Joanne Suggwell One Shots 3

Just a Precaution

To make up for the recently short shots I present a 7,500 word sick-fic (obvious mentions of vomit and medical terms) xx

"Joseph," Dianne yawned, spotting Joe who had just emerged from his office, where he had been playing a game, "what does like a stabbing pain here mean?"

"Stabbing pain? Where?" Joe asked, walking over to her, having just noticed her reclined position on their sofa, his thoughts of cooking dinner for them momentarily lost; his twenty-eight nearly twenty-nine years on earth had taught him that stabbing pains weren't a good thing.

"Here," she rubbed the width of her bare stomach, "like right in my belly."

Joe put his hand on it flat and applied a little pressure like he would do when his hurt, immidistely noticing it felt bloated, "well it could be just painful gas I suppose, if it's kind of everywhere and your tum's a bit swollen, isn't it? Can I get you a settler and some painkillers, maybe?"

"No thank you, I'll cook dinner soon it just, I needed to lie down for a moment." The moment had started an hour ago, but Joe didn't need to know that yet.

Joe stroked some hair from her face, and shook his head, "I was going to cook, for once."

"Okay, do you want some help, I'm sure this'll go in ten minutes?" Dianne said, taking his hand off her abdomen, as it wasn't helping, in fact it sort of felt like it was making it worse, she brought it to her lip and then let it go.

"No, no, you keep lying there."

Dianne nodded, "thank you," she whispered quietly and closed her eyes, hoping some mindfulness might reduce the pain. It was her first weekend off since she started pro rehearsals for strictly and she hoped that she had maybe just overdone a muscle. Or had gas as Joe suggested. Either way, it had been annoying her for a while and she needed it to stop. This was not how she wanted to spend her days off, with a weird belly ache on the sofa. As she lay there she just took stock of how off she was feeling. The dancer couldn't tell if it was the pain making her feel a little queasy or if that was part of whatever was giving her the need to interrupt her day and lie on the sofa. That in mind, she attempted to meditate the pain away, as she had initially planned, blocking out Joe's quiet clattering.

"Dotty, Dot, hi there, you fell asleep my little one, hi." Joe cooed, her eyes opening slowly. It was now well after dinner, the concerned man having eaten alone, thinking it best to let her sleep, she clearly needed it if, in the 20 minutes it had taken him to cook, she had almost immediately started snoring, very obviously fast asleep.

She frowned and stretched her arms above her head, groaning almost instantly, her hands flying to her still uncovered stomach.

"It's worse. I, I don't feel very well."

"No?"

"No," she whimpered, "Joe."

"It's alright, I reckon we should pop you up to beddy then, or maybe you're due on, it was bad last time wasn't it?" Joe suggested, rubbing her arm, hoping to reduce the worry he could evidently see on her tired face.

"I don't think it is, it really hurts Joey."

"Okay, alright, I'm here, I'll look after you, maybe you're sickening for something," he stroked her cheek which he could recognise had a sickly hue to it, even in the relative darkness of their living room, "you've been with all the pros, back to work, I wouldn't be surprised if you've caught something. Neil and Ames both have dance schools, it'd be so easy to catch something. Don't worry though, let's just get you to somewhere even more comfortable so you can rest and I can keep an eye on you."