Hey peeps! This is a one-shot to combat writer's block. If it gets enough positive feedback (or favorites), it might turn into a series of non-connected one-shots based on certain illnesses. Each illness will be researched so it will be an accurate story (also, I like learning about medical stuff).
This one-shot is about migraines. There are couple types of migraines. There's "migraines with aura" and "migraines without aura" (there may be more but I'm not sure). This one-shot will be about chronic migraines without aura. I have these and unfortunately, know first-hand how much they can mess with you. That being said, no research needed. I am also hoping that this will be sort of informative on migraines. Anyway.
Side Note: Migraines ARE NOT the same as regular headaches. They are way more painful and debilitating. You can be prescribed more than one prescription medication for them. Migraines cause pressure in your head, you have extreme sensitivity to everything, and they can make you vomit. You might feel like you're going to die too.
This is set in Paris. Andy is 23, Miranda is 39 and the twins are 2- almost 3. Stephen and Miranda divorced a year before this takes place. Take note, that the twins aren't really going to be mentioned in this story as it is set during fashion week
Disclaimer: Nope, it's a shame that I still don't own a damn thing.
Migraines.
They're something that Andrea has dealt with for as long as she can remember. It's been almost twenty years since she was first diagnosed and yet, a cause has yet to be found. It affects her everyday life, and there isn't really anything she can do about it. It's a struggle and it's a hellish torture.
Had Miranda read her files, she would have known that. The fact that she didn't know about Andrea's migraines, led her to believe that she purposely left her. Leaving her side meant that Andrea had taken her backhanded compliment the wrong way. Or, did it?
Andrea had been in a sensory overload for the last three days, and as a precursor to the worst pain in her life, she knew it was only a matter of time before she would end up with a full-blown migraine. She felt helpless in the back of the towncar while listening to Miranda. The words were barely filtering thru her thoughts as she tried to dig in her designer clutch to find her medication. Andrea was out of luck, she couldn't find it. She was screwed.
As the car came to a stop in front of the venue, Miranda told her, "I see a great deal of myself in you. The ability to see beyond what others need and want, the ability to choose for yourself, you have them. Someday soon, you will be just like me; a well known editor with the tenacity of a pitbull. You will do great things, Darling."
When Miranda exited the car and reached the top of the stairs and turned around to say something to Andrea, she spotted her rushing across the plaza, in the opposite direction. She watched as Andrea seemed to throw her company phone into the fountain that sat in the middle of the plaza. That meant her call went unanswered. One thing you never did, was let Miranda's calls go to voicemail. It was one of the 'Seven Deadly Sins of Runway'.
Andrea had gone to Lord knows where and that left the Editor with no choice but to go into the show with only Nigel at her side. To say she was pissed off, was an understatement. However, there was still that little niggle of worry in the back of her mind, for the woman she loved. WAIT. Where the hell did that come from? Miranda, pushed the thoughts of her assistant to the back burner of her mind. She had the show to focus on, and she did just that for the next three hours.
As they left the show, Nigel questioned why Andrea wasn't at her side. "Where is Six?"
"Oh, I don't know," she paused and waves her hand towards the fountain, "I gave her a compliment that may have come across as backhanded and when I exited the car, she went galavanting across the plaza and I'm pretty sure her phone is at the bottom of the fountain."
"I'm sure she had a good reason for leaving like that."
"The hell she did. Petulant child threw a fit when I said I saw a bit of myself in her."
Nigel grimaced, "First things first, Miranda, you need to dial down the bitch mode for a hot minute."
She was fuming when she tried to speak, "Don't you dare-"
He cut her off, "Sorry, babe but I can and I will tell you to shut up and calm down. Anyway, Andy hasn't been feeling the greatest since we left New York. You might want to check on her, I know you care about her."
The rest of the drive to the hotel was tense and silent, and as they arrived at their hotel and made their way inside, Miranda spoke again. "Why on earth would I care about my assistant? It's not my problem that she can't take a compliment."
Nigel hated that Miranda's stubborn streak was making an appearance. "Oh, do pull your head out of your ass. You love the girl and you are worried about her, admit it Miranda."
"Come to my suite, so I can change out of my gown. Then we'll talk about it in there."
-DWP-
As Miranda poured her and Nigel a glass of whiskey, she began to think. Andrea has looked sort of rough around the edges for the past few days, but that could just be jet lag. However, that doesn't give any sort of explanation for her to just up and walk away from me.
"Fine," she sat down next to Nigel as she handed him his drink, "I do care about her. It scares me though."
"Why does it scare you, Miranda?"
Before answering, she took a sip of her drink. Then it dawned on her and with wide eyes, she blurted out, "God damn it Nigel, I think I'm in love with my assistant."
Miranda's bottom lip started to quiver and before she knew what was happening, Nigel pulled her into a hug, "Is that a bad thing?"
"Ye-yeah," she hiccupped. "She's as straight as a pin, ha- has a boyfriend, and she's deserving of more than a-a 39 year old woman with almost 3 ye-year old twin girls. Oh, let's not forget I'm her boss an-and she's my employee."
"Miranda, she's not-" Nigel was cutoff as they heard a loud thus come from the room next door. Andrea's room.
"Well, judging by the sound coming from the room next to yours, now is a good time to check on Six."
Miranda had a heavy feeling in the bottom of her stomach as they entered the room belonging to her assistant and the woman she... loved. "I got a bad feeling about this." she whimpered.
It was no wonder that the editor had a bad feeling, because as they opened the door to the room, they saw Andrea on the floor next to the sofa. Passed out cold.
Miranda immediately rushed to Andrea and tried to gently wake her up. The only response she could get out of her was a pain filled moan.
Being passed out on the floor would no doubt make the brunette uncomfortable, so Miranda thought it best to move Andrea to either the sofa or the bed. Then, she pondered if it would be easier to keep tabs on how Andrea was feeling if she were placed in her room next door to Andrea's. With a king sized, four post canopy bed, it was certainly big enough to fit the both of them. Yes, she would have Andrea moved to her room.
"Nigel, can you help move Andrea into my room and put her in my bed?"
"So you can keep an eye out on Six?"
"Yes," she nodded. "If you do that, it gives me time to check over her employee records. Maybe I can find some sort of helpful hint as to what's going on with Andrea."
"As you wish. The employee records should be in the small, black suitcase by your dining table."
When Miranda began to read her assistant's records, she realized that she should have read it when it was first handed to her nine months ago. The poor girl had several health conditions that would probably require some sort of medication. Note to self: research each health issue.
"Find anything?"
"Other than the fact that I should have read her file months ago? Yes. Andrea has several health conditions, all of which are chronic."
"Wow." To say Nigel was stunned, was an understatement. Looking at Andrea, you would never know that she was dealing with chronic health issues. After all, for a 23 year old she looked relatively healthy, aside from being a little heavier than most of the other women they worked alongside.
"Indeed. It says here, at the top of the health records, she suffers from chronic migraines without aura. There is a note next to it that says if she gets a migraine with a high level of severity, it could lead to her being incoherent, unconscious, having to vomit and take a prescription medication."
"Anything else?" Nigel asked.
"Iron deficiency, some mental health issues, and it says she also has arthritis. However, I can tell you that it is unlikely that the latter of the two has caused Andrea to be unconscious."
It was silent for a few minutes as Nigel and Miranda let the information sink in. How can someone so young, so exuberant, deal with so much at a young age? How can she manage to keep it unnoticeable? One thing is for sure, Miranda was going to make sure that Andrea would be okay. She had to be okay.
The two friends were brought out of thought when they heard a moan coming from Andrea as she started to make strange sounds.
"Shit," Miranda cursed. "Nigel, bring me the trash can. I think she is going to vomit."
As the trash can was thrust beside Andrea on the floor, Miranda sat beside Andrea and held her hair back as she gagged and then got violently sick. When she finished, she set the trash can down and turned to lay on her back.
"Can... turn li-ights down?"
Miranda brushed some hair behind her assistant's ear. "Yes, darling."
She got up from her spot and turned the lights down. Before returning to her spot, she stopped briefly to talk with Nigel. "Can you go to her room and see if you can find some Excederin or something she may have been prescribed?"
"I'll go have a look and see what I can come up with."
Miranda whispered, "Thank you, Nigel."
While Nigel went to scout out for any sort of medication for Andrea, Miranda moved on the bed to where she was sitting against the headboard next to Andrea.
Whispering softly as to not wake the brunette, she said, "Oh, my darling girl. So young, yet so brave for not letting your health issues not get in the way of your life."
"Uh, huh." Was the mumbled response she got.
-DWP-
After several minutes passed, Nigel returned to the room with a small blue bag, labeled 'medication'. Of course, it's cerulean. Cheeky girl.
After thanking her friend for bringing the bag with her assistant's medication, Miranda nodded her head towards the door in a silent dismissal. "I'll be sure to let you know how Andrea is feeling tomorrow morning. Until then, have a good night."
"You too, my dear."
Miranda nudged Andrea's shoulder gently to wake her up. "Darling, I had Nigel go into your room to see if he could find you any sort of pain medication. He found your medication bag and I have it here with me."
Andrea lifted her head as much as she could bear and whimpered, "Orange bottle, white label. Says Rizatriptan. Need it and icy ginger-ale." Then she laid back down.
As Miranda looked through the bag, she thought to herself, How is it, that even with a massive bedhead of curls and a sickly palor to her, she can still look so beautiful?
After giving Andrea her migraine medication, she called the concierge for room service. Knowing that anything rich or heavy would do no good for Andrea's stomach, she asked if they could send up a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Since she wasn't all that hungry, for herself she ordered a small grilled cheese with her soup. Imagine the looks on the faces of the clackers if they seen me, Miranda Priestly, eating an ooey gooey grilled cheese. Maybe they'd think that I froze hell over.
That thought made Miranda laugh to herself.
-DWP-
The next morning, found Miranda waking up with a heavy weight on her chest. At some point during the night, Andrea had curled up next to Miranda and lay her head on Miranda's chest. I could get use to this.
Miranda kissed Andrea's head before gently extracting herself from her hold. She got Andrea more Excederin, a cup of lemon-ginger tea, and she got herself a cup of coffee from the maker sitting next to the bar.
Once she sat her coffee down on her nightstand, she put Andrea's on her nightstand and decided to get ready for her day. However, before getting dressed, she texted Nigel.
M: Nigel, is there anyway you can cover for me today? I want to have a lie in with Andrea and make sure she is okay.
N: Already covered, babe. The masses have been told that it's a family emergency. Also, Donatella will be stopping by later. She insisted on coming to check on you.
N: How is Six?
M: The girl is still sleeping. I will call you later. That's all.
-DWP-
After dressing in a soft, purple cashmere sweater and a pair of white, silky feeling lounge pants, Miranda exited the bathroom.
When she noticed that Andrea was awake and sipping her tea, she asked, "How are you feeling, is there anything else I can do for you?"
"I'll be fine in a day or two, and no, there isn't really anything else you can do. However, we need to discuss a few things."
The way she said "however", made Miranda slightly nervous. Oh, gods. When someone says "We need to talk", that is usually never a good thing.
Miranda nervously ran her fingers through her hair. "Yes, I suppose we probably do. Although, first I want you to go back to your room and take a nice hot shower and get dressed in your comfort clothes. We're having a lie in kind of day."
"Bu-but you, you have-"
"Nigel has things covered. Now, upon your return to my suite, there shall be breakfast waiting," Miranda paused to gesture her hand towards the door, "Now shoo."
-DWP-
They ate their breakfast in a silence that was slightly tense. Neither Andrea, nor Miranda knew what the conversation would lead to. That, in all honesty, made them feel kind of terrified.
Quietly, Miranda set her silverware down. "Let's go into the sitting room, shall we?"
"Lead the way."
"Where do I start?"
"Why you spent time with Christian the other night."
The look of pain that crossed Andrea's face worried Miranda. "Before I say anything else, for the record, we did nothing but talk and sleep."
Miranda nodded her head in a silent command to keep the explanation going.
"After I tried to comfort you and you demanded that I do nothing but my job, it felt like rejection of the worse kind. I couldn't figure out the reason why that was," Andrea paused a moment before continuing, "that was before Christian found me sitting at the bar downstairs, half-way through my third dirty martini."
"Go on."
"He noticed that I had tears rolling down my cheeks and offered to buy me dinner. I accepted and by the end of it, I was more than a little tipsy. Christian was kind enough to help me to my room where we sat on my bed and I poured my heart out and then we both fell asleep."
"And?"
"And... when I woke up, I realised something. That rejection I felt? That was because I fell for my boss, twenty years older than me and of a higher social status. Ridiculous, isn't it?"
Miranda sucked in a breath, she was not expecting that. Nor, was she expecting the answer Andrea gave her when she asked about the fountain incident after she exited the car and failed to follow Miranda into the fashion show.
"Hmm," Miranda whispered, "but that doesn't explain why you went galavanting across the plaza and your phone ending up at the bottom of the fountain."
Andrea felt tears trickle down her face as she continued. Never had she felt so embarrassed by her health issues and how they effected her.
"I was digging through my clutch for my migraine medication and couldn't find it. I knew that I needed to get back to the hotel so I cod lay down and, this will sound kind of gross, but so I can also be sick in peace. As for the phone, I honestly thought I had it in my clutch. My guess is that I had a muscle spasm that caused my arm to twitch hard enough for my phone to fall in the fountain."
Andrea and Miranda both took sips of their respective drinks, before Andrea continued talk.
"Miranda... You can't begin to imagine how sorry I am about leaving you, ruining the phone, and potentially, my c-career. I-I-"
Miranda felt the deep need to shut the girl and to kiss her. She mumbled, "Oh, do shut up."
Then, Miranda kissed Andrea. It was a soft one, and the moment Miranda pulled away from her, Andrea started to cry.
"W-what's the matter, darling? I-,"
Miranda couldn't finish her sentence because Andrea ran back to her room and slammed the door, locking it afterwards.
Oh, shit! What have I done?
Miranda quickly ran to her phone that was sitting on the nightstand on her side of the bed where she slept last night.
She hit the speed dial for Nigel and before he could give a proper answer, she gave a half-sob and told him, "I need you over here, NOW! I think I messed up."
Silently, Nigel entered Miranda's room and found her curled up in the corner of her couch.
He laid his hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was there. "Miranda, what's wrong, what happened?"
She sat up and answered, "Andrea was rambling out an apology and I politely told her to shut up and... and I ki-kissed her."
"What else?"
"She started crying and ran back to her room and s-slammed the do-or before locking it."
"Well, Miranda, you have two options. Let her be and come to you in her own time or, you can go to talk to her now."
"What do you suggest?"
"That's not my decision to make. However, you might be the thing she needs right now."
"Yeah?" Miranda questioned.
He nodded his head and handed her his handkerchief, "Dry your tears, and get a move on. In the room next to yours, is a girl who needs some tlc and you, my dear, are the one who is going to give it to her."
Miranda stood up and dried her face. To say she was terrified of what the confrontation to come would hold, was the understatement of the century. "E-even though I messed up, do you think she will see me?"
"Honey, you didn't mess up. Of that, I can most definitely assure you. I didn't tell you this; that girl loves you and is terrified that her feelings are one-sided. Now, GO!"
-DWP-
After Nigel left her suite, Miranda didn't even bother to wipe her remaining tears before going to talk to Andrea. She couldn't be bothered with it- not when she wanted Andrea to see the emotions she held for her; the emotions and feelings that ran deeply. The only things that ran through her mind was whether or not Andrea realised during their kiss that her feelings weren't as one-sided as she thought they were.
Quietly, she jiggled the door to Andrea's room, and thankfully, it wasn't completely locked, so she was able to open it with little difficulty.
"Andrea, Darling, where are you?" Miranda sniffled.
Miranda heard nothing as she moved further into Andrea's room. However, once she got closer into the sitting room, she heard a quiet sobbing that sounded like it was coming from the bedroom. As she made her way through the suite, trying not to stumble in the dark, she whispered again, "Andrea?"
The only sound Miranda heard was a sniffle as she opened the bedroom door. The only light that lit the room was a small bedside lamp that sat on the night stand next to the bed. As she moved closer to the bed, she saw that Andrea was laying on her side, her back facing Miranda. When she walked around the other side of the bed to be able to see Andrea's face, she felt like she had been punched in the chest as her heart clenched at the sight of her love being distressed and sobbing. "Oh, darling," Miranda sighed as she sat against the headboard, pulling Andrea up and holding her closely with her head on her chest.
Nothing was said for several moments; Andrea trying to calm herself down, and Miranda was worried about Andrea and what she would say. Finally, Andrea, softly spoke up. "I'm sorry."
Miranda leaned down to place a kiss on Andrea's head. "Whatever for? I shouldn't have kissed you without consent or warning."
Andrea looked up at Miranda, and sighed. "It's not that. It's just that everything that has happened in the past week ha-has finally hit me and the gravity of some of it is crushing."
"Care to share?"
"Before we left New York, my boyfriend of three years dumped me and took off with his stuff and half of mine, I came out to my parents and my mom refuses to speak to me. I will eventually have to find a new apartment because now that my ex is out of the picture, I won't be able to pay the full rent. To top it off, I had a migraine and then learned that my boss- who I fell in love with, loves me back."
"What are the things that crush you?"
"I'm practically homeless once we're back in New York, a-and my m-om refuses to have anything t-to do with me."
Once again, Miranda's heart clenched. How could someone treat their child with such disrespect, just because of who they are and who they choose to love?
"When we get back to New York, darling, you will have a place with the girls and I. You take care of me on a daily basis, regardless if it's related to Runway or not. Now please, let me take care of you."
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because, I care for you. Darling, what I feel for you- the depth of it, runs so deeply that I cannot find the source of it. I only fully realised it when Nigel and I found you passed out on the floor of your sitting room."
"Oh."
Miranda put her curled index finger under Andrea's chin, tilting her face up to look in her eyes. "Can- can I kiss you?"
Andrea nodded her consent as she whispered, "Yes."
With that, Miranda gently moved her lips against Andrea's. The kiss was gentle, sweet, and everything else a person could have wanted for their first kiss. Soon, however, the kiss began to escalate and they found themselves becoming a tangled frenzy of love.
A love that would last for eternity.
Okay peeps, what did y'all think? This was supposed to be an informative one-shot, but my muse took it in a slightly different route. I am currently still working on chapter 3 of The Call, so it will be awhile before it gets posted (I also work a lot which factors into the slow updates).
This might turn into a series of different health issues that somehow bring Miranda and Andy together. It all depends on your feedback.
Love... always love,
Ashley xx
