Some swine has given me a rotten cold, and I feel terrible. 🤧 So, what greater way to help myself feel better, than have Arthur as a nurse maid. 🤒😊 Sorry it's a little shorter.
(Y/n) sat in bed. Coughing, sneezing, and feeling, well let's face it, feeling downright terrible. She hadn't had a cold in years, so now, it felt like her body had forgotten how to fight off the dreaded lurgy. And consequently, every inch of her. Every last muscle and nerve seemed to hurt. Even her teeth seemed to ache. And the pile of tissues in the little bin by the side of the bed, seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as she blew her sore red nose, for what felt like the millionth time that hour.
"How do you feel?" A soft voice enquired. Arthur's head appearing from around the slowly opening door. A soft smile gracing his features, as his eyes fell on his ailing girl. A girl who was looking ever so slightly sorry for herself.
No matter how much she had told him to keep his distance. Told him that she didn't want him to get sick too. Arthur would always be Arthur, and in the nicest way possible, hadn't listened to a word she had said. Instead insisting on popping in as often as possible to make sure that the girl he loved wasn't on the verge of death.
It would seem a ridiculous fear to many other people. A ridiculous notion. But it had taken Arthur so long to find someone to love him for what he saw as his myriad of faults. Someone to love him despite all he had been through. So, now that he had, he wanted to make sure that she was with him forever.
"I still feel like I'm dying. I think my brain is drowning in mucus. But I'll be ok." (Y/n) chuckled, as she pulled the comforter under her chin, and dramatically pretended to faint.
"Hang on a minute. Where have you been?" (Y/n) suddenly asked, sitting up again. Realising that she hadn't seen the attentive Arthur for well over an hour now. And that he was still strangely hiding behind the door.
"I've been to the store to get you some things. But I met Misses Adelman from down the hall on the way out and told her that you were ill. She said that she had the perfect cure for you. So, when I got back, she gave me this." Arthur explained, as he finally fully appeared in the room, his hands full of a dinner tray that seemed to consist of a steaming bowl of something, a new box of tissues, a perfectly folded napkin, and a tiny little vase with a single beautiful flower sticking out of it.
"Oh, sweety. You didn't have to do all this." (Y/n) cooed happily as Arthur placed the tray over her knees and got into the bed by her side.
"Well, I actually didn't do much. The chicken soup was made by Misses Adelman. But I did buy the tissues and find the flower." Arthur replied, smiling as (Y/n) took the first sip of the freshly made soup. A hum of appreciation leaving her lips as she savoured the taste.
"So, what's it like outside? Has the world ended? Aliens landed? Has Gotham been taken over by apes yet?" (Y/n) asked, as she snuggled closer to Arthur. Savouring his warmth as much as the chicken soup. She felt as though she had been in bed for weeks, even though, in truth, Arthur had insisted that she not move until she felt better, only two days ago.
"No. No. And.......er no. Though admittedly I probably wouldn't notice the difference if apes did rule Gotham. In fact, it might be cleaner if they did." Arthur chuckled, as he brushed his fingers carefully through (Y/n)'s hair.
"I'm afraid it's the same as always. It's cold, wet and miserable. The streets are still covered in garbage. People are still rude, and I nearly got knocked over in the crowd." Arthur continued, (Y/n) smiling as he spoke.
She enjoyed how he seemed to have more confidence when he was with her. How he could be even funnier than normal. How he seemed to be the man that he really should be. And she was always so happy to think that she had been the one to help him do that. But now, if he could just do all that in front of others, her wonderful man might not always find himself the butt of others jokes and mistreatment.
"Well, that's no fun. I had hoped that as I was not gracing the world with my presence, space lizards might have come from an unknown galaxy. Or an asteroid the size of Texas might have hit that terrible deli around the corner, that I swear hands out a free case of salmonella poisoning with every purchase." (Y/n) chuckled, as she finished Misses Adelman's soup, and placed the tray on the draws next to the bed.
"I'm afraid that none of that has happened, (Y/n). But even if the world hasn't missed you, I have." Arthur replied, in a strange way wishing that his girlfriend would get sick more often, so that he could keep her all to himself.
"Missed me? I think that you've spent just as much time in this room as I have over the last couple of days. I don't know how you've been able to do it. But I'm most definitely not complaining." (Y/n) continued, sure that the only time he must have left the house was when she was asleep. But thankful that he hadn't listened when she had told him to keep his distance. That he didn't seem to care if he did catch her terrible cold. And had been there whenever she felt really bad. The usually quiet man always thinking up new and better ways to keep her spirits up. Or just holding her when she had felt like she had been invaded by the body snatchers.
"Can you stay? At least until I fall asleep?" (Y/n) asked, as she snuggled into her nurse maid a little more. A soft sigh emanating from her, as she felt Arthur move further down the mattress. Taking her with him and letting her rest her head on his chest. Arthur having absolutely no intention of leaving (Y/n)'s side, even when she had fallen asleep.
"I think that I can spare a little time. Only because it's you though." Arthur chuckled. Knowing that no matter what anyone else might think. To him, this, being here with (Y/n), was the best place in the world.
"Why thank you kind sir." (Y/n) yawned. Feeling her eyes close as she listened to Arthur's steady heartbeat. Confident in the knowledge that her wonderful man would still be there when she opened her eyes again. And that maybe being sick wasn't the worst thing in the world, after all.