The next morning, Don waltzed into the hospital room. His eyes were bright and he looked comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans.
"Well, you look like you had a good night." Jess commented.
"No, I'm just having a good morning; I just signed a bunch of papers that said I get to take you home." He replied. She clapped excitedly. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Pretty good, but I just had some meds" She answered.
"Well, do you want to change before we get out of here or just wait until we get home?" He wondered.
"Just get me outta here!" Jess laughed. Don nodded and helped her from the bed. She slipped into her shoes and took his hand. "Do you know where my things are? Like my gun, badge and phone?" She inquired curiously.
"They're in the car" He assured her. "I'm glad you're going home, I was kinda hoping you wouldn't be in the hospital until we had kids" he mentioned lightheartedly.
Don spent most of his day trying to keep Jess from strenuous activity.
it was a nearly impossible feat. Finally they were settled down in bed watching the news. A sly grin crossed Jess's face as she let a hand find the crotch of his shorts under the covers.
"Jess" He hissed, reacting to her touch.
"What Don? You don't like that?" She asked innocently.
"No, I do like it, that's the problem" He replied with a laugh.
"Why is it such a problem?" She wondered.
"Jess, you know we can't do anything, you're injured. I don't think you have a rib that's not cracked. I would hurt you" Don reminded her. She huffed and pouted. Don laughed lightly. She reached out and tried again. "Jess!" He called her on it. She giggled and rolled over to fall asleep.
A noise woke Don. He had been sleeping on eggshells since it was her first night at home. It wasn't the first time he had woken up that night but this time it seemed different. He rolled over the find Jess sobbing heavily. She was turned away from him. He leaned over and could see she had one hand over her eyes and the other grabbing the back of her head.
"Honey, what's wrong?" He gasped.
"It hurts" she sobbed.
"Ok, did you take something?" He wondered.
"Hurts too bad to move" Jess mumbled. Don kissed her forehead and climbed out of bed. He padded into the kitchen for a glass of water then retrieved her pain pills.
"Here baby" He said softly. Jess moved slightly to take the stuff from him. He climbed back in bed beside her and took her in his arms. Don slowly coaxed her back to sleep as the medicine kicked in.
The next morning, Jess opened her eyes to find herself wrapped in Don's arms. A slow throbbing in her skull was becoming increasingly worse and her ribs ached. She felt his blue eyes burning into her. Her eyes met his. It looked as if he's been up all night. Worry and sadness laced his expression.
"How are you feeling?" His voice was quite and gentle.
"I, uh, I hurt" She just decided to be honest with him. Each word made her head hurt more. Don squinted to check the clock.
"You can have some more meds now but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it on an empty stomach. " He mentioned.
"I want them" She begged. He sighed and obliged.
"Well, I'm going to go make some breakfast, so then you can have something to eat right after" Don stated with a bit of a waver in his voice. Jess nodded as she downed two more pills.
As Don poured glasses of juice, he heard activity from the bedroom. He turned down the hall to find out what was going on. As he entered the bedroom he could hear Jess throwing up in the bathroom. He walked in and wet a wash cloth.
"I knew that wasn't a good idea" He said under his breath. He knelt down next to her and held her hair back. "Jessie, I know the last thing you want to think about right now is eating, but you need to have something so you can take your pain medicine." Don whispered. She sat back and wrapped her arms around herself. Her ribcage stung from the rigorous activity. Her husband helped her to her feet and let her brush her teeth. "Pain meds don't like an empty stomach." He reinforced as he met her eyes in the mirror. Jess nodded. Don got her some food, made sure she took more pills to replace the ones she threw up, then helped her into bed.
Hours later, don heard the house phone ring. He reached over to the side table next to the couch he was sitting on and grabbed the object making the offending noise.
"Hey Flack, it's Lindsay, how's Angell?" The young detective asked when he answered the phone.
"She's been better, she's sleeping now. We had a rough night. She threw up this morning" Don informed her on a sigh.
"Is she pregnant?" Lindsay was confused.
"No" He shot back quickly. "She was hurting and took the meds on an empty stomach" He explained.
"So she's in pain?" Lindsay checked.
"Yeah, she was doing ok most of the day yesterday, but I think her being up and around more than she should have been made things worse. Her head is bothering her the most." Don answered.
"I'd believe it, I heard the noise it made" He heard Danny say in the background. He breathed a light laugh at his comment.
"Well, I hope she gets to feeling better. Have her call me when she does." Lindsay finished.
"I sure will" Don promised and hung up. He walked into the bedroom to check on his wife. It appeared she was still sleeping peacefully.
"Donnie, come back to bed. You're exhausted. I know you didn't sleep last night. Plus your constant checking in on me makes it hard to sleep" He heard her mumble. A smile crawled across his face as he decided to join her.