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The throbbing behind your eyes had only grown stronger as time had passed. You knew it was coming and tried to stay ahead of the migraine but the medicine wasn’t working this time. Clenching your jaw in frustration, you moved to sit up and get a cold compress but lied back not even halfway into the effort. The aura had faded now so at least you had your entire vision back, not that it was doing any good with how weak you felt.
Don’t just stay here; you need to make dinner. Just suck it up and get going.
After that “pep-talk” to yourself, you tried to get up again and, with the help of the back of the couch, managed to sit up, despite the pounding in your head. As you stood up, your knees were shaking so badly that you had to use the coffee table to keep yourself from falling. Your eyes burned as tears of frustration began to well in the corners of your eyes. Straightening your back, you took one step at a time and managed to move about three feet before the dizziness and pain became too much and you sank onto the floor, having to lie down again. This time you couldn’t hold back the tears; you had a steady stream going down from the outer corners of your eyes, while you desperately tried to keep from sobbing. The pain would only be so much worse if you couldn’t control yourself, meaning you would be even more useless than you are now. All you could do at this moment is focus on your breathing in order to try and manage the pain.
***
Enji was making his way to his front door after finishing at the agency. His day had been busy, but he could finally feel the tension that had built up slowly ebbing away at the thought of spending time with his wife. He entered his genkan and took off his shoes, placing them in their proper place and retrieving his house shoes. He was slightly surprised to not hear music or the sounds of you moving in the kitchen. You loved to cook and almost always rejected his offer to buy dinner out. He would never willingly admit it, but he enjoyed the fact that you loved cooking for him. He loved coming home to a warm house, filled with a delicious aroma. He no longer felt dread at coming home to the cold, empty house he had grown used to after his divorce from Rei.
Enji felt the tension coming back to his shoulders the thought of what might have happened to you, as he couldn’t hear any sounds from in the house. He made his way into the living area and his heart started hammering in his chest as he saw you laying on the floor with tear tracks running down from your eyes. He crossed the distance in three strides, knelt next to you, and gently swept the back of his forefinger across your eyebrow. Startled, you flinched away from the touch and opened your eyes, only to almost immediately shut them from the pain. Before your eyes closed, though, you caught a glimpse of red hair and relaxed.
“Sorry, Enji; I wouldn’t have moved away if I had known it was you”.
You knew he could be sensitive about things like that because of his past. Sometimes, he worried that you would be frightened of him, so you always tried to reassure him that you knew he wouldn’t hurt you.
“Don’t be concerned with that. I should have announced that I was home”, he said, trying assure you that he didn’t think you were trying to get away from him. “Why are you on the floor? Did someone hurt you?”
You could hear the anger start to bleed into his tone, even though he tried to prevent it. You hesitated, suddenly realizing that you had been dealing with this migraine far longer than you had thought. The urge to cry harder hit you when the thought of dinner ran across your mind. How many times had Enji had to work through pain? And here you are, just lying here, unable to handle a headache.
Enji calling your name softly brought your attention back to him. “Please tell me. I’m… concerned about you and I want to help, if I can”.
You could tell he was struggling to express his care for you through his words. He had never been very good at it but was doing his best. You opened your eyes a bit and looked at his face. His brows were furrowed, and he reached out to softly run the back of his hand against your arm.
“I just have a headache. I’m sorry dinner isn’t cooked. I’m sure I can get something together to be ready in a half hour,” your voice sounded rough, even to you, and wavered a bit.
Enji huffed out a sigh through his nose. “Just a headache or a migraine?”
You had suffered from a number of migraines and always tried to diminish how bad they were. Your silence answered the question for him.
“How long have you had it and were you able to take medication for it?”
You looked at him as best you could and could immediately see that he would not let it go. You knew there was no getting out of him helping you, and the tears began to well up again.
“I’m sorry you have to come home from work to no dinner and having to deal with me”, you said, with the tears falling again.
“Y/N, I’m not angry. I don’t enjoy you being in pain but I will help you through it however I am able.” Enji always felt awkward expressing his feelings to you but, in this moment, he knew you needed to hear it. “You didn’t answer my question”, he grunted out to change the subject.
You saw his cheeks turn a bit pink and you giggled, then winced at the pain. “I don’t even know what time it is.” You pouted at that realization. “I was just trying to clean the mirror and the light reflected off it and gave me this stupid migraine. I took something as soon as I noticed the aura but it hasn’t helped.”
He kissed your forehead and brushed his thumb against your cheekbone. “Do you need me to call a doctor?”
You started to shake your head but the pain prevented you from completing the action. “No, but thank you. I just need to sleep it off, I think”.
“If you change your mind, you need to tell me. Understood?”
“Okay. I promise.”
He stood and began to step away but you grabbed his pant leg. He looked at you a bit confused.
“Thank you, Enji”.
He could hear in your tone that you weren’t just thanking him for offering to call a doctor. He knew you criticized yourself more than necessary and he wanted to do what he could to help break that habit.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re my wife. What kind of husband would I be if I didn’t do that much?”
He moved into the kitchen and you smiled a bit, happy that he didn’t think less of you.
Enji came back some minutes later and you heard him place something on the coffee table.
“I made some Chamomile tea if you can stomach some. I read that it’s good for migraines. I brought a cold rag for you, as well, if you want it.”
“Okay. If you help me sit up, then I can probably drink some”.
He immediately offered his arms for you to use and slowly guided you into a sitting position. He began to pull his arms away but you held onto him, enjoying his warmth. Without letting you go, Enji sat behind you and let you lean your bac against his chest after handing you the mug of tea and cold compress. Taking a sip, you relaxed a bit at the taste. Enji reached forward and grabbed the cold rag. You took it from his hands to place over your eyes, taking his hand in yours and kissing it to show your gratitude. In the next few minutes, Enji’s heat and the taste of the tea had you feeling sleepy. As your head rested against him, Enji, as gingerly as he could, took the cup from your hands and set it aside, so you didn’t drop it in your sleep. Enji very carefully moved you to the couch, then he ordered from your favorite take-out place as a surprise for when you woke up.