Work Text:
Maya’s stomach was hurting. And not in an "I'm hungry" or "I ate too much food" way. In a twisting, cramping, "really don't feel good" way. And that could mean only one thing...
Her period.
Sure enough when she'd staggered from the couch to the bathroom earlier, she'd been affronted by a sea of red that hadn’t been there twenty minutes earlier. Her ruined underwear found the trash and she pulled on her period underwear and a pad, hoping that would prevent any leaks.
The next thing she needed was to curl up in bed with the heating pad. Unfortunately she made it all but three steps before she was turning and darting back to the toilet, immediately emptying her stomach into it.
That gave her pause. She'd never thrown up from her period before.
She sunk onto the tiles and pressed a hand to her stomach. It was bloated, still twisting in cramps and now extremely nauseous. Did people throw up with their periods? Or had she caught something and it had coincidentally reared its head at the exact same time her heaviest period for a while appeared.
She tried again to make it back to the bedroom- to bed where the heating pad was from a recent spate of cold nights. This time she made it to the bedroom before her stomach lurched violently, warning her just a second too late.
She barely turned herself before she was reaching for the trash can, gagging into it, dry heaving until her eyes watered and her throat burned. Nothing came up this time. That almost made it worse.
She stayed there, slumped against the wall, breathing shallowly while the cramps rolled through her abdomen like they were trying to wring her out from the inside.
"Okay," she gagged again, gripping the can against her chest. "Bathroom."
She sunk onto the toilet, her head in the trashcan, trying not to focus on the other sensations going on every time her stomach cramped.
Her nausea surged after a particularly painful one, this time her body succeeded in bringing up more bile, burning as it left her body.
"Oh god, okay," she coughed, cleaning herself up before sinking onto the floor next to the toilet again.
She curled into a ball and pulled out her phone. It felt unnaturally heavy as she unlocked it.
do periods cause vomiting?
The results loaded far too fast.
Some people experience nausea. Severe cramps can trigger vomiting. Hormones. Prostaglandins.
Maya scrolled, exiting the page before googling:
vomiting on period or sick
Her chest tightened as she read the summary.
She scrubbed a hand over her face, suddenly hyperaware of everything; how warm her skin felt, how weak her legs were, the way her stomach kept rolling even though there was basically nothing left to come up.
She'd felt like this with a sickness bug in the past. And when she had the flu and couldn't stop throwing up until Carina got her some-
Carina
"Okay. Be a paramedic," she said to herself as she shifted onto her back, wincing as a cramp rolled through her stomach.
Maya squeezed her eyes shut, willing the room to stop tilting.
“Okay. Be a paramedic,” she murmured again, more desperate this time. “Assess.”
She ticked things off in her head.
Sudden onset abdominal pain. Nausea. Vomiting. Weakness.
That fit a lot of things.
She pressed two fingers to her wrist, counting mechanically, then frowned when she lost the rhythm halfway through. Her heart felt like it was racing- but she couldn’t tell if it actually was or if that was just the anxiety crawling up her spine.
“No fever,” she muttered, though she hadn’t checked. “I don’t think.”
She laid her sweaty palm on her sweaty forehead and groaned. "Maybe I do have a fever."
Her stomach cramped hard enough that she sucked in a sharp breath, curling slightly on the cold tiles.
Heavy period, a quiet, reasonable voice offered.
Maya ignored it.
She shifted upright just in time for another wave of nausea to slam into her, dragging her forward over the toilet again. This time there was nothing left; just painful, humiliating retching that left her shaking and lightheaded.
Tears pricked at her eyes, more from exhaustion than pain.
“Okay,” she whispered hoarsely when it passed. “That’s… that’s too much.”
Then the front door clicked open.
No, no, no.
“Maya?” Carina’s voice was warm, shoes being kicked off. “Amore, I’m home.”
Maya scrambled backward on the floor, pressing herself into the wall like distance alone could protect her wife. "Carina- wait."
"Where are you?" She said and then immediately appeared in the bedroom.
“No, don’t come closer.”
Carina froze in the en suite doorway.
“Maya, what’s wrong?”
“I think- I don’t know, I might be sick.” Her stomach twisted again, punctuating the sentence cruelly. “I’ve been throwing up and- just- stay there.”
"You've been- bambina," she started to rush forward.
"No. Don't. I- well I don't know. You can't catch it... probably... maybe. I-"
"Okay, I won't come closer. Tell me what's happened? You were fine when I left for shift last night."
Maya swallowed, then immediately regretted it, tasting the lingering bile in her mouth.
“It started with cramps,” she said too fast, words tumbling over each other. “Like- bad ones. Worse than usual. And I am on my period, it started earlier, and it’s really heavy, like really heavy. Like clots and stuff. Not like usual. Which is guess could explain the nausea, except I don’t usually throw up with it, that's never happened and then I did throw up, like- multiple times a lot, and that’s what’s freaking me out because it's like stomach bug throw up-”
She had to stop, breath hitching as her stomach clenched again. She pressed a hand to it, knuckles white.
"If you need to be sick, be sick," Carina said softly, brows pinched in worry.
"I'm okay. But it's like when I have a stomach bug and my body just keeps trying to throw up. And I feel dizzy and weirdly weak. And the cramps are worse than usual. And I think I have a fever but I don't know. And- and you're pregnant and I don't want to get you sick."
Carina smiled softly, resting a hand on her rounded belly, because the weird, jittery, anxious Maya in front of her made so much more sense now; she was worried.
"You think you have a fever? Have you checked?"
Maya blinked.
“…No. But I’m really sweaty and I feel hot and my skin feels weird and-”
“You’re throwing up,” Carina said calmly. “Quite a lot by the sounds of it. And, that is physical exertion. And you’re wearing a hoodie and sweatpants.”
Maya glanced down like she’d only just noticed. Her brain stalled for half a second.
“That- okay, but still- ”
“Amore,” Carina interrupted softly. “Every time you have ever been sick with a virus, what happens first?”
Maya hesitated. “…I spike a fever.”
“Yes,” Carina said. “Every time.”
"I could have one from a virus. I could be sweating from the hoodie and still have one."
Carina nodded softly “Then we will check,” Carina said. “But I need to get near you.”
Maya tensed instantly. “Only if you wear a mask.”
Carina frowned. “Maya-”
“I know,” Maya rushed on. “I know it probably doesn’t make sense, and I know if I am sick you’ve probably already been exposed, but I just- please. I can’t-” Her voice broke. “I can’t be the reason something happens to you and the baby.”
Carina’s expression softened completely.
She didn’t argue anymore.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “I will wear a mask.”
"And gloves?"
Carina sighed, "and gloves. Let me go and get them from my bag. You take your sweater and sweatpants off and settle in bed."
Maya nodded, waiting until Carina had walked away before pushing herself up, clutching the trash can in one hand and her stomach in the other as she walked- well shuffled- towards bed.
She sank onto it and expended her last bit of energy pulling her hoodie and sweatpants off so she was lying in her bra and panties on top of the covers.
"Allora, let me grab the thermometer. And I think we'll check your iron, I found one of the clinic's rapid iron tests in my bag and you definitely look pale," Carina said, reappearing in her mask and gloves, her own shirt unbuttoned because if she was at home, she liked her bump to be free.
"How's the baby?" Maya asked weakly, turning so she could watch her wife through the bathroom door.
"Wiggly," Carina chuckled, patting her belly as she located the thermometer.
"Good," Maya sighed, "and you?"
"I'm fine. It was a very quiet night shift. One baby delivered and a couple of cases in the ER but I slept the rest of the time," Carina said, re-entering their room.
"Good," Maya said, resisting the urge to put her hand on Carina's belly when she was close enough. Not wanting to get her germs on Carina if she was sick.
"Okay, time for me to ask the questions."
Maya rolled her eyes playfully, shifting back onto her back, "fine."
Carina slid the thermometer under Maya’s tongue, resting her fingers lightly on Maya’s wrist, as she looked at the watch clipped to her belt loop.
"No elevated breathing rate, heart rate is a little elevated but you're very anxious and..." she pulled the thermometer from Maya’s mouth, "ninety-eight-point-two... normal temperature."
“But that doesn’t mean anything,” Maya said quickly. “You can have food poisoning without a fever. Or- like- something viral that hasn’t spiked yet.”
Carina didn’t argue. She just nodded.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s keep going.”
She moved onto asking questions as she assessed Maya’s stomach, which was definitely bloated, though not as bad as it had been with her last stomach bug. "Any diarrhoea?" She asked, pressing her hand near Maya’s ribs.
Maya grimaced. “No.”
“Anyone at work sick recently?”
“No.”
“Did you eat anything unusual for dinner after I left? Or at work yesterday? Anything that had been left out too long?” she asked, moving her hand lower as she did.
Maya hesitated, then shook her head. “No.”
Carina hummed thoughtfully. “And your vomiting- does it come with the cramps or on its own?”
Maya blinked. “…With the cramps.”
“Every time?”
“…Yeah.”
"Pain when I touch here?" She asked, as she walked her hands down to Maya’s lower belly.
Maya winced but didn’t pull away.
“It… yeah,” she said, breathing through it. “But it’s the same pain. It’s not worse than it already was.”
Carina nodded slightly, clocking that immediately.
“And when I let go?”
Carina lifted her hand.
Maya exhaled. “That part’s actually better.”
"Okay, I'm gonna press again," Carina said, wanting to check.
Maya tensed slightly.
“It’s uncomfortable,” she admitted. “Like pressure makes the cramps flare, but once you stop it eases again.”
Carina paused, then gently removed her hand.
“Okay,” she said softly. “That’s helpful.”
"If it hurts when you press, that means I'm sick, right?"
"Actually," Carina rested her hand gently on Maya’s stomach, "what you're describing points me more in the period direction. You don’t have any sharp or heightened pain when I'm pressing. And when I pressed here, which is right where your uterus is, you got cramps."
"Oh-"
"Mmm." Carina hummed. "Can I check your iron? You just look so pale."
"What if I'm pale because I'm sick."
"Honestly, bambina, everything, and I mean everything, is pointing towards it being your period," she said gently, perching on the bed next to Maya.
"Why am I being sick, though? The stomach ache and the no fever, I guess that makes sense but why am I throwing up?" She sighed.
"Your uterus is contracting hard, harder than usual by the sounds of it. That releases prostaglandins. They don’t just stay in your uterus. They affect your stomach, your intestines. They make you nauseous. They make you vomit. Add that to period day one hormonal surges and it's not uncommon to have episodes of vomiting.”
"But that many times?"
"Yeah, the episodes were matching your pain flaring. They followed a pattern, but you were feeling too ill, and anxious, to spot that. Which is okay, it's normal. Now, I have a feeling, on top of all of that, your iron is low again. You've looked a little pale the last couple of days, remember me asking if you were okay on Tuesday morning?"
Maya nodded. "I've felt more tired," she admitted.
"Let's check it then, and then we can treat that too."
"Okay, how does it work? Blood test?" Maya asked, every iron test she'd ever had, had been at the doctors office and required a tube of her blood.
"Finger prick," Carina said, opening the kit, "it's accurate enough, and if it comes back low then we'll book you for a proper blood test to actually check your levels, but this will do today."
Maya nodded, holding her hand out for Carina, who got to work, starting a timer on her phone once she had dropped Maya’s blood into the test cassette and activated it with the buffer.
"Whilst we wait five minutes for the test to work, can we start fixing the problems?" Carina asked, already reaching for the heating pad.
"I was trying to get it when I threw up the second time," Maya said as Carina laid it over her stomach. Maya immediately curled up around it, bringing her knees towards her chest.
"My bambina, it sounds awful," Carina said, leaning down to kiss her forehead through the mask. "Would you like a zofran?"
Maya eyed it warily. “You’re sure?”
“I would not offer it if I wasn’t,” Carina said gently.
"I haven't thrown up since you got home."
"You haven't but I want to get some electrolytes in you and ibuprofen and acetaminophen. And I don't want you throwing them back up." Carina said softly, brushing some hair off Maya’s face.
“I’ll be okay without-” Maya started, then immediately tensed as a cramp tore through her, her hand flying for the trash can. “Go-”
“Bambina, you’re not contagious,” Carina said gently, even as Maya tried to push her away.
“Go- please-" Maya managed between gags.
Carina hesitated for half a second, then nodded. “Okay,” she said softly. “I’ll get you some medicine.”
Carina moved quickly but reluctantly, disappearing into the kitchen. She set the glass down harder than she meant to, hands moving on autopilot as she filled it with water, then tipped the electrolyte packet in.
From the bedroom, she heard another rough, broken gag followed by nothing.
Carina closed her eyes briefly.
“Maya?” she called softly.
There was a pause, then a weak, strained voice. “Nothing’s-” a breath hitched. “Nothing’s coming up.”
"That's okay. It happens. Take some deep breaths," Carina said softly, opening the cupboard where they kept the medicine and vitamins, pulling down the various bottles of painkillers, and the zofran she'd been prescribed at the start of her pregnancy.
She stopped just outside the bedroom door, listening as Maya retched again, the sound dry and miserable.
“I’m here,” Carina said gently as she stepped back in.
Maya was curled over the trash can, shaking slightly, one hand fisted in the bedding. She didn’t look up.
“I tried to stop it,” she muttered hoarsely. “It just- keeps happening.”
Carina sat back on the bed next to her and put her hand on Maya's back, rubbing gently.
"Listen, I don’t want you to get dehydrated. The moment you drink something, with the way your belly is, you'll bring it straight back up. So I really would like it if you took the Zofran. They made me and Piccolo feel better," Carina said, rubbing her bump. She'd gone through a couple of weeks of daily sickness followed by dry heaving for hours and then zofran had saved her.
"They're your pills, I'll- it has to stop at some point."
"Maya- it’s one pill, it doesn't matter, we," she patted her belly again, "don't need them. But you do."
"Will it help with feeling nauseous?"
"Almost definitely," Carina said, tentatively reaching for the bottle.
Maya sighed, the last little bit of resistance she had ebbing away. She held her hand out.
“Allora, you remember? This one goes on your tongue,” she said softly. “You don’t have to swallow it.”
Maya nodded faintly, opening her mouth without argument.
“Good,” Carina murmured as she rested it on Maya’s tongue and her wife closed her mouth. “Just let it melt. I’ve got you.”
Whilst they waited, Maya curled back up, shivering a little. Carina was quick, reaching for the throw on the end of their bed, and draping it over her. She rested her hand back on Maya’s back and continued the slow circles.
"Okay, five minutes are up," Carina whispered, picking up the test cassette.
"The zofran hasn't dissolved yet."
"No, five minutes since your iron test," Carina chuckled, "which is showing me you are definitely deficient. The good thing is, I found your iron pills... which you clearly haven't been taking since these ones are dated May and we are almost in August."
"I don't need them-"
"This says otherwise," Carina said, holding the test out for her, shaking her head.
"Can I skip it for today? Sometimes they sit weird in my tummy."
"We have iron liquid too. No skipping. You choose."
"The liquid makes me feel like I'm gonna puke, so definitely the pills."
"Deal. How's the zofran?"
Maya replied by sticking her tongue out, showing that the tablet had almost dissolved.
"Good, okay, so plan is, give that a couple of minutes to work. Then ibuprofen and acetaminophen for cramps, and your iron tablet. Taken with electrolytes. Then maybe we'll try some crackers in an hour or so?"
"Can we nap?" Maya asked, "if my pain let's me."
"Oh absolutely, in fact, let me put my PJs on whilst that gets to work and I should take my prenatal vitamins too."
"And you and the baby are definitely okay?" Maya asked, not taking her eyes off Carina, "not sick at all?"
"We're fine," Carina smiled, pulling on a bralette and some shorts, "you wanna feel? They're super wiggly. I'm pretty sure they can hear that Mom doesn't feel well."
Maya rolled her eyes playfully. "You told me they can only hear low pitch stuff."
"Well- they're wiggly," Carina shrugged, opening the bottle of vitamins. "Feel," she stuck her belly out so it was near Maya’s nose.
"How confident are you that it's my period?"
"92%," Carina said, taking her mask off, her gloves already discarded in the trash from the iron test, "and the other 8% is for a bug that I have almost certainly been exposed to if you have it. Say hi to bump."
Maya smiled and shuffled forward so her lips pressed against Carina’s belly. Her other hand came off the heat pad and onto the lower half of the bump, her warm hand immediately causing the baby to kick. "Oh hi little one."
"See, they know how to cheer you up. Oh and rolling now too," Carina said as the baby began to roll under Maya’s palm. "All the tricks to cheer up sick Mommy," Carina cooed, brushing her fingers through Maya’s hair.
"I think the zofran's working," Maya mumbled, as she kissed Carina’s belly again.
"Okay, small sips and I'll get you your pills," Carina said, beginning to open bottles, passing them one at a time to Maya who took each without complaint, though scowled at the iron tablet.
"Hopefully you begin to feel better. Cuddle time?"
"I need to go to the bathroom. That last bout something definitely happened. And I almost peed myself."
"Bambina," Carina pouted, holding her hand out for Maya.
She steadied Maya as they shuffled to the bathroom, keeping a careful arm around her waist. Maya moved slowly, the edge of the nausea still there but dulled now, like something she could push through instead of be flattened by.
“I’m okay,” she murmured, mostly to reassure herself.
“I know,” Carina said, tone easy. “I’ve got you anyway.”
By the time they made it back to the bed, Maya looked wrung out in that particular way that came after the worst had passed. She climbed under the covers with a soft sigh, settling onto her side with the heating pad still tucked against her stomach.
Carina climbed in carefully behind her, shuffling closer as she pulled the covers around them, one arm draping over her waist, her palm settling on Maya’s abdomen.
Maya tensed for half a second before relaxing into her touch.
"Is this okay? I can move my hand if not."
Maya shook her head, eyes fluttering closed, "it's nice."
"Va bene," Carina pressed a kiss to her hair. "Hopefully they don't start kicking you in the back like usual."
"They're just massaging my back if they do," Maya chuckled lowly.
"I'm sorry." She said moments later, her voice shaky.
"For what?" Carina asked, lifting up so she could see Maya’s face.
"For- for panicking. For catastrophising. For making you wear the mask."
"Bambina," Carina sighed, brushing away the tear that rolled down Maya’s cheek. "It's scary being sick. Even more so when you can't figure out what's going on. You don't need to be sorry for that. And you don't need to be sorry for keeping me and piccolo safe. Ever. Okay?"
She nodded, but another sob broke free.
"Take a deep breath," Carina soothed, rubbing her back, "you're okay, I'm okay, bambino is okay. Just breathe."
Maya nodded, taking a few deep breaths.
"We're okay."
“I know,” she whispered, still sniffling. “I just… needed you to tell me.”
Carina kissed her cheek and settled back behind her wife. Her hand resumed its slow, absent circles over Maya’s stomach, matching the rise and fall of her breathing. The baby kicked once, gently, like a punctuation mark.
"We've got you."
Maya smiled faintly.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, already halfway asleep.
"I hope you wake up feeling better. Little one and I will be here when you do."