EDIT: I do not own Orphan Black or any of its characters.
3:43 am. Cosima stared at the hotel's digital clock, squinting in the green glare that illuminated the small space around it. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on her breathing, but that only made the gurgle more prominent. She tried to distract herself but with what? The clone club, biology that only reminded her of her own degrading lungs, DYAD and all the destruction it had brought into her life. Cosima's breaths became strained-from panic or illness, she wasn't sure. Probably both. She could feel a coughing fit coming on and she struggled to stay calm, she didn't want room service finding blood-stained sheets during their rounds, and she absolutely did not want to have to explain blood-stained sheets.
A small round of knocks sounded at the door, hesitant like the knocker wasn't sure they had the right room. Cosima usually would have ignored it but she welcomed the distraction at the moment. She rolled out of bed and crossed the room, standing up on her toes to peer through the tiny peephole. Even without her glasses she could make out the blonde curls that could only be Delphine's. She took in another deep breath and opened the door just as Delphine was turning to leave.
"Yeah?" Cosima's voice came out more groggily than she expected.
"Oh, I, uh, nothing. Nothing, I'll just go back to my room..." The blonde bit her lip and began to turn again.
"What is it?" Cosima could tell Delphine wanted something.
Delphine turned around, hesitating slightly before returning to Cosima's door.
"I guess I just wanted to, well, to check on you. It's stupid, I'll go. I'm sorry I woke you." Delphine was about to leave again when Cosima reached out, grazing Delphine's forearm with her fingertips.
"Wait, stay?" Cosima couldn't manage saying the whole sentence. She didn't want to ask the blonde to stay, she didn't want to cave in so easily to the woman who had betrayed her. Yet Delphine understood her in a way no one else could, she made her feel real and important and so much more than a geek monkey. And right then, when her lungs threatened to bleed again, she needed someone who cared, or at least pretended to.
Delphine only paused a moment before following Cosima into the room. Cosima didn't look at her but she could feel Delphine's eyes follow her. Cosima crawled back into bed, settling back into the divot she'd left when she got up, and Delphine rolled in next to her, waiting. Cosima pressed her back into the blonde, pulling Delphine's arm around her. Cosima listened to the breaths she felt on her neck, warm and steady. She mirrored the breaths in her own, focusing solely on her respiration and Delphine's warmth.
4:20 am. Cosima was finally drifting into the brief respite that is sleep when she shook involuntarily. A harsh breath forced her mouth agape and she could taste the red. Nausea swirled in her stomach and she stared at the clock to keep herself rooted in the now spinning room. 4:20, she thought, great advice from an alarm clock, but tragically my weed is back in Minnesota.
Another cough rolled her forward and she leaned on her elbow to cough over the floor, rather than the sheets she would be lying in for at least two more hours. Cosima felt a light pressure rubbing small, worried circles into her back.
"I'm fine," she barely got halfway through the second word before another hack sent her into a fit that left her gasping and trembling from head to toe. She felt the warmth at her back withdraw from the bed, only to see Delphine round her side of the mattress, roll of toilet paper in hand.
"Here," she said, handing Cosima a scrunched handful, which, after being soaked to the point of uselessness, was replaced with another and another. Delphine's hands, gingerly at first, and then more assuredly, gathered up Cosima's stray dreads and held them through the earthquake that seemed to shake Cosima's whole form.
After what felt like an hour, yet turned out to be only fifteen minutes, Cosima collapsed backwards into her pillow, still clutching the blood-stained paper in her hand. She felt a hand skim her cheek and enjoyed the affection for a fleeting moment, letting her head loll into the embrace it provided. The hand left, only to return a moment later with a fresh piece of tissue to dab carefully around Cosima's crimson besmirched lips. Cosima stayed motionless, not having the energy, nor the want, to stop Delphine.
Cosima felt the bed rise an almost undetectable amount, and heard quiet ruffling as Delphine disposed of the bloody remnants and restored the roll of toiletry to it's proper place in the bathroom.
Delphine shut the bathroom door and hesitated as she took in the sight of Cosima on the mattress. She watched Cosima's chest rise, almost evenly, almost steadily. She watched, and she thought. She thought of all the almost's and what ifs and could-have-beens of the past month. How she almost didn't decide to monitor Cosima, how she almost gained Cosima's trust. How she almost lost Cosima forever; and for what? For DYAD, for Leekie? For an experiment she saw as unethical, no matter how brilliant, from the start? Looking at Cosima then, she knew she wouldn't, couldn't, lose her. From now on she was on Cosima's side, and she would act only in the interest of what was right.
Cosima felt Delphine's shadow leaning over her and waited curiously, too exhausted to open her eyes or ask a question. She felt warmth on her face and registered it as Delphine's breath. Then, soft, yet powerful, she felt Delphine's lips on hers. She responded in kind, unable to resist the kiss, because it was more than a kiss. It was a message, a communication beyond words, and Cosima listened. It said protection, and loyalty, and honesty, and it said I am here. It said love. It was only then that she could truly feel the words, "It's not a lie. It's not possible." Yes, Cosima thought, it shows.
Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction and I would love some constructive criticism if you have any. Also, I'd gladly take any cophine prompts (AU or otherwise), if anyone wants me to write something. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.