Flu Season (February)
Jan. 15th, 2017 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Rogue felt awful.
She'd rolled out of bed that morning feeling sluggish and foggy-headed, and no amount of coffee had helped her break free of the funk she was in. Her limbs felt heavy and she was exhausted despite having gotten a full night's rest. It was a struggle to get through her morning tutoring session, and she'd never been more glad to hear that the second client was sick and needed to cancel. So she trudged home, her throat beginning to itch as she called to see if Steve was there.
When silence answered her, she dropped her bag by the door and toed off her shoes, shrugging off her coat as she padded toward the couch. The coat was discarded on a chair before she plopped down on the couch, pulling down a throw blanket from the back as she stretched out and promptly fell into an uneasy sleep.
She'd rolled out of bed that morning feeling sluggish and foggy-headed, and no amount of coffee had helped her break free of the funk she was in. Her limbs felt heavy and she was exhausted despite having gotten a full night's rest. It was a struggle to get through her morning tutoring session, and she'd never been more glad to hear that the second client was sick and needed to cancel. So she trudged home, her throat beginning to itch as she called to see if Steve was there.
When silence answered her, she dropped her bag by the door and toed off her shoes, shrugging off her coat as she padded toward the couch. The coat was discarded on a chair before she plopped down on the couch, pulling down a throw blanket from the back as she stretched out and promptly fell into an uneasy sleep.
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Date: 2017-01-16 07:48 am (UTC)"Might as well just go ahead and do it, sugar," she informed him. "It'll be faster, anyway." She could pick her battles too.
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Date: 2017-01-16 07:58 am (UTC)He was aware of every shift of her in his arms as he walked into the bedroom, and tried to move as smoothly as possible, before lowering her to the side of the bed. He grabbed her pajamas and put them beside her, before saying, "I'm gonna go get the thermometer while you get changed, okay?" He knew better than to suggest the indignity of helping her change clothes - really, he needed to just start treating Rogue as if she were him when he used to get sick all the time. Of course, if she acted like he had, she probably would've tried to slug him already. Rogue was actually a much better patient, in that regard.
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Date: 2017-01-16 08:11 am (UTC)Giving him a nod, she started working on the buttons of her blouse. It was easy to switch shirts - the pants were more of an obstacle. Since standing was a bit of an iffy venture, she shimmied out of them while staying seated, and managed to get the pajama bottoms on in much the same way. It was probably quite the spectacle, but she thankfully managed to complete it before Steve returned, though the oversized t-shirt may have been inside-out.
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Date: 2017-01-16 08:24 am (UTC)Back in the bedroom once more, he handed over the thermometer. "I have no idea how this thing works," he admitted. He was sure it wasn't at all complicated, and he'd be able to figure it out easily enough if he had to, but he could figure it out just watching Rogue use it, and that way she wouldn't feel like he was babying her, as well. It had to be one of her additions to the apartment, anyway, as he had no need for one.
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Date: 2017-01-16 08:34 am (UTC)Pressing the button to make sure the battery still had some juice, set the thermometer on the back of her tongue and waited for about thirty seconds until there was quiet beep that signaled the reading was complete. She removed the thermometer, took a glance at the temperature displayed, and promptly handed it over to Steve.
Yeah, she definitely had a fever.
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Date: 2017-01-16 08:43 am (UTC)"Alright." He rested his hands on his knees and leveled Rogue with a look. "Do you want Tylenol, or Advil, for pain? It'll help lower your fever, too. I'd say we should let the fever run its course, but honestly, I'm not real comfortable with it being that high for long. But if you wanna leave it, that's up to you."
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Date: 2017-01-16 08:51 am (UTC)"I'll take something," she decided with only a second of thought. "My throat's starting to feel like a cat scratched it all up. And it might help me sleep a bit better." Sleep was something she desperately wanted at the moment.
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Date: 2017-01-16 09:28 am (UTC)"Tylenol," he said, handing her the pills. "It didn't say anything about needing to eat food with them." Which, considering her issues with eating still, was probably why she had them stocked.
"Are-- will you be okay for a little while, if I run to the store?" He wanted to get the ingredients he'd need to make some chicken soup. He'd have to go through the cupboards and fridge first though, to see what they already had; this was one of the downsides to letting Rogue run the kitchen - he never knew what was actually there already, on the off-chance that he did decide he wanted to cook.
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Date: 2017-01-24 05:20 am (UTC)"I'll be just fine, sugar," she assured him, leaning over to set the mug on the nightstand before slowly, carefully pulling back the covers so she could crawl in between the blankets. "All I'm gonna do is sleep. I promise I won't try any daring escapades while you're gone." It was exhausting to even consider getting out of bed, let alone actually doing anything once she was back on her feet. No, she was perfectly okay with spending the foreseeable future bonding with their pillows.
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Date: 2017-01-24 05:32 am (UTC)Looking around suddenly, he went into the living room, returning a moment later with her cell phone, which she'd left by the couch, and handed it to her. "Text if you need anything, or think of anything you want me to get. You know what's in the kitchen better than I do," he joked weakly. He was already making a mental list of things he wanted to check if they had, and buy if necessary.
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Date: 2017-01-24 05:43 am (UTC)She started to set the cell phone on the bed beside her, then thought better of it and instead put it on the nightstand next to her drink. If she rolled over at any point, then who knew where it might end up. "Thank you, Steve," she murmured, managing to give him a small smile even though she felt like death. "Go on, sugar, I'll be okay."
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Date: 2017-01-24 05:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-24 06:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-24 06:31 am (UTC)He didn't find any Jell-O packets in any of the pantry cupboards, either, so he went off to the store with a mental list.
The produce and chicken were easy enough to procure... it was when he went looking for the Jell-O that he ran into trouble. Namely, the sheer volume and diversity of products. There was Jell-O already in individual boxes, but he figured Rogue wouldn't appreciate those. But that still left all the box mixes of various flavors, and boy, were there a lot of flavors. There was the regular fruit flavors; cherry, strawberry, orange. And then there was kiwi, pineapple, raspberry, blue raspberry, and combinations of pretty much all of those, plus flavors like fruit punch (which he at least recognized), arctic blast, tropical... What the heck did 'tropical' even mean?
Finally he just grabbed a few boxes of orange, strawberry, and decided to try the raspberry - even if Rogue didn't like it, he'd eat it. Even if he didn't particularly like it. Jell-O he made himself would taste infinitely better than anything he'd had in the army. (Although possibly with a similar consistency.)
Glancing along the aisle one more time to see if he'd missed anything, he spotted the pudding. Pudding... huh. Now there was an idea. It would definitely be richer and more filling than the Jell-O (although the Jell-O would be better at keeping her hydrated), and it probably had a lot more calories in it. Steve still didn't entirely understand the whole 'calorie counting' thing that everyone seemed to talk about now, but he understood that it helped you gain weight, which was something Rogue needed help with, especially while she was sick and probably wouldn't feel like eating much, anyway. Even less than usual.
His hand hovered over the boxes uncertainly for a minute. He finally picked up two boxes of vanilla, four of chocolate because he was pretty certain she'd always eat something chocolate flavored, and four boxes of butterscotch. He didn't know if Rogue enjoyed butterscotch, but he did, so again - if she didn't eat it, he'd have no problem polishing it all off.
That sorted, Steve swung by the dairy section and bought another gallon of milk - they had one half-full still, but he enjoyed drinking it, and he'd need more for the pudding anyway. Then, he was headed home, checking his phone to make sure he hadn't missed a text from her. She was surely still sleeping - at least he hoped.
Making it back into the apartment quietly, Steve stashed the perishables in the fridge for a moment, set the bag of boxes on the island counter, and went to check on Rogue. Just to make sure.
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Date: 2017-02-13 01:40 am (UTC)"Hey," she croaked quietly, her throat aching something fierce. "Back already?"
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Date: 2017-02-13 02:28 am (UTC)"Yeah, I knew what I was getting," he murmured softly, ghosting a hand over her hair. He was glad he couldn't get sick anymore, because he couldn't stand the thought of having to leave her alone while she didn't feel good. "Do you need more to drink? I'm gonna go make some soup, but I can get you something real quick."
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Date: 2017-02-13 02:52 am (UTC)"I'm alright," she assured him, resettling against the pillows and glancing over at the nightstand. "I've still got that. You go play chef, sugar, just don't destroy my kitchen." She wasn't so far gone yet that she couldn't tease him a little.
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Date: 2017-02-13 03:30 am (UTC)Smoothing her hair down again, he leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead, before stroking her cheek. "You just relax, and don't worry about our kitchen. It will survive. But it'll miss you, so you gotta get better. The sooner you're back in there, I'm sure the happier it'll be."
He was trying to make light of the situation and being deliberately ridiculous, not wanting her to worry about how he was feeling about seeing her laid low by illness.
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Date: 2017-02-13 03:40 am (UTC)"Our kitchen," she repeated, smiling despite the way she felt physically. It hadn't been that long since she'd move into the apartment with him, and it was still nice to hear the spaces referred to that way. "You'd better not make the soup too good, or I'll start expecting you to cook more often."
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Date: 2017-02-13 05:04 am (UTC)Pressing another kiss to her forehead, Steve stood up. "Get some more rest. It's gonna take a while to make the soup. I'll bring you some when it's done." He was about to turn away to leave, before remembering, "Oh. I got some Jell-O and pudding, too. I can make those while the chickens cooking, if you want some now. Any preferences? I got... strawberry, orange, and raspberry for Jell-O flavors, and vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch pudding mixes."
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Date: 2017-02-13 05:22 am (UTC)Jell-O and pudding. Oh, wasn't he wonderful. "Raspberry sounds nice," she told him, sitting up a bit more so she could reach over to get her travel mug of ginger ale off the side table. "And you know how I love chocolate."
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Date: 2017-02-13 05:52 am (UTC)He gave her an affectionate grin. "I do know how you love chocolate," he agreed. "I wasn't sure about the raspberry, but figured even if you didn't want it, I'd eat it. I'll make that first." It didn't require as much tending as pudding did, and he wouldn't have to have two pots on the stove at once, that way. He didn't want Rogue eating anything with milk while her fever was still strong, anyway.
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Date: 2017-02-13 06:03 am (UTC)"Thank you, sugar," she murmured, sipping at her drink before returning it to the table. "You're the sweetest." And then she turned onto her side again, wrapping herself around his pillow like before. For a moment, she contemplated retrieving the blankets she'd pushed off in her sleep, but she wasn't cold and they kept feeling too constrictive, so she left them where they were.
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Date: 2017-02-16 05:19 pm (UTC)"Holler if you need anything," he said, before thinking about how sore her throat already was. "Or text me, I've still got my phone in my pocket." It seemed kind of silly to him, texting someone who was just a couple rooms away, but it was also amazingly convenient if you couldn't talk well.
In the kitchen, he set up a large pot with water, cutting and adding vegetables while the water started heating, then set to work on deboning the chicken and cutting it into bite-size pieces. Once he'd added the chicken, he also added a few liberal dashes of seasonings; he wasn't really working from a recipe, just his own memory of watching his mother and what she had done. She also hadn't used a recipe, per sé, not a written one anyway. Just a general sense of what should be added and approximately when, knowledge handed down from her own mother. The motions were familiar, no matter how long it had been since he'd done this or watched it, and it helped soothe some of his nerves at seeing Rogue so sick.
Once the soup was boiling, he started the kettle heating for water for the Jell-O. He started putting the extra boxes of Jell-O and pudding away as he waited, glancing at each one before organizing them in the cupboard.
That's when he noticed it. The instructions on some of the pudding boxes were... wrong. You just added cold milk to the mix and then... that was it? He started comparing the instructions on all the boxes, and realized some were what he was used to - heat milk, add mix while stirring, let simmer, let cool, etc - and some were just 'add milk', basically.
Steve blew out a flummoxed puff of breath. He really was starting to acclimate and enjoy the 21st Century... but Jesus, people had gotten lazy.
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Date: 2017-02-26 06:21 am (UTC)Her hand was clumsy as she reached over for her phone, holding it for a while longer in agonized debate before finally turning it on and opening her messages. The idea of bothering Steve for anything made her uncomfortable, but if she climbed out of bed and collapsed in the hallway, he'd be so upset.
Could you check the drawer in the bathroom? I think there's a bag of lozenges in there.
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