My severe writer's block is starting to clear, so I'm hoping to complete more chapters for my other stories (or at least get them started) over the Easter weekend. I hope everyone has a good holiday! :)

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Title: Sponge Bath

Genre: Hurt/comfort/romance

Rating: T

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Olivia is snuggled gloomily under the covers of the bed she shares with Amanda, the blankets pulled up over her head and her knees folded into her chest; her normally strong body reduced to a quivering ball of misery that is curled tightly onto the mattress. She is starting to feel the same way that she had during her bout of bronchitis the previous autumn, and even though Olivia and Amanda have been working very hard on their communication skills and not hiding anything from each other, especially when they are ill or upset, she has yet to say anything to the other woman.

Olivia winces with shame while remembering how hard she had been to deal with when she was sick; how difficult she had made life for Amanda and everyone else around her as that stubborn nature had firmly taken hold and not let go entirely until she was well again. She resolves to be as quiet and calm as possible while she lays there in the silky sheets and listens to Amanda puttering around in the kitchen, the younger woman washing their dinner dishes and putting them away in the cupboards.

The kids are tucked into bed for the night and Frannie is laying on the floor in front of the television in the living room, like the dog is actually engaged in what is playing on the screen, Olivia having taken the opportunity to sneak into the bedroom for some much-needed rest. She grits her teeth as she hears Amanda accidentally drop a dish in the kitchen, the small detective letting loose with a frustrated "Fuck" and rolls her eyes, hoping her girlfriend's clumsiness and profanity won't wake up Noah or Jesse.

Before Olivia can stop herself, a loud, gravelly cough erupts from her throat and she mutters an exasperated "Damn it" under her breath when swift footsteps immediately sound in the hallway and pace purposefully in her direction. A few seconds later, Amanda's blonde head is peering around the doorway of their bedroom, long golden hair cascading like a waterfall over one shoulder and an eyebrow arched in suspicion.

"Olivia Benson." Amanda's voice is stern and no-nonsense, and Olivia finds herself withering under the other woman's intense stare.

"What?" she mumbles irritably, suddenly feeling no older than her son as that penetrating blue gaze practically bores a hole right through her.

"Are you getting sick again?"

"No," Olivia replies in a meek tone, sinking down further beneath the covers under Amanda's watchful eyes and reminded of how just how authoritative she can be despite her small stature.

"You wouldn't be lying to me right now, would you?" Both of Amanda's eyebrows are raised high on her forehead and her arms are crossed over her chest as she takes a step into the bedroom. "Because I believe we went over this several times when you were sick in the fall and you ended up in the emergency room; how important it is to be honest with me when you're not feeling well."

"You're not really one to talk, you know," Olivia protests as she avoids answering the question. "It can still be like pulling teeth to get you to open up about certain things."

She wraps the blankets even tighter around herself in a cocoon of comfort and warmth as Amanda looms over the bed with her hands planted firmly on her hips now and a disgruntled and concerned expression on her face. "Stop hiding under there like one of the kids," Amanda snorts with a shake of her head. "You're a lieutenant, Liv, not a toddler. Let me feel your forehead."

Olivia lets out an aggravated sigh but chooses not to move, remaining prone on the mattress as she peeks up at the younger woman from her protective covering.

"Olivia Benson, get your head out from under those blankets or I will rip them right off you," Amanda warns as her hands hover in the air above the bed, the detective obviously about to make good on her threat if Olivia doesn't comply right away.

"Don't rip them off," she whines in response, shuddering at the thought of being exposed to the chilly apartment air. "I'm naked."

"Oh?" Amanda's voice has risen in apparent interest and Olivia rolls her eyes again, as sex never seems to be far from the other woman's mind, no matter what else is going on in their lives. "Why are you naked, Liv? What are you doing under those blankets?"

"For god's sake, are you capable of keeping your mind out of the gutter for more than a few minutes at a time?" Olivia grouses in annoyance, a frown marring her features when she sees Amanda wiggling her eyebrows up and down suggestively. "I'm not doing anything under here. I took my clothes off because I was burning up, but now I'm freezing cold."

"Well, honey, you probably have a fever," Amanda says in a gentler tone, Olivia feeling the mattress dip slightly as the other woman sits down beside her and feels the covers being removed from her head, the cool hand that is placed against her heated skin making her shiver. "Yup, you definitely do. I'm going to bring you some Tylenol and a glass of water and then we're going to do what I promised the last time you were sick but never followed through on."

"And what's that?" Olivia asks in a puzzled voice, her eyelids fluttering closed under the tender ministrations of the woman she loves.

"I'm going to give you a sponge bath."

Olivia's eyes fly open again as arousal instantly floods through her system in spite of feeling so terrible, watching the little smirk that plays at the corners of Amanda's lips.

"And you don't even have to move, since you're already dressed for it," Amanda chuckles as she strokes her hand in a soothing motion against Olivia's clammy forehead. "Or should I say undressed. You just stay right there and let me get everything we need."

Olivia huddles under the covers as she awaits Amanda's return, her body feeling like it's being pulled in two different directions as part of just wants to drift off into a healing slumber and the other is eager to skip the sponge bath altogether and jump straight to the good stuff. She knows they shouldn't be engaging in any kind of sexual activity while she is ill, Olivia not wanting to risk passing on whatever she afflicted with to Amanda, like she had the last time, but can't help those spiking feelings of lust and desire as she observes her girlfriend setting everything up.

Amanda places a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol on the nightstand next to the bed before leaving the room again and returning momentarily with a bowl of warm water in one hand and a cloth in the other, a bath towel slung over her shoulder. Olivia allows the covers to be peeled gently from her bare body and rolls over so Amanda can spread the towel out across the sheets; something for her to lay on so their bedding won't get soaked in the process of the sponge bath.

"Since we've already played cops and robbers, maybe we can add playing doctor to the list," Amanda suggests coyly as she dips the cloth into the bowl of water and runs it softly across Olivia's neck.

"But we're going to the actual doctor first thing in the morning and I don't want to hear any arguments from you on the subject," the smaller woman continues in a breezy tone of voice before Olivia can answer, as if she doesn't have time to listen to any complaints from a woman who should know better by this point. "And this kind of thing better not keep happening after we're married, Liv. You need to stop hiding things from me, especially when you're sick."

"Is that your way of proposing?" Olivia snickers lightly, her chuckles turning into a moan as Amanda gently strokes the cloth over one breast.

"While you're in the nude and I'm sponging you down? I don't think this is the type of proposal story that we would ever be able to share with anyone else," Amanda replies with a laugh, Olivia watching those big blue eyes darken with arousal as the cloth makes a circle around her belly button. "I'm not sure if Fin and Carisi or any of our other co-workers would appreciate hearing about this kind of thing, so we'll probably have to think of a more G-rated way for one of us to propose to the other."

"Amanda, I don't think you even know the meaning of 'G-rated'," Olivia groans as the younger woman swipes the cloth quickly between her legs with a wicked grin. "Honestly, is there ever a time when you're not turned on? I must look like such a mess right now. My hair is a complete disaster and I'm sweating and shaking at the same time. I'm disgusting."

"Liv, you are about as far from disgusting as you can possibly get," Amanda assures her softly as the blonde detective leans over to plant a kiss on her perspiring forehead. "You will always be the most beautiful woman in the world to me, no matter what you look like or how sick you are."

Olivia squirms around to find a more comfortable position on the sheets as she watches her girlfriend lean away from her, that playful smile spreading across her face once again and blue eyes dancing with a mixture of mischief and amusement.

"Now hold still, Liv, and let Dr. Rollins take very good care of you."