brain cancer fic》jerrie version

t w o

It's been four days of following the doctor's orders to an exact t, but the pain in Perrie's head is worse than ever, like her brain is going to come oozing out her ears any second. Jade nearly laughs till she cries at the analogy, but still follows the outburst with a, "Sorry, baby. Here, let me help," and resumes massaging Perrie's scalp with gentle fingers. It helps more than Perrie cares to admit, but the second Jade's fingers are gone the pain seems to triple, so extreme at times she sees stars.

"Gonna make you another doctor's appointment in the morning," Jade mumbles later that evening when they're curled up under the covers, seeing how long they can procrastinate until Jade has to go make them something to eat. "Hate seeing you like this."

"Me too," Perrie grumbles, burying her face in a pillow and trying to ignore the tears prickling at her eyes because it fucking hurts, dammit, and no matter how much Tylenol she swallows it never ceases and she's never experienced pain this bad for such an extended period of time and she just wants it to stop.

"Want me to make dinner now?" Jade suggests, propping herself up on her elbows, hair falling into her eyes and the sight makes Perrie bite back a grin, shaking her head to the best of her ability without further upsetting her pounding head.

"In a little bit," she says, knocking Jade's elbows out from underneath her so Jade falls back onto the bed with a quiet oof. "Just stay here a while."

A while turns out to be something like half an hour in which Perrie drifts in and out of consciousness while Jade cuddles her from behind. Then, without warning she's saying, "Gonna make dinner now, boo," and before Perrie can protest she's gone and Perrie is cold and alone.

The pain in her head is still very much present, but has let up a bit, so naturally she gets up very, very slowly and follows Jade downstairs to the kitchen where she's rattling around in the cupboard, looking for something. Her face lights up adorably when she finds the gleaming silver spot she's apparently been looking for, setting it in the stove and fiddling with the knobs before becoming aware of Perrie's presence.

"You should rest," she says simply, and it should sound demanding but this is Jade and it ends up sounding more like a suggestion. Perrie shakes her head - oops, too fast, wincing as a fresh bolt of pain strikes her skull and she stumbles forward into Jade's embrace.

"Wanna stay with you and pick up on your magnificent culinary skills," she mumbles into Jade's shirt, lower lip jutting out in a pout and she knows Jade can't say no to that.

She's right. Jade grins, always so fond, reaching to absently swipe a few stray strands of hair from her face. "Okay. Right now this culinary master needs to take a wee, so." She gives Perrie a terribly goofy, endearing look before trotting off awkwardly down the hall, and Perrie can't help the giggle that escapes her lips because he loves Jade, can't imagine ever loving anyone half as much as she loves Jade.

Feeling cheeky, she peers into the pot on the stove and, finding it empty, leans against the counter, striking a ridiculous pose and waiting for Jade to return.

It's footsteps coming down the hall and the giddy, nervous feeling she gets around Jade even after all this time and she's expecting Jade to chuckle something like You're ridiculous and maybe fuck her against the wall if she's lucky, which she almost always is.

Except not this time, because Jade's eyes are warm and friendly but upon further inspection go wide with what Perrie identifies as panic; later, she realizes maybe it was fear.

"Pez!" And just like that Jade is across the room, yanking her away from the stove and shoving her left hand under the tap, and, oh. The skin of her palm is puckered and colored an angry pink. That's usually a thing somebody would notice, Perrie notes mentally, pursing her lips with her brow furrowing in confusion. Even now, it should hurt, but it doesn't. Not really. A little bit, but the pain is so distant it's hard to tell if it even belongs to her.