Happy Jalter July and Friday! It is the third week and third fic of the month! this time Jeanne Alter is taking a care of sick Ritsuka. Please like, share, and enjoy, links below
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
She dropped her purse and jogged the rest of the steps towards him, grabbing his face. “Risu? Ritsu!” The response was so delayed her heart comparatively skipped a bit as she watched those blue eyes of his slowly open, turning to look at her.
“Jeanne? You’re home early.” His voice was weak, but the fact that he gave her a response was enough for the weight of relief to settle over her.
She nodded once, realizing her knees were on the edge of the bed and she was balanced awkwardly and precariously. Jeanne Alter forced herself to nod one more. “I…was going to stay longer, but…you said you weren’t…well.”
He nodded, “Hm…I’m sick.”
“Sick?!” Jeanne Alter practically squeaked. “Shit uh…er.” She jumped off the bed, looking at her fingers for a second and then at him. “Shit, shit!” She bit her lip and ran back into the kitchen without waiting for him. There was something she was supposed to grab, and she didn’t remember what.
Come on, you stupid dragon witch!
All she could think about were those horrible sicknesses from the Hundred Years' War. Plagues that took over the camps. Sicknesses that killed off prisoners. Fevers that killed the wounded. Cooks and fake doctors are trying to prescribe cures with all manner of things that sometimes make it worse.
The faith people put in prayer.
Despite the growing bitterness she felt, she could see the horror of it. Ritsuka died from a fever. Or a stupid cough.
But they’d talked about something related to it. She couldn’t remember. All she could see in her mind was that he was sick.
She knocked a grocery bag off the counter as she frantically tore apart the room. She pulled open cabinets, cupboards, and checked the pantry. Her anxiety grew with each passing second. She checked under the sink, and her nose wrinkled, realizing it wouldn’t be there even as she opened it to look.
“Jeanne?” Ritsuka called, much closer than he should be.
It tore her eyes away from the mess she was making, and she saw him stumbling towards the doorway.
“Stop-” She called, and she got up and ran towards him. “Stop, stop! Go back to bed this instant!” She grabbed him, wrapping her arms around him. Her fingers were shaking, she realized, and quickly pulled away.
Ritsuka winced, but grabbed her back. “Jalty, what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Shut up, you need to get into bed. I-I’ll call a doctor. Don’t go to sleep!” She shouted and she guided him back to the bed, but his hands were firmly around her wrist.
