Chapter 25
Amelia
April 26th, 2191
Three days had passed since I first woke up sick, and the only time I had left my bed was to use the restroom or vomit. Garrus had been hovering around me each time I awoke, helping me eat, helping me walk on unsteady legs to the toilet to relieve myself of said food, or do anything else I'd needed.
He'd come back from his office early on the first day and had worked from home since then, refusing the leave despite my protests to the contrary. It was annoying but, at the same time, endearing, so I let it slide. Protecting a mate was hard-coded into turian DNA, and I knew Garrus felt powerless while I was like this, not to mention the toll the sick children took on him.
Dr. Laela told her I had the flu and bacterial bronchitis, a pretty severe case, and pumped me full of anti-virals and antibiotics. I was hooked up to a saline drip to keep me hydrated because I couldn't even keep water down.
By the third day, my fever finally broke, and I felt much better but still couldn't stomach anything. My cough was still rampant, tearing away at my inflamed throat as my body tried to rid itself of the mucus in my lungs. To my chagrin, the doctor told me it'd be a day or two until I felt well enough to eat and a few weeks before the lingering cough left.
Gaius and Octavia were asleep on either side of me, their little chests rattling with phlegm as their congested lungs took in air. They had a body temperature hovering halfway between turians and humans, about one hundred and four degrees, the same as asari, so Dr. Laela diagnosed them with a common asari respiratory virus. Despite the harmless diagnoses, I spent what little energy I possessed making sure they felt better. Knowing my children were miserable made me feel ten times worse than my illness.
"Hey," I croaked through my hoarse throat as Garrus tiptoed into the bedroom. It always amazed me how quiet he could be when he tried, being a seven-foot-tall, two-hundred-pound man.
"Hey," He whispered, "Are you feeling any better?"
"I've been better," I tried to joke, a little giggle turning into a bout of painful coughs.
Garrus grimaced, helpfully handing me the bag of lozenges before saying, "I'll go. Get back to sleep."
"Not yet. Can you call Dr. Laela? I want to ask her something." He nodded, grabbing a datapad and using it to call the doctor.
"Madam Vakarian," The female turian smiled into the camera. Even in my fatigued state, I still gave an internal eye roll at the greeting. I hated being called madam.
"Hey, Doc. Has Dr. Chakwas sent the files over?"
"Yes. I was just reviewing the medications you'd be on during your pregnancy. Why do you ask?"
"I wanted to know if being sick delayed anything."
Her soft subharmonics sang as she thought, "Dr. Chakwas told me she'd be coming for the procedure at the end of next month, so it shouldn't be an issue as long as you're recovered by then. That said, if you still feel sick, I would delay."