When Irene woke up, she felt like she was being smothered. The world was hot. Everything was hot. Sweat dripped off of her and Wendy’s arm thrown gently over her shoulder went from being comforting to feeling like hot coals against her skin.

Waves of heat coursed through her blood, a cold sweat glistened in her gaunt features. Her eyes sunken and her skin sallow, everything ached, everything sagged. The glass of water stared at her from the bedside table, she took a sip and plopped back onto her pillow.

Squirming, she gently pushed Wendy’s arm off and tried to struggle out from under the covers. Her girlfriend was peacefully sleeping next to her and she didn’t want to disturb her, but she needed the covers off now, before she burned to death. Delirious, she kicked and squirmed until she was in a small space of her own, taking deep breaths.

Her shoulders hurt. Why did her shoulders hurt? And the back of her neck. And - 

Almost as soon as she had the covers off, a shiver wracked her body. Cold. Cold, why did she take the covers off, she was so cold…. A moan escaped her and she curled up into a ball, burying her aching head into the pillow. 

Irene's breath quivered in short, quick gasps every time she inhaled, her lungs having no choice but to painfully and rigidly take in the chilled air around her. She couldn't seem to stop shaking either. Sometimes it was rough, other times she could manage, but every time she'd get close to sleep, a new spell of violent shaking would force her awake. "I'll get better. I'll get better," she whispered to herself, feebly rubbing away at her arms in a sickly attempt to cease the unsettling chill that continued to run down her spine and made her skin crawl.

The movement disturbed Wendy, who blinked blearily. Something felt weird about the body next to her and when she opened her eyes and focused, she hissed. “Irene?” She whispered, “Joohyun?”

The girl lying next to her was drenched in sweat and shivering. Her skin was pale and she was radiating heat. Wendy didn’t even have to touch her body to know she was raging in fever, but she did anyways, lightly touching her belly and hands before placing a gentle hand on Irene’s forehead. It told her all she needed to know.

“She’s burning up,” Wendy mumbled to herself. She gently smoothed Irene’s hair back from her head and pulled her up against her, wiping the sweat off her brow.

Blinking, Irene looked up at her.

"Good morning, beautiful," Wendy gave her a small smile.

"This morning is nothing but beautiful." Irene wasn't usually grumpy on mornings but this particular morning she felt like being exrta grumpy.

"What happened to you?" Wendy gently caressed her the girl's hair. Irene closed her eyes and leaned deeper into Wendy's warmth.

"I don't know..."

"How are you feeling?"

"Not...good," Irene frowned when she felt unexpected pain coming from her stomach.

Wendy noticed and held her closer, "How did this happen?"

"I don't know..." Irene repeated with a sigh. After Irene managed to control the terrible pain she added a soft, "I'm sorry," which caught Wendy by surprise.

"What? Why?"

"I ruined our day.."

On this fine Valentine's day, the couple had planned lots of things to do together, starting with a walk at the beach. Wendy still had work until the early evening but that wouldn't stop them from spending the rest of the day together.

"No, you did not, silly," Wendy ruffled her hair, "We can spend the day here."

"But we had so many plans..." Irene looked up at her, "Maybe if I take a pill or two I'll be able to go out with you tonight." She finsihed with a sneeze.

Wendy chuckled, "There's no way I'm letting you go out while you're like this."

"I swear I'll be perfect in a few hours," The sick girl said through coughs.

"You're always perfect."

Irene rolled her eyes, "Go to work." As much as Irene wanted to have Wendy to herself -especially on Valentine's day- Wendy still had to go to work.

"And leave you here alone like this? No way." Wendy slowly stood up, giving Irene time to roll off of her, "I'm going to call my boss. Wait here."

"Babe, I swear, I'm okay. You can go," Irene didn't even bother opening her eyes. It required too much energy.

Wendy hovered above her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, "Get some more sleep,"

"You'll go to work, okay?" Irene finally managed to open her eyes.

"Yeah, sure," Wendy waved a lazy hand.

"Good. I'll sleep peacefully now." Irene gave her a small smile and watched her as she changed into more presentable clothes and left. After a few coughs Irene fell asleep.



-



Upon waking, Irene burrowed herself into the warm, soft sheets. She rubbed the remainders of sleep from her