"Babe." Lisa spoke, trying to gently shake her girlfriend awake, pressing a few soft kisses to her temple.
Jennie simply grunted, trying to turn away and cuddle further into the sea of blankets as she shivered.
"Nini." The younger woman sighed, pulling the blankets off of her girlfriend, but this was when she realised she might not have just been sleepy.
The brunette's skin was damp with sweat, despite her body being wracked in shivers, and it made Lisa furrow her eyebrows, reaching her hand out to feel across her girlfriend's forehead.
"Baby you're burning up." She gasped, seeing the look of discomfort on Jennie's face as she left to get a small rag and a bowl of cool water, beginning to gently dab it on the brunette's face when she got back.
"I'm f-freezing." Jennie whispered, but Lisa shook her head with a sympathetic frown.
"I know you feel like you are, but you're super warm, Love. I think you've got a fever." The brunette's trembling lips were slightly blue, and her eyes were glazed over with exhaustion, the entire sight making Lisa's heart catch.
"I'm going to call our managers, you're taking the day off."
"Lis, I'll still go go." Jennie breathed, wincing just a little as she tried to sit up despite her muscles feeling extremely fatigued. "I'll be okay by later on, I'm sure. I'll just miss soundcheck." She whispered, but Lisa was having none of it.
"Jen-"
"No, Lis. I can't disappoint them. Not again." Lisa sighed, chest hurting as she looked at the insecure, tearful look in her girlfriend's eyes.
"If you get too sick, you're not going on. And if you do go on, you're walking off if you don't feel right."
The brunette nodded slowly, before her eyes widened, and Lisa watched her scramble past her to the bathroom, following close behind.
She sighed, grabbing the brunette's hair and rubbing her back as she emptied the contents of her stomach.
"I'm fine, Lili. Th-This is gross for you. I'll be fine, you go and get ready."
"If I were the one that was sick right now, you wouldn't leave my side. So I'm not going to be leaving yours until you're better." With a soft but stern tone from Lisa, Jennie huffed a little and nodded, knowing deep down that Lisa was right.
Jennie was incredibly pale by this point, eyes heavy but a soft smile on her face regardless as Lisa cupped her cheek, thumb caressing her skin.
They stayed that way for a little while, until staff knocked on their hotel room door, and Lisa went to inform them of Jennie's state.
————
They were at the venue now, and Jennie had been in debates with her managers and other staff all day, but they eventually relented and let her come on during the actual concert, despite knowing she wasn't going to be up for it in the long run.
She was still throwing up and trembly, with the staff going as far as getting a medic to give her an IV with fluids. So she was currently laying down in her comfortable clothes as the rest of the girls got ready for soundcheck.
"Baby." A voice whispered, making Jennie hum.
"We're going on stage now, okay? I'll be back soon. I love you." A kiss was pressed to the top of her head, and a hand brushed down her arm slowly, as she tiredly looked up at Lisa.
"I love you too."
————
"Jennie, you shouldn't go on-"
"I need to, Ali." She tiredly muttered to her manager as they fixed her hair and her outfit, plaster over where her IV had been, trying her best to put a smile on her face.
"You're still throwing up, you're dizzy, what if you collapse?"
"Well that's what the fans need to prove I actually care, isn't it?" She snapped, seeing the reflection of surprise and also some hurt in her manager's (and her also close friend's) face.
"I'm sorry- that tone was uncalled for." She murmured, looking down, feeling Alison rub her back.
"It's okay, I know you're stressed. Just please, please walk off if you feel too sick. I don't care what the fans think and neither will your members, especially you know who." Jennie sighed, looking over at Lisa, who had been watching her like a hawk.
"You're right." She grumbled, stumbling over to the rest of the girls and being guided to the stage, hoping she'd be okay.
————
She felt awful.
It had been a long time since she'd felt this ill, and the last time she'd had to come off stage was in Macau in 2019, but she'd argue in this moment that she felt worse than she did then.
She got mid way through 'Lovesick Girls' before she couldn't take it anymore, stumbling off stage to the staff who carefully guided her away and back to their dressing rooms.
"Jennie you're trembling." Alison gasped, laying her down and getting a damp rag, placing it on her head.
"Get her some more fluids, please."
"Alison." Jennie whimpered, tears pooling in her eyes, both at the pain and nausea she felt, and the disappointment she felt in herself for not being able to stay on stage.
"You're okay, just rest." The brunette could feel the panic rising in her, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks as she tried to doze off.
————
"Where is she? How is she doing?"
Jennie was awoken to the sound of desperate questioning at the hands of Lisa.
"She's through here but she's sleeping. You need to calm down-"
"Let me through." The door was pushed open, and Jennie looked up at her girlfriend, fresh tears building in the corners of her eyes at the sight of Lisa looking so distraught.
"Baby." She breathed, rushing over and sitting beside Jennie, hands desperately caressing her face and combing through her hair.
"I'm sorry." Jennie's voice cracked, a few tears slipping down her cheeks.
"I've got you now, I've got you." Lisa's voice was soft like silk as she let Jennie sit up and collapse into her, kissing her head.
"The fans are going to be so mad." She whimpered, making Lisa frown.
"Your health is more important, baby. I don't care what fans think at this stage, all I care about is getting you to bed and letting you rest up." The staff waited outside to give them their privacy, before being asked to come in and help get Jennie out of the venue.
The brunette continued to whisper her apologies to Lisa all the way back to their hotel, though her girlfriend would simply shush her with a kiss to her temple to try and calm her down.
The second they were in the room, Lisa had carefully gotten Jennie out of the clothes she'd changed into once leaving the stage, slipping a pair of shorts on her and a tshirt to wear for bed.
She grabbed Tylenol and water to put beside the bed and quickly went to wash up, before joining Jennie underneath the sheets.
"Lili-"
"No more apologies, Nini. None of this was your fault."
Jennie didn't believe her.
