A/N: Hi there!
I spent the whole week with this idea in my mind and asked on Twitter if someone would be interested in reading something like this and I had many more positive answers than I expected, so here it is! The title and beginning of the fic are from the song All you need to know by Gryffin & Slander. I hope you enjoy it!
I'll lift you when you're feeling low
I'll hold you when the night gets cold
You'll never have to be alone
And that's all you need to know
Harvey arrives very late that night, a case he's working on held him many more hours than he wanted in the office, even though they had agreed that in Seattle they wouldn't work as much and would enjoy time together, the Christmas holidays are approaching and time is becoming his enemy.
When he enters his house, everything is dark. He takes off his shoes in the entrance hall to don't make any noise in case Donna is asleep, then closes the door and leaves the keys and his wallet in a small piece of furniture they have there and walks into the house taking off his jacket, belt, and tie, that he leaves it on the couch. Donna tomorrow will get angry if she sees this, he thinks as he walks towards the bedroom, so goes back to pick up things and take them to the wardrobe, but things don't get there, because he is surprised to see Donna sleeping wearing her clothes, so he leaves everything on a chair they have in the bedroom, comes stealthily to her and sits on the bed, next to her, noticing that she is completely sweating and quickly reacts and touches her forehead with the back of his fingers, no need for a thermometer to know. Donna has a fever. A lot of fever.
He runs her hair off her face, which is glued with her sweat, carefully, and then gives her a sweet kiss on her head.
"Donna..." He whispers, but Donna doesn't wake up, just curls up, even more, getting closer to him. "Donna..." He repeats, still whispering, but a little louder. "Look at me, please."
"Come to sleep, Harvey." She babbles.
He smirks tenderly. "You have a fever, we have to do something to get it down." He says, putting a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Tomorrow, come to sleep. I'm cold, hug me." She keeps babbling.
"Hey..." He murmurs in her ear. "If you get up, I'll hug you." He offers, trying to negotiate.
"But we're supposed to sleep here." She frowns.
He chuckles. "I know, but if you want a hug, you have to get up." She snorts and tries, unusefully, to cover herself with a blanket. "You fell asleep with your clothes, you can't sleep like that. You have to get up." He says, sounding kinda more firmly, and stands up.
"Harvey!" She complains, wanting to sound harsh, but her voice breaks down a bit and Harvey, at that very moment, is realizing that he loves her more than he thought. At any other time in his life, he would have escaped from a sick woman, but with Donna, everything was, is, and will be, always different. He just wants to take care of her and help her feel better.
"Come here." He says gently, offering his hand.
"Uuugh!" She growls and takes Harvey's hand, very awkwardly sitting on the bed, her feet against the ground and she stays there for a few seconds. "Dizziness," She says, confused.
He kneels in front of her and takes her hand. "It's okay, it's normal, you have a high fever."
She purses her nose and is frightened to see her hands shaking. "Harvey!" She says, scared, her eyes fill with tears in a second.
"No, don't cry. You're going to be fine, you just have a fever." He tells her, holding her hands between his own. "Listen to me... Do we take a bath together with freshwater? That will make you feel better."
"But I'm cold Harvey!"
"I know, Donna... But I'll cuddle you, you'll see that you'll feel better later." He says softly. "Do you think you can get up now?" She nods, Harvey stands and gives his hands to help her. Upon getting up, Donna feels dizzy again and loses her balance, Harvey quickly holds her in his arms. "I got you," He murmurs, wrapping her in his arms.
She tries to hug him but feels her arms tremble. "Harvey, what's wrong with me?" She asks, increasingly frightened and confused.
"You have a fever, but you're going to be fine." He repeats tenderly, cradling her head with his hand. "Let's go to the bathroom?"
She doesn't respond, but Harvey starts walking and makes her walk alongside him, still holding her in his arms. Quite awkwardly, they arrive at the bathroom and Harvey helps her to sit on the closed toilet and kneels in front of her. "Can you wait for me here for a minute while I look for an ibuprofen?" He asks, with his hand on her thigh and moving his thumb tenderly there. She nods, quite confused because she quickly forgets what's going on. "Wait for me here," He repeats to her and stands up.
"Hurry up, I don't want to be alone," She murmurs.
"I promise." He says and gives her a heartfelt kiss on the forehead.
"Thank you," She mutters while Harvey is coming out of the bathroom, but he can't hear it.
He spends over 5 minutes trying to convince Donna to take the ibuprofen and then it's time for the next thing, which seems to be even more complicated. They are standing face to face, Harvey explaining to her again that she must take a bath of freshwater.
"Let me help you with this..." He tells her, putting his hands on her waist.
She smiles mischievously and wraps her arms around his neck. "Help me with what?"
"To take this off..." He responds, reaching the hem of her t-shirt.
She raises her eyebrow and bites her lower lip (clumsily, if you ask Harvey, but he thinks that she looks so cute anyway) and she brings their bodies closer. "You know... I don't necessarily need your help, I'm an independent woman!" She babbles.
He tries to contain his laughter. "Of course you are, but now you have a fever, that's why I'm helping you."
"I don't need you for that, I can enjoy it alone. Do you know?"
He bites his inner cheek because he is about to laugh. "I'd like to see that someday... Do you know?" He tells her excitedly, although he knows that she won't remember it. "But, now you have to take a bath. Trust me." He says, starting to take off her t-shirt. "Raise your arms for me."
She smirks. "Do you like to take my clothes off, right?" She asks, raising her arms and Harvey smiles, thinking about how much fun he will have tomorrow telling her this.
"You know I do," He responds, taking off the t-shirt Donna was wearing.
"To me too, you know..." She responds, trying to reach his shirt, but her hands tremble again, although this time she doesn't stop at it. He grabs her by the cheek, trying to stop her, and gives her a long sweet kiss on her forehead.
"A kiss on my forehead Harvey?" She giggles wryly and rests her breasts, still on her bra, against her husband's chest. "Do you need a poster to realize I'm horny?"
"You are not horny, you have a fever," He says, trying to keep his patience.
"I know my body, Harvey," She whispers, looking at his lips and getting closer to him.
"Donna, you have a fever," He sighs, trying to keep his composure.
"Come on, don't you like me anymore?" She asks, bluntly bringing her hand to his crotch.
"Donna, please." He begs, trying to get her hand away from there.
"I missed you tonight, please." She insists, pressing her palm against him.
"I missed you too..." He swallows dry, trying to control himself. "But, you have to go to the tub, please."
"Could you fuck me in the shower?" Donna asks, enthusiastically, this time sticking her hand inside his pants.
"Donna, listen to me…" He carefully takes her wrist and makes her take her hand out of there, he has no intention of doing anything, but the man is not of stone. "You have a lot of fever, we'll get there and open the freshwater and just sit in the tub. Is it okay?"
She snorts, full of frustration. "I thought you still liked me." She sobs and folds her arms.
He smiles tenderly at her and swears that he could spend hours hugging her and filling her with kisses until she feels better. "You drive me crazy, Donna." He says, putting his hands on her elbows and then he gives her a short kiss on her lips. "But now, let me take care of you."
"But you still love me?" She asks fearfully, unable to look at him.
"Madly." He responds, taking her from her chin, making her look at him. "That's why I'm trying to do this."
"I don't feel bad."
"Okay..." He thinks for a few thousandths of a second. "Could you do something for me then?" Donna nods. "Okay, take off your pants and socks."
She is again confused, but she does what Harvey has told her. While Donna takes off her clothes, he puts the plug in the tub and starts filling it with fresh water.
"Okay, come here..." He tells her, extending his hand, which Donna takes and he guides her to the bathtub. "Can you go in? Are you still dizzy?"
She closes her eyes in confusion and looks at him again. "Help me."
He nods and helps her, letting her hold against his body to enter the bathtub. She immediately feels the icy water on her feet and squeals. "It's very cold, Harvey!"
"It's because you have a fever that you feel it like this, now I will go and hug you. Okay?" Harvey tells her and takes off his t-shirt.
"Hurry up." She begs, hugging herself.
"I'm here," He adds, taking off his pants and socks as fast as he can. He takes one of Donna's hair clips and enters the tub with her. "Turn over that I'll put this in your hair."
She giggles. "You have no idea how to do it, I will." She says, removing the hairclip of his hands, in what appear to be fleeting a few seconds of lucidity. He doesn't object to anything, because the truth is that she's right, so he lets her tie her hair herself while he sits against one side of the tub.
"Come here." He offers his hand. She nods, takes his hand, and sits between his legs with enough clumsiness, flexes her legs against herself, and surrounds herself with her arms, trying to protect herself from that frozen water.
"It's very cold." She repeats.
"I know," He responds, wrapping her with his legs and rubbing her arms with his palms. "I promise you will stop feeling cold in a few minutes." He promises her. "Try to relax." He whispers in her ear and gives her a sweet kiss on her neck, grasping her arms gently to make her lie down against him.
"But I'm cold." She sobs as she lets Harvey settle her on him and hug her with his whole body.
"I know, but this will do you good," He mutters against her forehead and rests his chin against her head.
"You are not cold?"
"No, I'm fine," Hey responds honestly, actually the water is lukewarm. "Just relax, yes? Close your eyes… I will take care of you." She smiles at his words and curls more against him.
He breathes a sigh of relief to notice that she doesn't fight this and closes the water before the tub overflows, still holding her with one of his arms.
"Thank you," She murmurs.
"Always," Harvey responds by wrapping her again against him and they stay there for a few minutes, Harvey just hugging her, but after a while, she starts shivering.
"Am I sick, Harvey?" She breaks the silence with a choppy voice.
"Yes, you have a fever. But you're going to be fine, I promise you." He responds softly, trying to calm her down.
"I'm shaking." She responds, on the verge of crying.
"You will be fine," He repeats, rubbing her arms with his palms.
"I want to go out Harvey," She demands, shivering.
"Ok, ok." Harvey gives up. "Let's go out."
He gets up first and then helps her up, reaches her bathrobe and helps her put it on, and then hugs her against his chest. "Sorry, I thought it would do you good," He mutters guilty, but Donna can't respond coherently, between fever, dizziness, and shaking. "Sorry, sorry," He repeats, with his throat closing in on guilt. "Do you let me help you dry and put on your pajamas?" He offers, trying to make up for his mistake. She nods because she really feels that she is freezing. "Ok, that's what we'll do." He kisses her on her head and he dries himself quickly with a towel and then goes looking for clothes, another thing he should have anticipated, he thinks… he feels an idiot, unable to take care of his wife when she needs it. He tries not to get entangled in those thoughts right now and does what he has to do.
When he returns to the bathroom, he helps her take off her soaked underwear without removing her robe and then dries her skin gently but also tries to hurry because Donna doesn't stop shaking. He helps her get dressed and after he changes his boxers, he accompanies her to bed.
"Lie down with me."
"Donna... we have to do something to lower your fever."
"No, please. I'm very cold." She begs.
He sighs and kisses her temple. "Okay, let me turn off the lights and put on some clothes. One minute." She nods, curling up more in bed.
He literally takes a minute to do what he told her and lies down with his wife, immediately Donna curls up against his chest and Harvey wraps her in his arms.
As the minutes go by, Donna begins to relax and Harvey breathes a sigh of relief, at least she is no longer shaking and he doesn't feel her skin so hot.
"Rest," He murmurs and disarms the bun on the hair Donna had made, leaves her hairclip on the night table, and wraps his hand in her hair, gently massaging her scalp with the tips of his fingers.
"I love you, Harvey." She babbles and clings to him with the few strengths she has.
"I love you too," He whispers and turns off the light.
She falls asleep within a few minutes and Harvey feels relief, although still blamed for having forced her to take the bath and also with a little concern, decides that if she still has a fever tomorrow, he will take her to the doctor… but, he hopes that it will only be left in bad memory.
About 5 am, Donna, wakes up with a bad headache and dizziness. She wants to sit on the bed, but she can't. Harvey wakes up to feel her move. "Hey... how are you?"
"Dizzy," She murmurs.
"Ok, quiet," He responds and gives her a kiss on the forehead. "At least it seems like you don't have that much of a fever anymore."
"Fever?" She asks.
"Last night when I arrived you had a fever..."
"I don't remember." She frowns.
"You were really confused." He checks the time. "It's 5:30, you can take ibuprofen again. I'll bring it to you so you're still sleeping, that will do you well."
"Ok," She responds, still a little confused.
He does it as fast as he can, Donna takes the pill and falls back asleep quickly. He remembers that he had set an alarm to get up to work even though it was Saturday, but decides to deactivate it, the priority now is that Donna can rest and regain strength.
She wakes up again around 10 a.m., he notices it because her breathing becomes lighter as she begins to move.
"Good morning," He murmurs, with her in his arms. It's not that they've been hugged all night, but he had woken up a while earlier and when he approached her, she had no objections to settling in his arms. "How do you feel?"
She rubs her eyes, trying to be able to open them. "My head hurts like hell."
He poses the back of his fingers on her forehead and then rests his lips there. "At least it seems like you don't have a fever anymore."
"Fever?" She asks again with confusion.
"Fever..." He confirms.
"I don't remember anything."
"Thank goodness." He chuckles.
"Why?"
"Well..." He begins to speak, as he runs his fingers down her arm. "You were a little bit... confused and we had the same conversation in the middle of the night." He chuckles.
"Explain yourself better."
"When I arrived, you were in bed, still dressed with your yoga clothes and asleep."
"I don't even remember that."
He kisses her forehead. "Getting you out of bed has been complicated, you didn't quite understand what was going on... you just wanted me to sleep with you."
"It's good to know that fever doesn't make me lose my good taste." She giggles softly.
"Oh, no… I intended that we have a bath together to lower your fever, and let's say, when I wanted to take your clothes off, you were a bit horny." She giggles. "Well, a little bit not. Very horny."
"I don't know if I wanna know what I did," She says, starting to feel a little embarrassed.
"Mhm…" He murmurs. "You tried everything you could, even you put your hand in my pants when I was trying to explain what was happening to you." Donna hides her face on Harvey's chest, laughing. "And you asked me to fuck you in the shower."
"I repeat, I didn't lose my good taste. I like it when you fuck me there, you know?"
He smiles mischievously. "I know, but I was trying not to get it to affect me... Do you know?"
"I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize, you had a high fever..." He tells her honestly. "You even worried about whether if I stopped liking or loving you."
"Ok, I think I'll get into the box of shame." She giggles, not daring to look at him.
"No, Donna," He responds, lowering the tone of his voice. "You know… I'd never thought that caring for someone was something I could do, or something I wanted to do… just seeing you so like that, all I wanted was to take care of you…" He pauses. "I always knew I didn't want anything bad to happen to you., but this was different..." He thinks, reflecting on how the responsibility of being her husband had fallen on his shoulders for the first time in an aspect like this. Yes, he had given her ibuprofen for her headache or tea when she had period cramps, but not something like that, and even though it was a simple fever, it made him feel the real weight of their marriage.
"You have always taken care of me, Harvey," She responds, getting up a little so she can look at him. "And I know you always will."
"It was more in my comfort zone to save you from jail than to take care of you while you had a fever."
She grins at him. "You are not the same as before."
"I know."
She smirks and curls up in him again. "So, can I get sick when I need it?" She asks, funny.
He giggles. "You can, but I think the bathtub wasn't a good idea."
"You can try some cold towels on my forehead next time... I don't want to scare you, but from time to time I have a fever."
"I'll be prepared."
"They say it's better than tubs."
He sighs with guilt. "The bath thing wasn't a good idea, you asked me out because you were shivering."
"And why do you feel guilty? You did it with the best of intentions." She asks sweetly, dragging her fingers on his arm.
"I know, but I was wrong."
"No, it worked…"
"Or it was ibuprofens."
"Maybe both?" She pulls her head back to look at him. "Thank you for taking care of me." She smiles at him.
He brings his face closer to hers and gives her a kiss between her eyebrows. "Let's say being your husband is an interesting adventure."
She chuckles. "I don't feel very good now, but remember that I wanted you to fuck me in the shower, please."
"Do not doubt that I will remember it." He pauses and remembers something. "You also told me that you don't need me to take off your clothes and that you know how to enjoy just by yourself because you are an independent woman." She laughs. "And I told you I'd like to see it."
"Maybe one day you'll be that lucky, you know?"
"My birthday is near…"
She giggles. "Okay, I don't have to buy anything then." He giggles too. "But now… I want to sleep again." She yawns.
"Yes, that was really sexy."
She kicks him under the blankets. "I'm sick, idiot!"
"You can continue to sleep."
"Yes, and for the joke, I will do it here." She says, closing her eyes and clinging more to him.
"You know it doesn't bother me, right?"
She grins. "I know."
Thank you for reading, I would love to know what you think about this :)