Title: I Love You

Rating: Strong T for some language and normal adult behavior

Disclaimer: Chicago PD and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement. I only use them as a means to de-stress myself.

Summary: A series of unconnected one-shots in which Burgess and Ruzek first say "I Love You" to each other. Each chapter will be a different scenario that somehow ends up with those three important words! Burzek all the way!

Spoilers: I tried to stay away from very specific things, but I suggest you watch the series for these one-shots to make sense.

Note: I accidentally posted the wrong first chapter so if you started this story before, you might notice there are several changes. My apologizes for the mix-up in chapters!

Chapter 1 – Sick

Warning: If reading about vomit makes you ill, I would skip this chapter.

Knowing she had less than twenty minutes to hop in the shower, dry her hair, throw on something decent, and maybe put a little bit of makeup, Burgess dropped her bag as soon as she walked in the door. She raced to the bathroom and turned on the shower. As the water heated up, she ran into the kitchen, hoping to find a snack. She hadn't eaten in over ten hours and her stomach was growling for food. Burgess found a mostly brown banana sitting in a fruit bowl in the middle of the table. She peeled it and took a bite, racing back into the bathroom. As the banana settled in her stomach, she could feel and hear her stomach gurgle. Thinking it was just because she was famished, she quickly finished off the banana before jumping in the shower.

After showering in record time, Burgess dried herself off and ran into her bedroom. Her stomach was still feeling off even after the banana and the shower. Ignoring it, she quickly dug out a pair of underwear, a matching, black bra, skinny Jeans and a black tank top from her bureau and began to pull them on. The whole time she could feel her stomach churning. Something was definitely not right. Once her tank top was pulled over her head, she could feel the undeniable feeling that she was about to throw up. Burgess raced to the bathroom and emptied the banana she had just eaten into the toilet. Within a few seconds, she felt another wave of nausea hit her and she vomited a second time.

Her first thought was probably what most thirty-something year old women thought when they threw up. She couldn't help but wonder if she was pregnant. She shook the thought from her mind, though. She had just had her period the week before and she and Ruzek were very careful. There was no way she was pregnant. Her second thought was to think about what she had last eaten. Besides the banana, she had had a bowl of Special K cereal for breakfast and that was it for the whole day. It clearly wasn't anything she ate. Her next thought was the precinct. Hadn't Platt said that at least four or five other cops were out because they had come down with some kind of stomach virus? Burgess nearly cringed when she remembered Platt saying it had lasted a good twenty-four hours.

"Crap," she muttered. Despite the fact that she had stopped throwing up, her stomach still felt unsettled.

After flushing the toilet and rinsing out her mouth with minty mouthwash, Burgess went to where she dropped her bag at the front door. She dug through the contents until she found her cell-phone. She checked the time. She was supposed to meet Ruzek at Molly's in four minutes. With the way her stomach was feeling, there was no way she was going to make it to Molly's at all. She quickly texted Ruzek to give him the bad news.

'Count me out for Molly's. Got that stomach bug. Call you later.'

With her stomach still churning, she went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Her phone buzzed in her hand. Ruzek had texted her back.

'Sorry. Need anything? Want me 2 stop by?'

'No. Thanks. Don't want u to get sick too.'

'Feel better.'

As soon as she read his text, she had to go running back into the bathroom. Clearly the water didn't sit well with her.

Two hours later, Burgess was lying on the bathroom floor. The cold tile was making her feel a little bit better. When she had tried to move before, she found out the hard way that standing up was a bad idea. It made her head swim and her legs nearly gave way. She had lost count of the amount of times she had thrown up. Since there was nothing even in her stomach, she was mostly throwing up bile and phlegm, but her stomach didn't seem to care. What was making her more miserable was the fact that Ruzek had sent her a picture of the entire Intelligence unit doing shots at Molly's while she was stuck on her bathroom floor. She knew she couldn't blame him for having a goo time, but it still didn't seem fair.

As Burgess rested her head against a folded up towel on the floor, she closed her eyes. She was hoping that maybe a little bit of sleep, even on the hard bathroom floor, would help. Her thought of sleep was interrupted when she heard someone turning the knob of her apartment door. Panicked, she scrambled to her feet, which both her stomach and her head did not like. Nausea washed over her almost instantly, but she knew she didn't have time to stop and vomit again. She had to protect herself. She half walked, half crawled into her attached bedroom and grabbed the gun she always kept in her top bureau drawer. She made her way to the doorway of her bedroom, keeping her back against the wall. She peaked out and heard the front door opening. Saying a little prayer that she'd be able to stay on her feet without throwing up, she stepped out from behind the wall.

"Hands up!" She shouted.

"Hey, woah!" Ruzek yelled. "Burgess, it's me!"

She immediately lowered the gun.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, exhaling the breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Bringing you some soup, crackers, and ginger ale" he answered, holding up a brown paper bag. "I wasn't sure if you were sleeping so I just used your spare key."

"Sorry," she apologized, stepping closer to him. "I thought someone was breaking in."

"You look like hell."

"Thanks."

She could only imagine how she looked. She had thrown her hair back in a messy ponytail so she wouldn't get puke on it. And, after throwing up as many times as she did, she bet she had dried throw up crusted on her face.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Like hell."

"Are you hungry?"

Ruzek put the soup down on a kitchen counter. He opened the top of the takeout container. The smell of chicken noodle soup filled the apartment. Burgess' stomach gurgled, but not in a good way. This time, she couldn't make it to the bathroom before she threw up. She threw up right in the middle of the floor.

"Oh babe," he said with a sigh.

She ran into the bathroom, throwing up a second time in the toilet. As Ruzek went to go into the bathroom with her, she managed to slam the door in his face and lock it. She sat on the floor with her back against the door.

"Kim…" he began.

"Go home," she said with as much effort as she could muster.

"Open the door, Kim," he replied.

"No."

"Open the door, Kim," he repeated.

"Why? I'm contagious and hideous and I don't need you in here watching me throw up."

"You could never be hideous."

The sentiment actually made her smile. "Please go home, Adam."

"Don't make me shoot the lock of this door."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"Adam, please…you already saw me throw up in the middle of my apartment. I don't need you seeing me…like this."

"I can help. I want to help."

"Why?"

"Because that's what people do when the care about each other. They take care of each other when they're sick." He paused, waiting to hear the sound of the lock opening. "Just open the door."

Burgess thought about what he was saying. Just the fact that he was willing to risk his own health to be with her made her realize she wanted him in there with her even more. Reluctantly, Burgess unlocked the door. She scooted out of the way, closer to the toilet. Ruzek opened the door slowly.

"You really should go home," she stated.

"I'd rather stay here with you."

"You're risking contamination."

"I'm willing to take that risk," he said.

He walked over to where she was sitting on the floor. Grabbing a facecloth, he wet it with cold water, and brought it to Burgess' forehead. She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the wall.

"I think you have puke in your hair."

"That's not funny."

"It's ok. You're still sexy as hell."

"Now that's definitely not funny."

He smiled. "Come on," he said. "I'll help you into bed."
"It's too far," she whined.

"Babe, you can't stay on the floor."

"Why not? It's a very comfy floor," she muttered. "Besides, it's close to the toilet."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Ok."

He slid down beside her. Gently, he brought her head down to his lap. She curled up against him. He brushed her hair away from her face while keeping the cool cloth on her forehead. Within minutes, she was asleep.

After nearly half an hour of having Burgess passed out on his knee, Ruzek decided they couldn't spend the night on the bathroom floor. Willing to take the risk, he managed to slide her head off his knee without waking her up. In a squatting position, he was able to get both arms around her and he picked her up. He carried her to the bedroom and laid her out on the bed. Not wanting to take any chances that she might wake up and have to puke again, he grabbed the garbage can from the bathroom and placed it next to the bed. After covering her with the blanket, he kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Goodnight," he whispered. "I love you."

He let the words hang in the air. He hadn't planned on saying them and he knew she didn't even hear him, but they just felt right. Smiling to himself, he went off in search of a mop and bucket to clean up the mess on the floor in the kitchen.

The next morning, Ruzek awoke with a strange feeling in his stomach. He opened his eyes, expecting to see Burgess lying beside him in bed. Her spot was empty. Trying to ignore his gurgling stomach, he climbed out of the bed and found her in the kitchen. She was stirring a glass of liquid.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi."

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to flatten the ginger ale. My grandmother always said stirring it with a spoon made it go flat faster," she explained.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"All puked out?" He asked with a smile.

"God, I hope so. Thank you for cleaning up after me last night and for carrying me to bed. You didn't have to do that."

"It's what you do for the people you…care about," he replied. He wasn't sure why he didn't use the word love. He just knew that when he told her for the first time when she was conscious that he loved her, he wanted it to be special. He didn't want to blurt it out while she stirred ginger ale in her kitchen.

"You definitely win the best boyfriend award."

"You can brag to all your friends about me."

"If only I could tell my friends about you," she said.

"True."

Ruzek put his hand to his stomach. Something did not feel right.

"You ok?" She asked.

Ruzek made a mad dash towards the bathroom. Burgess could hear him throwing up from the kitchen. She went to the bathroom doorway. His head was still buried in the toilet, throwing up for a second time. For some reason, seeing that he had been willing to contaminate himself to be with her and got sick because of it, made her heart swell.

"I love you too," she whispered with a smile.

"What was that?" Adam asked after he had finished throwing up. "Did you say something?"

"Just that I'll get the mouthwash."
She grabbed the mouthwash from the cabinet and sat down beside him on the bathroom floor. They were both in for a long day.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story. Ruzek and Burgess are my new TV couple "obsession." The ideas for these one-shots have been floating around in my head for a while. 3 snow days in a row have really given me the time to sit and write them down and I'm loving them! As of right now, I'm planning about 10 chapters but if I keep coming up with ideas, I will keep writing. Please don't forget to review – they make me very happy!