✧ “you’re a softie.”
Rosa Diaz x teen daughter! reader
warnings: mentions/descriptions of anxiety, medical gaslighting, chronic pain & illness
in which, rosa gets a call from reader’s school that she hates to receive.
part 2 here!
rosa’s always been a private person, you knew her reasons for not telling her friends about you. however, it wasn’t exactly like it ever came up after all the (very limited) knowledge they had about your mother. but of course, one person on the 99th precinct squad was the exception- captain holt.
the day was going by as per usual, until diaz abruptly went onto the terrace to answer a phone call. the noise startles the relatively quiet bullpen, but they resumed their respective work tasks. “what’s going on with rosa?”
“hm?” amy asks, still distracted by her paperwork.
“rosa seems very…i dunno. have we ever seen her showing this much emotion on her face? that isn’t annoyance or anger?” jake shrugs, pointing at rosa who was currently on the phone with you.
“she doesn’t look happy though. that can’t be good.” amy seethed. just as she finished her sentence, rosa reenters the bullpen and was immediately headed for holt’s office. she knocks, he allows her to enter.
“diaz. how may i help you?”
“my daughter called me. i need to take her home from school. her symptoms have been flaring up for awhile. i don’t want her to get hurt if she makes her own way home.”
“very well. i understand. how much time do you need?”
“can i clock out now? i’m not sure if i need to take her to the hospital or not because she’s not really talking to me- i’ll stay later tomorrow and do whatever task you assign me.” rosa promised.
“hand over the work on your desk to me and you may clock out.” holt decided.
“thanks.” rosa swiftly walked to her desk to grab the small stack of files and turned it in to holt, then left the precinct without another word.
————
“i can’t believe you won’t let me get a car.” rosa scoffs playfully.
“and let you part ways with your motorcycle? I couldn’t possibly do that.”
“i can have both, you know?” rosa bit back a smile, “are you sure you don’t want me to get us a cab home?”
“hurts, but eh.” you shrug.
“hospital?”
“just let me curl up in bed for a couple days, they’ll just hook me up to an iv and give me the same meds i have at home.” you sigh, “i’m due for an mri in two weeks anyway- i can tough it out till then.” rosa pulls you to the side, “i don’t want you to tough it out. your doctor already said that if the pain suddenly worsens and persists you can go in to see her.”
“i can, but i won’t.”
“you amaze me.” rosa huffs, “flareups cause you a 8-9 out of 10 pain and you can walk, spend a whole day out.”
“all thanks to the whole year of medical gaslighting. had to learn how to function with the symptoms.”
you two board the subway and rosa spots a seat. she nudges you to sit down but you refused. “sit. down.” she insisted. “fine, fine.” you gave in, she stands in front of you, keeping the conversation going to keep your mind off of the pain. “how was school today?”
“just did worksheets and asked questions if i had any. but, lunch did suck.”
“why? someone give you trouble?”
“no, the food was revolting.”
rosa lets out a soft laugh, “is there anything i can do to make you feel better?”
“i already had you abandon your work at 2pm. i feel bad as it is. i could’ve went home myself.”
“yeah, i’m not risking that.” rosa scoffs, “nice try.”
“how about a slice of pizza from your favourite place? or two?” rosa suggests.
“if you want.” you shrug, tired.
getting off the subway, she leads you to your favourite pizza place - it was a short walk. pushing the door open, the bell above the door tinkles. “hey, y/n!” the usual counter staff, ana, spotted you. “ay, rough day?”
“she’s not feeling well.” rosa answered on your behalf.
“pobrecita.” ana frowns, “usual order?”
“yep.” rosa nodded curtly, “2 slices sausage. 2 slices pepperoni.”
“of course, just a minute.” the older lady smiled. rosa paid, then took you to the side to wait away from, the crowd. she had a protective arm around you. “i’ll be fine.” you glanced up at her. “i don’t care. you’re my baby.” to you, this was the norm, but still quite rare. you just knew her coworkers would kill to hear this interaction.
after picking up your order, you and rosa resumed your journey home. the last stretch was a nine minute walk from the pizza place. once at home, you excused yourself and went to change into your favourite loungewear set. that made you feel a tad better: to be out gross sweaty clothes. soon after you emerged from, your bedroom, rosa walked out from hers donning a plain black tank top and a pair of matching leggings.
“let’s eat.” rosa tilted her head toward the dining area. you walk over before she did and laid the table. “ana gave us free garlic knots and sauce again.”
“she always does that when you go there with me.” she smirked. you chuckled, sitting down. “didn’t you tell her to stop doing that?”
“i did, but she likes giving you a little treat. her words, not mine.” rosa shrugged, “the lady’s happy. let her do it. she’s been there since before i had you- she’s kinda like another abuelita of yours. besides, she won’t take my money. i tried to pay her back for the extras she gave, but she wouldn’t take it.”
you fought back a laugh, “what?”
“it’s true.” she places the box containing the pepperoni pizza in front of you, “she’s been there for years.”
“i know.” the laughter mellows out and you quietly ate your slice, your mind drifts off. rosa caught you spacing out almost instantly. you caught her gaze for a moment, “i’m fine. just trying not to think about anything at all, actually.”
she shrugs. “how was work?”
“the recent cases are nothing too intense so i won’t be working too much overtime, i hope. it was a good day, though.”
“good. why?”
you saw that subtle glimmer in her eyes, “you know, don’t you? you just want me to say it.”
you gave her cheeky grin as you chewed your food.
“ha! some things really don’t change.” she remarked, “you always gave me this…grin even when you were really little.”
“you’re a softie.” you teased her. she purses her lips together, her attempt of trying not to smile or laugh. which failed - the corner of her lips tug into a small smile.
“take a nap after this.” she changes the subject abruptly.
“okay, softie.” you pout.
————
the remainder of yesterday went by like clockwork during a flareup for you. so it was uneventful in rosa’s opinion, and she was glad to be back at work the next day because that meant you were in less pain than you were before. “why’d you leave work so early yesterday?”
“not talking about that, jake.” she told him absentmindedly, focused on her computer screen.
“oookay.”
“i’m not kidding.” she glares at him. he rolls back to his desk on his chair, “i’m gonna keep bothering you till i find out~”
“not gonna happen.”
“diaz, my office.” holt stepped into the bullpen briefly. rosa followed him inside silently. “you don’t have to work over time this evening.”
“i can.”
“there is no need.” holt reiterated, “there isn’t any paperwork that needs to be done.”
“okay.” rosa acknowledges with a nod, “is there anything else?”
“yes, how is your daughter doing?” he asked, which caught rosa by surprise.
“better. she’s at school again.”
“that is good to hear. dismissed.”
as soon as rosa shut holt’s office door behind herself, jake returned with the same question. “shut up.” rosa’s phone beeps, jake beats her to it. “oh! your phone’s not on silent mode like it usually would.” he peeks at the screen, “oh my god, rosa-”
“what?” rosa deadpanned, “give it back.”
scared, jake handed the device over. but it wasn’t just that. rosa’s been way more guarded up ever since your recent diagnosis of this chronic illness— which your doctor told you was a rare disease. by the name of aggressive fibromatosis. something apparently ‘harmless’ but has been the root cause of your pain and sleepless nights. the name alone terrified you, even rosa. but more so when she sees you go through a flareup episode. for the first time in her life, she felt helpless. she hadn’t told anyone other than holt, and he didn’t even know the specifics. it took a very long time for you to get answers. doctor after doctor brushed you off and painted you as crazy or dramatic, telling you it was either period cramps or all in your head. day after day, rosa’s anger grew but her patience depleted. she was desperate for you to get the help you needed and she was so, so relieved that you did now. but despite knowing she would probably need the help of her friends in one way or another regarding your situation, she was still choosing to keep this to herself.
but, you were absolutely right about one thing. she was softie. but only you have seen this side of her, and maybe arlo- but he was a puppy. which sadly passed away some time ago.
“who is she? why’s she calling you softie?” asked jake, eagerly.
“give it up, jake.“ rosa exhaled sharply, “give it up.”
“fine, softie.”
