Work Text:
With no kids, no pets, and living in a secure enough apartment to make Fort Knox blush, Rita wasn’t often woken up in the middle of the night. Maybe on occasion by a stray elbow from her girlfriend straight to the ribs in their sleep, or a car alarm on the street below, but never by the sound of pained, hacking coughs from their ensuite, like she was now.
She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand where she lay, turning towards the light spilling into their bedroom from the crack in the door ahead of her. She looked back to see the other side of the bed empty and the sleepy math soon added up. She waited for the noise to die down a little so she’d definitely hear her.
“Case, you okay in there?” She called out groggily.
“Good, ‘m good…” She heard Casey lie, the simple act of talking tickling her throat enough to start the vicious coughing cycle all over again.
Rita winced a little in sympathy at the sound, hearing the faucet running and water splashing while Casey took a drink from it.
Rita peered over to check her phone and groaned when she saw it was already 5am. She saw more light spilling through as the door to the bathroom opened wider.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” Casey croaked.
“It’s… fine…” She replied slowly, looking up and screwing her eyes as they adjusted over Casey’s frame, in her full winter running gear. The long sleeved top and vest, thick leggings and hair tied back under the baseball cap.
“Well that’s not happening.” Rita stated, sitting up against the headboard.
“I’ll live.” Casey shrugged, sounding a little ironic. She moved around in the semi-darkness, Rita hearing their closet opening as she pulled out her sneakers.
“Darling, you’re sick, come back to bed. Skipping one won’t kill you.”
Casey had observed her morning runs almost religiously ever since they got together. No matter how early they needed to be up, or how much they had to do that day, she always got a boost from taking an extra half hour to pound the pavements, breathing in the fresh air that cleared her head and gave her more of a boost than any caffeine fix could ever provide.
Not that Rita hadn’t tried her best to convince her otherwise on several occasions. Like the unbearably cold, frosty mornings of winter, or the ones where she was clearly too tired. Or, like this morning in particular, both.
It started earlier that evening, when Casey suggested ordering in instead of cooking for the two of them when they got home from work. That was Rita’s first clue. No matter how late Casey got held up at the office; cooking a nice meal for them, or at least a nice lunch for the next day if it really was far too late, helped her unwind. Something about being able to watch it all come together in front of her.
After spending hours chasing worthless leads, filing endless paperwork and fighting nonstop motions, ending a workday with some sort of closure was a rare treat that only really happened after a verdict. Unlike when she cooked, where every venture over the stove ended with some sort of delicious reward.
Then Casey started to sniff. They’d ordered Thai food that night, she got her favorite green curry. It was only natural, but really that should’ve been Rita’s next clue.
She had been rather restless lying in bed that night, too, tossing and turning at all hours, Rita only vaguely aware of the movement while she slept. Which led to now, when she must’ve spotted the time and given up entirely on getting any meaningful shut eye, desperate for a distraction, like the kind she got from going for a good, long run.
“I’m alright, I swear I just—” The tickle in her throat cut her off again in the middle of tying her sneaker. She coughed into the crook of her elbow where she knelt on the floor before sniffing, loudly, then carrying on.
That was enough for Rita, who stretched her arms a little before throwing the sheets off herself and getting up from the bed with a grunt, flicking on the lamp on her nightstand and making her way across the bedroom just as Casey stood to face her.
“Let me get a look at you…” She took Casey by the arms and walked her back to the bathroom, taking off her cap and tossing it onto the dresser on their way. The harsh light still buzzing away in there highlighted just how grey her complexion had gotten, the dark circles under her eyes, just how much she was already shivering despite the cosy warmth of the heating that blasted through their apartment.
Rita reached up and placed the back of her hand on Casey’s forehead.
“Yeah, you’re not going anywhere, you’re burning up.”
“But—”
“This is not a negotiation, darling.”
Casey huffed as she walked around to her side of the bed and perched herself over it. Rita peered back into the bathroom to see Casey’s pyjamas discarded on the floor, having been thrown at, but just missing, the laundry basket in there. She walked through to pick them up to find them cool and a little damp with sweat before wordlessly throwing them into the basket.
She walked back out into the room, flicking the light off on the way, leaving the warm glow of her bedside lamp to guide her back to their closet. She checked through the shelf of pyjamas and loungewear, pulling out the comfiest looking hoodie she could see.
“Here…” She said, tossing it to Casey before gently closing the closet doors and walking round to put a hand on her shoulder. “Want some tea for your throat?”
Casey paused for a moment before relenting. “Sure, thanks.” She croaked, bringing a fist over her mouth to try and suppress another little cough. God forbid she proved Rita any more right than she already was.
Rita stood in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil. Mug and teabag already prepped, it left her some time to think. In the three years they’d been official, neither of them had suffered anything worse than seasonal allergies.
Just a cold, sweat it out and sleep it off. It should have been simple, really. And of course she loved Casey, deeply, almost suffocatingly. But Rita wasn’t the caregiving type. Too used to knowing how to look after herself for so long, she just hoped whatever worked for her whenever she got sick would somehow translate into doing all this well enough. She just didn’t want Casey to think she didn’t care, leave her thinking she really was the cold-blooded bitch everyone warned her about.
The kettle boiled and she poured the water into it, hearing more faint coughing echo through the hall followed by a loud groan. She paused for a moment as she moved to pick up the mug by the handle, instead heading for one of the cabinets and looking through the assortment of pill boxes stashed in there. She had no idea what to bring, what Casey might prefer, instead choosing a few different options, tucking the boxes in the crooks of her elbows and under her chin before finally picking up the mug again and making her way back through.
She nudged the door open with her shoulder.
“Sorry, I wasn’t sure what you…”
She trailed off at the sight of Casey remaining unmoved, sitting over the side of the bed. Not trying to sneakily make her escape against all common sense, but also not having changed in Rita’s absence, still sitting in her workout clothes.
Rita dumped the boxes on the dresser and took over the mug of tea, placing it on Casey’s nightstand and crouching in front of her.
“What’s wrong? You okay?” She asked, placing a hand on her knee. Whether it was in reassurance or to keep herself balanced she wasn’t quite sure.
Casey gave a resigned sigh. “… Tired.”
“I know, sweetie. Here…” Rita sat up on her knees and unzipped Casey’s vest, taking it from around her shoulders and folding it up. Rita tossed it onto the chair by the bed and turned back just as quick, standing up to grab at the hem of Casey’s top. “Arms up…”
Casey did as she was told, raising her arms above her head, allowing Rita to slide it off her gently, tossing it back into the ever growing pile of clothes. Rita then grabbed the hoodie she picked out earlier to unfurl it, leaving Casey to deal with the puzzle box she called a sports bra.
Rita held the hoodie tight as she guided it over Casey’s head, but was gently swatted away when she tried to help with the sleeves.
“I got it, thanks.” Casey huffed, adjusting at the hem and moving the hair out of her face that got mussed by the hoodie.
“Okay, sorry…” Rita held her hands out in surrender and walked back over to the dresser, reassessing the boxes she brought through earlier.
Casey finally spotted the mug on her nightstand and took a grateful sip from it, sighing with relief at the heat soothing her throat. She instantly winced with guilt for snapping like that.
“Sorry…” She said as she turned, her voice instantly sounding a little more like her as the tea worked its magic. Her bleary eyes focussed on the pile of boxes on the dresser as Rita rifled through them again. “What’s all that?”
Rita picked up the first box to hand. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted the, day or night pills…” She glanced at the clock on the wall, screwing her eyes to study it with only the little lamp on the other side of the room for light. “It is kinda late, or, early, I guess…” She looked through the remainder, muttering loud enough for Casey to hear. “Then uh, I don’t know your thoughts on vaporub, or throat spray, or uh… Cough drops…”
Casey got up with a small groan and shuffled over to the dresser. It felt like every muscle in her legs had turned to mush in the time she’d been sitting and she was suddenly grateful for Rita’s persistence in keeping her home.
Her heart melted at the sight in front of her, Rita studying every label on the boxes intently, seeing what could be taken together and what couldn’t and arranging them on the dresser appropriately. She previously suspected Rita maybe wasn’t the caregiving type. That didn’t matter to her too much, after all these years Casey had been perfectly capable of looking after herself. But now the woman in front of her was making her tea, and helping her change, and debating the efficacy of different cold pills at 5am for her. Maybe she got it wrong. Maybe she wasn’t the cold-blooded bitch everyone warned her about.
Casey wordlessly picked up one of the boxes and opened it up, taking out the sleeve of green and blue night-time pills and holding it between her fingers.
Rita nodded approvingly. “They’ll make you a little drowsy—”
“I think…” Casey started, interrupting, her voice still sounding strained. “I’m gonna call in sick anyway.” She looked longingly into Rita’s eyes, placing a hand on her shoulder with a warm smile. “Thank you.”
She could feel Rita’s shoulder instantly relax underneath her hand.
“You…” Rita sighed. “Need to focus on getting better… I’ll call your office, you just go back to bed.”
“Alright, Nurse Jackie…” Casey gave another cheeky smirk before padding back over to the bed. She put down the sleeve of pills and took another sip of hot tea before climbing back under the sheets.
“Rita?” She called over to the woman who was now watching her every move like a hawk.
“Yeah?”
“… Could you get me a glass of water?” Casey asked quietly, meekly.
Rita smiled. “… Sure.”