Work Text:
Wanda had woken up with the flu. Usually she gets up early in the morning and cooks breakfast and Stephen joins in a bit later to help. He was surprised to see the kitchen empty when he came down. Dismissing it, he prepared breakfast. Stephen grew concerned about Wanda when she didn't come down for breakfast. He knocked on the door to her room but there was no response.
"Wanda? Shall I come in?"
There was no response and Stephen grew concerned. He entered her room to see her still in bed huddled underneath the blankets, cuddling a pillow. She looked very pale and feverish. He softly rested his hand on her forehead, she was burning up. Stephen brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face before straightening up.
It seemed that the New York Sanctum’s resident witch was down with the flu.
Wanda felt terrible. Her body ached as if she had been repeatedly thrown around and her throat felt very sore. She felt smothered by her blanket but at the same time she felt freezing cold. She felt nauseous and felt like throwing up. The seasonal flu had claimed its latest victim then.
She was on the verge of drifting off once more when she heard an insistent voice calling her name. She groggily opened her eyes to see Stephen, looking concerned.
“Lemme sleep Doc...’m not well.” she slurred.
“Which is exactly why I am here. You need to get up, eat and take the medicine.” He moved to help her sit up on the bed. She groaned but allowed him to help her up.
She looked pale and well, sick. Her hair was all over, having escaped the braid. She was sitting quite still and lifeless which unnerved Stephen quite a lot.
“Do you think you can stomach a bit of soup?” he asked her kindly, holding up a bowl of warm soup.
“I guess so.” She replied quite listlessly. Wanda held out her hands, which shook quite violently.
“Just sit back Wanda.” With that Stephen sat on the edge of her bed and began feeding her the soup, making sure not to spill anything.
Wanda felt her throat tightening and the tears building up. It had been a long time since someone cared about her. She opened her mouth to talk when she felt the nausea kicking in.
She clamped a hand over her mouth, jumped out of bed and ran to the adjoining bathroom, where she began throwing up quite violently. Tears poured from her eyes as she continued to throw up. She felt Stephen’s comforting presence behind her as he held back her hair. She flushed out the contents, not daring to look at it and sank to the floor.
“I have never been this sick before.” Wanda mumbled, feeling very weak at the moment. Stephen helped her up and she managed to brush her teeth and freshen up which left her feeling a tad better.
With Stephen’s help she got into bed and she managed to drink a bit of soup. Stephen gave her the medicine and told her to get some rest, promising he will be back to check on her.
True to his word he checked on her throughout the day more times than he could count. The fever appeared periodically and she threw up a couple of times more. Stephen walked into her room with another bowl of soup for her dinner. She was awake this time but she looked unfocused.
“You know it had been some time since someone cared for me like this…it honestly feels very nice..” She smiled at him, eyes unfocused. “You gave me a chance to grow into myself when all the others considered me dangerous. You wanted to help a broken woman like me heal. You are a good man Stephen. The woman who will hold your affections is one lucky girl….” She added quietly “....it’s a pity it will never be me.”
Stephen was sent reeling. Sure, she was a bit delirious from the fever but her words touched his heart. They would talk about this when she recovers. For now, she needs to eat and take medicine.
When he moved to leave her side, she whispered “Don’t leave, please”
Stephen honestly didn’t have the heart to leave her side now. He sighed, magicked away the bowl, lifted the covers and settled next to her. Wanda scooted closer to him almost on the brink of sleep.
“Sleep.…I’ll be here.”
Wanda sat at the kitchen counter, clutching a cup of hot tea which helped soothe her still sore throat. She felt a bit mortified...scratch that she was feeling a lot mortified. She had woken up this morning cuddling Stephen, she was half on top of him, her face buried in his neck and a hand clutching him. It felt nice but as she gradually came to her senses she felt very embarrassed. He was her friend for goodness sake. Wanda vaguely remembered she had been babbling yesterday, while she was feverish and she could not properly remember what she had been babbling. She remembered bits and pieces- telling him how grateful she is for taking her in and something along the lines of how nice something was. She felt her head throbbing. She took a sip of her tea, hoping it would calm her down.
“You’re supposed to be in bed.” Stephen’s voice startled her out of her thoughts. He walked over to the counter and picked up his mug and sat opposite her.
“I felt a bit fine…I will go back in a few minutes.” she softly replied, a bit too embarrassed to maintain eye contact. She continued “I am so sorry for the trouble yesterday and if I made you uncomfortable by saying anything out of the blue…Thank you so much for looking out for me.”
Stephen had a small smile and he simply asked her, “Do you want to look?”
“Pardon?”
It seemed her brain was a bit slow when sick and when Stephen pointed at her hand, she realised that he had given permission to look inside his mind. She lightly placed her palm on his forehead and peered into his memories.
You know it had been some time since someone cared for me like this…it honestly feels very nice…
You are a good man Stephen. The woman who will hold your affections is one lucky girl….it’s a pity it will never be me.
Don’t leave, please
Wanda let go with a surprised gasp and buried her face in her hands, too embarrassed to face Stephen who was now grinning. She felt her face burn and dared not to look up at Stephen.
“You know, once you’ve recovered we could discuss this over dinner? I’ve been wanting to try out this new restaurant, two blocks from here. A date if you’d like?”
“A date?” She squeaked out, internally chiding herself for sounding so ridiculous. She composed herself and gave Stephen a smile, trying to control the butterflies in her stomach, “Okay.”
“Great...now off to bed with you darling. I will bring you some breakfast.”