A/N: Feeling sick and depressive, so I wrote a fic about being sick at least … So, I'm not sure I like how this came out, it didn't go how I planned, but I hope you guys will still manage to like it.
She dragged her feet through the doors of the loft, shutting it behind her, pausing to catch her breath and continued on to the bedroom. She dropped her bag beside the bed and fell face first into the wide, soft bed.
Of course, of course she had to get sick.
Of course she had to get sick when he wasn't here to take care of her … and their two kids, who she's positive she got sick from.
She and Castle had been nursing their babies back to health for the past week and a half and today they finally went back to school and he had left two days prior for some panel in San Diego, it was just her luck really.
She had went in to work this morning after dropping her kids at school, ignoring the congested feeling and the pounding of her head as she drove to the precinct. They didn't have a case that morning, so she had been chained to her desk finishing paper work, until her eyes hurt too much to focus on the words in front of her.
She stood, and with the eyes of the other two detectives trained on her, she made her way to the elevator. She had planned to take a walk, get some fresh air, clear the stuffy feeling she had, rest her eyes for a bit - maybe she could even grab some lunch for her and the boys.
She was stepping out of the elevator when she bumped into Lanie, who held her arms out to steady Kate instantly. Kate looked at her friend, she felt dizzy and there was a good chance she might just throw up on Lanie any moment, but still she ignored it and plastered a smile on her face.
"Hey Lanie." She rasped, her throat dry, the greeting sent her into a coughing fit – had she even had any water today?
Lanie pulled her aside, a concerned look on her face, the look Kate wanted to avoid, but apparently had failed.
When the coughing subsided and Kate could stand before Lanie once again, Lanie placed a hand on Kate's forehead.
"Kate, you're burning up." She told her, drawing her hand away.
Kate blinked, only to be shaken by Lanie, when her eyes flew open, Lanie looked relieved.
"I thought you passed out there." She breathed, "You had your eyes closed for more than five seconds."
Had she?
Her lids slips shut again and she fought to open them, but they were so heavy. Suddenly all of her limbs felt heavy and everything hurt, a wave of nausea rushed over her again, her hand flying to her mouth in case.
"Girl, you're sick, you need to go home." Her friend told her, in a soft tone, one she didn't really hear from Lanie.
She shook her head, "N – No, I've got … I've got work." She gestured back to the elevator, her eyes falling shut again, "Just going to get lunch for the boys." She finished, her eyes opening to find the unamused expression on her friend's face.
"The only place you're going is home." Lanie told her, not giving Kate time to argue before turning her back to the elevator, so she could grab her stuff, inform the captain and drive her home.
"You've been taking care of your sick kids, I'm not surprised you're sick now and you can't deny it Kate, not when you need to be healthy to take care of them, especially since Castle isn't here." She reasoned, stepping off the elevator.
Kate groaned, running a hand over her face as she leaned against the wall to wait for Lanie, not sure she could handle the walk to her desk and back … too much energy.
Lanie was right, in the past she could fight and deny it all she wanted, but now that she was responsible for two kids, she couldn't afford to be so stubborn, she needed to take care of herself … Oh how she wished Castle was here.
She pulled out her phone as Lanie returned from informing Gates and gathering her bag, ushering her back inside the elevator. She sent a text to Alexis, asking her if she could pick up the kids and bring them home. She sent one to Castle too, letting him know she had apparently caught what their kids had.
And now she was here, curled up in their bed, clothes and shoes still on. She felt too miserable to move, but she toed off her shoes and brought her knees up to her chest, grabbing a pillow and burying her face in it.
She felt awful.
Lanie had promised to come by later to check on her, she had brought her to the door of the loft, but had to leave after getting a text that they had caught a body.
Until then, she tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but three hours later, she was still unsuccessful.
At around 3, she heard the door open and she smiled as she heard the hushed tones of her kids coming from the living room.
Alexis appeared in the doorway shortly after with a bottle of water, pills, a cool cloth and a thermometer. She handed the thermometer to Kate, who placed in her mouth, smiling at the girl, grateful for her.
"How you feeling?" She walked over to Kate.
"Like death." Kate mumbled around the instrument in her mouth.
Alexis sat on the side of the bed, waiting for the thermometer to beep and when it did, she helped Kate sit up, handed her the pills and the bottle of water.
"102. Yea, you're definitely sick." Alexis sighed as Kate settled back into the pillows, still dressed in her work clothes.
Alexis took note of this and stood, walked over to their drawers, pulling out one of her dad's shirts, handing it to Kate.
"You might want to change into this," She suggested, "It'll make you feel better. Lanie sent me over with soup, said she's sorry she got caught up at work, think you can eat any?"
Kate shook her head slightly, not sure she was up to eating now.
Alexis sighed, "Okay well, I'll bring you another cup of water and I'll stay over tonight, watch over Emma and Jaden."
"Thank you, Alexis." Kate said, her voice still raspy.
She smiled, "No problem Kate, I love those guys, you get better and call if you need anything. I'll leave you to change into that."
When she left, Kate pulled herself up, slowly removing her clothes, before pulling Castle's shirt over her head and once again settling between the covers.
Thankfully, whatever pill Alexis gave her dragged her down, pulling her to sleep and she gave in.
She woke to hushed tones and opened her eyes, the throbbing still in her head, she still felt like crap.
"Sssshhh! You'll wake her!" She heard her daughter say, the older of the two, just like her father.
She smiled.
"Hey guys." Kate spoke.
"Look what you did!" Emma scolded her younger brother.
"Mommy!" He squealed, smiling the same smile as his father at her.
She noticed Emma placing another bottle of water on the nightstand along with another dosage of pills.
"Hey bug, don't get too close now, don't want you guys to get sick again." She told him as she was about to climb onto the bed.
Kate rolled over to her back, peering outside the windows, realizing it was dark now.
"Mmm, what time is it?" She asked.
"Quarter to nine." Her daughter replied.
She had been asleep for a while, but she still felt like crap.
She felt a tiny hand on her head and turn to see her youngest, with a look of concentration on his face, his tongue poking out.
"What are you doing that for? She said not to get close!" Emma hissed.
He shrugged, "I don't know, it's what daddy does when we're sick."
She smiled, oh her little boy.
"Mommy, do you want your soup now?" Emma asked her, concern etched all over her young face.
Kate pulled herself up, "I think I could try some sure." She said quietly, smiling at her two children.
"Where's Alexis?" She asked.
"In the living room, she said we could bring you your water and pills and ask if you wanted your soup." Her son told her.
Kate nodded, "Okay, well could you be so kind as to ask her to bring me some of that soup now?"
Emma nodded, grabbing Jaden's hand and pulling him out of the room.
A moment later Alexis had appeared with soup, Emma and Jaden in tow, she wasn't hungry, but she figured she might try and get something into her system.
Apparently, her body disagreed, because as soon as she had managed to finish half the bowl, she was shoving the bowl aside and dashing to the bathroom before throwing everything back up.
She felt tiny hands rubbing circles on her back and managed to raise her head to see her son beside her, rubbing her back, her daughter on the other side, holding her hair away from her face.
"Why are you doing that?"
"It's what daddy does." Came the reply, plain and simple.
She managed to get back into her bed, wishing her kids a goodnight. She took the second dosage of pills and fell back into the pillows.
When she woke up, she could see the sun peeking through the windows and she rolled over the check the time, 8:12am.
She felt somewhat better, her head wasn't pounding as much, but everything else still hurt, she was still uncomfortable and miserable.
She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling when out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jaden walk in, holding a glass of juice in his hands.
"Mommy?" He called and she turned her head, smiling at her little boy, dressed in his uniform, ready for school.
"Hey baby." She answered.
He offered the glass to her, "I brought you apple juice." He told her, "You and daddy always give me apple juice when I'm sick, so I thought you'd want some."
She wanted to cry. Cry because her kids were so attentive, even when sick to notice these little things and cared enough to repeat them now that she was sick. She was so proud of her kids and she knew Castle would be too.
She sat up in the bed, accepting the glass from her son, pulling him in for a quick hug, unable to resist. She sipped the juice, her eyes closing at the way it cooled her throat, soothed the rough feeling it had since last night, erased the taste of bile from her mouth, replacing it with sweet apple.
"Thank you, very much Jaden." She told him warmly.
He beamed, pleased to know he was helping to take care of his mother.
Emma came in at that moment, thermometer in hand, determined look on her face.
"Open." She instructed and Kate didn't dare disobey her daughter.
Emma placed the thermometer in her mouth, "Close."
Kate did that too, slightly amused by the whole thing - her kids playing parents, it was funny and yet, it made her proud.
Alexis poked her head in once again, "I'm gonna take them to school, do you need anything else?"
Kate shook her head, smiling at her son, "No, I'm okay Alexis thanks for everything."
"It's no problem detective." She grinned and then disappeared, Jaden following behind, but not before blowing his mom a kiss goodbye. She caught it and smudged it all over her face as he left.
She gave Emma a quick hug as they went off to school. She settled in silence for a moment before the thermometer went off, she took it out of her mouth and read the result.
100.
Her fever went down some, which was good. She sipped some more of the apple juice and dragged herself out of bed, trudging into the living room, collapsing onto the couch and turning the TV on.
She closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the TV, just provide noise in the otherwise empty loft.
Lanie came by during the day, took her temperature once again and changed her sheets, she heated up some more soup, requesting Kate try it again and when she ended up on the floor of the bathroom once again, throwing up everything, she brought her another glass of orange juice and slices of apple.
Another hour had passed before Lanie had to leave again, Kate asked Lanie to bring her phone as well as a garbage bin, just in case.
After checking her temperature once again, not amused to find it rising again, she administered another dose of pills before leaving.
Kate unlocked her phone, wincing at the amount of missed calls and texts from Castle. His last message was an hour ago. She quickly sent him a message to calm his nerves, let him know she was okay and their lovely kids were playing doctor.
Under the influence of the heavy pills, Kate's eyes slipped shut and stayed that way until evening. When she woke, her kids were at the table doing homework, with Alexis watching over them.
"Hey." She greeted softly, her kids running over instantly, dropping to their knees in front of her. Jaden placed his hand on her head once again, his eyebrows drawing together.
"I think you need more apple juice." He concluded.
If Kate wasn't feeling so miserable, she otherwise would have laughed at the seriousness in her son's tone and on his face.
Emma's face suddenly lit up, "I know!" She exclaimed, dragging Jaden off to their parent's bedroom.
Kate shot a confused look towards Alexis who had come to stand by the couch now. Alexis shrugged, reading Kate's mind, she followed them into the room, only to appear a short time after with a smile on her face.
Kate raised an eyebrow.
"You'll see in a few." She told her.
True to her words, Emma and Jaden came stumbling out of their room, clothes wet and grins on their faces and she was increasingly curious as to what they had been up to.
"Mommy can you walk?" Jaden asked, unable to contain his excitement.
Kate slowly swung her legs over the edge of the chair and stood, Alexis coming to her side to help her. She followed her kids through the office, into their bedroom and to the bathroom.
She stopped when she saw what they had been up to, a smile spreading across her face, aching limbs rejoicing at the sight.
Her kids had drew her a bath.
It was official, she had the best kids in the world.
"When we were sick, you and daddy drew us baths and we felt better, maybe you will too." Emma suggesting, gesturing towards the bath.
Kate didn't even know what to say at that moment, just drew her kids in for a hug, looking up at Alexis sending a silent thank you to her.
"Alright kids, let's let your mom enjoy her bath." Alexis announced as they let Kate go.
"Do you want some more apple juice mommy" Her son asked, peering up at her with eyes like her own.
She nodded, "That would be perfect."
Alexis ushered them out of the room, allowing Kate the privacy she needed.
She pulled the shirt over her head and pulled off her underwear, before stepping into the cold water. She held her breath and submerged herself in it, head and all. She remained there for a few seconds before resurfacing.
She could feel the heat of her fever escaping her skin, she immediately felt somewhat better. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to dose off in the cold water.
She felt something brushing the hair from her face gently some time later, she opened her eyes to meet piercing blue ones gazing at her with concern.
"Castle." She rasped.
He smiled, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "Hey, how you feeling?" He asked her.
"Much better." She told him, a hand coming out of the tub to cup his face.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "Castle, you're hot."
He waggled his eyebrows, "Why Kate thank you."
She rolled her eyes, and slapped his cheek lightly, "You have a fever you idiot." She told him softly.
"Do I?" He asked, "That would explain a lot."
She huffed, ready to leave the water now, her body heat causing the water to grow uncomfortable warm. She grabbed on to Castle's hand and stood, taking the towel he offered and wrapped herself in it. He unplugged the bath and helped her to their bed, allowing her to sit while he gathered her clothes and gently dressed her.
She sent a silent thanks to Lanie who had changed her sheets earlier, she felt a lot better now, still sick, but less miserable.
After Castle had taken a shower and situated himself behind her in bed, their kids appeared, doing their usual check-up before bidding them goodnight.
She could tell from the heat radiating from her husband and the restless way he slept through the night, he would be waking up miserable.
And as just like she said, he did.
He was sprawled on his belly, his face buried in to pillow while Kate ran her hand up and down his bare back – he had lost the shirt during the night, it was too hot he had said.
"This is your fault." He mumbled.
She laughed, pressing a kiss to his hot back, "I told you you had a fever last night Castle."
"Mmmmffff." He mumbled.
"Don't worry Castle, we're in good hands." She told him.
As if right on cue, her two children came in the room, armed with not one, but two glasses of apple juice, pills and a thermometer.
How did they manage to get so lucky?
End A/N: So, whenever I'm sick or have a fever, three things that always make me feel better. Taking a cold shower – and by a cold shower I mean my mom dumping buckets of cold water on me, putting on fresh clothes and getting into a bed with fresh sheets and apple juice, so I decided to chuck all of that in here.
Any and all mistakes are mine, if you spot one, please let me know and I shall fix it. Thanks.