#sitting here eating my ramen and drinking ginger ale because I felt like shit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

plaidbooks · 4 years

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Nyquil

A/N: This is just a short, mostly fluff piece, in which Rafael Barba takes care of a sick reader. Based on true events (note: please take medications as prescribed)

Tags: briefest mention of rape, cold medication (and taking too much of it, though not an overdose)

You groaned as you woke up, rolling over and slowly opening your eyes. You felt a soreness in your throat that wasn’t there the night before, and one nostril was clogged. No, you thought, refusing to even acknowledge how your body may or may not be feeling. You rolled over to look at the empty spot beside you; Rafael, your boyfriend, had already left for the day. You groaned again as you got out of bed, dragging your feet to the bathroom. You looked in the mirror, but your eyes caught the bright orange sticky note stuck to the glass.

Hope you have a wonderful day. See you for dinner - Love Raf

You smiled, butterflies in your stomach. You’d been dating for months now, and he left these notes often, but they still made you fall a little more in love with him every time.

Eyes now focusing on your reflection, you winced; you looked exactly how you had felt when you woke up. Maybe a shower would help. You showered quickly, enjoying the warm water on your skin, letting the warmth awaken you. The steam was even able to help unclog your nose, though your throat was still hurting, your head still not feeling right. But you knew that you were already running a little late, and you needed to get going. Before you left the apartment, though, you grabbed the little package of DayQuil, cursing yourself, seeing it as an admission of weakness; if you didn’t let yourself acknowledge your illness, then you wouldn’t be sick!

You made it to precinct 16, coffee in hand, apology to your boss, Lieutenant Olivia Benson, on your lips. She waved you off; you were very rarely late, and you always had a legit reason. Thankfully, she didn’t ask for one today, because the only excuse you had was maybe coming down with something.

The day seemed to drag on and on, and you felt no better as the hours stretched. Eventually, it came up that there was to be a stake out that night.

“[Y/L/N], Carisi, you two take tonight. Rollins, Fin, you two will take the second shift in the morning,” Olivia ordered. Your heart sank; a whole night? Feeling like this?

“Sure thing, Lieu,” Sonny replied, shooting you a goofy smile and thumbs up. He wasn’t quite the new guy anymore, but sometimes, he still acted like it. If you were feeling normal, you would’ve smiled and rolled your eyes playfully at him. But now you just sat there, silently thankful you grabbed the DayQuil earlier. You took out your phone and sent a text to Rafael, telling him not to wait up for you. At least it was a Friday, and you’d be off all weekend, after this one night.

*****************

“So, what did this guy do again?” you asked, huddled in the passenger seat, sipping at your coffee for warmth.

Sonny was watching the apartment that housed the man you were tasked in staking out, watching for any signs of life. “He raped his wife, and is now trying to threaten her to keep her from testifying.”

You nodded, sighing. You glanced at the clock. It read 3:40am. Got another hour and 20 minutes until Fin and Rollins switched with you two. You had taken another round of DayQuil at midnight, and it was already wearing off. There was no more denying it; you were definitely coming down with a cold. You only hoped that you wouldn’t be getting Sonny sick. Your plan for the weekend was to try and sleep it off; you had some severe NyQuil at home, something you’d never tried before. You weren’t much on medication, especially liquids, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

You were nodding off in your seat when there was a knock on your window. You were so out of it, you didn’t even jump. Turning, you could see Rollins outside the car door. You shuffled out, letting Rollins take your seat, Sonny switching with Fin on the other side.

“Need a ride?” Sonny asked once you were out of sight of the apartment.

“Blease,” you replied, your nose now completely clogged, making the word come out weird. Sonny cocked his brow at you, but didn’t bring it up as he drove you home.

***************

You put your key in the door, unlocking it, and pushing your way in. You felt yourself descend into sickness with every step you took as you shuffled into the living room, unwilling to shed your jacket--you were suddenly freezing and you wrapped the garment around yourself tighter. You walked over to the couch and fell face-first onto the cushions

“Cariño?” you heard Rafael call from the kitchen. You didn’t even notice he was awake; your senses were completely clouded at this point. You grunted, the cushions muffling your voice. You heard his hurried footsteps as he came over to you.

“Are you okay, mi amor?” he asked, crouching down by your head. You turned to face him. His bright green eyes were full of concern, and he placed a comforting hand on your back, rubbing soft circles there.

“I think I’m sick,” you muttered. “I feel like shit.”

He gave your face one more look before he stood, heading for the kitchen. “Let me get you some ginger ale, and then I’ll make you some of my Mami’s famous soup; you’ll feel better instantly.”

You smiled despite yourself; god you loved this man. “I’ll take the ginger ale. But right now, I think I’m just going to have some NyQuil and try and sleep. I’ve been up for almost 24 hours. Can you make me soup when I wake up?”

Rafael was back instantly, ginger ale in his hand. “Of course. Let’s get you to bed.” He helped you stand, then led you to your shared bedroom.

“I don’t want to get you sick,” you protested as he started to help you undress.

He smirked at that. “Don’t worry, Cariño. I don’t get sick.” Now that you thought about it, you had never seen the man sick before. It was true that you, too, rarely got sick, but to never be sick?

“Lucky,” you huffed. He chuckled before helping you climb into bed, tucking you in. He went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, grabbed the NyQuil, then poured a cap-full for you. You drank it, trying not to gag on the gross taste, drinking the ginger ale after words.

“Sleep, baby. I’m off today; call me if you need me, okay?” he said, leaning in to kiss your forehead. You smiled, resting your head on the soft pillows, while he went back out of the room.

You laid there, comfortable except for the illness in your head, congesting your nose, making your throat sore. But sleep never came for you. After an hour, you decided to try and take another cap-full of the disgusting cold medicine. Nothing. After yet another hour, you took a third cap-full, praying for some sort of sleep. Finally, darkness overtook you.

You woke up, groggy, unaware of your surroundings, with a terrible pain in your stomach. It felt like you hadn’t eaten in days. Suddenly remembering the cold medicine, you whipped to look at the clock, wondering how long you could’ve slept to be this hungry. You were stunned to see that only 2 hours had passed.

Maybe I’ve slept a whole day? you thought. But Rafael would’ve woken you...right? After waiting for another painful cramp to subside, you climbed out of bed. You shuffled out of the room, somewhere between sick, hungry, and floating through space. You could hear running water; Rafael was taking a shower in the guest bathroom, probably trying to not wake you. Same day, then.

You made your way to the kitchen, hoping to find something easy to eat, but all you could think of was soup--probably because Rafael had mentioned it. Though, he hadn’t started it, yet, since he didn’t know when to expect you. No worries, you thought, I’ll just make some shitty ramen. You grabbed a pot, filled it with water, and started the stove. Once the water was boiling, you put the noodles in, stirring it. Suddenly, your vision went black. You blinked a few times, but your vision didn’t return. In your drug-induced state, this didn’t seem particularly alarming; you simply sat on the ground, knees pulled up to your chest, arms wrapped around them as you waited for your vision to return.

Slowly, your eyesight returned to you. You blinked, making sure it wasn’t going away again, before you stood and continued cooking your noodles.

“[Y/N]! What the hell are you doing up?” Rafael was in the entrance to the kitchen, wearing only sweatpants, his hair still damp from his shower.

“Hungry,” you murmured back, stirring in the flavor packet. There must’ve been something weird in your voice, because he came over, turned off the stove, and led you away, out of the kitchen, and to the couch.

“Sit,” he commanded. “Stay.” He disappeared and you sat there, staring at the carpeted floor, not quite remembering how you got there or what you were waiting for.

Rafael came back, a bowl in his hands. He handed it to you, and you looked inside at the noodles you had been cooking. Remembering your hunger, you went to take a bite before he stopped you.

“It’s probably hot,” he cautioned, that concern never leaving his expression. He took the bowl from you, and you let out a sad whimper at the loss of food. Instead, he twirled the fork in the noodles, collecting a small amount, and blew on them before holding the fork out to you. He fed you like this until the bowl was empty, blowing on every fork-full.

“Feel better?” he asked, a small smile tugging on his lips, but that concern still deep within his green eyes.

You nodded. “I think I’m going to try and sleep again.” You stood up and he was instantly beside you, leading you back to bed. This time, however, he climbed in bed with you, pulling your body close to his.

“I’m going to make sure you stay here longer than 2 hours this time,” he explained, wrapping his arms around you protectively. You didn’t mind, melting into his touch, his warmth. He kissed your shoulder, his lips warm even through the fabric of your nightshirt. You were asleep before you could even reply.

#rafael barba x reader #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfic #fluff #My writing #honestly though #don't take too much nyquil #cause then you'll sleep for two hours #lose your vision making ramen #then pass out for 14 hours

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