Amelia falls very ill very suddenly.
No, Amelia does not have Covid-19, just so yah all know, but I felt inclined to write a little hurt/comfort by way of illness, so here ya are.
Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish
Chapter Fourteen: Love is a Medicine
It started with a measly sore throat one morning.
Amelia resigned herself to the fact that she was bound to catch a cold at one point or another, it was December and the weather had gotten very cold, plus there was a lot of that sort of thing going around at that time of year. She'd probably caught it off somebody in Central Park, it was easy enough to walk past someone who was coughing or sneezing and not really think anything of it until it was too late, or she may have touched a surface that someone had left their germs on.
No big deal, she thought. It was gonna suck, sure, but it would probably only last a few days and that was that.
During the afternoon of the same day, Amelia sat on the sofa in the communal living room, cuddled to Loki's side, with her feet up while she watched TV. At one point, upon deciding she wanted to flip the channel, Amelia chose to practise her borrowed magic and lift the television remote from the coffee table without having to get up from her comfy position to retrieve it.
As it shifted slowly through the air towards her hand, a sudden throbbing pain began to seep into her head, and she abandoned the action to press her hand to her forehead and try to blink the pain away, flinching as the remote clattered against the hard floor.
"Hey," Loki said gently as he caught the dazed look on Amelia's face, "does your head hurt?"
"Mmmhmm," Amelia groaned in reply, and was overcome by inexplicable tiredness, "think I wanna go to bed."
"It's one o'clock in the afternoon." Loki responded lightly, a touch of amusement to his voice despite Amelia's weary whining.
"Don't feel well," Amelia croaked, her voice affected by the soreness in her throat, and leaned her head against his shoulder, "can you carry me?" Her muscles had been aching since she woke up that morning, and she couldn't find the energy to drag herself and her two growing unborn babies all the way up to their bedroom on her own.
"Amelia…" Loki sounded more concerned now, and tilted Amelia's head back to get a better look at her face, "should I take you to the infirmary? You look terrible."
"Thanks," Amelia grumbled sarcastically, "my terrible face doesn't need to go to the infirmary, it needs to go to bed. I'll be fine after a nap."
Loki huffed, rolling his eyes as he stood up so he could lift his wife into his arms, "You know I didn't mean it like that." She still had a touch of moodiness in her, that much was obvious, but at least she wasn't begging for sex every five minutes.
Loki took Amelia to their room and she assured him that she would be fine napping by herself for a few hours and didn't need him to watch over her constantly. After reminding her that she could speak to F.R.I.D.A.Y if she needed quick assistance, Loki left Amelia alone so she could rest up.
She slept for the rest of the day, and didn't even rouse until around eight o'clock in the evening when Loki's worries began to build and he rubbed her arm, calling her name softly to wake her up. She was imminently entering her third trimester, and it was important that she ate enough food throughout the day to provide for the babies, but Amelia hadn't eaten since midday.
It took a little coaxing, but Amelia finally blinked her eyes open and a whimper of protest escaped her.
"You need to have dinner, love," Loki told her, his face creased with concern at how lacklustre she was, "are you feeling any better than earlier?"
Amelia opened her mouth to respond, but a slew of coughs that became progressively more violent as they continued erupted from her chest, so brutal that she shook with each one. Loki quickly moved her to sit upright and rubbed circles over her back, another hand on her upper arm keeping her steady.
"N-no," Amelia rasped when the coughing subsided, "need to lie down."
"No, I'm taking you to the infirmary. This is worse than just a cold," Loki insisted, picking her up once again like it was nothing, even as Amelia sobbed through another objection. She didn't want to move, her head was pounding, she just wanted to sleep, but as Loki held her close, he knew taking her to see the doctor was the best decision.
"Amelia, you're hot."
"Thanks, so are you," Amelia slurred.
"No, I mean your skin is physically burning up. You have a fever," he quickened his pace, speed-walking his way to the infirmary and cursing under his breath at the slowness of the elevator, "I'm not a doctor, but I know fevers are bad."
"I just wanna sleep." Amelia struggled to make herself comfortable upon resting her head against Loki's shoulder - the constant up and down motion made it impossible for her to relax and let sleep take her. A sudden wheeze escaped her and Loki's grip around her tightened.
"Amelia?"
"Babies kicking," she answered with a groan.
Loki nodded his head. "Good," he said quietly.
Amelia did not have a cold. She had the flu, something Loki quickly learned was not to be taken lightly when diagnosed in pregnant women. She was given antiviral medication and fluids through an intravenous drip to aid in bringing down her fever and rehydrating her, but she turned her nose up at any food Loki attempted to feed her.
"Eat this, Amelia. It's chicken soup, it'll help you feel better," Loki lifted the spoon to her lips, insistent when she turned her head, "you have to eat. You haven't eaten since midday, it's almost eleven o'clock at night. Just eat, okay? One bowl of soup."
Amelia was propped up in the infirmary bed, her face mostly pale except for her red cheeks, still affected by the high temperature of her body. She blinked her eyes like her brain was reeling in her skull, groaning about the ache in her head, and kept her mouth tightly shut as Loki prodded the spoon against them.
She shook her head lightly, turning away, "No… I want to sleep."
"Amelia," Loki was beginning to lose patience, "I understand you don't feel well, perhaps you aren't feeling hungry, but that doesn't mean you can't eat. You have to, this isn't debatable."
"Throat hurts," she responded, before covering her mouth to cough again.
"If you don't eat, you'll feel worse," Loki tried, "and if you eat, you'll feel better. It's that simple."
Amelia drew in a shuddering breath, her eyes falling shut. She didn't move her hand away from her mouth, a purposeful action to reject the chicken soup that had been brought to her. It was clear Loki needed to be a little more forceful, but it was necessary for Amelia's health, even if it meant upsetting her.
Loki lifted his free hand to rest on Amelia's round stomach, "Amelia, this isn't just for you. It's for them too. Your body is weak enough from this infection, if you refuse to eat, you'll get weaker, and…" he trailed off briefly, not wanting to even entertain the possibility of what could happen, "it could be really bad for them Amelia…"
Amelia was quiet for a moment before blinking her bleary eyes open. She lifted her free hand and laid it atop his on her belly, her eyes scrunching up as moisture gathered in the corners, and she gasped as she sniffled, "I'm sorry…"
"Will you eat? For them?"
Amelia made a soft noise of agreement, and Loki let out a breath of relief, once again scooping up a spoonful of the broth and lifting it to Amelia's lips. She ate it this time, slow and small mouthfuls, and a few stray tears escaped her eyes, but she persisted until the bowl was empty.
"Well done, Amelia. Well done," Loki praised, thankful she had finally cooperated.
"Can I sleep now?" Amelia whispered, and Loki nodded his head, placing the empty bowl on the bedside table. He lowered the headboard so that Amelia was in a more comfortable position, and returned to his chair beside her bed, clutching her hand gently in his own.
He pushed her hair back behind her ear and pressed his knuckles to her forehead, the burn of her skin still very prevalent; Loki's eyes rose to the vitals monitor to the left of the bed, her temperature had dropped a fraction of a degree, but it was still too high at 103.2 fahrenheit, and it didn't seem to be dropping any lower.
Doctor Banner entered the infirmary a few moments later, coming in at just the right time to check up on Amelia, "How is she holding up?" Loki latched on to the clear tension in his voice - he too was worried, and that didn't bode well.
"You said this medication would bring her temperature down," Loki practically hissed, "why isn't it working?"
Banner frowned, "We need to be patient. It should start to work more thoroughly soon."
Loki stood from his chair quickly, "Well I don't want to wait. What if it gets worse?"
Banner shook his head subtly, looking back to the monitor, "What do you propose?"
"We need to try something else," Loki stepped back to Amelia's side, his fingers brushing her hand, and then he sighed, "I'm sure Inga would have something back at the palace in New Asgard. I can go to her and bring back something that would definitely help."
Banner seemed unsure of the idea, and that was how Loki knew it was what he needed to do, if the doctor was sure the medication would work, he would have insisted he stay and wait.
"Don't go…" Amelia piped up weakly. Loki had thought she was asleep, but it appeared she had heard the whole conversation. He frowned and took Amelia's hand in both of his own, rubbing her skin softly.
"I won't be long. I'll bring back something that will help you. Just hang tight."
He didn't want to leave her, not while she looked so fretful of the idea of him being away for an hour or so, but if it meant reversing Amelia's debilitated condition, it had to be done. "Go to sleep," he told her, eyes flicking to the doctor present in the room for a second, "Banner will stay with you until I return."
Loki kissed her forehead before departing.
It hadn't taken long to contact Heimdall and access the Bifrost, but it was quite unfortunate that Inga did not have the desired concoction ready to be taken when Loki arrived. It was a simple elixir in regards to the ingredients, but it took more than a while to brew it, time that Loki couldn't put to waste.
"Why don't you have any already made?" Loki groused as he watched Inga work as quickly as possible.
"It's wintertime, my prince," Inga responded tightly, "few people are in need of a potion that lowers one's temperature while it's snowing outside." She didn't falter as she spoke, quickly popping the components into her basin. "Why didn't you just bring her to me? There's far more I could do for her if she was here."
"She's in no condition to travel through the Bifrost. I didn't want to make things worse for her," Loki replied. He was grinding his teeth and shifting from one foot to the other, it was difficult to stand still when he knew Amelia was suffering back at Avengers Tower.
Time seemed to slow down as he waited. He became hyper aware of every small sound; from the noise of stirring liquid to clinking glass, and the echo of footsteps that eventually became subtly noticeable as the palace workers began to wake up bright and early for the day ahead. Light shone through the window; it was still the middle of the night back in Manhattan, Loki could feel the pull of sleep in the back of his mind. Usually he'd be cuddled up with Amelia fast asleep at this time.
Every moment that ticked by was another step towards Amelia's illness growing worse. Loki became more and more restless, pacing the room in silence, occasionally letting out an anxious sigh. Inga let him know that his constant moving around and impatient sighs were disturbing her focus and drawing the whole process out, to which he tried his hardest to stand still and shut the fuck up. Any other situation and Loki would have reminded Inga that she was talking to the prince and needed to show him respect, but there was too much at stake to spit back witty jibes, so he simply did as he was told.
All in all, it took two hours.
Two hours. Amelia had been waiting for him for two long hours.
When he returned to the tower through the Bifrost, he sprinted up the stairwell and through the halls towards the infirmary, unwilling to let Amelia wait any second longer than she had to.
Upon rushing into the infirmary, he found Amelia hacking and coughing into her hand while Banner helped her sit upright to try and lessen the severity of each horrid choke. A glance at the machine monitoring her temperature revealed that it had not dropped, it was still in a dangerously high zone. It wouldn't be for long.
"I'm here, Amelia," Loki exclaimed, rushing to her other side, and cupped her face, lifting her chin so he could see her eyes. She looked so tired, and her eyes were brimming with tears - probably from the force of continuously coughing up her lungs; she wheezed, gasping for breath when there was a moment of reprieve, and let out a pained, pitiful noise.
Loki could hear the rasp with each breath she took, and the way she cringed told him her throat was still very sore. Despite her ailments, she was filled with utter relief as she looked at him.
"Did you find something that would help?" Doctor Banner asked, and Loki nodded, pulling the vial of cool, blue liquid from the satchel hanging off his shoulder.
"It'll be okay, Amelia," Loki assured her, "this will do away with your fever, and Inga said it may soothe your throat too." Inga wasn't entirely sure how long the potion would work for, but she had instructed Loki to administer it whenever her temperature began to climb. Amelia only needed a sip, Inga told him.
With his hand on the back of her neck, he tilted her head back gently and brought the cooling draught to her lips. Amelia swallowed the small sip she was given, and Loki helped her lay back against the bed before corking the vial and placing it on the side table. He stood over Amelia, watching her closely as she blinked wearily up at him, and once again took her hand in his.
"I'm sorry I was gone for so long," he whispered, and she responded by squeezing his hand, "how are you feeling?"
Amelia let out a soft sigh and spoke, her voice a very light murmur, "My throat is a little better…"
Banner stayed present for the next ten minutes, watching the monitor as Amelia's temperature slowly but surely showed a decline until it was out of the red zone, upon which he gave a sigh of relief, "It's a good thing you retrieved that medicine from Asgard, Loki," the doctor praised, "it should be enough to help her through the next few days, by which the antiviral drugs should've run their course." He failed to restrain a yawn. "I'm going to get some sleep. If anything happens, tell F.R.I.D.A.Y to wake me up, I'll be here like a shot."
Loki nodded and watched as Banner made a move to leave. "Wait," Loki stopped him, and then tentatively said, "thanks for watching her."
Banner gave him a small smile, "Anytime."
After the doctor left, Loki pulled his chair in close to the bed and caressed Amelia's cheek as she dozed. The potion appeared to have alleviated her need to cough every few minutes, which was great, because it meant she could sleep peacefully now. A glance at the clock revealed it had passed one o'clock in the morning. Sleepiness lingered in the back of Loki's head, now that Amelia wasn't in danger, he felt he could probably sleep too.
He drew back only briefly before he heard Amelia's small voice break through the silence in the room, "Don't leave again…"
"I'm not," Loki promised her, "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."
"You're not leaving?" Amelia struggled to lift her eyelids.
"No, I'm not going anywhere," he repeated assuredly.
"I was so scared when you weren't here."
Loki frowned, leaning down over the bed to press a light kiss to her lips, "I'm sorry, love, it won't happen again. It's going to be fine now."
The corners of Amelia's mouth lifted in a weak smile, "You shouldn't kiss me… you'll get sick too."
"I won't. I'm immune to human illnesses," Loki explained, "you'll never see me sick."
"Never?"
"Never," Loki affirmed.
Amelia awoke to the sensation of burning. Her throat protested when she tried to make any sort of sound, too sore and painful for any words to escape her. Her body was hot. Too hot, far too ridiculously hot. For a moment she couldn't remember where she was, and it wasn't until she saw Loki sleeping in the chair at her bedside that she remembered she was in the infirmary.
She tried kicking off the thin blanket laid over her, but the muscles in her legs screamed when she tried to move them. Everything felt so heavy. She needed to cool down, she could feel that she was sweating, and a sudden kick in her stomach told her that one or both of her unborn children were just as uncomfortable as she was in that moment.
She tried to wake Loki, but ended up cringing in pain when she tried to speak. In the corner of her eye, she saw the icy blue liquid in the glass vial on her bedside, and immediately reached for it. Her arm felt like it weighed a tonne, but she forced the limb to obey, her fingers wriggling as she prodded the potion that sat just out of reach.
Tears of discomfort rolled down Amelia's face, the strain of pushing herself to attain the healing concoction would be worth it just as soon as she could imbibe a single drop. Her arm shook, fingertips brushing the vial again, and then it tipped suddenly, falling to the floor in a flash.
The resounding shatter woke Loki in an instant, startling him from his slumber, and his shocked gaze turned grave when he saw the contents of the bottle splattered on the floor. He looked to Amelia, to her outstretched arm, and then to the vitals monitor behind her before leaping to his feet.
A cry finally sounded from Amelia's throat, full of agonised upset, "I'm so-sorry, I'm sorry-" she sobbed, feeling overwhelmingly like she'd done something terrible and that Loki was mad at her. Loki seemed to flail in place for a moment, weighing his options, and Amelia could tell that he was considering heading back to Asgard to retrieve another healing concoction from just the look in his dark green eyes.
"Don't go," Amelia whimpered. Her head was suddenly pounding as fear pulsed through her veins, "I don't want you to leave again, pl-please…"
"Shhh," Loki hushed her, pressing his palm against her head to feel the intense heat radiating from her skin, and he cringed slightly before he raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Heimdall, can you hear me?"
Heimdall was the cool guy in the golden armour that Amelia had seen briefly when she was last in Asgard, and Loki had explained to her that his powers allowed him to see everything. Amelia wondered if Heimdall could see them now.
"I need you to ask Inga to make more of the cooling elixir, and to bring it here as soon as possible," Loki requested firmly. Amelia heard only one side of the conversation, and as soon as Loki made the implication that he would not be leaving, Amelia let out an easing breath. It was, however, quickly interrupted by another slew of dreadful coughs.
"Tell her to be quick, please." Loki added, moving to lift Amelia into a sitting position, hoping it would alleviate the mucous in her throat. He gave all of his attention to Amelia, then, having signed off with Heimdall. "Shh, shh," Loki murmured, rubbing his hand in circles on Amelia's back, the other hand came to rest reassuringly on her stomach. It brought Amelia more than enough comfort, but her head lulled forwards, unable to hold it up from the pangs of aching within her skull.
"How- how long?" Amelia rasped.
"Not long, Amelia," Loki responded, a waver of uncertainty in his voice, "Inga won't waste a single second."
"I'm… I'm too hot."
Loki was once again grinding his teeth, looking up to the vitals monitor which showed her temperature was a few decimals higher than it had been earlier that morning. The concoction had kept it low for a good five hours, if only it wasn't now in a puddle on the floor, there were few other things that could be done to help soothe Amelia's distress. Loki hated to see her suffer.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y, get Banner down here now," Loki told the tower's resident A.I, which adhered to his request. He would feel better with the doctor present, but that didn't solve the question of how he was going to try and keep Amelia's body cool until Inga arrived.
"Lok… too hot…" Amelia whined again, quiet tears sprouting from her eyes, "head hurts…" She was barely coherent, the high temperature of her body making it difficult for her to think and even more difficult to speak; the thin blanket had been pulled back and all that covered her was an even thinner nightgown. It would've been a dream to douse herself in icy water at that moment.
Loki looked at her suddenly, a strange expression on his face. He looked at her with apprehension and discomfort, but with a sort of resignation to it, and then he sighed, lowering his head.
"It's okay, Amelia… I know what to do."
For a moment, there was nothing, and then an unexpected chill seemed to come out of nowhere, filling the air around Amelia. She shivered reflexively, but it was simply wonderful to feel the cooling sensation from the air against her overheated skin, she didn't care that she had no idea where it had come from.
And then she saw. Loki's pale skin seeping into a dark sapphire blue, the lines upon his skin raising up as he transformed into his birth form. He lifted her then, mindful of the IV in her arm, and slipped into the bed behind her so she could recline against his chest and be enveloped in the chilled embrace. Amelia naturally tensed at the cold, but felt herself sinking into it gradually, a moan of placation escaping her lips.
Loki's arms held her flush against him, one palm pressing to her forehead, the other gripping her hand; Amelia pressed her burning cheek to his chest, the iciness of his skin through the fabric of his shirt feeling heavenly against her face, and practically melted in his arms.
"Thank… you…" Amelia whispered, enjoying the soothing cuddle. She knew how uncomfortable it made him to transform, especially outside of their bedroom or anywhere he knew they would have privacy. He was vulnerable here, because anyone could burst into the infirmary at any moment, and given that he had called for Bruce shortly before, it was highly likely it would happen.
And yet, Loki stayed there, providing Amelia with a well-needed chill. He was her hero.
Amelia dragged Loki's hand down to her stomach, pressing it there just as she felt the telltale signs of movement. It wasn't as hard as a kick, which made Amelia think that perhaps the babies were reaching back, seeking out that lovely glacial cold - she didn't know if her near-delirious mind was just thinking up adorable visions to mollify herself with, but she chose to believe it was true.
Loki could no doubt feel them moving, too. His palm brushed over her belly with a tender, loving touch; Amelia wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but they were eventually interrupted as a set of footsteps bounded down the outside hall.
Loki tensed. Bruce entered in a rush, and then froze - figuratively, not literally - at the sight of Loki's alternate form.
Amelia remembered Loki telling her once that she was the only one, save for Odin, who had ever seen him in his Jotun form, and now that was no longer so. Bruce, however, seemed to snap out of it very quickly - it was inherent to his character that he would be one to fully understand Loki's perturbation at having somebody stare upon a form he hated so much, after all, Bruce was the Hulk, so it only stood to reason.
"What happened?" Bruce inquired. He'd probably been woken from his sleep so precipitously that his mind was still lagging just a bit.
"The vial smashed," Loki pointed out, "I contacted Heimdall so that more could be made, but this is the only way to lower her temp-"
Another interruption, Loki grew even more rigid as another pair of footsteps sounded.
Thor and Inga burst into the room.
After a brief pause to observe Loki's unfamiliar form, Inga went immediately into healer-mode, she stepped forward, procuring a fresh vial of icy blue liquid from the pocket of her robe, "You are so lucky I brewed enough for a whole batch when you came to me this morning," the woman declared, uncorking the lid and lifting the potion to Amelia's lips so she could sip at it, "or I may not have arrived for another two hours."
The relief was almost immediate. The liquid coated her throat, lessening the soreness and the urge to cough, keeping her cool from the inside out.
Thor had yet to say anything, but Amelia knew all would be well with him. It was just a surprise to see Loki like this for the first time, and she wanted so badly to remind her husband of that, because she was sure Loki probably thought everybody present was staring at him in disgust.
In just a few minutes, Amelia was already feeling better, eyelids growing heavy as she fought to stay conscious. It had been a long night for everybody involved, and Amelia had already decided she wasn't gonna reach so carelessly for that life-saving potion again, not with her curse of clumsiness.
When Loki finally slipped out from below Amelia, laying her gently back against the soft pillow, he sent Thor an irritable glare. "What're you looking at, Thor?" he asked with a dash of venom in his voice, red eyes pinned on the other. The Asgardian king had not stopped staring at him, and it was clear this vexed Loki greatly.
After a pause, Thor's brow unfurrowed and he offered a small smile, "Nothing, brother."
Loki just looked away, pulling his seat back up to Amelia's bed so he could stay close as he waited for his blue form to fade away, but Amelia knew just how meaningful Thor's simple response really was to her husband.
Also, that one line about Loki being so sure Amelia would never see him falling ill is definitely foreshadowing a future chapter later down the road OR a oneshot in and of itself where Loki does, in fact, fall ill. ;)
So, I'm planning on writing maybe one more chapter before the big day where the babies are born! I might have to ask you to be patient though, as it might be a couple weeks before I'm able to post it. I've been feeling inclined to put a chunk of my free time to doing stress-reducing things like playing Animal Crossing instead of dedicating my entire day to writing lmao. Don't get me wrong, I adore writing this fic, but obviously all work and no play makes Kumikoseph a sad girl :')
