The blonde petite woman almost stumbled out of the elevator on her way in to the 16 th precinct. After waking up several times during the night from coughing fits and a trip to the bathroom to throw up, she was nearly dead on her feet. She knew she was sick, she knew she was coming down with something but she was too proud to actually admit it to herself. She was going to work and that was the end of it.
She wore oversized sunglasses to cover up her tired and bloodshot eyes but knew she had to take them off eventually. Her face was pale and sickly looking. Hopefully no one would ask any questions and, if they did, she would just tell them she had an allergic reaction to something she ate the previous night. Just as she sat down and took her glasses off, keeping her head bent down, Fin commented stright away. Who was she trying to fool? Of course Fin would notice.
"Jesus, you look like crap, Rollins. Rough night?"
Rolling her eyes Amanda turned her computer on and got herself as comfortable as she could in the well worn chair. "Gee, thanks Fin. You don't look so bad yourself." her southern drawl always became stronger when she was angry, grumpy or sarcastic. Her tone changed into a lower key and her broad accent came ringing out.
"You're a ray of sunshine this morning." her partner snickered before his face turned more serious. "Really though, you okay?"
"I'm fine. Must've ate something that didn't agree with me last night." she shrugged and suddenly felt her stomach churn and cramp up. "Excuse me!" she placed a hand over her mouth and ran towards the toilets, almost crashing into Lieutenant Olivia Benson on the way.
"Wow!" the brown haired older woman yelped while trying to keep her balance. "She alright?" she frowned and asked Fin who just shrugged his shoulders.
"Said she ate something last night that didn't agree with her stomach. Hopefully it's not contagious. I hate puking my guts up." he shivered as he thought about it and headed back to his desk.
Amanda heaved into the porcelain seat and felt felt drops of perspiration trickle down her back. The sour smell of vomit reached her nostrils and her stomach turned again, causing another round of violent heaving. "Oh god." she mumbled when she was done and slowly stood up on two shaky legs, bracing herself with her hands against the small cubicle walls. She rinsed her mouth and face and looked in the mirror to study herself. She almost got a freight from what she saw. Looking back at her was a pale, pasty, tired and sickly woman. Never had she looked so bad. The dark circles under her eyes were even more prominent after the exhausting vomiting session and her lips were dry and cracked. She felt awful.
Putting on a brave face she walked confidently back in to the bullpen and headed straight for her desk. She needed to sit down, in order to make the room stop spinning, and she needed to do it quickly. She sighed in relief as she sat down and her surroundings became more clear and focused. Her head snapped up when a glass of water was placed in front of her, causing more embarrassment and she just wanted the ground underneath her to open up and swallow her whole. It was Fin.
"Drink up, Rollins." he demanded gently, crossing his arms over his chest, looking intimidating. "I'm not moving until that glass is empty."
Groaning and rolling her eyes for a second time, she gulped the water down quickly so Fin would leave her alone. Even though she was quite thirsty she still struggled with the cool liquid, feeling her stomach clench as the water settled inside of her. Her head was pounding and so did her ears. Every heartbeat pumped the pain through her body causing her to shut her eyes tightly. Things were not looking good.
"We got a case." Liv announced as she walked out of her office, putting her coat on. "Linkoln hospital, 24 year old gay man was gang raped, beaten and left in an alley. Who's free?"
