more blood vessels," he clarified, "it can cool your whole body temperature because it goes right into the bloodstream and counteract with the heat. I've never done it before, so if this doesn't work, we can try something else. Let me know if it gets too uncomfortable."
"Got it," she acknowledged.
It wasn't so bad. In fact, it offered some relief to her perpetually boiling skin though the ice packs might as well have turned into bags of water by now. She stayed still for a couple minutes until it got too cold, blurting out, "Okay, you can stop."
Conrad removed the packs from her body and took them along with the other stuff back to the kitchen and put everything in their rightful places. He ran back up the stairs and plopped down onto the bed.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, facing her.
"Crappy, but not as worst as before. Thanks, by the way," she answered, pulling the blankets up to her chin and settling on her side.
"What fiancés are for," he grinned.
She giggled, which gave way to a wince as she felt another sharp ache drilling into her skull. Conrad frowned as he watched her rub at her temples harshly and then turn to bury her face into the pillow with a loud huff. He shifts closer to her and wrap his arm around her form, his hand drawing soothing circles against her back. He pressed a kiss to her warm hair, his lips never leaving as he whispered loving words, and they came out low and rumbling. This gesture may not have cured Nic's fever or headaches but it relaxed her almost immediately, all tension disappearing from her body like smoke into thin air, and she melted further into his embrace, her face nuzzling into the space where his neck and shoulder meet and sighing contentedly as she fell into a deep slumber.
She still felt like hell the next day. The pounding in her head was relentless, and she operated in a rather fatigued, somewhat delirious haze. She took Tylenol this time.
Conrad entered the living room and Nic looks over at him on the couch, lying on the armrest with the throw blanket tangled around her middle.
"Gotta head out and run some quick errands," he reminded. "You okay with being by yourself?"
"Yeah. It's not the first time I was home alone while sick, so nothing you need to worry about."
"Great. Call me if there's anything you need....."
"....and I'll text you an exclamation mark if there's an emergency,"she finishes the last part of the sentence as he leans over the armrest and kisses her forehead.
"Oh, and don't forget to ask for Nurse Ronin and Nurse Greene," Nic added. "They're the ones we met at the cubicles when we got our boosters."
"I won't," he promised.
On his way out, Conrad shouted, "Bye, my love!" With that, she shouted back a "love you too. Bye!"
For the most of the afternoon, Nic alternated between watching TV and reading a dog-eared book left on the coffee table. Sometimes, she got up to get a bite to eat---that is, if her stomach feels like it. Fortunately, the medicine she took seems to work better, as the pain in her muscles were dulled and her fever lessened a bit. Migraines are still the same but at least she's getting good at ignoring them.
One thing she never anticipated was how exhausted she would be, and more so than usual. In a span of short minutes, she passed out not once but three times. She tried sitting up to stay awake but as soon as her head hit the pillow, she drifted away into a very long nap without even realizing it. The medicine wasn't the primary cause. Apparently, being sick often drains your energy and provides little room for other activities except for sleeping all day, and sometimes that's all you wanted to do.
Nic was in a blissful state of limbo when she felt a gentle nudge on her shoulder. When she woke up, the first thing she saw was Conrad and then the sky outside from the window which was now a dark shade of violet blue.
"I was going to ask if you want to start dinner now or later unless if you're not feeling up to it," he said crouching to meet her at eye level.
"Later's good," she yawned as she raked her fingers through her hair. "How long was I out?"
"Honestly? If an earthquake hit, you probably wouldn't have felt it," he quipped.
"Absolutely not," Nic retorted, shooting him a glare. "It wasn't even that much."
He smiled at her. Even in her disheveled and drowsy state, her eyes still shone with mirth, and he was captivated by their beauty. Hell, all of her is beautiful, whether she's dolled up, dressed down or just simply herself. Still amazed him that those feelings never changed after God knows how many years.
He cleared his throat for a minute. "So how does a movie sound?"
They found a silly comedy on one of the channels scrolled through, and proceeded to settle comfortably onto the couch. She pulled her legs up where they rested next to his and leaned her head onto his shoulder, prompting him to circle his arm around her waist. They had no intention of moving except mid-way through the movie, only because Conrad got up to heat up two bowls of chicken noodle soup in the microwave and then carry them back to where he resumed his position. She smiled in gratitude as he handed her a bowl.
As they ate and watched together, a different kind of warmth overcame Nic. The pandemic changed a lot of people's lives and never for the better. Try as they might to adjust and nobody is certain if there will be an end to this nightmare and sometimes it can drive them nuts just figuring out when. She stopped that kind of thinking. She didn't want to dwell in any more negativity than she could handle. It's these dark, depressing times that always remind her of the one constant in her life that will guide her through them and keep her steady on the ground, and that constant is sitting right next to her. Plus, there's no one else she'd rather spend her sick days with than him, aside from Mina.
Nic laced her fingers with the hand on her middle and brought his to press a lingering kiss to his palm, barely releasing it from his grasp when she was done as she held it close to her chest. She didn't meet his eyes but felt them burning into her and his own lips grazing her temple.
Happy to be home, indeed.