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The Fraga McRemitz family had – unsurprisingly – not been able to prove that they were responsible people after Arturia had anonymously denounced how carelessly they were behaving with their daughter; therefore, Mr. Fraga was given, at his own request and after proving he was sufficiently reliable, custody of the child. Mrs. Fraga and Mrs. McRemitz were allowed to see her, but not actively take care of her.

Arturia read about it in the newspapers – newspapers she knew were more or less dependable in the news they reported – and she was reassured about the fact that things for baby Bazett would become somewhat better.

Meanwhile, at the hospital things were proceeding smoothly enough. Nurse Kariya and young Sakura had had the opportunity to talk quite a bit – and since Iri was in the same room, she had talked some too – and their conversations had been very comforting to them. They were all healing from losses, of different kinds and because of different reasons; however, the fact that they had that in common and could therefore understand each other was an unexpected help in dealing with it.

When Arturia was present, she either spent time with the two children, helping them with their homework and lessons, or she remained next to Iri while Sakura talked about her mother and Kariya gave the white-haired woman her medicines.

Iri was by now quite far along with her pregnancy, and she was also truly recovering from her illness at the same time. She had tried to stand up from the bed, and it had worked, even though she had not managed to take more than a few steps before needing to be supported again.

It was still a good start, and Arturia did her best to stifle the occasional uneasiness she felt about it. She had her fair reasons to be worried: the last time it had looked like Iri was improving, she had fallen into a coma and a deathly disease had been discovered, which wasn't exactly the favourite time of her life to remember.

She couldn't however allow herself to have such thoughts, especially in this period where it was fall and the first cases of flu were beginning to go around, even at the hospital.

Arturia was not about to let the danger of catching the flu stop her from visiting her sister and her nephew, particularly because Iri was almost eight months pregnant, and she would not let her face the last hardships of this pregnancy on her own.

One day, she visited her sister in the morning and then grabbed something to eat at the hospital's cafeteria before heading to the office, as she was expected to participate in a meeting. She had decided to take a walk to cross that distance – the number of reporters had decreased sufficiently during the past weeks – but she had been ill-prepared to face a sudden downpour.

Since she did not have an umbrella, she was quickly soaked, and arrived at the offices with her hair sticking to her face – as it was beginning to fall from her usual chignon – and shaking because of her cold, wet clothes.

She was not going to let that deter her though, and rapidly made herself sufficiently presentable in the restroom before heading to the place where the meeting was to be held.

She was about to enter the large office room, when she suddenly saw the doorknob begin to float in front of her eyes.

She blinked, realizing she had wobbled on her feet slightly. She blinked again, taking a few more steps forward to pass through the entrance.

She blurrily noticed how Gilgamesh – the only person who was already present – gave her a nod in greeting, only to frown as his eyes focused on her and examined her attentively.

"You look very pale," he remarked, taking her by surprise. That was something very uncommon for him to say, as she would have expected him to comment on her soaked clothes or damp hair instead.

A wave of dizziness came over her in that precise moment, and she blinked once again, forcing herself to clear her head that suddenly seemed to have become quite heavy.

"I'm fine," she said a little brusquely.

He raised an eyebrow, completely unconvinced.

"You are slowly turning grey, Arturia. You're not fine at all."

Gilgamesh had been there a little earlier because he had not had lunch with his wife; he had been looking forward to Arturia's arrival, because her presence at meetings was not only useful, but observing the slight changes in her expression when she listened to others was entertaining as well.

However, the moment she had crossed the threshold, she had looked really pale, so much as to almost startle him. She had obviously been walking under the rain, probably having been surprised by it on her way to the offices.

She was also trying to ignore him when he was pointing out that there was something seriously wrong with her health, and that would not do. His gaze was uncharacteristically stern, and his hand went up to touch her forehead.

She slapped it away before he could reach her though, admittedly with a very weak hit of her hand – again very unlike her. He frowned once more.

For the third time, the office blurred in front of her eyes, but she forced herself to blink.

"There is an important meeting now, Gilgamesh."

She was clearly dismissing him and reminding him of their duties, but he was not going to be dissuaded from what he had already decided.

"This meeting is cancelled," he shortly declared, his voice raising a little. One of his subordinates was entering in that moment, and he immediately nodded, leaving the room and informing the others who were coming in after him that there was not going to be a meeting that afternoon.

Turning around to face him, Arturia protested vehemently.

"Gilgamesh, you should not–"

"Would you rather be sick in front of everyone?" he asked in a low voice, interrupting her.

She was unable to find a reply, seeing everything beginning to float in front of her once again. He took it as an invitation to continue.

"You seem sick enough to empty the contents of your stomach during the meeting–"

He was about to finish the sentence, but stopped abruptly as soon as he saw her fall forward with one of her hands going to hold her forehead in pain.

He was by her side in a flash, steadying her with a firm but uncharacteristically gentle grip, feeling how drenched her clothes were. She was worse off than he had previously thought; he had never seen Arturia ill, so this situation was rather new to him.

"You are coming home with me, right now."

Her eyes were watery and she could not see well because everything was blurred, no matter how often she blinked and tried to clear her vision. She could no longer deny the fact that she was indeed getting seriously sick.

She still made an effort to speak though.

"Gilgamesh… I can go home on my own. Don't cancel the meeting only because I can't attend."

Once he was certain she would not lose her balance, he let go of her shoulders, where he had grasped her to steady her. He tried to meet her gaze, but he could clearly see that she was having difficulties in focusing.

"We are going home, Arturia, and that's final. Come."

She was feeling too dizzy to argue with him anymore, and she found the door by sheer luck since she was really having trouble in concentrating on anything in front of her eyes.

Sheer luck was however not going to always be in her favour, and in the next room, there was Iskandar, whose booming laugh in greeting them did nothing to help her increasingly throbbing headache.

The fact that he had zero tact also played a part in worsening her conditions.

"Ah, Goldie, and the lovely Ria! But you sure look pale, young lady! Going home to rest, I assume? Well, I hope that this sickness is the prelude to a joyous event!"

The tall red-bearded man did not notice how Arturia almost choked and seemed to turn even paler, while Gilgamesh completely ignored him. Bringing his wife home was his main priority; the idiocies that came out of Iskandar's mouth could be overlooked, at least for the time being.

Yet it appeared that things would not go smoothly, because they were not able to leave before meeting Enkidu as well, who had just arrived.

"Hi Gil~, and dear Ria! You are so adorable together– um, what…?"

In that moment, Arturia lost her balance completely, and Gilgamesh – whose eyes had not left her for one second – was there to promptly catch her before she fell, paying no attention to the fact that her soaked attire was now going to seep water into his clothes as well.

Without wasting any time in uselessly trying to make her regain her footing, he picked her up in his arms – feeling surprised at how light she was – and gave a glare to the people standing in his way, his best friend included.

By then, her skin had turned an alarmingly unhealthy shade of green.

"She's sick, Enkidu," Gilgamesh told Enkidu, his tone low, terse and clipped, before averting his gaze to stare at her again.

The barely conscious Arturia had just enough strength to mutter, "Put me down."

Gilgamesh replied curtly, his voice loud enough only for her to hear, "Not a chance of that happening, Arturia."

With his wife in his arms, he made his way to the exit door, disregarding the stares of the few people who dared look at them for more than a second.

He made a mental note to kill his best friend when he heard his excited voice, loud and clear so that everyone else could hear it too.

"Ah~! So you'll soon have a visit from the stork bringing you one of the cutest blonde babies ever!"

Gilgamesh ignored the squeals he heard from the office staff, and made another mental note to give them all a very calm and serene piece of his mind in the morrow, because this certainly wasn't a behaviour he considered acceptable at his workplace.

But Arturia's wellbeing had to be prioritized first. He looked down at her. Her head was leaning against his chest, her eyes were closed and saying that she was pale was an understatement.

She was as stubborn as a mule though, and still opened her eyes, eventually managing to meet his after a few unsuccessful attempts. Her voice was not as strong as usual, and from the way she avoided moving her head too much, it was obvious that she had a pounding headache.

"How come that, once I'm a little ill, everyone immediately thinks that I'm pregnant?"

Gilgamesh wanted to disagree with the statement of being 'a little ill', since she was clearly very ill, but merely replied with a noncommittal shrug, making sure not to move her body too much at the same time. There was no need to worsen her conditions.

She was displaying a rather amusingly appalled expression though, and although he knew that she wasn't completely in her wits, he could not stop himself from asking, "Does the idea of being pregnant revolt you so much, Arturia?"

She looked at him again, making an effort to concentrate on both staring at him and giving him a coherent answer.

"The pregnancy, I guess not really. The idea of being pregnant with your child…"

Years of controlling his emotions made sure that his face did not betray the twinge he felt in his chest.

"And why would that be?"

She raised an eyebrow, clearly with some difficulty. It appeared that not being fully lucid was loosening her tongue without her being fully in control over it.

"I assume you know what is necessary to do to make a baby."

He gave her a flat look, to which she only shot him back a pointed one, a second before her eyes slid shut again.

"That is what doesn't sit well with me."

To disguise the emotion he was feeling, which was annoyingly close to displeasure, he remarked, "Yet you can't blame Iskandar and everyone else for reaching that conclusion."

She snorted, her eyelids feeling too heavy to be lifted again.

"They are simply being foolish. And besides… there is no danger of that being true anyway."

With that, Gilgamesh could not argue, and he merely tightened his hold around the pale woman in his arms.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

Arturia did not manage to either fall asleep or stay awake during the car ride to go home, and she remained in half-slumber throughout it. She distantly thought she heard Gilgamesh make a few phone calls, but perhaps she just imagined it.

They had been able to avoid the reporters, and Gilgamesh did not intend to meet them any time soon – at home or anywhere else – as he would have proved to them how little patience he possessed.

As he was carrying her up the stairs – for some reason, he had picked her up in his arms again once they had arrived, still uncaring of her drenched state – she opened her eyes and blurrily found his face.

"Gilgamesh, if you are bringing me to our bedroom, you should consider sleeping somewhere else. I might be contagious."

She had trouble hearing his reply because of her headache, but she still heard him answer with a simple, "I will take my chances, Arturia."

She was beginning to shiver, indicating her fever. Gilgamesh noticed and brought her to her bed, making her lie down under the covers. She immediately seemed to relax, her contracted features distending slightly.

"Can you change on your own?"

To that question, she managed to focus a little more and reply with a nasal, "Yes."

She usually folded her nightwear and put it under her pillow, so she got changed under the covers, with some difficulty and slight awkwardness; but even in her incoherent state, she was lucid enough to know that she could not keep on her wet clothes.

After separating the two beds and giving her the time to change while he looked for clothes for himself as well – he had gotten rather soaked as well, by holding her body so close – he could not stop himself from staring at her. She was really, really pale, and her hair was still wet. He had given her a towel to dry it off a bit, and while it wasn't truly enough, it was at least an improvement nonetheless.

Suddenly, her eyes opened and she reached blindly to her bedside table, obviously searching for her phone. However, she risked sliding down the bed that way; therefore, the blond man immediately interrupted her by grabbing her hand firmly.

Guessing that she wanted her phone to call her sister, he told her, "Stay in bed, Arturia. I have already called your sister as we were coming home, and I've informed her of your sickness."

Arturia began to shake her head, but stopped immediately due to the pain that that movement caused her. She closed her eyes briefly, before lifting her eyelids again, with some effort.

"Thank you for calling my sister… I meant however to call Sakura, the housekeepers and the cleaners to tell them not to come… I don't want them to get ill either." She especially did not want young Rin and little Shirou to get a fever. "I was going to suggest to Sakura to take Rin with her and go to the hospital… she and Iri get along well, and Kariya is always happy to see them."

He contemplated her for a while, before finding her phone on her bedside table and leaving it closer to her hand. If she had to take the object, she had better be able to do so without falling off the bed.

"There is no need for that, Arturia."

Even if everything was quite hazy, she furrowed her brow, trying to focus on where she could assume his face was.

"What do you mean by that, Gilgamesh? They should not become ill only because of me!"

His expression was very amused, but the look in his eyes was serious as his hand went to touch her forehead gently.

"There is no need for that because I already made the necessary arrangements with the staff, including the Tohsaka girl. And you are burning up," he concluded, leaving her side to come back a moment later with an additional, large, heavy blanket and a glass of water.

"Drink," he ordered with a tone that did not leave any room for argument. "There is fever medicament in it."

Knowing that it would have been useless to argue in her weakened state and knowing that he was actually helping her, she complied, feeling the strange taste but appreciating the cool water.

He was not done though. He disappeared from her blurred field of vision, only to reappear with a wet cloth that he put on her forehead. The relief coming from it was immediate.

"Now rest. You are not allowed to get up from this bed until you feel better."

Even through her half-lidded eyes, she could see that he was giving her a stern glare and she could hear how commanding his tone was, therefore Arturia did not find the strength to do anything more than let her eyes fall shut.

She felt strange though. What, exactly, was Gilgamesh doing? It was as if… wait…

…was he taking care of her?

While the concept itself was odd, it felt even stranger to realize that it seemed to be the truth. She couldn't be entirely certain that she was in good hands at this time of sickness, but she knew that Gilgamesh would not let her be in pain if he could do anything about it.

Still, having someone actually there to care about her… was unusual, and unfamiliar. She had always been the one to take care of others, not the other way round.

Not that the people in her family – Iri and Shirou – didn't love her; but they had bigger problems, therefore she had always done her best to overcome her own issues alone, so as not to burden them.

It felt really strange to have someone who was caring for her in such a manner. Particularly if she considered that, the one doing so was her husband.

With those thoughts keeping her tired mind occupied, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

His crimson eyes examined her sleeping face keenly.

She had quite a high fever, and from what he had seen, she was feeling dizzy and had a heavy headache. It was probably a form of influenza, but he was going to have a doctor visit her the following day to be completely certain of it.

Seeing that she was resting more or less peacefully and making sure that her phone was next to her hand, so that she could call in case she needed anything, he left the room to go prepare something to eat. He had other considerations that were swirling through his mind.

What exactly had come over him earlier in the day, at the office, when he had noticed that Arturia was unwell?

One second he had been looking at her with amusement, the next second he had been filled with concern. Then, without a second of hesitation, he had cancelled the meeting and brought her home, to make sure she could rest.

Such a thing was preposterous. When had this woman taken so much space for herself in his life!?

As much as he could be reluctant about having to face it, the answer was rather obvious: from the day he had married her, she had become more and more important in… well, everything he did.

That was the simple reason why he had acted in such a way on this specific day.

It was true that he had to always remember to keep up the marriage charade in public, but why had that not even gone through his mind as he had taken her up in his arms? Why, when he indeed found himself having to do things to keep up appearances, did they not bother him? Why did they no longer bother him?

Everything he did with her away from the eyes of the public was supposed to be a bother, and yet – it was not.

He did not mind spending his time with her.

Even when she was currently sleeping in bed because of a high fever.

Even now, it was not a bother at all.

What had this woman done to him!?

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The following morning, after looking over Arturia's medical record and visiting her, the doctor confirmed that it was a severe case of exhausting flu, and aside from recommending a lot of rest, left some medicines to speed up the recovery, which she warned was going to take about a week.

Arturia, who had been barely conscious during the visit, fell asleep again afterwards, but not before Gilgamesh firmly made her drink a glass of water. It was important that she did not get dehydrated.

That day, he did not go to work. He sent notice that he would be working from home, but he elaborated a little when on the phone with Enkidu, briefly letting him know that it was because Arturia was sick.

He also made the effort of making another phone call to the hospital to keep his sister-in-law updated about his wife's conditions. Mr. and Mrs. Stark and the cleaners received instructions to stay at home, while the deliverers, who did the shopping, were told to buy specific food that would be suitable for Arturia's condition and helpful for her subsequent recovery.

It was only in the late afternoon, when he heard coughing coming from the bedroom as he was in his studio, that he went back there. She was blinking slowly, and while she was obviously very tired and still a long way from being healed, she was able to focus her eyes on him. Without a word, he made her drink a glass of water, and then another with the medicines the doctor had prescribed.

Her voice was quite croaky, but she addressed him anyway.

"What time is it?"

He raised an eyebrow. Was this the first thing she wanted to know?

"It's six in the evening." Then he gave her a sharp glance, making a guess as to why she had asked such a question. "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head.

"Not really. My sister…?"

"I already called her. She is worried about you. The boy, the Tohsaka girls, the doctor and the nurses asked about you as well."

Arturia managed a weak smile, feeling unexpected warmth filling her chest. It felt good to know that they cared, even though she felt guilty for making them worry.

As she was lying in bed, Gilgamesh changed the wet cloth on her forehead, displeased to find out that her temperature did not seem to have lowered.

Arturia spoke again, still too weak to focus for prolonged periods of time, but determined to say what was disquieting her.

"Gilgamesh… while it's very kind of you to do so much for me, I don't believe it's wise. If I'm contagious, you will get the flu too."

He didn't even attempt to suppress the flat look he directed at her.

"Arturia, I'm not letting you sleep in this room alone while you are ill."

When she opened her mouth to try to protest again, his eyes narrowed. "No discussion is allowed on this matter."

Just two hours later, as he was sitting on a chair near her, going through a report, he suddenly sneezed – and Arturia actually let out a small laugh.

It was hoarse, and a coughing fit interrupted her, but she still kept laughing silently.

She had warned him, after all.

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