Middle 10

Shalimar flinched as another wave of nausea flooded over her, leaving her moaning as she pressed her forehead against the cold tiles. She wondered if it was worse this time or the same, and the memories had faded from before, taking away their pain. Not having the energy to get back up after the nausea had passed, she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes, enjoying the brief respite.

A hand on her shoulder brought her back to herself, opening her eyes to find Emma's looking back at her.

"Why didn't you wake me?" She asked, tone scolding.

"You looked so peaceful." She smiled, thinking of her sleeping lover in the moments that she had savoured before she had been forced to run for the bathroom. She moaned as her stomach turned again and she forced her eyes closed against the spinning room.

"I want to be here for you, Shal. Don't leave me in the dark about things like this." Emma's arm around her shoulders offered her world a little stability and she slowly sat back upright, leaning into Emma's chest and taking comfort in her warmth.

"I wasn't going to"

"Would you have told me?" Emma interrupted. "Would you have told me if I hadn't woken up?"

"I don't want you to worry."

"It's my job to worry, Shal. You deal with it and I worry about you, it's the way it goes." Shalimar laughed briefly, and then stopped as her stomach responded, cramping and pulling her in on herself painfully. "Sorry." Emma winced.

"No, don't be. I'll be ok in a minute." Shalimar replied breathlessly. Feeling the world calm a little more, she offered Emma her hand. "Help me up?" She asked, leaning on Emma until she felt stable. "Well that wasn't pleasant." She smiled, rinsing her mouth out from the tap and wandering back into the bedroom.

"Is that it?" Emma asked, following her.

"Until tomorrow morning. I think so." Shalimar replied, diving back underneath the covers and hiding her head.

"So what do you think? Was Adam right, is it worse?" Shalimar considered it for a moment, still beneath the covers, savouring the warmth.

"I don't think" Emma looked down at the pile of covers when Shalimar didn't continue.

"Shal?" When there was no response Emma pulled the covers back off her lover. Pain was etched across her features and Emma could feel the fear emanating from her in waves. She was curled up as if she was trying to make herself fit into the smallest space possible. Later she would forget the panicked call for Adam, Shalimar's hand around her wrist so tight it would bruise, the way Adam ran into the room, Jesse and Brennan's faces in the doorway.

It was the look in her eyes as she held her gaze, so much in that stare that it was almost a physical force boring into her. That was what she remembered of that moment that was hours long.

Emma smiled as Shalimar opened her eyes a few hours later in the lab. The immediate panic that flooded the room had Emma at her side in moments.

"It was just the sickness." She assured her. "She's still fine." The emotions lightened as Shalimar breathed out slowly.

"Hell. I don't think I can do that every morning." She laughed. Emma reached up and brushed away a lock of hair from Shalimar's forehead, letting her hand stray to the side of her face and linger there.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Good. Fine." Shalimar replied. "I guess that was what Adam meant by twice as bad, huh." She chuckled. "I wasn't expecting that." Shalimar caught hold of Emma's hand as she went to move it away, sitting up as she focused on her wrist. "Oh, Emma, I didn't do this did I?" Emma glanced down at the soft yellow bruises that were appearing there.

"I hadn't noticed." She laughed the injury off. "Shared pain. Hey, did you ever hear that joke about the machine that they invented" As Emma continued to tell Shalimar the obtuse joke, revelling in the temporary light that filled her face. Neither of them were to know that things were going to get much, much worse before long.