Jemma has been keeping an extra close eye on her girlfriend all week, knowing that Skye, despite the other woman's protests, was getting sick. Jemma knew Skye well enough to know the tell tale signs of her coming down with something. Skye's eyes would always, always water and Skye would quickly swipe at her eyes and a) deny the fact they were watering or b) blame it on tiredness. She would get groggy and her voice would become more and more raspy as the days went on and she would always deny the fact she was ill.
But once it hit her in full effect, like it had this morning, Skye turned into a massive child. Whenever Jemma was ill, she liked to be left alone and slept for most of the day surviving off tea and toast. But Skye was like a clingy five year old. She needed to be looked after and couldn't be left alone for more than a few minutes.
Last winter when Skye had gotten sick, Jemma had had to work and the only person who could watch Skye was May. Jemma had almost had a heart attack when she walked into their living room to find Skye and May asleep on the sofa, Mays's arms wrapped affectionately around Skye and Skye's head resting on May's chest. Jemma, naturally, had taken a bunch of pictures from several different angles and Skye had gotten ahold of them, framed them and given them to May for Christmas with the caption "see, you do love me!".
But, luckily for Skye, Jemma had called in sick and got to stay home and look after her.
Skye was currently wrapped up in Jemma's arms, her head resting on the other woman's chest as Jemma played with Skye's hair. Skye sniffled and wiped at her face before she snuggled in even closer to Jemma, wrapping her arm around Jemma's hips and pulling her as close as possible.
"My throat hurts" Skye whined, tracing invisible patterns with her finger on an exposed bit of flesh on Jemma's hip.
"I know baby, but you refuse to drink the cough medicine" Jemma sighed, trying to sound as calm as possible. She loved Skye, she really did, but looking after a sick Skye who refused to take medicine and complained all day was less than fun.
"Tastes icky!"
"I know but it will make you feel better" Jemma replied knowingly. "The taste will go away after a minute or so"
Skye scrunched her face and stuck her tongue out in disgust before she broke out into a massive fit of coughs, scaring the living daylights of of Jemma, who wasn't expecting it.
Jemma just rubbed Skye's back soothingly as Skye "coughed up half a lung", wondering if she was dating a five year old or a 25 year old.
"Need ice cream" Skye sniffled a few moments later, fighting the urge to fall asleep as Jemma's fingers worked wonders on her scalp.
Jemma, normally, would deny Skye such a request. It was only 9 in the morning and she was refusing the cough syrup, but the scratchiness in Skye's tone broke Jemma's heart and Skye wasn't even trying to bribe her with her puppy dog eyes either.
And besides, Jemma never had even very good at denying Skye anything anyway.
"Okay" Jemma smiled down at Skye, who looked pale an fragile and not at all like her normal self. "But first you have a spoon of cough syrup"
Jemma waited for Skye to protest, but the other girl just nodded her head. Skye must really be ill if she was actually willingly having the medicine. Jemma felt her heart break even more. This wasn't like Skye at all, even the sick Skye.
"I'll be right back" Jemma promised, kissing Skye's forehead as she gently slid out from beneath her. Skye was hot and clammy to touch but she was shivering and wrapping herself into a tight cocoon with the bed sheets. Jemma sighed as she left the bedroom, wondering when Skye's fever had started.
She quickly made up Skye a bowl of ice cream, grabbed the cough syrup and headed back to the bedroom. When she got back she noticed that Skye had rolled onto the middle of the bed, looking tiny and frail as only her face poked out from beneath the duvet. From Skye's heavy and laboured breathing, Jemma could tell Skye had fallen asleep.
She needed to sleep so Jemma was glad. She placed the ice cream on the table and gently woke Skye up. Skye groaned but kept her eyes closed and sniffled a few times. Jemma poured a spoonful of the thick liquid into the spoon and told Skye to open her mouth. Skye complied and scrunched up her face as she swallowed it.
Jemma grabbed another blanket from the wardrobe and tree it across a still shivering Skye, tucking it in around her little cocoon.
"I'm just going to be in the living room catching up on paper work, okay?" Jemma said softly and Skye nodded. Jemma kissed Skye's clammy forehead again before turning off the light and leaving the room.
(x)
Jemma was halfway through her paperwork for the newest ICER upgrade when she heard shuffling and groaning coming from the bedroom. She had lived with Skye in this house long enough to become finely attuned to her footfalls. When Jemma found Skye hunched over the toilet bowl, her heart sank.
Skye hated throwing up more than the average person. One particularly mean nun used to hit her and shout at Skye whenever she got ill at St. Agnes and it still upset Skye to this day.
Jemma rushed over to Skye and grabbed her long brown locks with one hand and started rubbing soothing circles on her back with the other.
Skye was now burning to the touch. Her fever had obviously worsened in the past hour. Once Skye had finished throwing up, she collapsed onto Jemma and grabbed the material of Jemma's t-shirt.
Jemma wrapped her arms around Skye and pulled her onto her lap, hugging her close.
Jemma's skin was cool and soothing against Skye's own and Jemma smelled nice and Skye couldn't help but snuggle in as close as humanly possible.
The tile of the bathroom floor was freezing against Skye's legs but she physically didn't have the strength to move.
Skye was paler than Jemma had ever seen her before - and Jemma had seen her bleed out from two bullets to the stomach. Skye was starting to shiver rarer violently and Jemma wasn't sure if it was because she was cold or because she had just thrown up, but what Jemma did know was that they couldn't stay on the floor.
"Baby, we can't stay here. You need to go back to bed" Jemma all but whispered, stroking damp, dark hairs off Skye's forehead.
Skye groaned and pulled Jemma closer. She knew Jemma was right but she didn't want to move. Jemma was comfy and warm and made Skye feel a bit better just by being there.
"I know you don't want to move, Skye, but you have to go back to bed"
Skye sniffled and wipe her nose with her sleeve and it was only then that Jemma saw that Skye had rubbed her nose red raw. She swatted Skye's hand away, and handed her a tissue. She then proceeded to shove several more up Skye's sleeve in a very motherly fashion which made Skye grin a bit.
Jemma stood and held out her hand to help Skye up. With a lot of effort, Jemma managed to pull Skye up from the floor and walked with her to the bedroom. Skye flopped down on the bed and Jemma pulled out some woolly pyjama bottoms from the draw. Skye was only wearing thin shorts and judging from the goosebumps on her legs, she was freezing.
Jemma pulled Skye's shorts off and Skye sat up and grinned at Jemma the way she always did when she was about to get laid.
"Seriously, Skye?!" Jemma scoffed, quirking a brow as she placed Skye's legs inside the pants. "You can hardly stand and you really think I'm going to have sex with you?!"
Skye just shrugged as Jemma pulled the pants up her legs.
"Can't blame a girl for trying" Skye smirked as she once again got comfortable under the blankets.
Jemma just chuckled as she shook her head. Skye looked like death warmed up and still had sex on the mind.
"Right" Jemma declared standing up straight as she finished tucking Skye in. "You're going back to sleep an I'm going to finish off my work"
"Mmmm bossy" Skye grinned, already half asleep. "I like it"
Jemma just rolled her eyes and told Skye she was going to leave the bucket by the bed if she needed to throw up again before she left the room.
Jemma flopped back down on the sofa and saw she had 3 missed calls from Coulson. It was only then that Jemma remembered she had promised to keep the team informed on how Skye was earlier that morning but hadn't said a word to him. Jemma dialled Coulson's number and he picked up on the second ring.
"Jemma?!" he asked, sounding worried. Jemma could hear him pacing back and forth. "How is Skye? Is she okay?!"
"Skye's fine" Jemma chuckled. Coulson breathed a sigh of relief down the line. "Sorry I haven't gotten in touch earlier, I've been busy - you know what Skye is like" Coulson hummed in response. "She's got a fever and has thrown up a few times but she's still making jokes so she's okay"
"A FEVER?!" Coulson gasped, as though Jemma had just old him Skye had been shot again. She heard muffled arguments and scrambling from Coulson's end of the line a wondered what on Earth was going on when Coulson shrieked in pain. "May wants to speak to you" he said a few moments later and Jemma could hear the pout in his voice.
"Jemma" May spoke. "How is Skye? Is she okay? You are keeping her hydrated aren't you?"
Jemma wanted to roll her eyes an remind May that she wasn't stupid and was actually a doctor, but she also didn't want to be on the wrong side of May.
"Skye's fine. She has a fever but she's sleeping through it"
"See, I told you Skye was fine!"
"Well excuse me for caring about my junior agent!" May snapped back. Jemma just sat and awkwardly listened to May and Phil bicker.
"It's just the flu, May. She's not dying!"
"Hey! Don't act like you haven't been pacing in your office all morning!"
Jemma coughed loudly, letting them both know she was still there. They'd only been married a few months but they acted like an old married couple. It was cute at first but Jemma was tired, having been up early with Skye and she really needed to finish her paper work.
"I really should get going. I've got a ton of work to catch up on. I'll let you know if Skye gets any better or worse. Okay bye" Jemma quickly hung up and dropped her phone onto the empty space next to her. She ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled deeply.
This was going to be a long day!
With another deep sigh, Jemma pulled her laptop back into her lap and continued typing up her report on the ICER upgrade.
(x)
It was nearing on 3pm when Jemma felt her stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten since dinner last night and was starting to get hungry. She'd been so busy taking care of Skye that she forgot to take care of herself.
She hadn't gotten much work done either, because Skye seemed to be throwing up every half an hour like clockwork. Jemma had debated on ringing a doctor, but she knew that a doctor would just say it was the flu or a stomach bug and Skye would just have to ride it out.
Jemma saved her work and shut down her computer before making her way to the kitchen. She was too tired to cook a proper dinner and instead opted for soup.
Skye had been throwing up so much that Jemma wondered if it would even be worth making her some. But then the doctor part of her mind kicked in and reminded her that, yes, it would. Even if Skye was only going to bring it back up again in half an hour, at least there would be something in her stomach to bring back up, rather that just her stomach lining.
Jemma poured the chicken soup into a pan and heated it up, nibbling on a slice of bread as she waited. She heard Skye get up and race to the bathroom again but by the time Jemma had managed to turn the hob off, Skye came trudging back into the kitchen.
Skye was now wearing Jemma's old S.H.I.E.L.D. academy hoodie and her pyjama pants we're tucked into a pair of fuzzy socks. Skye had the duvet wrapped around her, leaving only a little hole for her face.
Jemma noticed that a little bit of colour had returned to Skye's face.
"How are you feeling, baby?" Jemma asked, placing the back of her had against Skye's forehead. She was still rather warm, but her fever was nowhere near as bad as it was this morning.
"A bit better" Skye sniffled. Jemma's hand felt nice against her skin and she instantly missed it when Jemma went back to tending to dinner.
"Do you think you can eat something?" Jemma asked and Skye immediately looked queasy at the mention of food. "I know food is probably the last thing on your mind, but you've not eaten all day and if you continue throwing up on an empty stomach you could do some serious damage"
Skye frowned. She knew Jemma was right but she wasn't too keen on the idea of throwing up even more. Skye opened her mouth to speak, when Jemma cut her off.
"And no, you're not having chocolate or ice cream"
Skye pouted as she leant against the counter, hugging the duvet tighter around her body. Jemma was pouring the soup into two bowls and motioned for Skye to grab some bread. Skye did as she was told and followed her girlfriend out of the kitchen and into the living room.
Jemma usually made them eat at the table but it seemed being sick had some perks. Skye plopped down on the sofa next to Jemma and snuggled in as close as possible, throwing her duvet over Jemma's legs.
"Skye I'm fine, you need to keep warm"
Skye quirked her brow.
"I am warm" she said matter of factly. "And besides, sharing with you will keep me extra warm"
Jemma just smiled and handed Skye her bowl of soup. Skye looked down at the chicken-y liquid in the bowl and felt her stomach churn. Jemma was happily eating hers and Skye hoped that if she just played with the spoon a little, Jemma would think she was eating hers too.
"Skye, stop playing with your soup and eat it" Jemma scolded. Skye groaned and picked up her spoon and proceeded to eat.
Skye only managed a few mouthfuls before she was "full", but she felt a lot better for it and was glad Jemma had made her eat. Skye placed her half-empty bowl next to Jemma's on the coffee table and snuggled in as close to Jemma as she could.
Jemma wrapped her arm around Skye and pulled her close, placing soft kisses on Skye's forehead and playing with her short, silky hair. Skye couldn't help but smile as she relaxed into Jemma's embrace.
"Are you feeling any better?" Jemma asked with a yawn. She had noticed that it had been almost two hours since Skye last threw up and her fever was almost gone.
"A lot, actually" Skye nodded. "Thank you for looking after me, babe" Skye grinned, leaning up and kissing Jemma on the cheek.
Jemma smiled and turned her head, trying to capture Skye's lips with her own and frowning when Skye pulled away.
"You'll get sick"
Jemma shrugged. She already felt pretty bad anyway and had a strong feeling she had caught what Skye had. She hadn't kissed Skye all day and she really fucking missed her.
"Don't care" Jemma replied as Skye grinned and leaned up to kiss her properly, before she once again pulled away leaving Jemma pouting.
"I need to brush my teeth" Skye quickly clambered off of Jemma and sprinted down the hall as fast as she could.
When she returned a few minutes later, she pounced on Jemma and kissed her like it was her last day on Earth. Jemma kissed Skye back with equal hunger and things were starting to get rather heated when Jemma abruptly pulled away and sneezed.
Skye scrunched her face as she wiped away Jemma's snot spray from her cheek. Skye was about to come out with a sarcastic comment like "you're lucky you're so pretty" but Jemma sneezed again and then clutched her head.
"Owwww" Jemma groaned, sounding bunged up. "Jesus, Skye, you got me sick! How bloody fast to your inhuman germs spread?!" Jemma groaned, grabbing a tissue from the box on the table and blowing her nose.
"I'm sorry?" Skye offered as Jemma sighed dramatically before she broke out into a massive coughing fit.
This really was going to be a long week!