In Sickness and in Health (Kyalin)

You Got Me Sick

The next day, Lin woke up to birds chirping outside their window. The early morning sun was peeking through their curtains. She slowly got out of bed, feeling stiffer than usual. She stretched her arms above her head, but at the peak of her stretch, Lin felt something tickle in her throat and went into a coughing fit. She coughed loudly for several seconds until the tickle went away. When she was done, she inhaled through her nose only to find it was already stuffy.

Kya rolled over in the bed, still twisted up in the blankets. "What's all the noise?" she asked, her voice still raspy from sleeping.

"You got me sick," Lin replied.

"Sorry," Kya smiled sheepishly. "For what it's worth, I feel fine."

Lin glared at her. It wasn't a very long stare though because she soon went into another coughing fit.

"Oh, Lin," she said sympathetically. Kya climbed out of bed and gently guided her girlfriend back onto the mattress. "Stay here. I'll go make you some breakfast."

Kya slipped out of the room and went to the kitchen, leaving Lin alone. A few minutes passed and she could hear Kya moving around in the kitchen. Failing to fight off her fatigue, Lin fell back asleep.

Her rest was momentary, though, as the smell of burnt food woke Lin up. She shot upright in bed and walked quickly towards the kitchen.

"Kya? Are you alright? I smelled burning." She stopped in the doorway and took in the scene.

Kya stood awkwardly at the stove with burnt toast in one hand and a spatula in the other. Before her was a pan of blackened turtle duck eggs with small tendrils of smoke still swirling upwards. The see through lid on the pan was half off. And somehow, despite making eggs and toast, Kya had a pinch of flour smeared on her nose.

"What happened in here?" Lin asked, slowly approaching the mess. A small smirk tugged at the edges of her lips.

"Oh you know," Kya pointed the spatula at the stove, "Breakfast."

Lin looked down and laughed, shaking her head at the ground. Kya smiled and joined her in laughing. When Lin looked back up, she was still laughing, and she moved towards the cabinets next to the stove.

"How about cereal today?" she suggested.

"Sounds better than this."

Kya threw away the charred food and Lin prepared the cereal. She placed the bowls in front of the chairs and the milk and cereal box on the table. Feeling exhausted from her sickness, Lin slumped down in a chair and sighed.

"Work is gonna be rough today," Lin commented.

Kya looked her in the eye. "You're not going to work. You need rest."

"As chief of police, I need to be there to ensure the safety of the city."

"As chief of police, you need to have a healthy body." Kya pointed at Lin. "You do not have that right now."

Lin gave a small grunt.

"Promise me you won't go to work. That you'll rest and let yourself get better," Kya urged.

"Fine."

Kya gave her a pointed look.

"I promise," she said dryly, "I won't go to work."

After breakfast, Lin begrudgingly went back to bed to get her Kya-mandated rest. She landed on the soft mattress and fell asleep faster than she wanted to admit.

———

Lin woke up several hours later to find a cup of tea on her bedside table. As she sat up, she could feel that her muscles were more sore than when she went to sleep. While rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes, Lin took note of her other symptoms: sore throat, stuffy nose, and she could practically feel the heat radiating off of her skin. Definitely a fever.

Reaching over, Lin took a sip of the tea. It must've been hot at one point but now it was just lukewarm. Better than nothing, Lin thought. The tea felt smooth going down her throat. Not realizing how thirsty she was, Lin drank the entire cup and returned it to the nightstand.

She went back to sleep.