Hey guys! Thank you all so much for the response on the first chapter of this story! I think I am going to start writing that Grey's Anatomy fic as soon as I finish this one. I'm thinking this is probably going to have 2 more chapters, maybe 3. I haven't decided yet. Anyways, here is the next chapter! Enjoy!
"Are you ready to go to sleep?" Maggie asked the woman curled up in her lap.
Alex was beyond exhausted from everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours.
"I'm not sure I can sleep right now," Alex said honestly, looking up at Maggie with her tear stained face, "I mean, I'm tired, but I'm not sure I can sleep."
"Would you like to get into bed at least?" Maggie asked, running her fingers through Alex's short hair.
Alex nodded against Maggie's chest, moving to get up. She found her body even weaker than before as she stood. The world was spinning for a second before she regained her bearings.
"You alright babe?" Maggie asked, also getting up, seeing how pale her girlfriend had become.
"Yeah," Alex said, rubbing her eyes, "Just dizzy. I think I got up too fast."
"Alright," Maggie said, wrapping her arm around Alex, "Let's change into pajamas then climb into bed."
Alex nodded, sitting down on the bed as Maggie went over to the dresser and pulled out pajamas for both of them. She quickly changed before bringing her girlfriend her own pair of pajamas.
"Can I have one of your sweatshirts?" Alex asked, feeling really cold all of the sudden.
"Are you sure?" Maggie asked, looking down at her own t-shirt and shorts, thinking about how warm it felt in the apartment to her.
"Yeah," Alex said, nodding, "I'm freezing."
Maggie went to the dresser, pulling out her old Bare Naked Ladies sweatshirt for Alex, handing it to her. Maggie frowned as she saw how fast Alex pulled the shirt on, clearly very cold. Maggie took her hand, placing it on Alex's forehead, things suddenly clicking into place for her. Alex was warm, a lot warmer than she should be.
"Babe," Maggie said as Alex pushed her hands off her head, "I think you have a fever."
Alex nodded, not really surprised considering how terrible she was starting to feel.
They had both been warned by Dr. Hamilton that Alex could get sick. There was a possibility that her arm could her infected from the water that it sat in all day, she could get pneumonia from the water that had most likely gotten in her lungs. It was also a possibility that Alex would just get a cold or flu because her immune system was compromised by all the physical trauma and exhaustion and the DEO was currently experienced a pretty widespread outbreak of both a seasonal flu and cold.
"Can I get you anything?" Maggie asked, rubbing Alex's back, "Some Motrin or something to drink or anything else?"
"Just you," Alex said softly, holding her arms out to Maggie.
Maggie nodded, climbing into bed next to Alex.
"Does anything hurt?" Maggie asked as Alex curled up on her chest. "My head," Alex said, "And my chest. And honestly my entire body, but that might be from treading water for three consecutive hours today." "Can I look at your stitches?" Maggie asked gently, not wanting to upset Alex, but also worried about an infection in her girlfriend's arm. Alex nodded, rolling over and allowing Maggie to slowly pull the bandage off her shoulder. Much to Maggie's relief, Alex's shoulder looked fine. There was no excess swelling, redness, or anything else that would indicate infection.
"How's it look?" Alex asked as Maggie put the bandage back on, deciding it should be covered for the night.
"It looks the same as it did earlier," Maggie said, helping Alex get comfortable again, "It doesn't look infected at all so I don't think that's where the fever is coming from."
"It might just be from exhaustion," Alex said unconvincingly.
"Well, as long as you aren't feeling too terrible, I don't think there's anything we need to figure out tonight," Maggie said, kissing Alex's too-warm temple.
Alex nodded, curling closer to her girlfriend.
"Are you ready to sleep?" Maggie asked, exhausted herself, but completely willing to do whatever Alex wanted to do.
"I don't know," Alex said, feeling very overwhelmed and anxious.
Maggie could feel the anxiety rolling off Alex in waves so she decided to just make some choices for them.
"I'm going to turn on Pitch Perfect," Maggie said, grabbing the remote, "If you fall asleep, great. If not, that's also fine."
Alex nodded, grateful Maggie could read her mind. About twenty minutes into the movie, Alex broke into a chest rattling cough.
"Are you alright?" Maggie asked, rubbing Alex's back.
"Yeah," Alex rasped after she caught her breath.
"That cough sounds terrible," Maggie said, offering Alex a drink of water.
Alex took the cup, taking a sip before coughing and sputtering it back out.
"You alright?" Maggie asked, rubbing her back.
Alex nodded, pushing the cup into Maggie's hand and away from herself.
"I'm not thirsty," Alex said, shaking her head adamantly.
Maggie then started to realize that Alex was truly terrified of water. It wasn't surprising, but Maggie knew it might be an issue if it continued into the next day. Alex had been given IV fluids at the DEO before she left so Maggie wasn't too worried about dehydration for the night.
"Alright babe," Maggie said, sensing the panic again building in Alex's body, "Just lean into me. I'm right here. You are safe. I promise I am not going anywhere."
Alex calmed down a little, focusing on her girlfriend's gentle touches. Alex was tired, feeling her eyes closing as they watched their movie. However, the second she started drifting off, she was back in the tank. Her eyes flew open and she started coughing and thrashing. Maggie, who had also started drifting off, was startled back to being fully awake. She immediately tried to grab Alex and keep her from hurting either of them. Once Alex realized what was happening, she calmed down a little, her cough not letting up quite as quickly.
"Are you alright?" Maggie asked as Alex kept coughing.
Alex nodded a little, finally getting control over her lungs for the time being.
"That cough sounds terrible," Maggie said as Alex relaxed back on her chest, rubbing her tired eyes.
"It doesn't feel great either," Alex admitted, looking up at Maggie with bloodshot eyes.
"Do you want me to take you back to the DEO?" Maggie asked, worried about what could be wrong with Alex.
"No," Alex said, shaking her head, "No. It's probably just a little cold or something. I want to stay here."
"Alright," Maggie said, relenting because she didn't want to push Alex into anything, not today at least.
Alex tried to relax, completely and utterly exhausted from everything that had happened that day coupled with the fact that she had what she knew was becoming a raging fever. She also felt her chest tightening, and she was struggling to take deep breaths, although she was writing that off as anxiety for the time being.
Both women just focused on the TV, Maggie hoping Alex would be able to fall asleep and at least stay that way for a little while so she could fight whatever was giving her the fever as well as help her body start to heal.
However, Alex could not sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she was back in the room, scared, alone, and worried that she would never see her girlfriend and little sister again. This resulted in her staying awake for hours.
She also kept having more coughing fits and she felt her chest tightening with each one.
Maggie also did not sleep, worried about the sick, injured woman who was laying on her chest.
Around 5 am, after not sleeping the entire night, both Maggie and Alex felt terrible.
"Allie," Maggie said, looking down at her girlfriend who was still curled up on her chest, eyes glassy with fever and exhaustion, "What can I do to help you? You look miserable."
"I don't know," Alex rasped out, throat rough from a night of rough coughing, "I just… I don't…"
Alex started coughing again, this time bringing up a mouth full of mucus which she spit into a tissue Maggie handed her. Alex threw the tissue in a trash can near the bed, tears welling up in her eyes and running down her flushed cheeks.
"Oh Babe," Maggie said, pulling Alex up a little and wrapping her arms around the sick woman, "Shhh. Don't cry. What can I do?"
Alex shrugged, tears still falling.
"Can I take you to the DEO?" Maggie asked, "Or have someone come here and give you something to help you sleep? And maybe breath better?"
Alex shrugged again, not knowing what she wanted.
"Want me to call Kara?" Maggie asked, knowing sometimes her girlfriend's sister could do more than she ever could to help Alex feel better.
Alex nodded a little. The sound of her sister wrapping her in one of her famous hugs sounded beyond comforting to Alex at that moment. Maggie grabbed her phone, texting Kara.
Within five minutes, Kara was in the apartment.
"What's going on?" the sleepy superhero asked.
Maggie noted the dark circles under the younger woman's eyes and wondered if she had had as rough of a night as they had experienced.
"Come here," Maggie said, moving her and Alex over so Kara could climb in next to her sister.
"One minute," Kara said, quickly changing into a pair of pajamas she kept at Alex's house before crawling into bed with Maggie and Alex. Alex moved into her sister's arms, Kara a little taken aback. She gently wrapped her arms around her sister, careful not to hurt her more.
"A little tighter," Alex rasped out, sounding excessively needy.
Kara was very concerned about what had happened overnight that made her sister so clingy.
"We didn't sleep," Maggie said softly, noticing the concern on Kara's face, "At all. And she's sick. It was a rough night."
"Oh Lexie," Kara said, stroking her sister's sweaty hair.
Alex just whimpered against Kara's chest.
"Why don't you get some sleep?" Kara said to Maggie, knowing that Maggie was probably exhausted just like Alex.
"I'm alright," Maggie said, placing a hand on Alex's too-warm back, "Did you get any sleep last night?"
Before Kara could answer, Alex started coughing. Kara ended up having to help Alex sit up because the coughing was just so bad.
"Lexie," Kara said after her sister stopped coughing, "That sounds terrible. I think we should go to the DEO."
Alex shook her head, laying back against the pillows.
"Let's just try to sleep," Maggie said, not wanting to fight with Alex about going to the DEO for medical treatment.
Alex nodded, deciding to try sleeping again because now, with both her sister and girlfriend there, she was feeling a little calmer. Alex curled up between Kara and Maggie, her head on Maggie's chest while Kara rubbed her back.
She managed to fall asleep without waking up from a nightmare for more than ten minutes.
Though Alex fell asleep, Maggie just couldn't. She was still so worried about Alex, hating how her girlfriend's breathing sounded so labored. After about an hour and a half, Maggie looked down at Alex's face and then looked up at Kara in alarm.
"Do her lips look blue to you?" Maggie asked nervously. Kara looked over at her sister's face before looking up at Maggie with fear in her eyes.
"Yeah," Kara said, nodding.
"Allie," Maggie said, rubbing her girlfriend's back, trying to wake her up, "Come on Babe, you need to wake up."
Alex groaned, not waking up.
"Alex," Kara said, shaking her sister a little, "You need to wake up."
Alex opened her eyes a little, starting coughing immediately.
"How are you feeling?" Maggie asked after Alex finished coughing.
"Bad," Alex rasped out, "Really really bad."
"Your lips are starting to turn blue," Maggie said, rubbing her back, "And I think your fever has gone up."
"DEO," Alex rasped out, coughing again.
She couldn't get out any more words than that because her chest was hurting so much and she could barely breath.
Maggie and Kara looked at each other, their worry intensifying for the woman they loved.
"I can fly her," Kara said, knowing Alex needed medical attention quickly.
"Alright," Maggie said, nodding.
"I'll come back and get you then," Kara said, running to change.
"Alright," Maggie said, nodding as Kara scooped Alex up.
"Love you," Maggie said, kissing Alex's hot temple, "See you soon."
Alex nodded, another coughing fit starting. Kara took off as Maggie got out of bed. She got up and grabbed a bag, packing a few pairs of pajamas for Alex and some clothes for herself. She also grabbed both of their phones and Alex's favorite old blanket.
Maggie was so worried about her girlfriend. She wasn't medically trained at all, but she knew that blue lips were not normal or healthy. Maggie was sitting on the bed, waiting for Kara to come back. Maggie felt tears filling her eyes as she waited. She was exhausted, scared, and beyond worried.
She figured that once they found Alex that everything would be fine. She knew that there would probably be some repercussions from the ordeal, but she never thought Alex would end up back at the DEO with blue lips and a sky-high fever.
Kara flew into the window, coming up to Maggie.
"Maggie," Kara said, approaching her sister's girlfriend, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Maggie said, wiping her eyes as she stood up, "Yeah. Can we go?"
"Of course," Kara said, picking Maggie up and taking off.
So there it was! Did you like it? As always, any suggestions for other stories are always appreciated!